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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 16: 15 picks
Right: 7 Wrong: 8 Pct: .466 |
YTD: 233 picks
Right: 144 Wrong: 89 Pct: .618 |
| 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.
Sunday's games (1/6/2002):
| *Chicago 23, Jacksonville 16 |
| Of the 15 games originally scheduled for Sept. 16, five have different predicted outcomes now than they did then, and this is one of them. The Bears are still having problems on offense, though. |
| Denver 22, *Indianapolis 21 |
| This one is almost a tossup, because the Broncos will struggle to contain the Colts' passing attack. Denver has dominated the series, winning nine of 11 games, but they haven't met since 1993. |
| *Detroit 21, Dallas 13 |
| An upset now, but it wouldn't have been in September. The Lions' rushing defense will have to step up. It's been seven years since they've faced off; Dallas leads an evenly matched rivalry 8-7. |
| Green Bay 26, *N.Y. Giants 17 |
| This was a difficult pick four months ago, but no more: The Packers should keep the Giants on their heels by putting the ball up as often as possible. G.B. pummeled N.Y. 37-3 three years ago. |
| *Miami 30, Buffalo 9 |
| The Dolphins needed three fourth-quarter TD passes from Jay Fiedler-the last with 48 seconds left-to beat the Bills 34-27 in Week 11. Miami's defense will seal its fourth in a row over Buffalo. |
| New England 25, *Carolina 12 |
| A Patriots squad that ranks in the bottom half of the NFL on both sides of the ball will look solid against the lowly Panthers. Carolina was a 20-17 winner the only time they've met, in '95. |
| *Oakland 27, N.Y. Jets 23 |
| With their strong secondary handling the Raiders' air assault and their ground game exploiting Oakland's defensive weakness, the Jets can stay close. Last year the Raiders beat up on N.Y. 31-7. |
| Philadelphia 17, *Tampa Bay 14 |
| In Week 2 the Buccaneers would've been the favorite, but they've slumped, while the Eagles have maintained their 2000 form -- when they ended T.B.'s season with a dominating 21-3 wild card win. |
| *Pittsburgh 24, Cleveland 10 |
| Kris Brown's fifth field goal, a 32-yarder in OT, gave the Steelers a 15-12 win over the Browns eight weeks ago. Once again Pittsburgh will run all day while its defense shuts Cleveland down. |
| *St. Louis 34, Atlanta 12 |
| Kurt Warner picked the Falcons' secondary apart last month, throwing for 342 yards and four TD's as the Rams rolled over Atlanta 35-6. The Falcons still can neither stop nor score on St. Louis. |
| San Francisco 23, *New Orleans 20 |
| With Jeff Garcia tossing four TD passes and Garrison Hearst rushing for 145 yards, the 49ers got by the Saints in November, 28-27. S.F. is gunning for its fourth sweep of N.O. in six seasons. |
| *Seattle 20, Kansas City 14 |
| The AFC West picture notwithstanding, this is hardly a sure thing. The Chiefs have won 10 of their last 13 against the Seahawks, including their first home victory of the year-in Week 11-19-7. |
| *Tennessee 19, Cincinnati 10 |
| After the Titans' Derrick Mason returned the opening kickoff 101 yards for a score seven weeks ago, Tennessee cruised to its seventh straight win over the Bengals, 20-7. Cincy has no offense. |
| *Washington 26, Arizona 13 |
| The Redskins kept the Cardinals out of the end zone until the final 1:16 last month and beat them for the fourth time in their last five meetings, 20-10. Washington will win again by running. |
Monday's game (1/7/2002):
| *Baltimore 27, Minnesota 17 |
| This looked like a great one last summer, but the Vikings have been unable to run the ball or stop anybody this season, and Baltimore has been shaky, too. Minnesota was a 38-28 winner in '98. |
Open date: San Diego
* Denotes Home Team
* Note: Picks are straight up.
Broadway Joe