NFL (American) Football Pick-Em Thread 2026

[Maverick89]

Football is officially BACK! Hall of Fame game just started.

[Brendan0620]

Did my Fantasy Football Draft tonight (no keepers):

-QB Josh Allen (BUF)
-RB Kenneth Walker III (KC)
-RB Javonte Williams (DAL)
-WR Ja'Marr Chase (CIN)
-WR Chris Olave (NO)
-TE Tyler Warren (IND)
-RB Cam Skattebo (NYG)
-D/ST SEA Seahawks
-K Harrison Mevis (LAR)
-RB Blake Corum (LAR)
-WR Matthew Golden (GB)
-TE Isaiah Likely (NYG)
-WR Jalen McMillan (TB)
-QB Kyler Murray (MIN)
-WR Khalil Shakir (BUF)
-RB Bhayshul Tuten (JAX)

[Maverick89]

Not a bad lineup, it looks like!

[flight50]

pretty solid. I think I'll set my company's draft up next Thursday. We always draft the week before the season starts. We're only running 8 teams this year so there will be a lot of good players in my league and lots of solid ones that can get claimed every week.

[oldmanclippy]

Can't go wrong with Josh Allen and Ja'marr Chase. My draft is Labor Day so I have some time for research still.

[Brendan0620]

I'd say the Ja'Marr pick was me having pure luck of him falling to me. I may have drafted Allen too high but I know he's a Fantasy Point Machine at his QB position so I had to draft him in the second round, because I knew if I didn't draft him early, he would go off the board immediately.

[Brendan0620]

Same here Maverick. Excited for College Football but at the same time, cautiously excited.

Clemson had it's first mixed record season in many years last year (7-6), and Dabo Swinney hates the highly valuable player portal. I'm keeping my expectations low for Clemson football this year.

Way more excited for NFL Football and Fantasy Football this year, especially having 2 playoff fantasy teams last year (one by pure luck lol) and losing both games in the first round.

Glad I said I was "cautious" about this college football season, because LSU (expectedly) won against Clemson, but it was a huge 40 point win against Clemson. I have even lower expectations now than I did before the season started, and I think it's probably going to be a long season that ends with no AP ranking nor playoff berth.

Thankfully NFL Football is back starting on Wednesday. I will post the 506sports maps but for a few weeks, I will be posting them later in my day because of my work schedule.

[oldmanclippy]

Welcome back to the SCS Forums Unofficial NFL Pick'Em Game! 2026 should be a fun season.

Last year b_l_e_1 took the crown for most wins (180), and also had the best win percentage (66.4%).

This year, I'll be keeping track of the results on this spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp=sharing

For new players, the first post of this thread goes over the rules: viewtopic.php?p=1953576#p1953576. Any situation not covered by the rules will be handled based on precedent from previous years, and any situation not covered by precedent will be handled cooperatively, with final decisions made by me if needed.

Normally I will be posting the pick templates on Tuesdays like last year, but since it's the first week (and since we have the first Wednesday season-opening game since 2012) I want to give everyone enough time to get their picks in.

Here's the Week 1 template. The deadline for the first game is Wednesday, September 9th at 8:20pm EDT. Games in orange take place before Sunday, so make sure to get your picks in!

Patriots @ Seahawks ->
49ers v Rams ->
Bears @ Panthers ->
Buccaneers @ Bengals ->
Saints @ Lions ->
Bills @ Texans ->
Ravens @ Colts ->
Browns @ Jaguars ->
Falcons @ Steelers ->
Jets @ Titans ->
Cardinals @ Chargers ->
Dolphins @ Raiders ->
Packers @ Vikings ->
Commanders @ Eagles ->
Cowboys @ Giants ->
Broncos @ Chiefs ->

Also - if you're new to the pick'em game this year, tell us what your favorite NFL team is (or college team if that's more your speed) so we can decorate the results spreadsheet!

Good luck!

[Brendan0620]

Patriots @ Seahawks -> Seahawks
49ers v Rams -> Rams
Bears @ Panthers -> Bears
Buccaneers @ Bengals -> Bengals
Saints @ Lions -> Lions
Bills @ Texans -> Bills
Ravens @ Colts -> Ravens
Browns @ Jaguars -> Jaguars
Falcons @ Steelers -> Steelers
Jets @ Titans -> Titans
Cardinals @ Chargers -> Chargers
Dolphins @ Raiders -> Raiders
Packers @ Vikings -> Packers
Commanders @ Eagles -> Eagles
Cowboys @ Giants -> Cowboys
Broncos @ Chiefs -> Broncos

[oldmanclippy]

Patriots @ Seahawks -> Seahawks
49ers v Rams -> Rams
Bears @ Panthers -> Bears
Buccaneers @ Bengals -> Bengals
Saints @ Lions -> Lions
Bills @ Texans -> Texans
Ravens @ Colts -> Ravens
Browns @ Jaguars -> Jaguars
Falcons @ Steelers -> Steelers
Jets @ Titans -> Titans
Cardinals @ Chargers -> Chargers
Dolphins @ Raiders -> Raiders
Packers @ Vikings -> Vikings
Commanders @ Eagles -> Eagles
Cowboys @ Giants -> Cowboys
Broncos @ Chiefs -> Broncos