Who Will Win Washington vs. New York Giants? A.I. Predicts
Last chance to see a pair of franchise quarterbacks.
The New York Giants and Washington are finishing up different flavors of disappointing season, one a flaming crash and the other a slow fizzle. Sunday’s game may just be for pride, but it also could be a double goodbye to both team’s franchise quarterbacks. A hive mind of about 30 NFL fans predicts Washington will win.
So sure, maybe it’s cheating a little bit to compare Kirk Cousins to Eli Manning quite so directly. The younger Manning won two Super Bowls during his time with New York, making him still the only quarterback to best Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, and the New England Patriots in the championship. He wasn’t the same kind of all-time great as his brother Peyton, but that’s a hell of a legacy. Cousins has only been Washington’s full-time starter for three seasons, but he’s been the team’s most promising signal caller in years, and the team has repeatedly had to use the franchise tag to keep him, so, yeah, franchise quarterback he is. But with the Giants rebuilding and Washington likely unwilling to pay Cousins’s ever-escalating mandated salary, this is likely the final game for both players in their current uniforms.
From their game earlier this season.
To predict the result of this and other games, Unanimous A.I. used what’s known as swarm intelligence to forecast the week’s slate. About 30 NFL fans worked together as a hive mind to make picks. As you can see in the animation below, each participant controlled a little golden magnet and used it to drag the puck toward the answer they thought was the most likely outcome. As the users saw the puck move toward a particular outcome, it triggers a psychological response. They readjust their decision-making, building toward a consensus. Here’s Unanimous A.I. founder Louis Rosenberg explaining swarm intelligence at a recent TEDx Talk.
Unanimous A.I. has made some scarily accurate predictions in the past using swarm intelligence, as our previous article explains. For instance, the swarm went a perfect 7-0 in its most recommended picks for an English Premier League slate earlier this season.
The swarm predicts Washington will win with high confidence and 77 percent brainpower.
The hive mind likes Washington to win by four six points, again with 77 percent brainpower. The Vegas line has Washington by 3.5 points.
The game kicks off 1 p.m. Eastern Sunday on Fox.
