It’s nice to feel a bit of pride in this space. Been a while.

I had a nice clean run in the Wild Card round, correctly picking five of the six winners – whiffing only on the Patriots, who as you’ll remember got their clocks absolutely cleaned by the Bills in Buffalo. Stella’s weekend was not as strong – she hit on the Bills but missed on both the Bengals and the Niners. Hence, my 5-1, her 3-3.

(Stella would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone – not that they need reminding – that the only title that matters is the regular season title. She will not be taking questions.)

Well … it could have been worse?

It will surprise no one to hear that Stella has once more triumphed in Kibbles and Picks, outpicking me for the seventh time in nine seasons. However, I was able to battle back from the frankly embarrassing 15-game deficit of a couple of weeks ago; thanks to two consecutive 12-4 weeks, I was able to regain a little bit of my dignity.

I mean, I still lost to a dog, so dignity is a bit thin on the ground, but I’ll take what I can get.

Here are our final records:

ALLEN

Week 18 record: 12-4

Season record: 165-106-1

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STELLA

Week 18 record: 8-8

Season record: 174-97-1

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That’s right, folks! I wound up losing by just nine games! I got that lead down into single digits! Barely, but it counts! Let’s hear it for moral victories!

It’s worth noting, however, that even with my late-season push toward respectability, this might be one of the most dominant performances that Stella has ever put up in Kibbles and Picks. Even with a bit of a fade at the end, Stella was correct on 64% of her picks, whereas I managed just 60.7% for the year.

It’s not over, but it’s over. A concession would not be out of place right now.

Look, I did well in Week 17 – 12-4 is a solid performance – but 12-4 isn’t nearly the sort of elite performance that I needed to make up real ground against Stella. But her 10-6 week means that I gained just two games – her lead sits at an all-but-unassailable 13 games.

Is it possible for me to catch Stella? Technically, yes – all I would have to do is correctly pick 13 more winners than her this week. Now, is that likely? Not in the slightest: I would have to have at worst one of my best-ever weeks and Stella would have to put up her all-time worst week (and by a fair bit, too).

And so, for Week 18, I have instead chosen a more mitigatory path.

I made a couple of reaches, but ultimately, we’re at odds on seven games. That’s the most reasonable number I could get to without taking some absolutely wild swings, so we’re crossing our fingers to basically only lose by single digits. That said, I’ll also tack on some unofficial picks at the end as a non-canonical stab at an actual win.

Well … I suppose that’s that.

The combination of my utterly mediocre 8-8 Week 16 and Stella’s frankly mind-blowing 14-2 means that we’re pretty much done here. That’s all she wrote. Stella’s lead is up to 15 games, and with just two weeks remaining, it seems awfully unlikely that I’ll be able to take the power back.

Basically, I’m hoping that I can get her lead back down into the single digits before the season is over. If things stay as they are, this will be the largest margin of victory Stella has ever put up in all our years of Kibbles and Picks. And hey – she’s not even done with me yet.

We’re looking at seven games in which we differ here in the season’s penultimate week. Seven. So basically, if I get all of these right … I’ll still be eight games behind with a week to play. And considering how things have gone for me in recent weeks, getting all of them right feels pretty unlikely. Even so – that’s why they play the games.

Time is slowly running out for me.

I performed perfectly well in Week 15 – I went 10-6 in my picks – but Stella did me one better, landing at 11-5 for the week. That allows her to gain yet another game, putting her lead at nine with just three weeks left in the regular season. At this point, getting beaten by double-digits feels considerably more likely than any kind of significant comeback.

We’re at odds on seven games this week, so I suppose I could make some progress, but let’s be real – we all know how this is going to play out. The truth is that if I can keep her lead under 10 for the season, I’ll be satisfied. Moral victories are still victories, after all. Right?

Right?

Ah yes – I was overdue for a spinning my wheels week.

Despite a strong 11-4 record in Week 14, I was unable to make even the slightest dent in Stella’s lead; she too went 11-4, leaving her eight games ahead with just four weeks left. If I’m going to make a move, I’d better do it soon.

I’ve got a shot at making some movement happen this week – we’ve got a full slate of games and Stella and I differ on seven of them. In an odd quirk, only three of those games will actually take place on Sunday – we’re at odds on the Thursday game, both Saturday contests and Monday Night Football.

As to what direction said movement takes, well … we’ll just have to wait and see.

And the rout is on?

With a 10-4 Week 13, Stella put another two games between us – her lead is all the way up to eight games. Counting this one, I’ve got four weeks to make up that gap. I’m not sure it’s enough time (it certainly won’t be if I keep putting up 8-6 records).

Once again, we’re at odds on six of this week’s games. Even if I nail them all, I can’t fully make up the difference in the standings, but it sure would be a start. Meanwhile, Stella could essentially cement a win with a big week here.

Oof. I am not doing well.

After yet another sub-.500 week out of me – that’s two in the last three, if you’re counting – I continue to fall behind Stella. Her sturdy 9-6 is the reverse of my unfortunate record, meaning that she has doubled her season lead to six. That’s a pretty big hurdle for me to clear with just a few weeks left.

Of course, since we’re at odds in six games in Week 13, I could potentially erase her entire lead and we could be back to even. Not likely – especially considering my recent performance – but possible. Or, and this feels more plausible, Stella can add to her already considerable advantage.

Ah yes – this is more like it.

Stella has expanded her lead by another two games following a solid 10-5 performance in Week 11. I, on the other hand, landed at just 8-7; above .500, but just barely.

Let’s be real – it’s what we all expected. This is how it was always going to go. Sure, it took a little longer for us to get to this place than it has in the past, but Stella is giving every indication of putting her paw to the pedal and giving this thing the gas until I am left choking in the dust.

Could I mount a comeback? It’s possible, of course – there’s plenty of season left and we’re at odds on seven games just this week – but is it probable? Not so much – we’ve got years of empirical evidence that would seem to indicate that Stella’s lead is only going to steadily increase until we reach season’s end and I accept my exceedingly familiar fate.

Still – never say never, right?

And at the halfway point – ish – of the 2021 season, I find myself … in the lead?

Yep. I’m as surprised as you are.

Now, it’s not like it’s a big lead. I outpicked Stella by just one last week – 8-6 to 7-7 – to inch ahead from our two-week tie. It seems as though I am deriving a bit more benefit from the unpredictability that we’ve seen so far this season. Basically, what I’m saying is that I’ve been lucky.

We’ll see if that luck continues here in Week 10. Stella and I are at odd in six of the week’s contests, which certainly allows for some significant movement in our respective records. I can’t shake the feeling that Stella’s sandbagging a little bit, trying to lull me into a false sense of security before really dropping the hammer.

Anyway – let’s see what we’ve got.