Zoltar is my NFL football prediction computer program. It uses a neural network and a type of quasi-reinforcement learning. Here are Zoltar’s predictions for week #7 of the 2026 season.

Zoltar:    patriots  by    0  opp =       bears    | Vegas:       bears  by  3.5
Zoltar:    steelers  by    5  opp =      saints    | Vegas:    steelers  by  2.5
Zoltar: fortyniners  by    4  opp =     falcons    | Vegas: fortyniners  by  3.5
Zoltar:    panthers  by    6  opp =  buccaneers    | Vegas:    panthers  by  3.5
Zoltar:      texans  by    7  opp =      giants    | Vegas:      texans  by  9.5
Zoltar:     vikings  by    8  opp =       colts    | Vegas:     vikings  by  5.5
Zoltar:        jets  by    1  opp =    dolphins    | Vegas:        jets  by  5.5
Zoltar:      browns  by    1  opp =      titans    | Vegas:      browns  by  1.5
Zoltar:      ravens  by    6  opp =     bengals    | Vegas:      ravens  by  2.5
Zoltar:     broncos  by    7  opp =   cardinals    | Vegas:     broncos  by  3.5
Zoltar:       lions  by    1  opp =     packers    | Vegas:       lions  by  3.5
Zoltar:        rams  by    2  opp =     raiders    | Vegas:        rams  by  5.5
Zoltar:    seahawks  by    6  opp =      chiefs    | Vegas:    seahawks  by  2.5
Zoltar:      eagles  by    6  opp =     cowboys    | Vegas:     cowboys  by  4.5

Zoltar theoretically suggests betting when the Vegas line is “significantly” different from Zoltar’s prediction. In mid-season I typically use a relatively large 4.5 points difference as the advice threshold criterion.

For week #7, using 4.5 points as the threshold, Zoltar likes only the Vegas underdog Eagles against the Cowboys:

cowboys      at       eagles: Bet on Vegas underdog eagles

This does not take into account the fact that the Eagles quarterback was diagnosed with blood clots in his lungs and will not play. So, some human intuition would be required for this bet to be made or not.

A bet on the underdog Eagles against the Cowboys will pay off if the Eagles win by any score, or if the favored Cowboys win but by less than 6.5 points (in other words, by 6 points or less). If a favored team wins by exactly the point spread, the wager is a push. This is why point spreads often have a 0.5 added — called “the hook” – to avoid ties.

This is an interesting part of the season for Zoltar. Zoltar has enough data to start getting more accurate, but humans have a lot of information too, including injuries, team chemistry, and so on.

Theoretically, if you must bet $110 to win $100 (typical in Vegas) then you’ll make money if you predict at 53% accuracy or better. But realistically, you need to predict at 60% accuracy or better, to take into account things like overhead and miscellaneous errors.

In week #6, against the Vegas point spread, Zoltar went 2-1 using a conservative 4.5 points as the advice threshold).

For the season, against the spread, Zoltar is 12-6 (66% accuracy).

Just for fun, I track how well Zoltar does when just trying to predict just which team will win a game. This isn’t useful except for parlay betting. In week #6, just predicting the winning team, Zoltar went only 6-5 (with 3 games too close to call) which is not good. Vegas was 8-6 at just predicting the winning team.

Football has been popular in the U.S. for a long time. Here are two old pinball style games that have a football theme.

Right: “Army-Navy” by Rock-Ola (1934). This was an amazing, purely mechanical (no electricity) game. A ball is launched into the top playing surface where it drops into a hole that scores yards for Army or Navy. The yellow ball-marker on the lower playing field automatically moves the associated number of yards. When the ball-marker reaches an end zone, 7 points are scored for the appropriate team. Fascinating!