Riding the emotional roller coaster
| Week 1 results | ||||
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| 12-4 12-4 |
10-6 10-6 |
11-5 11-5 |
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| Thursday, September 4, 2025 | ||||
| Dallas @ Philadelphia | Philadelphia | Philadelphia | Philadelphia | |
| Friday, September 5, 2025 | ||||
| Kansas City @ L.A. Chargers (Sao Paulo) | Kansas City | Kansas City | Kansas City | |
| Sunday, September 7, 2025 | ||||
| Las Vegas @ New England | New England | Las Vegas | Las Vegas | |
| Pittsburgh @ N.Y. Jets | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh | N.Y. Jets | |
| Miami @ Indianapolis | Miami | Indianapolis | Miami | |
| Arizona @ New Orleans | Arizona | Arizona | Arizona | |
| N.Y. Giants @ Washington | Washington | Washington | Washington | |
| Carolina @ Jacksonville | Jacksonville | Jacksonville | Jacksonville | |
| Cincinnati @ Cleveland | Cincinnati | Cincinnati | Cincinnati | |
| Tampa Bay @ Atlanta | Tampa Bay | Atlanta | Tampa Bay | |
| Tennessee @ Denver | Denver | Denver | Denver | |
| San Francisco @ Seattle | San Francisco | Seattle | San Francisco | |
| Detroit @ Green Bay | Green Bay | Detroit | Detroit | |
| Houston @ L.A. Rams | L.A. Rams | Houston | Houston | |
| Baltimore @ Buffalo | Baltimore | Buffalo | Buffalo | |
| Monday, September 8, 2025 | ||||
| Minnesota @ Chicago | Minnesota | Chicago | Minnesota | |
| © 2025 Gehlke Bros. Football | ||||
If Week 1 was any indication, strap in and get ready for a wild ride as the Bros embark on the 2025 NawFuL Season. And if the Senior Bro hopes to scratch that “seven-year itch” and shake off his longest championship drought in GBF history, he got a solid if not easily achieved leg up thanks to 8 splits right out of the gate.
About the last thing our professional amateur prognosticators would hope for is to split half the games on opening weekend, especially when we’ve been blissfully ignoring the preseason and have absolutely no freaking clue who’s hot and who’s snot. But when you’re grasping at straws and assessing the odds, sometimes taking the conservative approach doesn’t result in a conservative outcome.
Sunday morning saw a trio of splits that seemed destined to set the tone of the week, if not the entire season. Sean won a laugher in Indy with the Colts trouncing the Dolphins, 33-8. Then it was the Raiders behind new ancient coach Pete Carroll (officially now the oldest ever in the league) winning on the road in New England, 20-13, for the first time since 1994 (when our own King Chaos was but a wee young prince.) It was only by fate that Glenn’s late scratch of his Atlanta pick in favor of Tampa Bay saved him, when the Bucs came from behind and Falcons kicker Younghoe Koo missed a potential game-tying field goal in regulation that gave the Buccaneers a 23-20 road victory.
That split ignited something bigger for the Senior Bro, as he went on to sweep the afternoon slate that included Green Bay taking down Detroit, 27-13, the Rams outlasting the visiting Texans, 14-9, and the 49ers overcoming injuries and a shaky place kicker to come back and defeat their division nemesis Seahawks in Seattle, 17-13. (The Junior Bro didn’t like having to pick against his Niners, but he said he’d willingly accept the L if it meant the team won. So there was that silver lining.)
While Glenn suddenly found himself in the pick safe zone, having won the requisite four splits to guarantee at least a tie for the week, he naturally had his hopes set on more. With the Sunday Night Game between two powerhouse teams — the Ravens and Bills — anything seemed possible. And as it turned out, it was. Playing on the road and seeking to avenge their playoff loss to their hosts just eight months earlier, the Ravens dominated early behind the running game of QB Lamar Alexander and standout RB Derrick Henry, going up by 15 points with less than 12 minutes remaining in the 4th quarter. But when a Henry fumble resulted in a turnover, the Bills stampeded back behind the expert moves of QB Josh Allen, and K Matt Prater sealed the comeback with the game-winner as time expired, 41-40. For Glenn it was a devastating defeat, and for Sean a desperately needed win that might have saved his season.
The Senior Bro found himself on the other side of the devastation/jubilation equation on Monday night, however, when the Vikings shrugged off a slow start against the Bears and dominated the 4th quarter behind rookie QB J.J. McCarthy, scoring three straight touchdowns to turn an 11-point deficit into a 10-point advantage with time running down. They held on for a 27-24 victory that gave Glenn a 2-game lead in the Surfy standings
Glenn won the week with a 12-4 record, while Ben took second at 11-5. Sean was third at 10-6. We were all correct with our picks of Philadelphia, Arizona, Washington, Jacksonville, Cincinnati, and Denver. The only game everyone missed was the Chargers prevailing over the Chiefs in Brazil.
