It’s football time! The 2026 season is underway with Week 1 starting a day early. The Patriots and Seahawks kick things off on Wednesday this year as the 49ers and Rams square off in Australia on Thursday. Due to the time difference, the NFL decided to start this season a day earlier than usual.
The start of the season means the return of Survivor Pools. If you’ve never played before, it involves picking one team each week that you think will win. If your team wins in week 1, you can make a pick in week 2. If your team wins in week 2, you can make a pick in week 3, and so on. The catch is that the team cannot be selected twice. You can make good use of a heavy hitter in week 1, but if you survive the last few weeks, you won’t be able to get them for the rest of the year. Most pools will kick you out after one wrong pick, but some offer a double elimination process.
Whatever the case, there’s a lot of strategy involved in deciding which team to take each week. SB Nation is here to help as we look at the safest picks, the best value picks, and then the trap picks. Normally this column is published on Thursdays, but with the start of the first week, we are publishing it a day earlier.
I have included odds for favorites in each game FanDuel.
Chargers (-9.5) over Cardinals
Jaguars (-8.5) over Browns
The two big favorites are the most reliable ones you can use this week. The Cardinals and Browns probably won’t go winless this season, but both are among the worst in the league in win total. Meanwhile, the Chargers are ranked fifth in Super Bowl odds by FanDuel, while the Jaguars are in the middle of the pack, with both teams having the second-best odds to win their division. There’s no reason to be pretty in week 1, especially if you don’t have more than two entries in your contests.
Steelers (-3.5) on Falcons
Raiders (-3.5) over Dolphins
If you’re only playing with one or two entries, I think you’ll be fine out of the gate. But if you want to get a little cheeky, the Steelers and Raiders are very interesting. Steelers winners sit at 8.5 overall and get under juiced while Raiders winners sit at 5.5 overall and get over juiced. The Falcons and Dolphins are both dealing with tough quarterback questions and low expectations. You may use the Steelers when they host the Browns in Week 8, but you won’t use the Raiders again this season, nor will you bar one dramatic turnaround for them or their opponents. The value is on non-reuse.
Lions (-6.5) over Saints
Eagles (-5.5) over the Chiefs
The Saints are as big a question as any this season. Tyler Shaw raises all kinds of red flags, but if you’re with him, you might as well be a Saints fan this season. If not, well, you might be picking the Lions this week. I think it’s too soon to tell what he’ll do from New Orleans, so stay away.
The same goes for commanders. Will Jayden Daniels make a comeback? That aside, there’s no reason to take the winner of the Week 1 divisional game for granted. You save the group games for the end of the season, or maybe a coffees-style game.
