There are millions of people out there who play in NFL survivor pools. These are very popular at work and at sports bars from around the country.
The object is to pick one winner a week and to be the last person standing. Different pools have different rules.
Some will only allow you to pick a team once, while others let you pick a team multiple times. Also, some are single-loss elimination, while others allow you to have multiple losses before you can be eliminated.
I am going to go through every week and list six teams that are worth a look in your survivor pool. I will separate them by Tier 1 (two best options), Tier 2 (3rd & 4th best options), and Tier 3 (5th & 6th best options).
For those of you who can only pick a team once throughout the season, this will give you several different teams to choose from. That’s how most survivor pools work. Good luck this year!
I went 4-2 on my survivor pool picks last week. Unfortunately, I lost my top two picks on the Rams and Steelers to fall to 25-5 on Tier 1 picks this season. I think a lot of people got eliminates last week by using either the Rams or Jets. But we’ll keep on trucking with this article incase you are still alive.
As you’ll notice throughout the season, I’ll refer to the point spreads when making my selections because I think this is the best way to do it. The oddsmakers in Vegas and across the globe are very good at what they do. It’s a good starting point when making your picks as well.
1) Baltimore Ravens – The Ravens are 10-point home favorites over the New York Giants this week. They are still on the outside looking in at the playoffs currently in the 8th spot. They need to win out likely to get into the playoffs. So they won’t be taking anyone lightly. The Ravens have looked really good since getting almost everyone back healthy from COVID, including a 40-14 beat down of the Jaguars last week. The Giants have looked awful in getting blowing out in two straight by the Cardinals 26-7 and the Browns 20-6. Their offense is broken and they won’t be able to hang with Lamar Jackson and company.
2) Cleveland Browns – The Browns still have a chance to win the AFC North and are still looking to lock in a playoff spot. They have a lot to play for and handled their business in a 20-6 win over the Giants last week. Now they are 10-point road favorites over the New York Jets (1-13), who are coming off their first win of the season. This has letdown spot written all over it for the Jets now that they finally got that win and can breathe a sigh of relief.
3) Tampa Bay Bucs – The Tampa Bay Bucs can clinch a playoff spot with a win here Saturday against the Detroit Lions. They are 10-point road favorites against a Detroit Lions team that is allowing 31.1 PPG this season, including 36.8 PPG in their last four. The Lions have lost four of their last five and have trailed by double-digits in the final minutes in all five games. The Bucs can name their score on this terrible Detroit defense.
4) Kansas City Chiefs – The Chiefs are 10.5-point home favorites over the Atlanta Falcons this week. Kansas City can clinch home-field advantage and a first-round bye with a victory. This might be the final game the Chiefs actually try hard as they can probably take next week off and rest their starters. The Falcons have been competitive but they just find ways to lose games and it will likely be more of the same Sunday.
5) Chicago Bears – The Chicago Bears are suddenly offensive juggernauts with Mitch Trubisky at quarterback. They have scored 30 or more points points in three straight games with him as a starter. And they are still alive in the NFC wild card race with a lot to play for. Now they are 7.5-point road favorites over the Jacksonville Jaguars this week. The Jaguars have lost 13 straight and have allowed 24 or more points in all 13 losses. They gave up 40 points to the Ravens last week and now allow 30.2 points per game on the season. Trubisky and company should keep firing on all cylinders this week.
6) Houston Texans – It’s hard to trust the Houston Texans at this point in the season off three straight losses. They just don’t have much to play for. But they are hosting the Cincinnati Bengals, who ended a five-game losing streak with a shocking upset of the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night Football. Now the Bengals are on a short week here and this has letdown written all over it for them. The Texans are justified in being 7-point home favorites in this matchup.