Microsoft Cortana is red-hot — here are its picks for Week 14 of the NFL
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Microsoft Cortana — a virtual assistant predicting the outright winner of every NFL game on Bing — has been red hot in recent weeks, and Week 13 was no exception.
The algorithm, which gained popularity for its correct predictions during the 2014 World Cup, went 12-3 last week to improve to 116-74 (61%) on the season.
Over the past three weeks, Cortana has gone 11-2, 12-4, and 12-3. It's been a blistering stretch, and as the regular season winds down, we'll be following along closely to see how this season compares to seasons past.
Last week, Cortana's three misses came in three home upsets. Both Cortana and Vegas liked the Chargers, Saints, and Falcons on their home fields, but all three teams went down to teams in the playoff hunt.
This week, Cortana and Vegas mostly agree, with one notable exception: Sunday night's game between the Cowboys and the Giants. The Cowboys, winners of 11 straight, are three-point Vegas favorites, whereas Cortana gives the Giants the slight edge. Frankly, it's hard to understand why.
Elsewhere, Cortana likes the Chiefs at home over the Raiders, the Titans at home over the Broncos, and the Patriots in New England against the Ravens.
As always, Cortana picks only the outright winner of each game. It does not make picks against the spread, though we like to include the point spread (in parentheses, courtesy of Vegas Insider) for comparison. You can find Cortana's predictions by searching "NFL schedule" on Bing (picks made before the Thursday night game).
Here are Cortana's Week 14 picks:
- Oakland Raiders at Kansas City Chiefs (-3) — Chiefs 66% chance to win
- Denver Broncos at Tennessee Titans (-1) — Titans 60% chance to win
- San Diego Chargers at Carolina Panthers (-1) — Panthers 61% chance to win
- Houston Texans at Indianapolis Colts (-6) — Colts 61% chance to win
- Cincinnati Bengals (-6) at Cleveland Browns — Bengals 74% chance to win
- Pittsburgh Steelers (-2) at Buffalo Bills — Steelers 52% chance to win
- Arizona Cardinals at Miami Dolphins (-1) — Dolphins 64% chance to win
- Chicago Bears at Detroit Lions (-8) — Lions 80% chance to win
- Minnesota Vikings (-3.5) at Jacksonville Jaguars — Vikings 66% chance to win
- New Orleans Saints at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-2.5) — Buccaneers 60% chance to win
- Washington Redskins (-1) at Philadelphia Eagles — Redskins 53% chance to win
- New York Jets at San Francisco 49ers (-2.5) — 49ers 52% chance to win
- Seattle Seahawks (-3) at Green Bay Packers — Seahawks 58% chance to win
- Atlanta Falcons (-6) at Los Angeles Rams — Falcons 64% chance to win
- Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants (+3) — Giants 53% chance to win
- Baltimore Ravens at New England Patriots (-7) — Patriots 80% chance to win