2008 weekly results

  1. Week 1 — Everything old is new again.
  2. Week 2 — Hut, hut, Ike!
  3. Week 3 — Keep it simple.
  4. Week 4 — Sean prevails in "Bay of Pigskins" split.
  5. Week 5 — Hey, the "Chaos Kid" has got game.
  6. Week 6 — Father knows best... sort of.
  7. Week 7 — In a league of his own.
  8. Week 8 — Tricky pundit treats himself to frightfully big lead.
  9. Week 9 — Gehlke Bros.' favorite son wins another round at the polls.
  10. Week 10 — Silver and blacked out.
  11. Week 11 — Fit to be tied.
  12. Week 12 — The road to riches: Desperate Bros slash deficit against Chaos Kid.
  13. Week 13 — What happened to Home Field Advantage?
  14. Week 14 — You can go home again.
  15. Week 15 — Bros get even, but Chaos still reigns.
  16. Week 16 — He could go all the way.
  17. Week 17 — A championship finale for the ages.

A championship finale for the ages

Like the 60-yard field goal that just sneaks across the uprights... like Brett Favre engineering one of his famous game-winning drives — in the final 30 seconds of regulation... like the San Diego Chargers coming back from oblivion to win the AFC West...

That is how we will remember the Junior Bro's stunning comeback to capture the 2008 Gehlke Bros. Football championship.

Erasing what at one point had been a 12-game deficit to the Chaos Kid, Sean put together a sizzling 14-2 record in Week 17 to put the exclamation point on a turnaround for the ages, missing out only on Carolina's last-second road victory in New Orleans and Oakland's upsetting of Tampa Bay. Those losses proved to be harmless blemishes on Sean's Super Sunday that saw him win every meaningful split.

The Senior Bro, trailing Sean by a game and reeling from five straight losing weeks, needed some luck and a couple of upsets in hopes of regaining the Surfy Trophy. But luck was all on Sean's side. Indianapolis had enough firepower despite resting its stars to shut out Tennessee and leave Glenn in a must-win situation for the three remaining splits. None of his picks complied. Sean clinched his fourth straight title when San Francisco kicked a game-winning field goal for a 27-24 win over visiting Washington. Seattle could do no better in a 34-21 loss at NFC West champion Arizona.

But it was the last of those games — Miami at the New York Jets — that was the Junior Bro's crowning moment. He'd already won the Chicago-Houston contest against Ben, and after San Francisco's win he needed just one more victory to not only clinch the Surfy, but also the best overall record for the season. He did just that when the Jets ran out of razzle-dazzle on the game's desperate final play and the Dolphins won the AFC East 24-17.

It was a masterful finale by the most successful Bro in Gehlke Bros. Football history, proving again why he has won eight of the past 10 years.

Ben and Glenn were no match for Sean's 14-2 performance. Ben was a solid 11-5, while Glenn finished at 10-6. Our mutual correct predictions included Atlanta, Cincinnati, New England, Green Bay, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Philadelphia and San Diego. We all missed the wins by Carolina and Oakland.

So that's about it. The Surfy Trophy presentation will be acknowledged in February. But first, a few season-ending statistics:

WIN-LOSS-TIE: No thanks to the Eagles and Bengals, the Bros put together solid prediction numbers this season, although lower than in 2007. Sean was 166-89-1 (65.0%) vs. 169-87 (66.0%) a year ago. Glenn was 161-94-1 (63.1%) vs. 167-89 (65.2%) in 2007. Ben gets the prize for the best turnaround, finishing at 165-90-1 (64.6%), or a 31.5-game improvement from last year's 134-122 (52.3%).

BROTHERLY SPLITS: The Surfy Trophy comes down to which Bro can win the most split predictions in the course of a season. In 2008, Glenn and Sean split 49 games, with Sean winning 27 of them and Glenn the other 22. That continues the trend of more agreement, as we were down from the 50 splits of 2007, 54 of 2006 and 56 of 2005. We hit a season high of 7 splits in Week 2, and there was at least one split every week. We split an even number of games in eight weeks and an odd number in nine.

WEEKLY RESULTS: Sean captured the majority of the weekly victories, winning outright 5 times and tying 5 times. Ben had a record of 6 wins, 2 ties. Glenn had 1 win, 3 ties.

BESTS AND WORSTS: Sean's 14-2 in Week 17 was not only his best for the week, but also the best overall for the season. His low point was a 7-8 finish in Week 2. Glenn saw his best of 11-3 twice, in Weeks 9 and 10. The Senior Bro's worst was 8-8 in Week 16. Ben hit 12-2 in Week 9, but he was just 7-9 in Weeks 12 and 16 — the lowest anyone finished in any week this season.

ANATOMY OF A COMEBACK: The 2008 season was really two separate stories. The first half was dominated by Ben, who between Weeks 4 and 9 went from a 2-game deficit to leading Glenn by 8 games and Sean by 12. Starting in Week 10, however, Sean hit the afterburners and won or tied in each of the remaining weeks while Ben stumbled down the stretch. In the battle for the Surfy, Glenn's largest lead was 4 games in Week 9. Sean's largest was 5 games in the final week. Ben's largest advantage in the season standings was 8 games in Week 9. His largest deficit was 2 games in Weeks 3 and 4.

That's all the stats for now as we put the 2008 season to bed. Read our NawFuL Notes blog for updates between now and the start of the 2009 season next September, and join us for the Surfy presentation following the Stupor Bore on Feb. 1.