Check this page weekly during the 2011-12 NFL season for a weekly article giving advice for suicide pools and eliminator pools. Doc's Sports will recommend the best teams to pick each week for your suicide pool and we will give the best analysis of anyone on the Internet.
You can view our 2010 survivor pool articles here.
You can view our 2009 survivor pool articles here.
NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Advice: Divisional Round Weekend
by Matt Severance - 1/11/2012
With this being the final playoff weekend with four games, this will also be the final NFL survivor pool picks column for the 2011 NFL season. Thanks again to all who have e-mailed/written in. Definitely would like to hear from those of you who win: I accept dollars, yen, pesos, euros, krones, francs, you name it, in terms of gratitude!! (just kidding).
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NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Advice: Wild-Card Weekend
by Matt Severance - 1/4/2012
Hey there readers, I want to say thanks for the many responses I got from you – mostly only those of you still alive and not angry at me for you getting knocked out of your survivor pool! – and, thus, I will do a survivor story for the first two weekends of the NFL playoffs when there are four games each weekend.
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NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Advice: Week 17
by Matt Severance - 12/27/2011
It’s hard to believe another NFL regular season has come and (is about to be) gone – and by now your survivor pool no doubt has been decided. Perhaps you have chosen to split the money with anyone else still left standing or maybe you will take it into the playoffs and reset to claim a winner (if we receive enough requests, I can do a playoff NFL survivor pool picks story next week). Either way, I hope I have been of some help and will certainly return next season as usual.
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NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Advice: Week 16
by Matt Severance - 12/20/2011
It took 15 weeks, but we finally had the completely unpredictable NFL weekend that had been lacking all season. And one that no doubt shook up your Survivor Pool in a big way. Of course, the big upset was the Chiefs, playing their first game under interim coach Romeo Crennel and with Kyle Orton making his first Kansas City start, ending Green Bay’s unbeaten season.
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NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Advice: Week 15
by Matt Severance - 12/13/2011
You know the regular season NFL schedule is winding down when we get a Saturday game, and that’s the case this week when the Cowboys visit the Buccaneers on the NFL Network. Most survivor pools have been resolved by this point, but I will continue to provide NFL survivor pool picks through Week 17.
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NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Advice: Week 14
by Matt Severance - 12/7/2011
I often get emails from those of you reading this column. Some certainly are “you are an idiot” type but many say thanks for my role in providing advice. And often the reader will say he or she more used my “stay far, far away” recommendations as a barometer of what not to choose instead of always going with my top choice for your survivor pool selection that week.
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NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Advice: Week 13
by Matt Severance - 11/29/2011
Find me a true upset from Week 12. Did several dogs cover? Indeed they did. But for NFL survivor pool purposes, there really were no games that likely shook up your competition. I wasn’t surprised by a single result in Week 12 – about the only ones that came close were the Chiefs hanging with the Steelers (I warned you to stay away from that one) and Dallas needing a last-second field goal to beat Miami.
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NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Advice: Week 12
by Matt Severance - 11/22/2011
It was a pretty chalk week in the NFL for Week 11, so probably not much movement in your Survivor Pool. The only games I would even term as upsets were the Denver Tebows beating the New York Jets on Thursday night and perhaps the Eagles winning with backup QB Vince Young at the Giants on Sunday night.
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NFL Survivor Pool Strategy, Advice and Tips for Week 12
by T.O. Whenham - 11/22/2011
The Giants probably caused a lot of headaches in survivor pools last week. There was no good reason they shouldn’t have been able to beat the Eagles — Philadelphia was struggling, the game was in New Jersey, Vince Young was starting for the first time in a long time and for the first time with the Eagles,
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NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Advice: Week 11
by Matt Severance - 11/16/2011
I honestly don’t know what to tell you, dear readers, other than: STUPID EAGLES! Philadelphia had no right whatsoever losing at home in a must-win game against a terrible Arizona team traveling cross-country and starting some guy named John Skelton at quarterback.
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NFL Survivor Pool Strategy, Advice and Tips for Week 11
by T.O. Whenham - 11/15/2011
Last week there were some tight games and tough decisions for people who were still alive in their survivor pools. Thankfully this week seems more straightforward -- as long as the teams in a good position are not ones that you have already used before.
