How to win a $5,000 cash prize

The start of the NFL season on Thursday means one thing: USA TODAY’s Survivor Pool is officially back.

While not everyone can be crowned Super Bowl winner, anyone can win the Survivor Pool. If you keep picking winners and last longer than everyone else, you could take home a $5,000 cash prize.

Survive and move forward – sounds pretty simple, right?

There are just a few peculiarities. You can only pick each team once throughout the entire tournament, so if you’re looking to bet on top teams like the Chiefs, Ravens or 49ers week after week, you might want to think again because they’re off the table once you pick them.

If you miss a selection in a round, you are automatically eliminated. And of course, every selection must be correct for you to move on to the next round. And if your selection is successful, your team’s lead is added to a score to break any possible ties.

So there’s more strategy to it than meets the eye. Success comes down to picking the right team each week and knowing when to back a Super Bowl contender rather than saving them for a tougher matchup later. It’s all about timing – knowing when to play it safe and when to take a calculated risk.

Losing early will get you nowhere, but you also don’t want to end up in a situation later where you can only pick teams with losing records. It’s important to remember, however, that while you can’t pick the same team as winners every week, there’s nothing stopping you from picking the same teams as losers every week.

The Saints, for example, are far from the best team in the league, but could be a smart pick for Week 1, as they face a long-struggling Panthers team. Picking them now will allow you to save strong teams for later. On the other hand, Week 1 may not be the ideal time to pick Baltimore, as it faces the defending Super Bowl champions, even though the Ravens did have the best regular-season record last year (though it’s definitely tempting to back Lamar Jackson in his self-proclaimed “revenge game” after losing the AFC Championship Game to Kansas City last year).

Odds for NFL Week 1

To help you with your initial picks, let’s take a look at the odds for Week 1. (All point spreads are provided by BetMGM, although only a straight-up win is required for the Survivor Pool.)

Ravens (+3) at Chiefs
Packers (+2.5) at Eagles
Jaguars (+3.5) at Dolphins
Steelers (+3) at Falcons
Vikings (-1.5) at Giants
Panthers (+4) at Saints
Patriots (+8) at Bengals
Titans (+4) at Bears
Cardinals (+6.5) at Bills
Texans (-3) at Colts
Raiders (+3) at Chargers
Broncos (+6) at Seahawks
Commanders (+3) at Buccaneers
Cowboys (+2.5) at Browns
Rams (+3.5) at Lions
Jets (+4) at 49ers

What is a survival pool?

The Survivor Pool is a high-stakes competition where participants pick a team each week to win an NFL game. So there will be 16 correct answers each week. However, there is a catch: one wrong pick and you’re out for the entire season. It may seem simple, but the challenge gets bigger because you can’t pick the same team more than once.

How it works

So let’s summarize:

1. Join USA TODAY’s Survivor Pool.

2. Survive the longest with the highest score difference and you’re in the running for a cash prize of $5,000. (must meet eligibility requirements)

Rules to remember: Each week of the NFL season, pick a team to win. If your pick loses or is tied, you’re out. If the team wins, you stay alive and receive points equal to the game’s point differential. Choose wisely – you can only pick each team once during the entire season. You’re out if you don’t pick a team in a week.

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Odds for NFL Week 1

What is a survival pool?

How it works

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