Jameis Winston enters Week 1 of the 2022 NFL season as the starting quarterback for the New Orleans Saints. The former No. 1 overall pick will square off against a familiar foe when the Saints take on Marcus Mariota and the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, Sept. 11. Winston and Mariota were the first two players selected in the 2015 NFL Draft and they’ll take the field as rivals in Week 1. Should you back the Saints for your Week 1 NFL survivor pool picks, or should you steer clear of this NFC South rivalry altogether in your Week 1 NFL picks? Elsewhere on the Week 1 NFL schedule, the Baltimore Ravens take on the New York Jets in a game many will target for their Week 1 NFL knockout pool picks. The Ravens are seven-point favorites on the road, one of the largest spreads on the Week 1 NFL odds board. 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 $7,500 for $100 players on top-rated NFL picks since its inception. The model enters the 2022 NFL season on an incredible 138-97 run on top-rated NFL picks that dates back to the 2017 season. Amazingly, it hasn’t missed a top-rated pick since Week 15 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 from Caesars 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 2022 NFL season, the model is shying away from the Cincinnati Bengals, even though they are the reigning AFC champions and favored at home over the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers have won 16 of their last 20 games on the road against the Bengals, so they know what it takes to win at Cincinnati.
Pittsburgh’s offense will look different without Ben Roethlisberger under center, but the Steelers feature one of the most well-rounded running backs in the NFL. Najee Harris led the NFL with 381 touches last season, the most by a rookie since LaDainian Tomlinson in 2001. Harris finished the 2021 season with 1,667 scrimmage yards, the most by a Steelers rookie in franchise history. The model sees this as a tricky game and no clear-cut victory for the Bengals, so it advises to steer clear of this AFC North rivalry. See which team to pick here.
How to make Week 1 NFL survivor pool picks
Instead, the model is backing a team that made a quarterback change in the offseason 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.
