We are officially back to football with the NFL season set to kickoff this Thursday.
The Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams take on the Buffalo Bills setting the stage for what should be another drama-filled year of football.
Many people get involved in the NFL season in the typical ways — season-long fantasy football, DFS, sports betting — but don’t forget about the 2022 NFL survivor pools. Survivor pools offer a fantastic sweat and can get you a potentially big-time payout come the end of the year.
I’ve gone over all of the games this week, and I’ve found three teams that are popping as the best Week 1 NFL survivor picks — and I’ll tell you who I’m rolling with in my own survivor pool this week as well.
If you’re looking for more NFL picks this week, check out our best Week 1 NFL bets for EVERY GAME.
NFL Survivor Pool Picks Week 1
How to Play NFL Survivor Pools in 2022
For the opening week, I will get into a few broad strategies about survivor and then we can dive into the picks. Anyone playing for the first time who wants to know the rules, it’s very simple:
Pick one team each week and all they have to do is win the game. If they win you survive and advance, but you cannot choose that team for the remainder of the season. Some league have additional rules so make sure you check yours before selecting. The goal is to be the last team standing and each week that gets more difficult as there are less options available
Knowing how many people are in the league is crucial, as you want to know how aggressive you have to be. If you are playing with thousands of people, this could last all year so you need to think long term and try and save some quality teams.
If it’s a smaller league you can be more conservative and target some of the heavy favorites each week. That risk/reward is one of the tougher balancing acts and what we are going to breakdown in Week 1.
Check out the Week 1 NFL Survivor Picks video where I break down the picks and go into some more detail on how to play — and win — these 2022 NFL survivor pools
NFL Survivor Pool Picks Week 1:
The first team that caught my eye were the Ravens, who hit the road to take on the Jets. They are a touchdown favorite and near -300 on the moneyline, making them an obvious choice. Baltimore starts the year much healthier than 2021 and Lamar Jackson should have a huge day against the Jets defense. Marquise Brown departs, but the Ravens offense should still be one of the tougher to stop across the entire league. For the Jets, they probably wont even have Zach Wilson, so it could be Joe Flacco under center for Week 1. Either way, they are overmatched and the Ravens could be the most popular choice for Survivor pools this week.
Indianapolis Colts (-8 at Texans)
Last year the Colts had the worst loss of the season in a must-win game against the Jaguars to make the playoffs. That loss caused a revamp of the offense and now Matt Ryan takes over this passing attack. He draws a fantastic matchup in Week 1 and having Jonathan Taylor in the backfield doesn’t hurt either. The Colts are the biggest favorite on the board and looking at the NFL betting odds on OddsShopper we see them at around -330 for a moneyline at most books. Targeting a divisional game isn’t ideal, but this Week 1 doesn’t give us a ton of options.
We’re going to Monday Night Football here with the Broncos going into Seattle to take on the Seahawks. They are another sizeable favorite at -6.5 and could be a team you don’t mind getting rid of to start the season. Denver has an incredibly difficult Division and this could be one of the best spots to use them all season. Russell Wilson revenge narrative will be the topic of conversation, but there is no doubting Seattle is in a rebuild while Denver is on the upward trajectory heading into the season.
My NFL Survivor Pick Week 1: Baltimore Ravens
I’m not looking to make a splash or be too aggressive in Week 1, so going with one of the obvious choices in the Ravens. They are facing a non-divisional team in the Jets, who may be without their starting QB. Besides being on the road, everything tilts the way of Baltimore and I am fine with not having them available for the rest of the season. Between them and the Colts, I think Baltimore is the safer choice, and a healthy Ravens team should have no problem getting us to Week 2 of the survivor season.
