I just finished watching the Broncos get throttled by the Patriots. I spent most of the game thinking, "boy, I really was smart for predicting that the Patriots would throttle the Broncos. Which felt good because yesterday I discovered that I couldn't pick a game if it was up my nose, which, now that I think about it, would probably also feel good. I also spent about ten minutes during the 4th quarter finishing The Tombs of Atuan, but then I went right back to thinking about how smart I was.

Then I came out here to input the scores, and as I got down to where my score was, the imaginary Jon Stewart in my head played an imaginary clip on his imaginary Daily Show and did a hilarious Jerry Lewis impersonation at my expense because I actually predicted that the game would end 24-26. He does that sometimes. He knows that I love his Jerry Lewis.

And then the imaginary Colbert Report came on, and things got really goofy (he eventually made imaginary fun of the rest of you for also missing the ball on that one)..

But then I had to get down to business. I knew that wjackalope was getting impatient, and contrary to the brash, manly front that I usually put up, deep down I really just want him to be happy. Or something. Whatever sounds good.

Anyway, I'll give you the short version. Stuff happened. People scored. Others didn't. And freecreditreport.com died and stopped making commercials. Or maybe that part was imaginary, too....

49ers @ New York Giants

1. JerseyNinerFan (2)
2. Josh from Hollywood, groug (4)
3. wjackalope, Vote4Gore (6)

Seattle @ Tampa Bay

1. SuperFly (0) - That's the smell of perfection you smell! That, and whatever you're sitting in.
2. illini49er (2)
3. shlecko (6)

Denver @ New England

1. Ninerfromacrossthepond (28)
2. JerseyNinerFan, sfgfan, good as gold, Jush from Hollywood, howtheyscored (34)
3. CB30, 49erLou, 408 (40)

New Orleans @ Carolina

1. Number22Drew, sancho8297, UnleashTheGore (20)
2. wjackalope, jtoj (26)
3. sfgfan, good as gold, Mike Hawk (34)

Baltimore @ Miami

1. Niners_Are_The_NFL, Niner Fan Lost in WI (6)
2. albertoleecho (14)
3. youngbuckeroo, StrictlyFootball (18)

Indianapolis @ Green Bay

1. sfgfan, shlecko (12)
2. groug (14)
3. wjackalope (18)

Which makes our week 7 leaderboard look like this:

1. wjackalope – 35
2. albertoleecho – 24
2. Niner Fan Lost in WI – 24
4. marcello – 19
4. StrictlyFootball – 19
6. 49erLou – 18
6. good as gold – 18
6. proudcanadian99 – 18
9. howtheyscored – 17
10. Ninerfromacrossthepond – 16
10. sfgfan – 16
10. SuperFly – 16
13. Vote4Gore – 15
14. illini49er – 14
14. Josh from Hollywood – 14
14. jtoj – 14
14. Mike Hawk – 14
18. bayboy – 13
18. Number22Drew – 13
20. 408 – 12
20. CB30 – 12
20. Fooch – 12
20. groug – 12
20. JerseyNinerFan – 12
20. Netsky – 12
20. sam23 – 12
27. youngbuckeroo – 11
28. montasmob69 – 9
28. mojorisin’ – 9
28. Ninjames – 9
28. ro128487 – 9
32. sancho8297 – 7
32. shlecko – 7
34. PHUT! – 6
34. UnleashTheGore – 6
36. etb2 – 5
36. gatling – 5
36. J2daZ – 5
39. Ali4President – 4
39. camwoody – 4
41. Niners_Are_The_NFL – 3
41. Rishi – 3
41. The Golden One – 3
44. Ceradecke – 2
44. KingofDucks1987 – 2
46. DiegoAsFan – 1
46. jfainsf49 – 1

It's been a few weeks, but we finally got another perfect score! Props to SuperFly, who went from 31st to 10th in one broad stroke. Another testament to the power of one good prediction. Others stand as examples of the power of many good predictions. wjackalope scored in 3 games this week to achieve the great achievement of being the first to 35! What an achiever! (hope you don't mind that light ribbing, alberto - it was mostly at my own expense, anyway).

But speaking of albertoleecho: after what seemed like 5 or 6 really good weeks in a row, the guy finally laid an egg. On the one hand, he's still holding onto second place, but on the other hand, he's given up ground on Niner Fan Lost in WI's own surge, and the two are now tied.

Some old standbys had nice weeks. I know sfgfan and Josh from Hollywood were waiting for the chance to pick up a few spots, and both make up at least 7 places in the standings this week, sfgfan rising to the cream of the top ten.

And continuing to barely hang onto the scores that we lucked into during the first few weeks are me and Fooch. I mean, hey Fooch, what the hell?

[EDIT] - And by "popular" demand: http://www.ninersnation.com/2008/10/14/635412/week-6-prediction-games-th