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NFL Survivor Pool Strategy, Advice and Tips for Week 10
by T.O. Whenham - 11/9/2011
If you are still alive in your NFL survivor pool then you are probably dreaming of the finish line. There aren’t many people left, you are obviously on a roll, and you are dreaming of spending all the money you are going to win. With our survivor pools strategy advice and predictions this week we’ll hopefully help you get one step close to that goal. Let’s take a look:
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NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Advice: Week 10
by Matt Severance - 11/8/2011
One game I warned you to stay away from was the winless Dolphins visiting a suddenly streaking Chiefs team. But if you looked closely at that matchup, Miami had come close to winning in back-to-back weeks, while Kansas City was due for a huge emotional drop-off after an exciting division win over San Diego on “Monday Night Football.” While I’m not surprised that Miami went to Kansas City and won, I certainly was at the score: 31-3.
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NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Advice: Week 9
by Matt Severance - 11/2/2011
In my Week 8 survivor pool column, I went with the Baltimore Ravens at home against the Arizona Cardinals. I overlooked the fact that the Ravens were on a short week and looked terrible on “Monday Night Football” against the Jacksonville Jaguars. I had all but given up on the Ravens on Sunday as they fell behind 24-3 late in the second quarter. But a field goal right before the half seemed to spark something, and Baltimore rallied for a 30-27 win on a Billy Cundiff field goal as time expired.
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NFL Survivor Pool Strategy, Advice and Tips for Week 9
by T.O. Whenham - 11/1/2011
We’re getting into tense times for survivor pools. The good news if your still alive in your pool is that you have a good shot at winning it because there are likely only a fraction of the people that started it still alive. The bad news is that a good portion of the people that are still alive probably know their stuff, so it’s going to get harder and harder to keep winning.
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NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Advice: Week 8
by Matt Severance - 10/26/2011
Well that’s more like it! While there weren’t any competitors knocked out in my particular survivor pool in Week 7, there were two upsets that could have shaken up your competition. The first wasn’t a huge one, but it may have caught a few people: Kansas City going into suddenly-chic playoff pick Oakland and blanking the Raiders, 28-0.
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NFL Survivor Pool Strategy, Advice and Tips for Week 8
by T.O. Whenham - 10/25/2011
As we head into Week 8 of the survivor pool there are probably fewer survivors after the ridiculously bad showing by the Ravens against what should have been a hopelessly outmatched Jacksonville team. If you are still alive then things will only get more exciting and more tense each week from now on.
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NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Advice: Week 7
by Matt Severance - 10/19/2011
I don’t know if the lockout had anything to do with this – or with the fact that there have been 19 instances already where a team has rallied from at least a 10-point deficit to win this year – but it seems like every week is about 95 percent chalk in the NFL. Maybe a few teams aren’t covering the spread, but the clubs that are supposed to win do.
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NFL Survivor Pool Strategy, Advice and Tips for Week 7
by T.O. Whenham - 10/18/2011
It’s Week 7 of the NFL season, so if you are still alive in your survivor pool then congratulations are in order. Chances are pretty good, though, that if you were alive last week then you are still alive this week — the most likely picks last week all turned out about as expected. That’s a very good kind of week for survivor pool players.
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NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Advice: Week 6
by Matt Severance - 10/12/2011
OK, dear readers, I owe you both an apology and an explanation. First, the apology: Sorry for choosing the New York Giants last week as my top choice for your survivor pools. Thanks to an Eli Manning interception that was returned for a 94-yard touchdown as New York was driving for the winning score, the Seattle Seahawks did what they never do: Win on the East Coast.
Read more about NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Advice: Week 6.
NFL Survivor Pool Strategy, Advice and Tips for Week 6
by T.O. Whenham - 10/11/2011
The field is getting smaller and smaller each week in your survivor pool Hopefully you are still among the living. The team that likely did the most damage last week was the Giants in their pathetic loss at home as 10-point favorites against the lowly Seahawks. Other than that there weren’t too many problems unless you have too much respect for the Eagles or the Cardinals or too little respect for the Packers.
