NFL Survivor Pool Picks

NFL Survivor Pools Strategy Advice and Predictions: Week 14
by Trevor Whenham - 12/2/2014

Thank goodness for the Rams and the Vikings last week. They are exactly what survivor pools players who are still alive — or who are in a second- (or third- or fourth-) chance pool — need at this time of year. They were teams that aren’t good enough to likely have been picked earlier in the year but who were in a spot that made them pretty easy to trust now.

NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Expert Advice: Week 13
by Matt Severance - 11/26/2014

Chances are the team you back is still alive in the playoff hunt as an amazing 21 teams are either currently in the playoffs or within one game of a spot entering Week 13. Naturally my Bears aren't one of those, and the Lions can mercifully end Chicago's season for all intents and purposes on Thanksgiving. That 21-team mark is a bit misleading because it includes Atlanta, New Orleans and Carolina, all of which have seven losses. But someone has to win the puke bucket that is the NFC South.

NFL Survivor Pools Strategy Advice and Predictions: Week 13
by Trevor Whenham - 11/25/2014

After a crazy week in Survivor Pool action two weeks ago, we had a much more straight forward week in our attempt to stay alive last week. Unless you were unfortunate enough to still have Kansas City available to pick — and that was unlikely — you probably were able to gamble and still survive. Cleveland held on — though just barely. So did San Francisco, which kept me alive. And Buffalo overcame snow and relocation to make the Jets look hopelessly ridiculous. So where do we look to gamble and survive for another week? Luckily, there are at least four attractive spots that are likely to be available to most players. Let’s take a look:

NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Expert Advice: Week 12
by Matt Severance - 11/19/2014

Week 11 no doubt shook up your Survivor Pool a bit. Perhaps you were fortunate enough to have used the Denver Broncos before last week, but they were shocked 22-7 in St. Louis. I did warn you about that, saying the Rams had already upset the Seahawks and 49ers this year and that it was Denver's first dome game of the season. Looked like trap potential, and it surely was.

NFL Survivor Pools Strategy Advice and Predictions: Week 12
by Trevor Whenham - 11/18/2014

No one truly cares about how anyone else is doing in their survivor pool. It’s a shame because I feel like I could use some sympathy. Heading into last week’s action I was alive in three pools — and in the final three of each. Now I am down to just one — and that only barely happened because the Steelers tried their very hardest to lose to the Titans. The other two pools were won — and not by me. Cleveland was disastrous.

NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Expert Advice: Week 11
by Matt Severance - 11/12/2014

Probably only two games made a major dent in your Survivor Pool field of competitors last week, and I pretty much warned you to stay away from both favorites. The first was Cincinnati at home last Thursday night against Cleveland, which hadn't won a road division game in its past 17 dating to September 2008. Here's what I wrote about this matchup: "I pondered this as a Lock option, but you should always stay away from the quick turnaround matchups as well as rivalry games.

NFL Survivor Pools Strategy Advice and Predictions: Week 11
by Trevor Whenham - 11/11/2014

Last week is a perfect example of why survivor pools, which seem so simple, are so brutally difficult in reality. There was absolutely no real reason to expect that the Steelers would lose to the Jets — never mind get rolled over by them. Over the two previous weeks the Steelers’ offense had been historically effective. The Jets had completely forgotten how to win, were mired in layers of drama, and their defense was, to be kind, porous. To top it off, there was a good chance that Pittsburgh was an available pick for a lot of players -- and a very tempting one at that.

NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Expert Advice: Week 10
by Matt Severance - 11/5/2014

So how many of you were sweating profusely when the Oakland Raiders rallied from a 24-3 halftime deficit in Seattle on Sunday to pull within 30-24 on a 1-yard TD pass from Derek Carr with 1:52 left? And the Raiders had a legitimate chance to recover the onside kick as Sebastian Janikowski's boot was misplayed by Seattle's Cooper Helfet, but Jermaine Kearse fell on the loose ball. I'm certainly not saying Oakland would have scored the winning touchdown had it recovered the kick, but I really would have liked to have seen the opportunity.

NFL Survivor Pools Strategy Advice and Predictions: Week 10
by Trevor Whenham - 11/4/2014

I love symmetry, and we have some pleasing symmetry as we head into Week 10 of our pursuit of NFL Survivor Pool success. There are six games being played this week in which there is one team that is viewed as a solid favorite in most eyes. Of those, three stand out as reasonable, acceptable picks that I would happily make in any pool if I had the option to do so. The other three involve far more risk, and they just plain make me uneasy. Here’s a look at both the good and the bad:

NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Expert Advice: Week 9
by Matt Severance - 10/29/2014

Well, I owe an apology to my readers. A terrible Week 8 of Survivor Pool advice. I personally didn't take the Dallas Cowboys, thankfully, because I have a pretty steadfast rule in not choosing the Thursday or Monday night winners as my No. 1 choice in a Survivor Pool. I don't like being locked in that early in the week or that late. But Dallas was my Lock of the Week in this space.

