NFL Survivor Pool Picks

NFL Survivor Pools Strategy Advice and Predictions: Week 14
by Trevor Whenham - 12/9/2015

We are pretty much at the end of the line for Survivor Pools for most people this year. Most pools have been won or are right down to the end. Because there have been a few really brutal weeks this season, and they have been well spaced out, there is a good chance that even second-chance - or third- or fourth-chance, for that matter - pools are over, too.

NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Advice: Week 13
by Matt Severance - 12/2/2015

Following Week 13, every NFL team will have played 12 games so we will be in the final quarter of the regular season. Already! That means we are getting close to "tank" mode for some teams. Somewhat surprisingly, there have been no playoff spots clinched yet. That could change on Sunday as the Patriots can win the AFC East with a win and Jets loss, the unbeaten Panthers can clinch the NFC South with a win, and the Bengals can clinch at least a wild-card spot with a win and some help.

NFL Survivor Pools Strategy Advice and Predictions: Week 13
by Trevor Whenham - 12/2/2015

This has been a truly bizarre NFL season in so many ways. Aside from two absolutely brutal weeks, though, things have actually been pretty straightforward on the survivor pool front. Last week, for example, had some really surprising results on the scoreboard, but not among the games that seemed to be the most predictable heading into the week's action. It's nice that something is mostly making sense this year.

NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Advice: Week 12
by Matt Severance - 11/25/2015

Sanity returned to the NFL in Week 11 as there were no Survivor Pool-destroying upsets, although unbeaten New England was pushed pretty hard at home on Monday night by Buffalo. That was one of eight games last week decided by seven or fewer points. There have been 84 such games decided by a touchdown or less this season, the most through Week 11 in NFL history.

NFL Survivor Pools Strategy Advice and Predictions: Week 12
by Trevor Whenham - 11/24/2015

Last week was reasonably straightforward for survivor pool players - five of the six most common picks were winners. Philadelphia was the lone exception - they laid an ostrich-sized egg against the Bucs. I got burned by my gamble on Case Keenum and the Rams in one of my leagues, and Oakland, Atlanta and Chicago probably broke a few hearts, but generally speaking most people who were still alive last week live to fight another day.

NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Advice: Week 11
by Matt Severance - 11/18/2015

Here's guessing your Survivor Pool competition has concluded as I've never seen anything like Week 10 of the NFL season. Look, I'm happy to admit when I'm wrong, but I was flat-out terrible last week. The only thing that gives me comfort is so was everyone else. In my Confidence Pool, for example, the winning score was the lowest in the five-year history of the league.

NFL Survivor Pools Strategy Advice and Predictions: Week 11
by Trevor Whenham - 11/18/2015

It has been a cruel, cruel year for survivor pool players so far, and last week was certainly no exception. There were 14 games played. Eleven were won by the underdog. Included in the losers were four of the five biggest dogs of the week. When that happens you can be certain that a whole lot of survivor pool players had a lousy Sunday.

NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Advice: Week 10
by Matt Severance - 11/11/2015

I don't know what to say about what happened last Sunday. Back in Week 2, I know a lot of people took a double-digit favored New Orleans team at home as their Survivor Pool pick against a Tampa Bay team that was 2-14 last year and was starting a rookie quarterback. The Saints lost by a touchdown and knocked out several of you. That week, I warned against that pick.

NFL Survivor Pools Strategy Advice and Predictions: Week 10
by Trevor Whenham - 11/10/2015

It was a pretty rough week for survivor pool players last week after several weeks of smooth sailing. Three of the six most-popular picks went haywire. The most damaging by far was New Orleans, who lost in overtime to a Tennessee team who only needed a coaching change to go from scrubs to all-stars. The other losses were less-popular among players but no less surprising - Atlanta channeled the pathetic team from last year for the third week in a row and somehow lost to the hapless Niners while making Blaine Gabbert look like the star he has never been, and the Broncos dropped from the ranks of the undefeated as Peyton Manning lost to Andrew Luck for the third time.

NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Advice: Week 9
by Matt Severance - 11/4/2015

Hard to believe already, but this week marks the halfway point of the 2015 regular season as every team will have played at least eight games by Monday night. There was one pretty big upset in Week 8 as Tampa Bay went to Atlanta and beat the Falcons 23-20 in overtime. It was one of two games decided in OT last week; there have been 11 this season, the fifth-most through Week 8 in NFL history. The record is 14 in 1995.

NFL Survivor Pools Strategy Advice and Predictions: Week 9
by Trevor Whenham - 11/4/2015

Last week was again a mostly straightforward week for Survivor pool players. There were a couple of rough results - Green Bay wasn't expected to be as underwhelming as they were in Denver, and Atlanta had no business losing to Tampa Bay. Neither one was a possible pick for most players, though. That left much more comforting - and successful - picks to be made. Because things have been relatively smooth for a few weeks in a row, now I can't shake the feeling that we are due for another brutal week again.

NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Advice: Week 8
by Matt Severance - 10/28/2015

Pretty bland Week 7 of NFL action and unlikely any result caused a ripple in your Survivor Pool. Some might have found Jacksonville beating Buffalo in London surprising, but the Bills were down several key starters due to injury and that actually was my Upset Of Week selection. Kansas City beating visiting Pittsburgh was no shock as the Steelers were starting third-string QB Landry Jones.

NFL Survivor Pools Strategy Advice and Predictions: Week 8
by Trevor Whenham - 10/27/2015

The last month or so has really been quite a simple, straightforward stretch for Survivor Pool players. It's just a shame that so few people got to enjoy them after being crushed in the first couple of incredibly ugly weeks. In my pools there are pretty much as many people alive now as there were in Week 3. Things should start to get a bit more interesting now, though, as it comes time for us to have to gamble a bit more. This is where one pick can make a big difference and pools can end in a real hurry.

NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Advice: Week 7
by Matt Severance - 10/21/2015

Not many surprises in Week 6 of the NFL season that likely affected your Survivor Pool competition unless you took Seattle at home against Carolina, with the Seahawks blowing yet another fourth-quarter lead this season to fall to 2-4. Remember, a vast majority of teams in recent years that lost in the Super Bowl didn't return the next season. So the Seahawks' struggles shouldn't be a total shock -- especially how they lost that Super Bowl.

NFL Survivor Pools Strategy Advice and Predictions: Week 7
by Trevor Whenham - 10/20/2015

By now we are likely getting near the end in a lot of survivor pools - at least single entry ones. It has been a tougher year than many, though things have gotten much more straightforward the last few weeks after a couple of historically ugly weeks. If you are still going then you are entering the time of year that I really love for these pools. The most obvious picks are gone - most everyone has taken the Packers and Patriots - and now you need to be both lucky and good to do some damage.

NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Advice: Week 6
by Matt Severance - 10/14/2015

Hopefully you ignored my top recommendation last week, because by the time Sunday rolled around I did as well. That pick was Baltimore at home against Cleveland, but the Ravens were really thin at receiver and had a few other injuries that made me nervous. So I shifted to the New York Giants against San Francisco. Glad I did considering the Ravens gagged away a 33-30 overtime loss to Cleveland. The Browns had lost 13 of the previous 14 meetings but were able to rally from a 12-point deficit.

NFL Survivor Pools Strategy Advice and Predictions: Week 6
by Trevor Whenham - 10/14/2015

There have been some rough periods this year for Survivor Pool players - extremely rough. Right now, though, we can bask in the glow of a very successful week last week. Things turned out pretty much exactly as we called them here. Atlanta, Green Bay and New England were all great picks that easily took care of business. The Chiefs were a popular pick among pool players, but they looked lousy from where I was sitting - and they were. And, finally, when I said that the Giants were pickable if you absolutely had to but that I wouldn't rest easy if I did pick them I certainly wasn't lying.

NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Advice: Week 5
by Matt Severance - 10/7/2015

No earth-shattering upsets in Week 4 around the NFL that may have altered your Survivor Pool competition. My top choice originally was Indianapolis over Jacksonville, but that game showed why you should always wait until the last possible second to make a pick. There was no real word early in the week that Colts star QB Andrew Luck wouldn't play due to a shoulder injury but he indeed missed the first game of his career. I jumped off Indy quickly -- it won 16-13 in overtime -- and onto Atlanta over Houston. The Falcons won easily, 48-21.

NFL Survivor Pools Strategy Advice and Predictions: Week 5
by Trevor Whenham - 10/6/2015

Wow. It's a tough year to be a Survivor Pool player. Not many survivors out there after, for the second time in this short four-week season, a strong pick was a total disaster. Now, this week was nothing like the Black Sunday of Week 2 - that week well over 90 percent of active players were eliminated after New Orleans and everyone else didn't do their jobs. The six most popular picks at Yahoo, for example, all failed to win. This week, though, Arizona was the second most popular pick and didn't get it done against the Rams. So, if you are still standing you are very lucky - and you need to keep it rolling.

NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Advice: Week 4
by Matt Severance - 9/30/2015

While Week 2 in the NFL was full of Survivor Pool-altering upsets, Week 3 was quite chalk. Seattle and New England were huge favorites, and both covered. The Seahawks made my Bears look like a JV team as Chicago punted on every single possession, an NFL first in at least 35 years. Seattle was my top recommendation last week and I'm sure the choice of many people. And those that didn't take the Seahawks most likely took the Patriots, who destroyed Jacksonville. Now that Pats are on a way-too-early bye week (with Tennessee).