NFL Survivor Pool Picks

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).

NFL Survivor Pools Strategy Advice and Predictions: Week 4
by Trevor Whenham - 9/29/2015

The football gods were particularly cruel to survivor pool players in Week 2. For those who survived, though, the reward was a much more straightforward week in Week 3. New England was the obvious choice, and they only won by almost five touchdowns. Green Bay cruised as another fairly obvious pick - though a lot of people picked Green Bay already in the opening week. The Seahawks won big, too. Even the Texans, a long shot that drew some attention from players, easily took care of things

NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Advice: Week 3
by Matt Severance - 9/23/2015

I can honestly say that I've never seen such chaos in Survivor Pools than from what happened last week in the NFL. I know of several that already have concluded, including one major ESPN media pool. It was a crazy week of upsets. I warned you in this space to stay clear of New Orleans in its home opener and as the biggest favorite on the board against Tampa Bay, and indeed the Bucs won 26-19. Now I just wish Drew Brees wasn't my fantasy quarterback!

NFL Survivor Pools Strategy Advice and Predictions: Week 3
by Trevor Whenham - 9/22/2015

Well, that was carnage. A whole lot of survivor pools are a lot smaller than they were a few days ago - mine included - thanks to the New Orleans Saints. When the biggest favorite of the week loses their home opener to what was supposed to be a lousy team - and their potential Hall of Fame QB gets outplayed by a rookie who was terrible in his debut - a lot of survivor pool dreams are going to die.

NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Advice: Week 2
by Matt Severance - 9/16/2015

I was talking to a fairly new player to Survivor Pools this week, and said person really wanted to use Tennessee in Week 2 at Cleveland just to get using the Titans out of the way because they wouldn't likely be usable again. I totally don't recommend thinking like that. Simply go week-by-week. Don't use a questionable team early just to save a better team for later. Injuries are obviously a big part of the NFL, and a projected good team might not be one by late in the year.

NFL Survivor Pools Strategy Advice and Predictions: Week 2
by Trevor Whenham - 9/16/2015

It was a pretty good week for survivor pool players to start the season - at least ones who didn't do anything to crazy. Favorites and public teams did well, which is usually good news for survivor pool players early in the season. The bad news is that most pools didn't see too many people disappear, so you aren't much closer to winning now than you were before. It could be worse, though - you could be out already. Our goal this week is to make sure that you survive for another week of action.

NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Advice: Week 1
by Matt Severance - 9/9/2015

After seven long months without pro football that mattered, the NFL returns on Thursday night with the annual Kickoff Game. And I'm willing to bet that the Steelers-Patriots matchup in Foxboro sets NBC ratings records for the Kickoff Game with all the B.S. this offseason surrounding "Deflategate" and the fact that Tom Brady will play vs. Pittsburgh.

NFL Survivor Pools Strategy Advice and Predictions: Week 1
by Trevor Whenham - 9/7/2015

Anything to do with handicapping is tough when it comes to the first week of the NFL season. We know so little about where teams are really at, and our adrenaline is raging as the endless offseason finally draws to a close. It can be very tough to make strong decisions in these conditions. Even with that in mind, though, we are faced with a tough challenge picking the first week of Survivor pool action this year.

NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Expert Advice: Playoffs Edition
by Matt Severance - 12/31/2014

Welcome to my final Survivor Pool column for the 2014 NFL season. I hope these won you some money -- I was able to win one of my two competitions and almost always stuck with the same choices I used in this space. Again, though, getting this in early means injuries could change things by kickoff.

NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Expert Advice: Week 17
by Matt Severance - 12/24/2014

Hope you have found my Survivor Pool advice helpful this season and are about to cash in following Sunday's slate of Week 17 games if you haven't already. Thankfully I am still going in both of mine after losing my fantasy football championship because Bengals receiver A.J. Green decided to have the worst game of his career on Monday night. I already had spent the money! Lesson learned.

NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Expert Advice: Week 16
by Matt Severance - 12/17/2014

Here's hoping that Week 16 is doubly profitable for you just as I'm hoping it is for me: Winning your fantasy football league championship (nearly all leagues have their championship game this week) and your Survivor Pool. Thank you Drew Brees for your big game on Monday night against my Bears as that got me into my fantasy final. Sad I root against the Bears these days, but it's the most unlikable Chicago sports team in years. But let's not get off topic.

NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Expert Advice: Week 15
by Matt Severance - 12/10/2014

Thank you Packers defense for nearly giving me a heart attack Monday night. Green Bay was my Week 14 Lock of the Week against Atlanta, and I turned the channel at halftime with the Pack up 31-7. Done deal. Except the Packers allowed 30 second-half points and for some reason didn't double-team Julio Jones, who was killing Green Bay all night. Still, the Packers did hold on 43-37. We move on in Survivor Pool play!

NFL Survivor Pools Strategy Advice and Predictions: Week 15
by Trevor Whenham - 12/9/2014

We are really, really deep into the NFL survivor pool season, so we are going to do something a little different this week in our look at what picks to make to keep on surviving. Lately we have been looking at teams that may not have been picked yet that would be comfortable picks — and the Giants at home against the Redskins would certainly qualify on that front this week. Instead, this week we are going to look at spots in which you might want to gamble.

NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Expert Advice: Week 14
by Matt Severance - 12/3/2014

I guess I had nothing to worry about with perhaps my shakiest Lock of the Week ever in a Survivor Pool competition this late in an NFL season. I was not super comfortable taking the 4-7 Rams last week at home against Oakland, but it was a 52-0 whitewash. Look out next season for St. Louis if it can get a quarterback! The defense is in place and so, apparently, is a game-breaking running back in rookie Tre Mason.