Perfection didn’t last long in the 2017 Westgate Las Vegas SuperContest. Of the record 2,748 who joined the $1,500 per-entry contest, only nine made it through the NFL’s first week without a blemish. That’s a big dropoff from the 78 in a who finished Week 1 perfect in 2016’s 1,854-contestant field, only two of which survived Week 2 without a loss, the Westgate’s Jay Kornegay told SportsHandle.
Nobody’s Perfect Anymore in the Westgate Las Vegas SuperContest But The Pool Performed Better as a Whole in NFL Week 2
In a field this size, it’s more surprising that only nine brought 5-0 into Week 2 and far less surprising that none of the Amazin’ Nueve from Week 1 carried perfection into Week 3. Of the nine that solved Week 1, just one of them (“Biosoft Global”) hit on four picks in Week 2 (TEN, WAS, ATL and KC) to ride the record to 9-1 and a share of the lead.
Two contestants went 5-0 in Week 2 to follow a 4-1 debut, so now three contestants share the lead at 9-1 overall.
So what’s the story this week? Well, we literally just discussed it but let’s take a deeper look inside. Half of the top six most popular selections went south. They were (picks bolded):
- Titans (-2.5) 37 at Jaguars 16 – Obviously the Titans comfortably covered here.
- Steelers (-5.5) 26 vs. Vikings 9 – The line comes out on Wednesday so Pittsburgh backers got a much more favorite number than where it closed (about 8.5 or 9) as a result of Sam Bradford getting scratched with knee soreness.
- Packers (+3) 23 at Falcons 34 – The final score reflects a closer game than it was. The Falcons ripped the Packers and its pair of backup offensive tackles.
- Patriots (-6.5) 36 at Saints 20 – The defending champs got back on track but still have work to do on defense and need its pass catchers to stop getting injured.
- Cowboys (-2.5) 17, Broncos 42 – Road chalk got completely waxed by the Broncos who, like Rodney Dangerfied, get no respect. Maybe now that will change.
- Rams (-2.5) 20 vs. Redskins 27 – This was a much closer game than the others but a negative result for the majority of SuperContest players who backed Los Angeles.
That’s a lot of pretty public, household sides (Steelers, Packers, Patriots, Cowboys).
As a whole, the pool fared better than in Week 1. 86 contestants scored a perfect 5-0 week (3.1%) and 449 went 4-1 (16.3), totaling to a very nice performance for nearly 20%. Overall, SuperContest players notched an average 2.57 wins, which isn’t too far from the roughly 2.9 wins per week it typically takes to win the grand prize (at least in a smaller field of under 2,000 in years past).
So, good work everyone! Except for people who picked the New York Giants (-3.5) — fortunately only 231 or 8.5% of the pool. At least that wasn’t your survivor pool pick.
VSiN will release the SuperContest Week 3 lines live on-air on Wednesday so stay tuned and come back here for analysis and score projections.
(ALSO SEE: TPS Report: Week 2 NFL Recap: Covers, Top Performances and Disappearing Acts)
