The survivor concept is simple: Pick one team to win an NFL game every week. No spreads or totals – just winners. Once you use that team, you can't use them again – creating an element of strategy and long-term planning that makes these contests deceptively difficult.
Fortunately, this year we're partnering with our friends at Pool Genius to make things easier. They've built slate-leading tools to help conquer a variety of pool contests, including survivor.
Week 3 was a perfect example of why it's so difficult to make it through the entire season in survivor pools. Two of the week's heaviest favorites – the Cowboys and Jaguars – both lost.
Along with the Ravens, three teams favored by more than a touchdown lost their Week 3 matchups. Collectively, those three teams eliminated 4 4% of the remaining field in Week 3. That means we're already down to about 43% of the field remaining in average pools, including the losers from Week 1 and Week 2.