NFL Week 1 Survivor Pool Picks

by Matt Fischer

NFL Week 1 Survivor Pool Picks for the start of the 2018 season.  I went 15-2 with NFL Survivor Pool Picks in 2017 with consistent strategy to narrow down the possibilities each week.

I want you to survive your eliminator pool this NFL season so I’m giving my free survivor pool strategy weekly all season. My picks are based upon our data driven week 1 NFL predictions and power rankings.

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Survivor Pool Pick Strategy:

There are easy steps to cut down your potential pick for your NFL survivor pool.  My first step in the process is eliminating the teams I’ve already picked but it’s week 1 so everybody is available.  We start with 16 week 1 winners.

Eliminate Toss-Up Winners

First I eliminate toss-up winners.  That means I’m cutting the 1 point winners out of the list for consideration for week 1 NFL Survivor Pool Picks.  Teams to knock out of consideration this week are Bengals (at Colts), Titans (at Dolphins), Panthers (vs. Cowboys) and Seahawks (at Broncos).  12 teams remain.

Eliminate Road Winners

Next we eliminate road teams.  I don’t like taking road teams to win in the NFL at all.  Just too risky when you need a win, go with a home team.

Eliminating predicted road winners, the Jaguars (at Giants), Steelers (at Browns)  and Rams (at Raiders) are predicted road winners so they’re out of contention for our NFL Week 1 Survivor Pool Pick.  Nine teams remain.

Eliminate Low Ranking Winners

Next, I look for team that aren’t in our 20 of the power rankings.  This eliminates the Cardinals (24th).  Eight teams are left in consideration for our week 1 NFL Survivor Pool Pick.

Eliminate Winners Playing Good Teams

Then, I look for our predicted winners that are playing teams ranked in the top 16 and take them out of consideration.  This eliminates the Chargers (against Chiefs) and Eagles (against Falcons).  This gives me 6 teams remaining to consider.

Survivor contest

Final NFL Week 1 Survivor Pool Picks

The Lions, Packers, Patriots, Ravens, Saints and Vikings are left to consider for our NFL Week 1 Survivor Pool Pick.  I’ll rank them in order of confidence.

6 – Packers – They’re playing a divisional foe with a new coach.  I think the Bears are going to be competitive in this game.

5 – Vikings – Host the 49ers.  Breaking Kirk Cousins in makes me a little nervous.  The new look Niners should be ready for this one and could keep it close.

4-  Patriots – DeShaun Watson returns and should be ready to keep the Texans in this game though the Pats are nearly a sure thing at home.

3 – Saints – I think this will be a big year for the Saints but with this being a divisional game, I’m not going to make them my survivor pick.

2 – Ravens – The Ravens host a playoff team from last year that’ll start a rookie at QB.  Baltimore should win this one easily.

1 – Lions – I’ll take the Lions to survive NFL week 1 with them hosting a rookie QB in primetime on Monday Night Football.  They’re 13 in our power rankings against the 29th ranked Jets.  Take the Lions as your NFL Week 1 Survivor Pool Pick.

Get our weekly NFL Survivor Pool Picks.