NFL Survivor Pools Strategy Advice and Predictions: Week 9
by Trevor Whenham - 10/28/2014

Chances are pretty good that if you are still alive in your NFL survivor pool that you are down to the very few final survivors and that it could end at any time. After some challenging opening weeks, though, the last few weeks have been relatively straightforward — predictable outcomes in the games that matter, and few shocking upsets — so there is no reason that leagues couldn’t continue on for a few more weeks.

NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Expert Advice: Week 8
by Matt Severance - 10/22/2014

Clearly the team that has killed competitors in their survivor pools more than any other so far this season is Seattle. The Super Bowl champs didn't lose two straight at all last year and gave up more than 28 points just once. However, they lost another stunner in Week 7, 28-26 in St. Louis as the Rams played with nothing to lose, throwing two awesome special teams trick plays at the Seahawks. Pete Carroll was outcoached by Jeff Fisher, simple as that.

NFL Survivor Pools Strategy Advice and Predictions: Week 8
by Trevor Whenham - 10/21/2014

Survivor pools are all about surviving. Obviously. Sometimes, though, it’s the small things that are every bit as important as picking a winning game in a given week. Last week had one of those moments. The Seahawks were heavily favored against the Rams and would have been an easy pick. They made me very uneasy, though — and that was even before the whole Percy Harvin debacle.

NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Expert Advice: Week 7
by Matt Severance - 10/15/2014

Week 6 of the NFL season was exactly why you should take this column as a barometer more than gospel and never, ever, put in your survivor pool picks until the last minute (not including Thursday game, obviously -- all pools I know allow you to simply pick Thursday and then do the rest).

NFL Survivor Pools Strategy Advice and Predictions: Week 7
by Trevor Whenham - 10/14/2014

We have fewer remaining competitors with every passing week of NFL survivor pool action, and things get more and more tense for those of us who are still standing. Luckily for us, this week there are three very viable selections, and chances are quite good that you haven’t already used up all three teams in prior weeks. It gets tougher and tougher to find teams that are still usable, so it’s a good feeling that we are probably fine — and we don’t have to make a reckless gamble.

NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Expert Advice: Week 6
by Matt Severance - 10/8/2014

I mentioned I didn't totally love New Orleans at home against Tampa Bay with how unevenly the Saints had looked. I thought the Saints would win but not by the spread, certainly. They were very lucky to do so. The Bucs led 31-20 with less than 10 minutes to go before the Saints woke up, eventually tying it on Shayne Graham's 44-yard field goal with 2:30 left. The Bucs' offense could do nothing on its next possession with a chance to win, and off to overtime we went.

NFL Survivor Pools Strategy Advice and Predictions: Week 6
by Trevor Whenham - 10/7/2014

Week 6 of the NFL season is when things start to get much tougher in the world of NFL survivor pools. Chances are that the elite teams have been used, so we either need to latch onto an emerging strong team or take a somewhat uncomfortable gamble. Of course, it only makes sense then that this is also the time of the season when things really get interesting and when winners can be made in these pools.

NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Expert Advice: Week 5
by Matt Severance - 10/1/2014

Thank goodness I went with my gut in Week 4 of the NFL season in choosing a Lock of the Week in the Survivor Pool. I originally decided pretty quickly that I wanted Indianapolis at home against Tennessee. But then I started questioning that call if by chance the Titans' injured Jake Locker was going to start. So I looked long and hard at Pittsburgh against visiting Tampa Bay, and of course the Bucs pulled the stunning upset.

NFL Survivor Pools Strategy Advice and Predictions: Week 5
by Trevor Whenham - 9/30/2014

I couldn’t seem to be able to pick a winner if my life depended on it last week, but at least I had the week of Survivor Pool action figured out. There were three games with a spread of at least a touchdown. I correctly called that the Chargers were an extremely comfortable pick and Indianapolis was safe as well but that Pittsburgh was a bad idea.

NFL Survivor Pool Picks and Expert Advice: Week 4
by Matt Severance - 9/24/2014

When did Michigan State become Quarterback U? OK, I am a little biased as I am originally from Michigan and a Sparty fan, but just look around the NFL and Spartans signal-callers are kicking tail. Washington's Kirk Cousins lost last week but led the NFL with 427 yards passing in his first start of the year. The guy he lost to? Philadelphia's Nick Foles, who started his college career at MSU but transferred to Arizona largely because of Cousins.