NFL Survivor Pool Picks

NFL Survivor and Confidence Pool Picks and Advice: Week 17
by Matt Severance - 12/26/2018

One thing you can say about the NFL annually is that it's predictably unpredictable. Every year under the current format playoff format, there have been four new teams in the playoffs that didn't make it the previous season. That trend will continue with Chicago, Dallas, Seattle and Houston all having clinched spots after they were a combined 27-37 a season ago.

NFL Survivor and Confidence Pool Picks and Advice: Week 16
by Matt Severance - 12/20/2018

If your Survivor Pool was still going into Week 15, it might have ended thanks to some surprising upsets. It all started in the Thursday night finale for 2018 as the Chargers almost impossibly rallied from down 14 points with less than four minutes left in Kansas City to stun the Chiefs 29-28. Anthony Lynn is my new favorite coach not named Matt Nagy for having the stones to go for 2 and the win.

NFL Survivor and Confidence Pool Picks and Advice: Week 15
by Matt Severance - 12/11/2018

My motto in Survivor and Confidence Pools this time of year is to back teams that still have something to play for and fade those who already are making offseason tee times. However, there are times a "trap" game for a playoff contender trumps fading a team playing out the string.

NFL Survivor and Confidence Pool Picks and Advice: Week 14
by Matt Severance - 12/5/2018

Here's what I wrote last week in this space: "If you are trailing by a significant amount in Confidence Pool season-long competitions at this point, it's time to take a few risks. If your leader gets a game wrong in say, the No. 14 window and you have the underdog winning in, say, No. 6. Well, you don't have to do the math."

NFL Survivor and Confidence Pool Picks and Advice: Week 13
by Matt Severance - 11/28/2018

Pretty bland/chalk week around the NFL in Week 12 as just about everyone who was supposed to win did: My top nine selections for a Survivor/Confidence Pool all won. In fact, in my primary competition I missed out on just 19 total points yet didn't even finish in the Top 5 because it was such a favorite-heavy weekend. The winner had 110 points, missing out on just 10.

NFL Survivor and Confidence Pool Picks and Advice: Week 12
by Matt Severance - 11/21/2018

Thanksgiving used to be this writer's favorite holiday. First, it was a very long weekend - and Wednesday night before Thanksgiving is one of the party nights of the year. Then, my family had two Thanksgivings, one on the actual holiday and one on that Sunday because of split grandparents, etc. That meant I was swimming in leftovers of my favorite meal for at least a week.

Week 11 Survivor Pool Picks from Captain and the Big Man
by Survivor Pool Podcast - 11/16/2018

If you listened to the week 10 episode of Survivor Pool Podcast last week, you know that Captain and the Big man had another great week, highlighted by our picks of Indy and New Orleans as top choices; both were Survivor winners. Below you will find our analysis of four games on the slate for Week 11. Get involved and subscribe to the podcast for the full breakdown of all 13 games (and some laughs). This week on Survivor Pool Podcast, we have our pal AB, helping us chop up the NFL slate. AB is a Fantasy Football guru and Survivor aficionado, and we welcome his expertise and perspective.

NFL Survivor and Confidence Pool Picks and Advice: Week 11
by Matt Severance - 11/14/2018

We don't talk much fantasy football here at Doc's because this is a betting site. Sure, many fantasy leagues have cash prizes for the winners, etc., but it's not betting. That's why sites like FanDuel and DraftKings originally were legal and betting on NFL games was not (outside of Nevada).

Week 10 Survivor Pool Picks from Captain and the Big Man
by Survivor Pool Podcast - 11/8/2018

If you listened to the week 9 episode of Survivor Pool Podcast last week, you would know that Captain and the Big man were 13-1. Not only did 13 of the survivor picks come through, but those teams also beat the spread (and two of them were outright dogs and won). Below you will find our analysis of four games on the slate for Week 10. Get involved and subscribe to the podcast for the full breakdown of all 14 games (and some laughs). This week on Survivor Pool Podcast, we have Steve Hytner helping us chop up the NFL slate; Steve is a hilarious comedian made famous from his work on Seinfeld, so you are sure to have some extra giggles.

NFL Survivor and Confidence Pool Picks and Advice: Week 10
by Matt Severance - 11/7/2018

Reason No. 1,498,290 to not believe everything you "read" on the Internet. You know how when the last unbeaten team in the NFL each year loses? Supposedly the members of the 1972 Miami Dolphins get together and have a toast to celebrate them remaining the only members of the perfect season club.

NFL Survivor and Confidence Pool Picks and Advice: Week 9
by Matt Severance - 10/31/2018

Well, that was an interesting NFL trade deadline Tuesday, wasn't it? And I believe my Bears' chances of winning the NFC North just improved. It was interesting to see which teams were clearly trying to get better now while which were already thinking toward 2019 in terms of getting draft picks or salary-cap space. For example, do the Lions trade their best receiver, Golden Tate, to Philadelphia if Detroit is 4-3 instead of 3-4 and last in the North? OK, I get that one in a way because Tate is set for free agency after the season.

