Best NFL Survivor Pool Picks for Week 1

Updated: Sep 10, 5:00pm UTC

Even if fantasy football or NFL betting aren't your thing, an NFL survivor pool can be a very fun way to add some extra intrigue to the NFL season.

Few things are more frustrating than getting eliminated in Week 1, though, and you need to make sure to get off to a strong start.

The Duel is here to help. Here are the three best NFL survivor pool picks for Week 1.

NFL Survivor Week 1 Picks

1. San Francisco 49ers (@ DET)

Probably the chalk pick for the week, the San Francisco 49ers are the week's second-biggest favorite at -360 on the moneyline on FanDuel Sportsbook. The Niners were ravaged by injury last year, but this is still a team just one season removed from making the Super Bowl. And of course just as appealing as targeting the Niners is fading the Detroit Lions. With a new quarterback, one of the worst wide receiver groups in football and a defense that ranked dead-last in DVOA in 2020, picking the Lions' opponent will be a popular strategy most weeks.

2. Los Angeles Rams (vs CHI)

The Chicago Bears will be an exciting team once Justin Fields takes over, but Andy Dalton just isn't going to get the job done. That's especially true in Week 1 against the Los Angeles Rams, who are among the early Super Bowl favorites after trading for Matthew Stafford. Favored by over a touchdown and playing at home, it's hard not to see the Rams getting off to an easy 1-0 start.

3. Buffalo Bills (vs PIT)

My favorite strategy in survivor (especially if you're in a big pool) is to be contrarian early and often. As -290 moneyline favorites, the Buffalo Bills are implied for nearly as high a win probability (74.4%) as the 49ers (78.3%). With such a similar win probability, the fact that a 49ers loss would eliminate a huge chunk of your competition (whereas picking the 49ers and having the Bills lose wouldn't eliminate many opponents) makes this a great game theory play.

Jason Schandl is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Jason Schandl also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username Jaymun. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.