After three weeks of trying to help you out by giving you our football picks, two things are for sure: you should not trust a quarterback on a team coached by Herman Edwards and, if you want to do well in your own leagues, you certainly should not be making the same picks we are.

The first few weeks of the NFL season have provided plenty of excitement.

The AFC has given little in the way of surprises, with Cincinnati and Indianapolis still undefeated, though not many would have expected the Steelers, Chiefs and Dolphins to be below .500. The Texans, Titans and Raiders have no wins, so we know that things are mostly normal.

In the NFC, the Saints have been the biggest surprise, at 3-0 following last night’s game at the Superdome, which was certainly a great night for all in Louisiana, especially given the outcome. Those New Orleans fans looking for someone to thank for their newfound offensive spark can send Hallmark cards to the Texans for choosing Mario Williams with the first overall pick in the draft. Carolina and Dallas have been slow out of the gate as both teams have battled injuries, and Detroit still has no wins, so their streak of consistency remains intact.

Our weekly picks have been as inconsistent as Carl Pavano’s reasons for landing on the disabled list, but there is competition at the top of the leader board.

Assistant sports editors Evan Drellich and L.J. Spaet are tied with 40 points a piece, L.J. with a 7-5 record, Evan standing at 6-6.

Former sports editor and current Englishman Sean Lishansky, who has been sending in his picks via trans-Atlantic telegram, has a solid 25 points, despite his 4-4 record and joining the game a week late. Current sports editor Mark Macyk has shown that he is better at writing recaps than telling the future; he is 3-9 with a grand total of zero points.

There is still plenty of time for everyone to kick their games into high gear. Slow starts are no match for this crew, as L.J. had -5 points after week one but finds himself at the top of the leader board entering week four. In addition, the spread continues to play tricks on some of us; the initial celebration of knowing we picked games correctly goes by the wayside as we check the line and see that our intuitions were only half there.

Still plenty of the season left, and more time for us to steer you the wrong way on Friday afternoons. We’ll see you then.

Standings

L.J.: 7-5, 40 points

Evan: 6-6, 40 points

Sean: 4-4, 25 points

Mark: 3-9, 0 points

With all of us picking a lock, an upset and two other games every week, why shouldn’t we make the scoring crazy too? The scoring works like this:

The lock is worth five points if you get it right, but a five point deduction if you get it wrong. The upset is worth 10 if you get it right, and no points are taken away if you miss the mark. Finally, both other games are worth five if you get it right, and no points are taken away if you get those wrong. And don’t forget that the spread counts; if it didn’t, L.J. would be 10-2. But he can’t do math anyway.

Trends

Mark: 0-3 on his locks and 0-3 on his upset picks.

L.J.: In three of his five losses, he picked the right team but the victor didn’t cover the spread.

Evan: The only player to make picks since week one and not be in the red at least once.

Sean: He was bored in England, so we decided to let him play.