Caution is the order of the day and discretion is the better part of valor for the NFL Swarm headed into Week 4. Last week, the insight produced by the weekly gathering of football fans warned that while the Vikings were quite likely to beat the 17 point underdog Bills, the far better bet would Buffalo plus the points. But, apparently we’re living in a world where 17 point underdogs don’t simply cover, they win by 19 points. That kind of uncertainty should give any forecaster pause.

With that in mind, the NFL Swarm’s reluctance to assign “High Confidence” to even Straight Up predictions speaks to the AI system’s understanding that good judgment is about knowing what to make – and not make – a strong prediction. In fact, 10 of the 13 predictions on the Week 4 chart failed to meet the standards for a “Best Bet.”

With starter Jimmy Garoppolo recently sidelined with a torn ACL, quarterbacking duties for the 49ers now fall to his backup, C.J. Beathard, who was drafted in the 3rd round in 2017. Beathard was a star at Iowa and is being praised for his athleticism by the Chargers, but his relative lack of experience still has the NFL Swarm feeling like Sunday might not be his day. That’s as good a reason as any to roll with the Eagles this weekend.

As with its Straight Up picks, the Week 4 NFL Swarm was uncharacteristically restrained in its Against the Spread picks, but took caution one nearly unprecedented step further in deeming no game worthy of High Confidence. This reluctance is perhaps unsurprising after the tumult of Week 4, when most analysts would have been better off flipping a coin than relying on their own instincts and intuition. To that end, the NFL Swarm recommends that all picks be considered Proceed with Caution or High Risk until further notice.

Even in these uncertain times, the NFL Swarm is nevertheless obligated to select a pick of the week. In Week 4, that distinction was bestowed on the pick of Seattle -3 over the Arizona Cardinals. In the replay below, you can see why the pick was filed under “Proceed with Caution,” as the NFL Swarm seems equally sure that Seattle will cover as it does that the pick is made with Low, rather than High Confidence.

Unanimous AI invites you to participate in this weekly series of NFL predictions. You can join the growing community of football fans by following the link below. Unanimous is hosting weekly contests and Swarms to make forecasts for the upcoming matchups, and will be awarding prizes to the highest performers each week. 

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