And that’s that.

It was a moonshot anyway – I had to be correct on all seven of the games on which we differed to come out on top – but at least there was a chance. Alas, despite an excellent 13-3 record on the week, I was able to carve away just a single game from Stella’s lead, thanks to her own also-excellent record of 12-4. Thus, by a margin of five games, Stella is the 2020 Kibbles and Picks champion.

I did what I could – a blazing 46-18 in the final month – but it just wasn’t enough, leaving me to once more bow to the superior football picking acumen of my dog. For the sixth time in eight years, I tip my cap to Stella.

ALLEN’S PICKS

Week 17 record: 13-3

Season record: 162-93-1

STELLA’S PICKS

Week 17 record: 12-4

Season record: 167-88-1

Not exactly an auspicious beginning to our NFL postseason predictions, but it could have been worse.

I managed a mere 2-2 record, correctly picking the Colts and Cowboys as Wild Card winners and whiffing on my Ravens and Bears guesses. However, Stella did even worse – her sole correct pick was the Chargers, missing on the rest of the games.

Hm. So this is what hubris feels like.

My celebratory gloating following my triumph over Stella in the Wild Card round seems to have come back to give me a karmic bite on the behind. Our records for the Divisional Round were reversed – this time, it was Stella’s turn to go 3-1 and my turn to correctly pick just one single solitary game.

I think I always knew that this is how it would go down.

And with the postseason comes one more chance to salvage my self-respect and cling to the final shreds of my football-picking dignity.