Week 9 Survivor Pool Picks from Captain and the Big Man
by Survivor Pool Podcast - 10/31/2018

This has been a brutal season for Survivor players. For those of you still alive after the week 3 bloodbath of favorites going ass-over-elbow, we say bravo. You are in the home stretch and you can smell the money!! But don't let your guard down. Now is the time to be your best Survivor self, and lay claim to the duffle-bag full of cash at the finish line.

Week 8 Survivor Pool Picks from Captain and the Big Man
by Survivor Pool Podcast - 10/25/2018

This has been a brutal season for Survivor players. For those of you still alive after the week 3 bloodbath of favorites going ass-over-elbow, we say bravo. You are in the home stretch and you can smell the money!! But don't let your guard down. Now is the time to be your best Survivor self, and lay claim to the duffle-bag full of cash at the finish line. Below you will find our breakdown of 4 games on the slate for Week 8. Get involved and subscribe to the podcast for the full breakdown of all 15 games (and some laughs).

NFL Survivor and Confidence Pool Picks and Advice: Week 8
by Matt Severance - 10/24/2018

In this space every week, I always remind those of you in Survivor and Confidence Pools to wait until the last possible second to make your picks. You never know what can happen. For example, a couple of weeks ago the Dolphins scratched Ryan Tannehill, completely out of nowhere, on Sunday morning before hosting the Bears (stupid Brock Osweiler!). The past Sunday, the Chargers and Titans played with a 9:30 a.m. ET kickoff from Wembley Stadium in London.

NFL Survivor and Confidence Pool Picks and Advice: Week 7
by Matt Severance - 10/17/2018

Week 7 is the first week your Survivor/Confidence choices really take their first hit because it's the first week four teams are on the bye. Two you might use in a given week for your Survivor choice or at No. 16 in a Confidence Pool in Green Bay and Pittsburgh, and two that really don't matter in Seattle and Oakland. Ah, Jon Gruden. Should have stayed in the Monday night booth … although even Gruden was better than Jason Witten.

NFL Survivor and Confidence Pool Picks and Advice: Week 6
by Matt Severance - 10/10/2018

Now that we are hitting mid-October shortly, it's important for those of you in Survivor and Confidence Pools to start checking weather reports in those cold-weather cities that don't have domes (the Lions and Vikings shouldn't be playing indoors while the Bears and Packers play out in the elements in the NFC North, but that's an argument for another day).

NFL Survivor Pool Strategy Advice and Predictions: Week 6
by Trevor Whenham - 10/10/2018

It's only the sixth week of the NFL season, yet from a survivor pool perspective it feels like the season is about nine years long already. It has been an absolutely brutal season for pool players so far, and it doesn't get a lot easier this week. In fact, this is the toughest weekend we have had so far as we head into the week - the two weeks that were really brutal seemed really straightforward heading into the action.

NFL Survivor and Confidence Pool Picks and Advice: Week 5
by Matt Severance - 10/3/2018

We had three more overtime games in Week 3: Texans-Colts, Eagles-Titans and Browns-Raiders. And, I have to say, those were incredibly entertaining. It's almost like NFL coaches now are doing all they can to avoid a tie. New Colts Frank Reich did that against Houston, and it absolutely imploded in his face. He was being a little too aggressive. Meanwhile, Titans first-year coach Mike Vrabel made almost as ballsy a call at the end of OT and it led to a win - my guess being the first NFL walkoff win ever on a touchdown pass to a receiver from my alma mater.

NFL Survivor Pool Strategy Advice and Predictions: Week 5
by Trevor Whenham - 10/2/2018

A pattern has emerged so far this NFL season when it comes to survivor pools. In even-numbered weeks things have been so straightforward that a monkey could make the picks. All you had to do was pick the best teams against the worst teams - the biggest point spreads, in other words - and you were all set. But in odd-numbered weeks there has been total carnage. Up has been down, black has been white, and nothing has made any sense at all. In both cases multiple clearly logical and perfectly sensible picks have not worked out at all.

NFL Survivor and Confidence Pool Picks and Advice: Week 4
by Matt Severance - 9/26/2018

I half listened to my gut last week on the Minnesota Vikings, who were 17-point home favorites over the Buffalo Bills. I did list the Vikings as my No. 1 Survivor and Confidence choice but wrote: "sometimes when there's such an obvious choice it can be wise to avoid said team just in case a massive upset wipes everyone out. I do worry slightly about the Vikings looking ahead to next week's game vs. the Rams and probably would take the points here, but I see no earthly way where Buffalo can win this game."