Jonathan Swatkowski

First off, I want to congratulate last week’s winner. The correct answer to last week’s contest was 584. Brian was closest with his guess of 550. Congratulations Brian! You have won a Daunte Culpepper bobblehead!

For this week, I want you to guess the Giants’ third down conversion percentage.

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Now for an update. This week’s prize will be a duplicate (but still good!), and then the rest of the prizes start to get really good.   If you haven’t participated before, or have only participated a few times, you will want to be participating from next week on out! (The last week of the season, there is no Monday night game, so we will not be having a contest then.)

So, in preparation of those special prizes, I wanted to make it a little more fair for everyone submitting answers. It’s obviously hard to be the first entry and have everyone after you guessing closely around you. So, I have come up with a new way of submitting your entry that should resolve that issue.  Starting probably next week, you will have 2 ways to submit your entry:

1. By phone. Using a special phone in system you will be able to punch in your guess and it will tell you if it’s taken already or not.

2. By twitter direct message. By sending a twitter direct message to the MNFContest account in a special format, you will be able to submit your entry and receive a confirmation.  You will also be given a notification if your guess has already been taken by someone else.

This way nobody sees anyone else’s entry and tries to steal it.

I was going to roll it out this week, but figured I would test it one more week before using it.

Have a good week, and Good luck!

Well, it looks like our re-try didn’t go much better on Thursday. The total number of sacks that the Steelers had was 1. The total number of completions for the Browns was 6, and the total number of kicking scores was 5. So, that’s a grand total of 1.20 ((6 * 1) / 5)) . The closest to the correct answer was John S with a guess of 5.  So, for what seems to have been a low-effort  win, you receive a  low-effort player.  That’s right, you get the coveted Randy Moss bobble-head.  I know Randy doesn’t really fit with the theme of the prizes, but after Sunday, I couldn’t help but give it away.

So, for tonight’s contest we will go with another crazy math contest. I know it makes it less likely to get very close, but it also makes it less likely to result in a tie.

Tonight you need to guess the total number of punting yards (total, not net) multiplied by the total number of punts within the 20 yard line and then subtract the total number of passing yards by the two teams.

Good luck!

Well, John was right; nobody was close. Also, I set that up very last minute. So, let’s instead call that one a scratch and change the contest to tomorrow. We’ll do things slightly differently. This time we’ll do the total number of pass completions for the Browns, multiplied by the number of sacks by the Steelers and then that total divided by the total number of kicking scores (by both team). Each field goal or extra point will count as one point. An example would be if there were 33 completions, 3 sacks and 9 kicking scores (let’s say 6 extra points and 3 field goals). That would be (33 * 3) / 9  = 11. Confusing enough? Good!

Also, I need to announce the winner from the previous week’s Monday Night Football Contest. The winner is: Nate G. He guessed that the Patriot’s time of possession would be 33 minutes and 24 seconds. It was in fact, 33 minutes and 16 seconds. Great job Nate!  It serves Marc right for trying to snipe your pick.

Nate, you have won a fabulous Ki-Jana Carter rookie card. He sounds like someone you would have drafted to your infamous fantasy football team.  If you had, you would have been disappointed. Ki-Jana was selected as the first overall pick in the 1995 NFL Draft by the Bengals. On his third carry of his first preseason game, Ki-Jana tore his ACL. He never fully recovered from his injury and is widely considered the worst number one pick since the AFL-NFL merger.

Good luck on Thursday!

Hello,

sorry this is so late. I’ll release information about last week’s winner later. Tonight guess the total number of passing completions that the Packers will have and multiply it by the number of sacks the Ravens will have. (33 passes * 3 sacks = 99)  I will accept answers through halftime.

Congratulations to Nate M. on winning once again! Your guess of 672 was quite close to the actual answer of 667. Congratulations on your win! Your prize is one that should be revered by Vikings fans everywhere. You get a Herschel Walker Minnesota Viking Gold Card! Who is Herschel Walker? According to Wikipedia:

In 1989, at the height of his NFL career, the Cowboys traded Walker to the Minnesota Vikings for a total of five players (LB Jesse Solomon, DB Issiac Holt, RB Darrin Nelson, LB David Howard, DE Alex Stewart) and six draft picks (which led to Emmitt Smith, Russell Maryland, Kevin Smith, and Darren Woodson). This was judged to be one of the turning points in the rise of the Cowboys to the top echelon of the NFL. Nicknamed the “HWT” (Herschel Walker Trade), Walker’s trade was widely perceived as an exceptionally poor move considering what the Vikings had to give up in order to get him, and remains one of the most frequently vilified roster moves of the team’s history.

I’m sure you will cherish the card for the rest of your life.

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Now for tonight’s contest:  What will be the Patriot’s total time of possession?

As a tie breaker: Total number of points scored.

