![[OC] Impact of every Week 8 game on Jaguars playoff odds.](https://www.rawchili.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/1761138665_606_-PbviYgSRs1ELvJEEVb3NMD8SaF9nn_7swq2wFZIHik-1600x1024.png)
I ran 5 million Monte Carlo simulations of the season to figure out what the playoff implications of every week 8 game are.
The Jaguars current odds to make the playoffs are 52.7%.
- MIN @ LAC is the first most impactful week 8 game for you guys. If the Vikings win, your playoff odds go up by 2.0%. If the Chargers win your playoff odds go down by 1.3%.
- DAL @ DEN is the second most impactful week 8 game for you guys. If the Cowboys win, your playoff odds go up by 2.0%. If the Broncos win your playoff odds go down by 1.3%.
- TEN @ IND is the third most impactful game with a total impact of 2.9%. Your playoff odds go up if the Titans win.
I also made a website and posted the full results there. I'll update it every week with the upcoming games. Here's the data:
| Game | Optimal Winner | Impact Δ | If Win | If Lose | Game Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MIN @ LAC | MIN | 3.3% | +2.0% | -1.3% | Thu 10/23 8:15 PM ET |
| DAL @ DEN | DAL | 3.2% | +2.0% | -1.3% | Sun 10/26 4:25 PM ET |
| TEN @ IND | TEN | 2.9% | +2.6% | -0.3% | Sun 10/26 4:25 PM ET |
| CLE @ NE | CLE | 2.5% | +1.9% | -0.6% | Sun 10/26 1:00 PM ET |
| SF @ HOU | SF | 2.5% | +1.1% | -1.3% | Sun 10/26 1:00 PM ET |
| NYJ @ CIN | NYJ | 1.6% | +1.2% | -0.4% | Sun 10/26 1:00 PM ET |
| CHI @ BAL | CHI | 1.4% | +1.0% | -0.4% | Sun 10/26 1:00 PM ET |
| BUF @ CAR | CAR | 1.2% | +1.0% | -0.3% | Sun 10/26 1:00 PM ET |
| GB @ PIT | GB | 1.1% | +0.4% | -0.7% | Sun 10/26 8:20 PM ET |
| WSH @ KC | WSH | 0.8% | +0.6% | -0.1% | Mon 10/27 8:15 PM ET |
| MIA @ ATL | ATL | 0.1% | +0.0% | -0.1% | Sun 10/26 1:00 PM ET |
| TB @ NO | NO | 0.1% | +0.0% | -0.0% | Sun 10/26 4:05 PM ET |
| NYG @ PHI | NYG | 0.0% | +0.0% | -0.0% | Sun 10/26 1:00 PM ET |
I use this data as a rooting guide for the 1-3 games each week where I don't already know who I want to win.
If you want to see the details of my methodology for the Monte Carlo simulations, look here.
You can also see which teams are rooting for and against you this week here.
There's also a What-If Tool where you can pick winners and losers of any games this season and recalculate your odds.
2 comments
I go into more detail on the [Methodology](https://footballsensei.com/methodology) page, but here is a summary of the model:
I use Elo scores to represent relative team strength. For each game in the season I calculate win/loss odds based on the Elo of the two teams plus an adjustment for home field advantage. I do a Monte Carlo simulation of the season 5 million times and analyze the results.
To get the start of season Elo ratings I combine 2 approaches. The first approach is taking the Elo score for each team from the end of last season and regressing it slightly towards the mean to account for offseason changes. The second approach is using Vegas total season win odds to infer an Elo.
Elo updates during the season based on wins and losses in the standard way. To account for mid-season injuries and trades, I do a final adjustment to Elo each week based on the Vegas game lines. If Vegas has different game odds than what results from my Elo calculations, I adjust Elo to better match the Vegas lines, with a bias towards Elo reduction since the biggest changes are usually from injuries.
Awesome! I haven’t touched stats since college — why are wins more beneficial to our chances than losses are damaging? Like the most impactful wins swing us up by >2% but most impactful loss only damages us by 1.3%