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The Harmon Football Forecast is one of the most highly regarded and widely read sports features in the country, published in over 200 newspapers.
| Harmon Stat Pack | |
|---|---|
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Wk 11: 15 picks
Right: 10 Wrong: 5 Pct: .666 |
YTD: 158 picks
Right: 91 Wrong: 67 Pct: .576 |
| Harmon's archive | |
It all began when Bob Harmon began predicting college and NFL games in 1957. He devised a mathematical formula that picked winners correctly between 72 and 78 percent of the time; most seasons getting almost 75 percent of his picks right.
Today, Jim Harmon and his staff are the only forecasters who predict exact scores and chart every college and pro team.
Thursday's game (11/29/2001):
| Philadelphia 27, *Kansas City 17 |
| The Chiefs' offense ranks higher in the AFC than the Eagles' does in the NFC, but Philly's defense will render those stats useless. They've only met three times; the Chiefs won last, in 1998. |
Sunday's games (12/2/2001):
| *Baltimore 21, Indianapolis 19 |
| After six straight AFC Central matchups, the Ravens host an outsider in a big test of their pass defense -- but it's the Colts'defense that's lacking. They've faced off twice and each has won once. |
| *Chicago 32, Detroit 13 |
| Give the Bears credit for building a solid record before facing the Lions, the NFC Central patsies. Chicago is vulnerable through the air, but will begin its first sweep of Detroit in 13 years. |
| *Cleveland 17, Tennessee 14 |
| Very little is working on offense for these two clubs, and their defenses aren't any better, which makes this battle highly unpredictable despite the Titans' five-game series winning streak. |
| *Miami 26, Denver 18 |
| Look for the Dolphins to make the most of the Broncos' defensive weakness by putting the ball up. Denver's offense, meanwhile, will have a tougher time. Miami was a 38-21 winner two years ago. |
| New England 20, *N.Y. Jets 19 |
| In a 10-3 Week 2 loss to the Jets, the Patriots were stung by turnovers and penalties. N.Y. has won seven of its last eight against N.E., but the Pats will pull off an upset with run defense. |
| *New Orleans 30, Carolina 7 |
| Ricky Williams's one-yard TD run with no time left gave the Saints a 27-25 win over the Panthers seven weeks ago. The score was deceptive, because N.O. dominated, as it will again this time. |
| *Oakland 28, Arizona 20 |
| A Raiders rout in the odd pairing of the week? Only if Oakland's pass defense is a whole lot better than it's been up to this point, because the Cardinals can move the ball well through the air. |
| *Pittsburgh 23, Minnesota 12 |
| With a defense that can shut the Vikings down and an offense that can run all over them, the Steelers should easily defeat Minnesota -- for only the second time in their six meetings since '80. |
| St. Louis 33, *Atlanta 16 |
| Like the Vikings, the Falcons have no offensive weapons that will work against the Rams and no way to stop them. St. Louis has averaged over 40 points in winning its last four against Atlanta. |
| *San Francisco 29, Buffalo 9 |
| The key here will be the 49ers' strength, the ground game, in defense of which the Bills are among the league's worst. Three years ago Buffalo took a 4-3 lead in this series, beating S.F. 26-21. |
| *Seattle 17, San Diego 16 |
| A wild one in the battle for second in the AFC West, though both the Seahawks and Chargers are playing better without the ball. Seattle swept S.D. for the third time in four seasons in '00. |
| Tampa Bay 12, *Cincinnati 9 |
| Here's the tossup of the week, matching two uninspired offenses against defenses that will seem first-rate by comparison. This contest won't look much like their last, a 35-0 T.B. romp in '98. |
| *Washington 25, Dallas 7 |
| Few fans missed much sleep on Week 5's Monday night, when the Cowboys stumbled past the Redskins 9-7. Washington has since come to life and will end its string of losses to Dallas at eight. |
Monday Night (11/26/2001):
| Green Bay 27, *Jacksonville 14 |
| The Packers are superior to the Jaguars in every phase of the game, but they'll wreak most of the havoc with their passing game. G.B. was a 24-14 winner the only time they've met, six years ago. |
Open date: N.Y. Giants
* Denotes Home Team
* Note: Picks are straight up.
Broadway Joe