NFL Week 2: Here are the teams the computers are picking to win
Below we take a look at two popular systems used to pick NFL games - Cortana, Microsoft's digital assistant, and Elo, the modeling system used by Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight.com.
In both cases, the computers are picking outright winners and are not picking against the spread. However, both give a likelihood of teams winning which, in theory, could help measure the strength of certain lines.
It was a rough Week 1 for Cortana, going just 8-7 thanks to road teams going 8-7. Elo was 10-5, correctly picking the two games the two computers disagreed on, the Raiders over the Titans and the Panthers over the 49ers.
Here are the picks for Week 2, with each model's percent chance of winning in parentheses. Games in bold are where the two models disagree on who has the best chance to win. Point spreads are just for reference, via Vegas Insider as of Thursday morning.
THURSDAY
- Houston Texans at Cincinnati Bengals (-6) - BENGALS (Elo 63%, Cortana 66%)
SUNDAY
- Cleveland Browns at Baltimore Ravens (-8) - RAVENS (Elo 82%, Cortana 79%)
- Buffalo Bills at Carolina Panthers (-7) - PANTHERS (Elo 66%, Cortana 74%)
- Arizona Cardinals (-7) at Indianapolis Colts - COLTS (Elo 53%), CARDINALS (Cortana 79%)
- Tennessee Titans (-1.5) at Jacksonville Jaguars - JAGUARS (Elo 59%), TITANS (Cortana 52%)
- Philadelphia Eagles at Kansas City Chiefs (-5.5) - CHIEFS (Elo 73%, Cortana 60%)
- New England Patriots (-6.5) at New Orleans Saints - PATRIOTS (Elo 64%, Cortana 69%)
- Minnesota Vikings at Pittsburgh Steelers (-5.5) - STEELERS (Elo 71%, Cortana 67%)
- Chicago Bears at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-7) - BUCS (Elo 76%, Cortana 70%)
- Miami Dolphins at Los Angeles Chargers (-4) - DOLPHINS (Elo 52%), CHARGERS (Cortana 66%)
- New York Jets at Oakland Raiders (-13.5) - RAIDERS (Elo 74%, Cortana 83%)
- Dallas Cowboys (-2) at Denver Broncos - BRONCOS (Elo 56%), COWBOYS (Cortana 61%)
- Washington Redskins at Los Angeles Rams (-2.5) - RAMS (Elo 55%, Cortana 52%)
- San Francisco 49ers at Seattle Seahawks (-14) - SEAHAWKS (Elo 84%, Cortana 84%)
- Green Bay Packers at Atlanta Falcons (-3) - FALCONS (Elo 63%, Cortana 63%)
MONDAY
- Detroit Lions at New York Giants (-3) - GIANTS (Elo 57%, Cortana 57%)