Black Sunday Marks End of the Road for Many NFL Survivor Pool Players

Black Sunday was a dark day for many NFL Survivor Pool players as most of the popular Week 2 picks went down in flames. It all started in the early games as New Orleans, a 10-point favorite and the consensus most popular pick for Week 2 players, fell at home to Tampa Bay. Then the afternoon brought on a slew of upsets with Jacksonville beating Miami, Oakland besting Baltimore and Dallas upending Philly. It’s safe to say there were a lot of unhappy pool players on Monday morning. It’s time for many to open those wallets to join in on a loser’s pool!

I wound up in decent shape in my pool. I still have two tickets pending on Indianapolis tonight, but I am fairly confident in that selection. I already advanced on one ticket with the Steelers earning an easy victory over San Francisco. I did pick New Orleans on one card but was more than happy to lose that ticket with so many people getting knocked out of my pool. About 80 percent of my pool was knocked out because of these Sunday upsets, leaving about 25 competitors with several on Indy pending in the Monday Night Football game tonight. If the Colts win as expected I will have three live tickets among less than 30 players left standing, and I like my chances in that scenario.

I am actually kicking myself for taking New Orleans on even one card as I was lukewarm at best about their chances to win in last week’s analysis. I had bet on the Buccaneers and expected it to be a close game. But 10-point-or-more favorites won at more than a 90-percent success rate last season, and that is a stat that just can’t be ignored. But if the Colts win tonight I should be in very good shape in my pool. With less than 30 people left in only Week 3 there are probably a handful of bad players among that bunch.

Twitter was abuzz last night about all these upsets. Some people reported 90+ percent of their pools were knocked out on Sunday. Others tweeted that their entire pool was knocked out in one day. I was asked for advice on how to proceed when everyone in the pool is knocked out at once. Those decisions are always up to the pool runner, but in most pools they will probably give a mulligan for Week 2 and keep the pool going.

Black Sunday was one of the most devastating days I can remember ever for NFL Survivor Pools. It just shows how much parity there is in the NFL and that you can’t overreact too much to Week 1 results. But for those of us that weathered the storm on Sunday have a real good chance at winning our pool.