Congratulations to Brad who guessed 275 total rushing yards / receiving yards / carries / receptions / points. The actual total was 268. Nice work Brad! For your efforts you win  an autographed Akili Smith card! Don’t remember who he is?

Akili Smith had a great senior year at the University of Oregon where he through 32 Touchdown Passes in only 11 starts. This success, along with his athleticism brought him to the foreground of draft day discussions. After being drafted 3rd in the 1999 draft, he missed most of training camp due to contract disputes. Despite showings of athleticism in his early games, he failed to grasp the Bengals playbook fully, and never established himself with the team. Throughout the four years he was with the Bengals, he would only start in 17 games, eventually leading to his release in 2002. Since then, he has played in NFL Europe and the Canadian Football League.

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Now for the details for Thursday. Guess the total number of rushing yards that will happen throughout the day. Remember there are 3 games scheduled on Thursday. If you a re a Vikings fan, or even an NFC North fan, the prize for this contest will be well worth it.

Good Luck!

Marc came up with a great idea for tonight’s matchup between the Texans and the Titans. Tonight you need to guess the total combined points,yards,receptions and carries from guys with the last name Johnson. So, if it’s 6 pts + 300 yards + 8 receptions + 10 carries your guess would be 324.  As a tie breaker, we’ll do the total number of points scored in the game.

Also, be on the lookout for details for a special contest for this upcoming Thursday’s game!

Good luck!

The winner from last week’s Monday Night Football Contest was Nick W! Nick guessed that the total combined weight of all the players who registered a sack would be 1500 lbs. The correct answer was 1430. I won’t go through the breakdown player by player.

Well, on to the prize! Nick, you are now the proud owner of a Rashaan Salaam Future All-Pro Running Back rookie card! The back of the card says:

“The names of Gale Sayers, Walter Payton and Bronko Nagurski echo through Halas Hall. They may soon be joined by 1994 Heisman Trophy-winner Rashaan Salaam. Salaam has the quickness to hit the hole, strength to carry tacklers and speed to turn the corner and out-run any secondary.”

From Wikipedia:

In the NFL, the highly touted Salaam did not meet the high expectations. As a rookie, he rushed for over 1,000 yards (a Chicago Bears rookie record until 2001 when it was broken by Anthony Thomas) and scored 10 touchdowns. But problems with injuries and fumbles led him to spend only three years with the Bears, ending with the 1997 season. Salaam spent 1999 with the Cleveland Browns and the Green Bay Packers, but only played in two games for the Browns that year.

Salaam briefly played in the ill-fated XFL for the Memphis Maniax, but injury cut his season short and the league folded after one season. Still, he was the 4th most prolific rusher in the league with 528 yards.

After his stint with the Maniax, he tried out for the Detroit Lions. However, he did not make the squad.

Ouch! Didn’t make the cut with the Lions? I think I could be on the Lions.

See you next week!

The winner of last week’s contest was Nate M. ! He guessed 29.8 different players recording a tackle in the game. The correct answer was 33. Congrats Nate! You win a set of stickers featuring Brian Bosworth. Not sure who he is? I can’t describe him any better than Wikipedia so here is their description:

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Prior to his entry into the NFL supplemental draft, Bosworth had sent letters to various NFL teams stating that, if they drafted him, he wouldn’t report to their training camp and he wouldn’t play for them. As a joke, the Tacoma Stars of the Major Indoor Soccer League selected him in the 12th round in their 1987 draft, as their general manager jokingly stated, “Because we didn’t receive a letter from him that he wouldn’t play for us.”

Bosworth was drafted by the Seahawks in the 1987 NFL supplemental draft and signed what was both the biggest contract in team history and the biggest rookie contract in NFL history: 10 years for US$11 million. After being drafted by the Seahawks, Bosworth sued the NFL for the right to wear #44 (the number he wore in college). Bosworth lost the case and was forced to wear #55 in the pros.

Before a 1987 Monday Night Football game against the Oakland Raiders, Bosworth insulted Los Angeles Raiders running back Bo Jackson and promised in a media event before the game that he would contain the running back. However, Jackson ended up rushing for 221 yards scoring 3 touchdowns. Jackson also made a 91-yard untouched sideline run in which he sprinted the full distance, finally slowing down as he passed through the entrance to the field tunnel to the dressing rooms. Additionally, during this game, he ran over Bosworth (knocking him to the ground), which became one of the most memorable plays in Monday Night Football History.

Remembered for his lackluster professional football career, Bosworth was named the 6th worst flop on the Biggest Flops of the Last 25 Years list by ESPN in July 2004 and number three on NFL Network’s NFL Top 10 Draft Busts.

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What a classy guy.

Ok, now for this week’s challenge!

This week’s challenge is to guess the total combined weight of all players who record a sack during the game. Now please note that while 1 player can get multiple sacks, their weight is only counted once.

Good luck!

For this week, I want you to guess the total number of defensive players who record a tackle during the game.

Good Luck!