Use your private code
Open Join, enter the code the commissioner gave you, and choose your display name.
The Field Guide
How to Play
One playbook for picks, kickoff locks, the reveal, and every page in the Cage.
On your phone: swipe the top navigation sideways or tap MORE › to reveal every page.
Start Here
Three steps into the Cage
No email address or app download required.
Create a passphrase
This is how you sign back in. Keep it somewhere safe; there is no email recovery.
Make this week's picks
Choose one winner per game on Picks. Each selection saves automatically.
Your Weekly Game Plan
From prediction to aftermath
Every deadline and reveal follows the individual game.
Make the call
Choose the current week's winners. Every selection saves automatically.
Kickoff locks it
Each game closes at its own kickoff. Later games stay editable.
The picks reveal
When a game begins, everyone can see who took each team.
The week settles
Final scores feed Standings, Stats, and the Weekly Recap.
Around the Cage
What every page is for
Commissioner Tools appears only for the commissioner.
The Concourse
Home
See this week's status and jump to every destination in the Cage.
The Play SheetPicks
Make current-week selections. Future weeks are schedule-only, and live games show compact ESPN win chances.
The RevealGame Day
Follow scores, your pick, ESPN's probability graph, and every pool pick revealed after kickoff.
The LadderStandings
Check overall rank, record, movement, best and worst weeks, and the Pitiful Spot.
The Film RoomStats
Study H2H, weekly Consensus, Tiebreakers, Week Results, and season-wide Streaks.
The AftermathWeekly Recap
Read the completed week's records, winner, notable performances, and damage report.
The PantheonFootball Gods
Meet the powers responsible for everything the box score cannot reasonably explain.
The Rulebook
The rules that matter
The server—not the countdown on your screen—enforces every deadline.
- Every game locks at its own scheduled kickoff, including Thursday, Friday, Saturday, international, Sunday, and Monday games.
- An early game locking never closes the later games. Change any selection until that matchup begins.
- Future weeks can be viewed but not picked. Past weeks stay available as an archive.
- Nobody can see another player's selection before that specific game kicks off.
- The tiebreaker is the predicted combined score of the final Monday-night game, or the week's final game when there is no Monday game.
- Going over does not disqualify a tiebreaker guess. The closest total wins, over or under.
- A missed game gives you no win and no loss. Making zero picks for the entire week triggers the no-show penalty.
- Canceled, abandoned, or no-contest games can be voided by the commissioner and removed from scoring.
Practice Cage is completely separate. It uses preseason games, has no buy-in or payouts, and none of its accounts, picks, standings, or stats transfer to the regular season.
FAQ
Quick answers
Tap a question to open it.
Did my picks save?
Yes. Each team selection autosaves and reports its status on the Picks page. If the network drops, a player-scoped local draft is retained and retried; Save All Now remains the manual backup.
Can I change Sunday picks after Thursday's game?
Yes. Locks are game by game. Thursday may be final while Sunday afternoon, Sunday night, and Monday remain editable until their own kickoffs.
Why can't I select a team?
You are either viewing a future or archived week, or that game's kickoff deadline has passed. Only the current week accepts picks.
Why can't I see everybody else's picks?
The reveal also happens game by game. Once a matchup kicks off, Game Day shows every locked pick for that game. Pregame selections remain private on the server.
How does the tiebreaker work?
Enter your predicted combined points for the final Monday-night game. On a week without Monday football, the final scheduled game is used instead. Closest total wins whether the guess is over or under, and it locks at that game's kickoff.
What does the Game Day graph mean?
It is ESPN's live win probability, shown from the perspective of your pick. It is not the percentage of Cage players who selected each team; the revealed Pool Picks below the graph show that split.
What happens when I miss a game or the whole week?
One missed game simply does not count as a win or loss for you. Zero picks for the entire week receives one fewer win than the worst full-slate player, never below zero, and is marked NS.
What if ESPN is delayed or a kickoff changes?
Your saved selection remains safe if live scores or probabilities briefly show Data Pending. A confirmed schedule change moves an unexpired deadline; once a game has locked, a later edit cannot reopen it. TBD games remain labeled until ESPN confirms the time.
I forgot my passphrase. What should I do?
There is no self-service reset yet. Contact the commissioner before creating another account so your original picks and record stay together.
Does Practice Cage count toward the regular season?
No. Practice is a separate preseason test pool with its own account, picks, standings, and statistics. Nothing transfers into the paid regular-season pool.
Ready for kickoff?
Open Picks if you are already signed in, or use Join / Sign In to enter the Cage.