A smart survival pool strategy is to look beyond the obvious. Many players try to conserve elite teams for tougher weeks, choosing solid but not spectacular matchups early on. It’s a delicate balance between playing it safe and planning ahead.

Welcome to the final installment of NFL Survivor Pool Picks for Week 18! It's been a wild ride this season with upsets, peaks, and valleys, but if you're reading this, I sincerely appreciate you being here for the ride this season!

Office Pool – NFL Game Picks Our staff will pick the winner of every NFL contest every week. They will also rank their confidence level in their selection, ranging from 1 (least confident) to 16 (most confident). We'll also combine everyone's confidence points, giving you a Wisdom of the Staff confidence level as well.

The Los Angeles Rams headline the top Survivor League picks for the NFL Wild Card round, along with several other strong contenders.

Survivor pool options are slim, but Week 18 still offers a few good ones. Of those few who have gone through 17 weeks of upsets and bad luck,

Cowboys (-3.5) at Giants: The Raiders understood the assignment in their Week 17 Tank Bowl loss against the Giants. This dumbass Giants team did not. The Giants are going to try to win this game too, but so will Dak Prescott, who has a chance to lead the NFL in passing yards.

The final week of the 2025 NFL regular season is upon us, and if you’re still alive in a Survivor Pool, the SI Betting team is wishing you the best of luck. Wee

Want to swim in the pools at a Jaguars game? Here's what you need to know about the "spas" at Jacksonville's EverBank Stadium.

NFL Wild Card Weekend 2026 rolls on Sunday with three more games -- Bills vs. Jaguars (-1.5) at 1 p.m. ET, 49ers vs. Eagles (-6) at 4:30 p.m. ET