I’d like to preface this blog by making it clear that I am a firm backer of the model and will be making most of my gambling decisions with it in mind. I’ll be the first to admit that my best gambling run (March Madness weeks one and two of this year) was thanks in large part to this website’s model and its proficiency in predicting overs. Maybe even more importantly, the likelihood that I could one day quit my day job and work full time at Model 284 rests almost entirely in the model’s ability to predict the outcomes of football games. All of that being said, the model can’t get it all right. There are certain things that the model simply cannot account for. Do you think a model could have predicted the New Orleans Saints response to Hurricane Katrina upon their return to the Superdome in September of 2006? Could any model in the world predict when Eli Manning decides to blackout, channel his inner Joe Montana, and carry the Giants to a Superbowl? And don’t you dare tell me a model has the awareness to understand just what a color rush means to a seemingly meaningless Jaguars-Titans Thursday Night Football game. Point being, there are a lot of factors that the model can’t account for. This is where I come in. If the model is the Great Wall of China, think of me as the guy who is in charge of plugging all of the small cracks and holes that pop up along the wall. In a country that prides itself on its’ use of checks and balances, I’m here to remind the nerds of this company that sometimes the numbers do lie.
Continue reading Man vs Model – NFL Week 1
QB Fantasy Projections – Week 1
Below are our projected fantasy points for starting Quarterbacks in Week 1 of 2017. Note that QBs who have yet to play 7 games are not included in our predictions.
Continue reading QB Fantasy Projections – Week 1
Fantasy Points Above Expectation – Week 1
Fantasy Points Above Expectation (FPAE) is a metric we created to better capture how much fantasy production each team is giving up. FPAE measures how many fantasy points a team gives up to a certain position, relative to what they were expected to give up. For example, Miami’s FPAE against QBs is 5.1, meaning that they gave up an average of 5.1 points more than expected to QBs. In this context, “expected” is referring to their opponents’ average fantasy points. We give a full explanation of FPAE here. FPAE values against each position group for Week 1 of 2017 are shown below. These values were calculated using each team’s last 7 games (PPR scoring).
Continue reading Fantasy Points Above Expectation – Week 1
Hammer The Over: Vikings Preview
The guys recap the first week of College football and look ahead to the first week of the NFL season. Minnesota sports superfan Tom Milne joins the pod to preview the Vikings season and give his two cents on what to expect out of each position group. Evan and Fred take a look at the spreads for week one and give their Over’s of the Week.
NFL Predictions – Week 1
Football season is officially back. With that, here is a breakdown of our model’s predictions for all Week 1 matchups of the 2017 NFL season. We promise we did not make manual adjustments in favor of the Vikings, who the model loves this week.
Continue reading NFL Predictions – Week 1
Pitcher Similarity Score Tool
Use this tool to pull up your favorite pitcher and see his top ten most similar players! Methodology for these scores can be found here.
Pitcher Similarity Score Methodology
Why Pitcher Similarity Scores?
Similarity scores, at their best, are a fun and useful way to understand patterns in athletes. We’ve dabbled in similarity scores here at Model 284 before, and now we’re applying it to Major League Baseball pitchers. Our motivation for this project is twofold.
NFL Season Simulation Methodology
This article gives an in-depth dive into our prediction and ranking system for NFL teams. Tune into our win projections, rankings, and Elo ratings throughout the 2017 NFL Season – our numbers going into Week 1 can be found here.
Continue reading NFL Season Simulation Methodology
Model 284 NFL Elo Ratings Methodology
This article dives into the concept of Elo ratings in general and then covers the details of our own methodology for creating Elo ratings for NFL teams. Be sure to tune into our weekly Elo ratings and ranking system for the 2017 NFL season, which we will be publishing weekly. Our numbers going into Week 1 can be found here.
Continue reading Model 284 NFL Elo Ratings Methodology
Hammer The Over: NFL Preview with Eric Eager
In this episode the guys cover the Vikings lackluster 3rd preseason performance, the hot second half of Byron Buxton, and a quick preview of college football week 1. Eric Eager of Pro Football Focus comes on the pod to give a preview of the upcoming NFL season and discuss his work for PFF. Segments include Hammer the Over’s Over of the Week, Unwritten Rules, and Call Ewald.