If you’re still looking for the best survivor pool strategy, it means you’re still alive and that’s fantastic Not an easy feat as we enter NFL Week 13, the week of Thanksgiving! Last week was another week where most people moved on. There were a couple of scares, but for the most part, the favorites who were taken in NFL survivor pools came out on top. But now it’s time to look forward. Your options are dwindling away and it’s going to get tougher and tougher to take down the big prize. Doesn’t mean we can’t do it, so let’s get to the top NFL Week 13 survivor picks. We’ve got work to do.

 Remember, the best survivor pool strategy isn’t simply about picking the biggest favorite each week; it’s about understanding matchups, managing risk, and planning several weeks ahead. Sometimes, though, the football gods have a different plan. You can do all the right things, make the best picks and still find yourself on the losing side of things, like what we’ve witnessed several times this season already. We’ll try and help you avoid that as best we can. Those who are still in it are ready to scratch and claw their way to the final weeks, so identifying the best survivor pool strategy can be the key to outlasting the competition and claiming the prize. In this week’s article we'll take you through our process to help you make the most sensible picks to advance to next week and beyond.

 

 

Best NFL Survivor Pool Strategy for 2025 NFL Week 13

When it comes to lining up our top NFL Week 13 survivor picks, our mindset hasn’t changed regarding what the best survivor pool strategy should be. It continues to revolve around the "chalky" plays, if they are still available to you. You should definitely be looking ahead, but we’re still looking at the reliable favorites with the biggest spreads and hopefully, not overexposed in most pools. We prefer to have a home team and, in a lot of cases, avoid divisional matchups and short weeks if we can. Of course, here in Thanksgiving week, we have four games on short weeks, so we might have to adjust. Two weeks ago, we made an exception with the New England Patriots as a 13-point home favorite on Thursday night against the New York Jets. We may have gotten a brief scare on the first drive, but in the end, we came out on top. Still, not exactly something I want to do on the regular.

Here in NFL Week 13, the premium examples are the Seattle Seahawks who are an 11.5-point home-favorite over the Vikings, the Los Angeles Rams who are a 10.5-point road-favorite over the Carolina Panthers and the Los Angeles Chargers who are 10-point home-favorite over the Las Vegas Raiders. If you have any of the three available, our friends over at Pool Genius have them listed in their top-five for the week. 

 

 

Dominate Your Survivor Pool with Pool Genius

Back in Week 3, you got a great introduction to Pool Genius and everything they have to offer. It doesn’t matter that it’s Week 13 – there is still an opportunity for you to join and still take advantage of everything they have to offer. If this is your first time hearing about them, please allow me to show you the way, because they have some exciting tools to help you make the right picks. What happens is, you load in all the information about your pool – how many total participants, cost per entry, specific rules to your pool regarding things like repeat picks or buybacks and since we are already here in Week 13, who you’ve taken so far. From there, they analyze all the data and make suggestions as to who to take, so it is a VERY personalized service.

To continue guiding you, I am using all the tools Pool Genius has to offer and making one of my picks based solely off their data and recommendations. The pick I had been tracking in this article series had Arizona in Week 5, so I am shifting gears. I had a few other picks in other pools and have one left in my biggest pool, so I am still using the tools here, but instead of trying to track another pick, I will simply discuss the top few recommended picks overall and from there, you can determine who you want to take each week.

The top Pool Genius recommendations are as follows:

  1. Seattle Seahawks (vs Minnesota Vikings, 6% popularity)
  2. Baltimore Ravens (vs Cincinnati Bengals, 2% popularity)
  3. Los Angeles Rams (at Carolina Panthers, 7% popularity)
  4. New England Patriots (vs New York Giants, 3% popularity)
  5. Los Angeles Chargers (vs Las Vegas Raiders, 42% popularity)

According to Pool Genius the Chargers are expected to be the most popular pick this week as a 10-point home favorite with a -510 money line. It’s pretty understandable, though if I did have the Chargers, I would probably avoid the divisional matchup, especially when the Chargers have been struggling as of late. The game that ranks second-highest in popularity is actually the Jacksonville Jaguars who are listed with a 74% win probability as a 6.5-point home-favorite. Pool Genius lists them as their 10th-favorite this week and while I thought about taking them with my one last pick, I am going to avoid them. There’s just something about it that makes me nervous. Not a big Trevor Lawrence fan and they just don’t seem to have everything firing on all cylinders.

Now before I get to my favorite picks to use, I do want to remind you that Pool Genius is a paid service, but for the Fantasy Alarm #Family, they have some discounts available to you. The data and service they provide has been fantastic thus far and I feel confident using their suggestions. 

Now let’s get to my three favorite options for NFL Week 13:

 

 

NFL Survivor Pool Picks for Week 13

Minnesota Vikings vs. Seattle Seahawks: Pick Seattle Seahawks

Our friends over at Pool Genius list this one as their favorite this week, and I truly wish I could use them, especially with the news that Max Brosman is likely under center. Not that JJ McCarthy was any good, but Brosman is still below him. It’s a shame, really, as even with Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison and Aaron Jones, I just don’t have much confidence in the Vikings.

Seattle is a -800 money line favorite and has an 87% win probability. Sam Darnold is likely to show-up Minnesota and give them yet another reason to regret letting him go. Jaxon Smith-Njigba is on pace to shatter Calvin Johnson’s single-season record and the Seahawks should probably win this one handily.

Los Angeles Rams vs. Carolina Panthers: Pick Los Angeles Rams

Pool Genius lists this game as their third-favorite on the slate, and again, I have no reason to disagree. Matthew Stafford is having an MVP-caliber season, Puka Nacua and Davante Adams are elite-level wideouts, Kyren Williams is a string backfield presence and the front seven of that defense is fierce. Even with the travel, I have a tough time seeing them lose.

The Panthers have been a great story, but Bryce Young really showed last week that he isn’t quite ready to take that next step. At lest not yet. They have a strong ground game, but running up on the Rams defensive line is going to be tough. While we don’t love taking road teams, this one seems relatively safe (knock on wood).

New York Giants vs. New England Patriots: Pick New England Patriots

This one is my third-favorite, though the folks at Pool Genius have it as their fourth on the list. Even if Jaxson Dart comes back, it’s going to be very difficult for the Giants to hold off the Patriots offense and win this one. Even if they were to get a lead, we’ve now watched them cough up the game in each of the last four weeks. The Patriots should have this one well under control as Drake Maye rebounds from his mediocre Week 12 performance.

These are the picks in my order of preference this week. Unfortunately for me, I do not have any of these teams left as options. This week I am going with the Black Friday game and taking the Eagles. I don’t see them collapsing like they did against the Cowboys this past week and I don’t see the Bears defense being able to stop Jalen Hurts or Saquon Barkley. They’re a touchdown home-favorite with a 74% win probability. I think I should survive to make another tough choice in Week 14.

Best of luck to you all in your survivor pool contests. 

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