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The top NFL survivor pool picks for Week 17 of the 2025 NFL season. Kevin's weekly survivor league pool targets and avoids -- expert picks for survivor leagues.
Happy holidays to all of you reading this season! We've got two short weeks left for anybody left in survivor pools, so with that, welcome in to NFL Survivor Pool Picks for Week 17! The long season may be coming to a close, but the work is far from over, as with 16 teams (or more) selected so far, the team pool to choose from has dwindled significantly. That's where we come in!
Week 16 was a weird week, with the Detroit Lions losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers, but outside of that, there weren't a lot of major upsets that shook up anything for survivor. Unless you count the Tennessee Titans beating the Kansas City Chiefs after backup quarterback Gardner Minshew went down as the second Chiefs quarterback to tear his ACL in two weeks, after Patrick Mahomes did so in Week 15.
All season long, this article will guide you through weekly survivor pool advice for each NFL week, including a handful of teams to target and several to avoid. Survivor league strategy is a major part of winning your pools, so we'll help dissect each pick, with all angles accounted for. We'll be previewing Week 17 of the NFL season through a survivor pool lens, with more information and data points about each team to help guide you on your quest to win your survivor pool!
Editors Note: RotoBaller's NEW Survivor Grid Tool provides an easy-to-use color-coded interface with each team's full schedule, including Vegas spreads. Plan your picks, create multiple entries, and save your progress. Click here to use the Survivor Grid today.
Survivor Pool Tools and Resources
Love survivor pools as much as we do? Of course you do. Be sure to check these out:
Survivor Picks Tool
Optimize your weekly picks and plan your future picks with our free new Survivor Pool Picks Tool!
Survivor League Guide
For detailed survivor pool strategy and tips to help you win, check out our "How To Win Your Survivor League" guide!
Implied Point Totals, Point Spreads, and Over/Under Totals for Week 17
Before jumping into the survivor pool picks for Week 17, it's helpful to get an overview of the slate with implied point totals, point spreads, and over/under totals from betting markets. All lines come courtesy of FantasyLabs each week.
Let's check out our survivor pool pick recommendations to target and avoid for Week 17! For the next two weeks, we'll add more teams to consider and avoid, as the team pool thins out, and in some survivor pools, we'll have to select two teams for the final two weeks.
Top Survivor Pool Picks to Target for Week 17
New England Patriots at New York Jets
*My top pick for Week 17*
Controlling their destiny for the AFC East division championship and if they receive the No. 2 seed, a home game against everybody but the AFC's top seed (currently Denver), the Patriots have to take care of some housekeeping.
Some light chores, including vacuuming, sweeping, and dusting the New York Jets. We'll let you figure out how to apply the Jets and vacuuming, but the Patriots would sweep both divisional games, and they should dust the Jets by more than the 13 points they beat them in Week 11.
The Drake Maye look away was too smooth
NEvsBAL on NBC
Stream on @NFLPlus + Peacock pic.twitter.com/LzrCqC6nzd— NFL (@NFL) December 22, 2025
Oddsmakers certainly think so, as New England is favored by 13.5 points; tied for the largest favorite in Week 17 with the Broncos. Jets quarterback Brady Cook is simply running out the clock on the Jets' season before they go into another offseason wondering who their quarterback will be. They're simply uncompetitive, and for survivor purposes, that makes us trust the Patriots with the utmost confidence for Week 17.
Cincinnati Bengals vs. Arizona Cardinals
Of course, as I'm sure everybody predicted, the team with the highest implied total of the Week 17 slate is the ... 5-10 Cincinnati Bengals. No, really.
But it helps that the Bengals, with Joe Burrow ready to play out the string of meaningless games for Cincinnati, are firing on all cylinders with 284 passing yards and four touchdown passes in two of his last three games. Cincinnati is at home with its lofty 30 implied points as 7.5-point favorites against the Arizona Cardinals.
A pretty nice day at the office for Chase Brown. pic.twitter.com/uCJOcGVj5Z
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) December 23, 2025
We're getting a lot of positive stuff here in this matchup if you're keen on the Bengals: a West-based team that plays its home games indoors, is traveling east, and playing outdoors.
The Cardinals are also spiraling as a team that's lost seven consecutive games. While selecting the Bengals isn't for the weak at heart, team selection is at a premium here, and it's unlikely most survivor pool gamers will have selected them thus far through 16 weeks.
Cincinnati will likely be the most popular pick across survivor pools this week. There's risk, but since we're in the final two weeks, you have to take a risk.
Other Survivor Picks in Consideration:
- Dallas Cowboys (at WAS)
- Denver Broncos (at KC)
- Jacksonville Jaguars (at IND)
- Detroit Lions (at MIN)
Top Survivor Pool Picks to Avoid for Week 17
Pittsburgh Steelers at Cleveland Browns
The 9-6 Steelers feel much worse than they are, but they're two games ahead of Baltimore and can clinch the AFC North before even playing a game with a Baltimore loss in Green Bay.
Of course, the flip side is that if Pittsburgh loses and Baltimore wins, the AFC North comes down to a Week 18 home game against the Ravens for the division crown. No matter what path the Steelers choose to close out the regular season, they'll do so without DK Metcalf.
Steelers WR DK Metcalf’s two-game suspension has been upheld by commissioner designee Chris Palmer. pic.twitter.com/1voL1UyPkt
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) December 24, 2025
Week 17's Steelers vs. Browns matchup has Pittsburgh as a relatively slim 3.0-point road favorite against a three-win Cleveland Browns team. A tough Browns defense, which is currently second in EPA per play on defense, against a Steelers offense with a banged-up 42-year-old minus its best receiving threat? That doesn't sound optimal.
Perhaps the Steelers will run the ball? The third-best EPA per rush attempt awaits them in Cleveland. It's going to be tough sledding either way, and a divisional rock fight. I'm not touching either team here because there are a multitude of ways this game could get squirrely for both sides in Week 17.
New Orleans Saints at Tennessee Titans
While the New Orleans Saints have gotten just a touch more spry in recent weeks with quarterback Tyler Shough looking somewhat functional, these 5-10 Saints are still not great.
They've won their last three games against the Buccaneers, Panthers, and the free square New York Jets. New Orleans will match up with the Tennessee Titans, the only team currently in the top six of the 2026 NFL Draft order that has won a game recently; their 29-6 drubbing over the quarterback-less Kansas City Chiefs.
Even with the Saints "riding high" on their three-game winning streak, they're 2.5-point favorites going into this game. For two teams that don't benefit much from wins, it's anybody's ballgame.
Earlier, I said that selecting the Bengals isn't for the weak at heart. Selecting the Saints makes you feel exponentially worse, like eating gas station sushi. Sure, it might be fine, but there's a feeling of dread that it could go terribly wrong at any moment.
Other Survivor Picks to Avoid:
- New York Giants (at LV)
- Seattle Seahawks (at CAR)
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers (at MIA)
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