What this is
Every week of the American football season, one game is more interesting than the schedule makes it look. This site picks that game and tries to talk you into watching it.
It is built for people who do not follow the sport. Nothing here assumes you do, and nothing here is advice about money.
The underdog
Before each game, bookmakers publish a number: how many points they expect the weaker team to lose by. That team is the underdog, and it is the one shown in full color, facing the favorite.
The three tiers
Underdog. Expected to lose by a field goal or less. Close enough that one good afternoon settles it.
Longshot. Expected to lose by up to about a touchdown and a half. Genuinely not expected to win.
Cinderella Story. Expected to lose by ten or more. Almost nobody gives them a chance.
How the game gets chosen
Not by which underdog is most likely to win. That would pick the closest game every week, which is a dull way to spend a Sunday. The site looks for a better story: a team good enough to pull it off, in a game where something is at stake, ideally at home, ideally against someone they have history with.
Who writes it
Nobody. Each piece is assembled from the same figures used to rank the game: records, scoring margins, winning streaks, who is at home. The writing can never claim something the numbers do not support, though it also follows a handful of patterns rather than being written fresh each week.
When it changes
Every Tuesday morning. Each week stays put afterwards, so the tabs fill up as the season runs. All times are Pacific.
