Super Bowl to pit Chiefs vs. Eagles, dog improves to 11-1 on NFL picks

Luna the Dog, a 7-year-old Maltipoo, entered the weekend licking her wounds.

Now she's 11-1 in the USA TODAY Sports playoff pick 'em contest after the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Washington Redskins in the NFC championshp game and the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Buffalo Bills in the AFC championship game Sunday.

While the Chiefs will be aiming for a Super Bowl three-peat, Luna is seeking to earn canine glory -- and treats.

The dog’s unblemished start in the contest pitting Man vs. Machine vs. Dog ended at 8-0 last weekend when the Eagles beat the Los Angeles Rams in a divisional playoff game. (Her howling in the final, excruciating seconds of that game was almost intolerable.)

She was 9-1 after the divisional round of the playoffs and still led her competition: a computer-run statistical model devised by Kostas Pelechrinis, an associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh, and USA TODAY Sports NFL reporters Jarrett Bell and Tyler Dragon.

“Still anyone's game!’’ reports David Glidden, who devised the scoring system.

But Luna moved in position to win the contest after after the Eagles and Chiefs prevailed. Her fate could come down to the Super Bowl matchup between the Eagles and Chiefs, who are seeking to become the first team in NFL history to win three consecutive Super Bowls.

Bring it on!

Our experts' results, NFL playoff picks

How the 'machine' and Luna make their picks

Want more? See these data-driven hot picks

The scoring system

Devised by NFL predictions expert David Glidden, it will work like this:

Each week, the competitors will turn in full brackets with picks for games in every round, including the Super Bowl. A perfect bracket from start to finish would earn 1,000 points, but competitors likely will have to adjust those brackets week to week.

Thirty points will be earned for each team correctly picked to win a wild card game, 35 points for a Divisional round game, 50 points for a Conference championship game and 75 points for the Super Bowl.

Then we’ll have an official winner and the answer to our burning question: Is it Man, Machine or Dog who we can trust most with NFL playoff predictions?

Let the games and predictions begin!

Odds for Sunday's playoff games

Below are BetMGM's betting lines for next weekend's games as of Thursday morning. A plus before the number signifies the amount a bettor would win on a $100 bet. A minus signifies the amount a bettor must bet to win $100.

Washington Commanders (+240) at Philadelphia Eagles (-300) favored by 6 points

Buffalo Bills (+110) at Kansas City Chiefs (-130) favored by 2 points

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Super Bowl matchup set as dog improves to 11-1 on NFL picks