Sep 75 min read

NFL Week 1 Survivor Picks

Yowie Wowie, I’m back! Yes, with Week 1 of the NFL season here, it is time for one of my favorite contests of the year, Survivor Pools.

As always, I will discuss the rules for a survivor pool. It is a weekly contest where people select one team per week, straight up, to win their game. If a chosen team wins, they advance to the next week but remember that the chosen team can’t be used for the rest of the season. If a team that they chose for that week loses, well they are eliminated from the pool.

So now that the rules are set it is time for me to give my top three options, a risky pick, a trap pick, and my survivor pick of the week.

Cincinnati Bengals (vs. New England Patriots)

This is the most obvious and safest choice to make in Survivor for Week 1 of the season. The Bengals are fully healthy and are facing the Patriots who are arguably the worst team in the NFL. They may have gotten worse trading Matthew Judon, cutting ties with JuJu Smith-Schuster, and choosing to start Jacoby Brissett at QB. Starting Brissett is a head-scratching decision as Brissett was terrible in the preseason.

Now, there is a question mark regarding Ja'Marr Chase's status in this game. He is holding out for a new deal, but Chase did participate in practice today which is a good sign.

While the Bengals always have had slow starts the past few seasons in the Zac Taylor era, they have not faced a team as bad as the Patriots this early. They are a good choice to utilize to survive and advance to Week 2. A whopping 41.7% of most Survivor pool players have chosen the Bengals to win.

Seattle Seahawks (vs. Denver Broncos)

Seattle is a very mediocre football team, but they are in a much better spot than the Denver Broncos. The Broncos have wrecked salary cap-wise thanks to the disaster of the Russell Wilson saga. Now the Broncos had to reach out to Bo Nix in the 2024 NFL Draft and he is going to be the starting QB for Denver.

Nix looked solid in the preseason, but Seattle will be a difficult matchup with a Mike MacDonald-coached team. An interesting stat to keep an eye on is that rookie QBs drafted in the first round have gone 0-9 in their first career starts since 2021. It doesn't help that Denver is very lackluster with the talent surrounding Nix. Nix is also making his debut in Seattle which is one of the toughest and loudest stadiums in the NFL.

The Broncos' defense last year was terrible and are going to struggle in the run game with Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet in the backfield. Seattle should take care of business in Denver and is a solid spot to take the Sin survivor pools. There is a reason why 7.8% of players are taking Seattle at the moment.

San Francisco 49ers (vs. New York Jets)

If this was three days ago, this game would have been left off the list of top survivor picks. Especially with the uncertainty of Trent Williams and Brandon Aiyuk's status thanks to contract holdouts. Well, that uncertainty is now over as both Williams and Aiyuk signed extensions with the 49ers.

The Jets are the most overrated team heading into the NFL and this is a really bad spot for them in Week 1. Especially as an East Coast team going to play on the West Coast in a primetime matchup.

Here is something not a lot of people are talking about, while the Jets defense is really good, a big weakness is against the run. That is where the 49ers succeed as they will run all over this mediocre run defense. That's not getting into the question marks on offense and which Aaron Rodgers the Jets will get. A big issue with the Jets is they have the worst head coach in the NFL not named Dennis Allen of the New Orleans Saints.

The 49ers are better in every way than the Jets. They should take care of business in their home opener. However, only 4.1% of players in Survivor would agree.

Risky Pick: Minnesota Vikings (at New York Giants)

This pick is super gross however it makes a lot of sense. The New York Giants are a terrible football team and are a team that many predict will pick first overall in the 2025 NFL Draft.

The Vikings are also a terrible team, but they have a better offense and defense than the Giants do on paper. When looking at the future of survivor pools, this is the best chance to take them in this setting. Yes, they are not the home team, but the Vikings should take care of business against the Giants.

Trap Pick: Buffalo Bills (vs. Arizona Cardinals)

The Bills are a very popular selection this week in survivor pools, and it makes sense why 14% of players are riding with Buffalo. However, there is something fishy about the Bills this week.

The Bills are currently dealing with many injuries, and the key one is Matt Milano. The Bills' defense is still strong, but they were not the same unit without Milano last season when he got hurt.

Arizona was a sneakily underrated team last season. Jonathan Gannon took over a really bad situation when Kingsbury departed. Since taking over he has the Cardinals heading in the right direction and the team showed flashes last season. Their team approved the additions made during the offseason.

The Bills also have plenty of weeks to choose in future survivor pools. The three weeks that are the most intriguing are Week 7 vs Titans, Week 10 @ Colts, and Week 16 vs. Patriots. It's best to save the Bills for another week in Survivor Pools and don't take the bait by using them in Week 1.

My Survivor Pick: Cincinnati Bengals

Out of all the available options, I would rather play it safe for Week 1. It's not the best idea to be risky with your selection and as the old saying goes, the risk is just not worth the reward.

The Bengals are the safest, so they will be my selection. While they have strong future value in Survivor, a lot can change in the next few weeks. Look at last year, the Bengals were derailed by injuries and were not the same team they were in Week 1.

What is your survivor pick in Week 1 and why? Let us know in the comment section, don't forget to give the article a like, and check out the website for more NFL content.

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