In most NFL survivor pools, you can’t pick a team to win more than once all season. However, you can select a team to lose as many times as you want with your NFL survivor picks. This strategy has Arizona Cardinals games as popular ones to target in Week 1 NFL survivor pool picks and beyond. Sportsbooks have the Cardinals’ season win total at just 3.5, the lowest in the league. The Cardinals will visit the Commanders during the opening week, which has Washington as an appealing team for Week 1 NFL knockout pool picks. Kickoff is at 1 p.m. ET, and Arizona lost both of its games at that kickoff time last season. The team is also using journeyman QB Joshua Dobbs as its opening week starter.
Should this be the first of many weeks you target Arizona’s opponent with NFL eliminator picks? Before finalizing any Week 1 NFL survivor picks, see which team the red-hot SportsLine Projection Model just went all-in on.
The model, which simulates every NFL game 10,000 times, is up over $7,000 for $100 players on top-rated NFL picks since its inception. The model enters the 2023 NFL season on an incredible 163-113 run on top-rated NFL picks that dates back to the 2017 season. It is also on a 17-6 roll on top-rated NFL picks since Week 7 of last season.
The model also ranked in the top 10 on NFLPickWatch four of the past six years on straight-up NFL picks and beat more than 94 percent of CBS Sports Football Pick’em players four times during that span. Anyone who has followed it is way up.
Now, it has turned its attention to the latest Week 1 NFL odds and locked in its Week 1 survivor pool pick. You can only see who the model is backing this week at SportsLine.
Top Week 1 NFL survivor pool predictions
For Week 1 of the 2023 NFL season, the model is shying away from the San Francisco 49ers, even though they’re coming off a 13-4 season and are favored over a Steelers team that went 9-8 and missed the playoffs. Both teams broke in rookie quarterbacks last year, and while Brock Purdy had immediate success, it took a while for Kenny Pickett to find his groove. However, he showed why he was the first quarterback drafted, as he led Pittsburgh to a 6-1 record over the last seven games, with the one loss coming after he was knocked out of the game following a single pass attempt.
As for Purdy, perhaps the one weakness he displayed was the inability to avoid sacks. He was taken down seven times over his last three regular-season games and was sacked on just his third dropback in the NFC Championship Game, which ultimately injured his elbow. That weakness could be targeted by the Steelers, who led the NFL in sacks every year from 2018 to 2021. Pittsburgh is 1-10 since 2017 when T.J. Watt doesn’t play but 59-26-2 when he does, so he’s as impactful as any player on the field.
Additionally, don’t forget that the Niners lost outright as 6-point favorites to the Bears in Week 1 of last year. Pittsburgh is a much more formidable opponent so the model is saving the 49ers for another week in NFL eliminator pools. See which team to pick here.
How to make Week 1 NFL survivor pool picks
Instead, the model is backing a team that closed out last season with back-to-back wins and has had plenty of success against its Week 1 opponent. The time to pick this team is now, and you can only see the play over at SportsLine.
Which surprising team is a must-back in your Week 1 survivor pool? Visit SportsLine now to see which team carries you to victory in Week 1, all from the advanced computer model that consistently crushes the NFL, and find out.
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Author: CBS Sports Staff
September 3, 2023 | 10:20 am