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NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Advice: Week 5
by Matt Severance - 10/6/2011
In Week 4, I would only consider there were two medium-level upsets: The Bengals winning at home over the Bills and the 49ers going to Philly and sending the “Dream Team” to its third straight loss. For what it’s worth, I warned you to stay away from both Buffalo and Philadelphia last week. The Bills were very much due for a huge letdown game after an emotional home win over New England the week before.
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NFL Survivor Pool Strategy, Advice and Tips for Week 5
by T.O. Whenham - 10/5/2011
If you were still alive in your survivor pool heading into last week, then chances are pretty good that you still are. It wasn’t the most challenging or surprising week we have seen this year. Unless you were really gambling, the Bills and the Eagles were the only two teams that could have caused some issues by losing last week, and there were certainly better games to play than either of those two.
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NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Advice: Week 4
by Matt Severance - 9/29/2011
Yet another pretty chalk week in the NFL in Week 3, so here’s guessing your survivor pool is still pretty jammed full of competition. There are two games I warned you to stay far, far away from last week and both turned out to be upsets. They would be New England at Buffalo and the New York Giants at Philadelphia.
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NFL Survivor Pool Strategy, Advice and Tips for Week 4
by T.O. Whenham - 9/27/2011
The Patriots, Eagles, and Jets probably cost some people their Survivor Pool life last weekend, so if you are still alive and kicking then you deserve hearty congratulations. Let’s take the a look at the promising spots and the traps that Week 4 of the season has to offer survivor pool players. Remember, on Thursday our free NFL survivor pool picks will be posted for you.
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NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Advice: Week 3
by Matt Severance - 9/22/2011
Certainly it appears that offenses are ahead of defenses as there have been the most touchdowns scored through two weeks in NFL history, and quarterbacks are putting up a record amount of 300-yard games – not to mention Tom Brady and Cam Newton throwing for at least 400 yards in each game so far. Newton is the first player ever to start with back-to-back 400-yard games, and Brady is on pace for nearly 7,500 yards.
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NFL Survivor Pool Strategy, Advice and Tips for Week 3
by T.O. Whenham - 9/20/2011
The first week of the season was a tough one for people in survivor pools, but the second week was far more straight forward and easier to survive. Hopefully you are still going strong and ready to make more successful NFL survivor pool picks this week. Here’s a look at the highs and lows of the card this week from a survivor pool perspective along with some advice and strategy for Week 3:
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NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Advice: Week 2
by Matt Severance - 9/15/2011
Well, so far so good. So what did we learn from Week 1 in the NFL? Apparently Indianapolis has morphed into the Bengals (although Cincy did win) without Peyton Manning. I did say that Colts-Texans game was a potential huge trap, but I apparently didn’t realize that Manning also plays defense and special teams. Indy looks like the worst team in football after one week.
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NFL Survivor Pool Strategy, Advice and Tips for Week 2
by T.O. Whenham - 9/12/2011
We’re only one week into the NFL season and already there are likely many people who are looking for a Survivor Pool that will let them start over again because they are already on the sidelines. People who trusted seemingly logical squads like the Falcons or Chiefs are out of luck. Reasonable gambles like the Giants, Titans, Bucs and Rams faltered. People who swung for the fences with the Browns (like, sadly, I did in one pool I am in) or Steelers weren’t rewarded for their daring. Even teams like the Chargers, Cardinals, and Jets made winning much harder than it needed to be.
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NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Advice: Week 1
by Matt Severance - 9/6/2011
Hello again readers here at Doc’s, it’s that time of year that we all love the most: football season. And of course that means I’m back to deliver my weekly Survivor Pool picks advice column for Week 1 of the NFL 2011-12 NFL season.
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NFL Survivor Pool Strategy, Advice and Tips for Week 1
by T.O. Whenham - 9/5/2011
It’s the beginning of the NFL season. That means that it’s time for Survivor Pools, and that’s a very good thing. Whether you call them Survivor Pools, Suicide Pools, or Eliminator Pools they are such a simple but deceptively challenging thing. It shouldn’t be hard to pick a single team every week that is going to win, but it can be incredibly difficult, and there are countless ways for things to go really badly. The most crushing part of the pools is that you only get one mistake, so things can end tragically early for you.
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