The NFL is back! Survivor pools all over the world are firing back up. From your office survivor pool to the Circa Survivor Contest, and everything in between. It’s good to go into your survivor pool with a plan. We’ll cover that as we plan our 18-week roadmap for how to win your NFL survivor pool.
It takes a delicate balance of not getting eliminated, most importantly, as well as planning ahead so you have the best options in future weeks when you are attacking your survivor pool. You also want to be careful taking the most popular teams, especially early in the season. Last yea,r the Cincinnati Bengals were a huge favorite against the New England Patriots in Week 1. Everyone and their brother, mother, and even grandma were on the Bengals. The Bengals lost outright, and survivor pools across the world went up in flames. So, trying to take all of this into account, let’s take a look at all 18 Weeks of the NFL regular season and build out a “roadmap” of what 18 weeks of survivor picks could look like.
How to Win Your NFL Survivor Pool: 18 Week Roadmap
Week 1: Arizona Cardinals Over New Orleans Saints
There are quite a few good options in Week 1. The most popular will likely be the Broncos over the Titans. At home, especially, that’s a great spot for Denver. But they are a team I’d like to have in my back pocket later on, especially when nobody else does. A team that won’t have a ton of other chances to use later on is the Arizona Cardinals. They play the Saints in Week 1. While it is a road game, the Saints are starting Spencer Rattler at quarterback. I’ll rest my case with that.
Week 2: Buffalo Bills Over New York Jets
This is a hard week to choose. Baltimore over Cleveland is the biggest spread, but if Flacco is still starting a division game against his old team, that scares me enough to stay away from the chalk. The 49ers are worth looking at, but still missing half of their offense. So let’s go ahead and use the Bills here to survive and advance past this week. Josh Allen vs Justin Fields. The Bills have won three in a row and eight of the last 10 over the Jets.
Week 3: Washington Commanders Over Las Vegas Raiders
The jury is still out on Pete Carroll and Geno Smith in Las Vegas. But this is one of the better spots for the Commanders. The team that made the NFC Championship game last year. Vegas has a long way to travel, and they are more than a touchdown underdogs in this one. Give me the home team.
Week 4: Detroit Lions Over Cleveland Browns
If you haven’t used Buffalo yet, them against the Saints is a heat spot in Week 4. However, we’re going to go against the Browns in this one. They head to Detroit, where the new coordinators will have had time to settle in. Maybe Flacco gets up for that Baltimore game, but this isn’t a good spot for this team.
Week 5: Minnesota Vikings Over Cleveland Browns
Two in a row, fading the Browns here. An argument could be made the save the Cardinals for their matchup with the Titans here, but no matter how JJ McCarthy is playing, there’s a massive coaching disparity in this game. The Browns have a few games in a row where they’ll get beaten up. They’ll stumble into this on,e kicking their wounds.
Week 6: New England Patriots Over New Orleans Saints
There are a few spots you’ll be comfortable using the New England Patriots this season, but this is one of the best. It’s another tough week to pick, but fading the Saints is a strong strategy this season. Let’s burn the Pats and get on to Week 7.
Week 7: Chicago Bears Over New Orleans Saints
If you’ve made it to Week 7, you’ve got to search around for teams to use that you wouldn’t use every week. Like the Patriots last week, the Bears are another team you’ll trust in certain spots. Who is starting for the Saints at this point in time? Whoever it is, Soldier Field on a cool fall day won’t be a welcoming place. Give me the Bears and a comfortable Ben Johnson.
Week 8: Cincinnati Bengals Over New York Jets
Cincinnati is a team I’m high on this year. They play Thursday night in Week 7, so they’ll have an extra few days of rest. The Jets are one of the easier teams in the league to pick on. Aaron Glen and Justin Fields could have completely fallen apart by week 8, even if they haven’t, the Bengals will be a great team and should walk away with the home win here.
Week 9: Pittsburgh Steelers Over Indianapolis Colts
Daniel Jones, Anthony Richardson, who knows, maybe it’s Riley Leonard by now. Either way, going on the road to face Mike Tomlin? This is one of the better spots for the Steelers. I don’t even care who’s playing quarterback for them at this point. They win the winnable games, it’s the Tomlin way.
Week 10: Baltimore Ravens Over Minnesota Vikings
Week 10 may be the toughest week of the season to pick ahead of the year. There are a lot of good teams against good teams and bad teams against bad teams. However, I think Baltimore is the superior team here. Minnesota should still be a good team as they are well coached, but Baltimore is coming off a Thursday night game, and faces Cleveland the next week. It’s a great spot to jump on Baltimore in a non-conference road spot.
Week 11: Green Bay Packers Over New York Giants
It’s another case of having a clearly better team against a team I don’t see being as good. Green Bay should be firing on all cylinders at this point, and Micah Parsons will be looking to hunt heads against his former division rivals.
Week 12: Kansas City Chiefs Over Indianapolis Colts
This is why I like to keep some bigger and better teams in my pocket if at all possible. The wheels on the Colts have likely come off by this time, but even if they haven’t. They are no match for the Chiefs in Arrowhead in late November.
Week 13: Jacksonville Jaguars Over New Tennessee Titans
Jacksonville is a team I’m very big on this season, and I think they’ll be one of the best teams in the league by Week 13. On the other side of things, I think there’s a good chance the Titans have fired Brian Callahan by Week 13. These are two teams with very different seasons ahead. I love the Jaguars here.
Week 14: Tampa Bay Buccaneers Over New Orleans Saints
The Buccaneers have owned the Saints in recent years. They’ve won five of the last six games against New Orleans. It’s been well documented throughout this season how bad the Saints should be. Tampa rolls at home.
Week 15: Philadelphia Eagles Over Las Vegas Raiders
Another team we’ve saved for late in the season. The defending champions at home in mid-December against a Raiders team that won’t be one of the top teams in the league. If you’ve made it this far and have a team this good left to play, it’s a good day.
Week 16: Houston Texans Over Las Vegas Raiders
This isn’t meant to be a fade of the Raiders’ streak, but they have a tough couple of games on the road here. Houston is another strong playoff team that should be getting into playoff form. Vegas, on the other hand, will be stumbling toward the end of the season.
Week 17: Carolina Panthers Over Seattle Seahawks
The pickings are getting slim, and as odd as it sounds, this is a great spot for the Panthers. Seattle has to cross the country right on the heels of Christmas. Bryce Young showed at the end of 2024 that he might have something left in the tank. Can Sam Darnold have two great seasons in a row? Or maybe he’s not even the quarterback anymore. Either way, I’ll take the Panthers here.
Week 18: Atlanta Falcons Over New Orleans Saints
One final Saints fade to round out the season. Atlanta should be a team looking for the playoffs this final week of the season. While New Orleans is looking at who their quarterback of the future will be.
