The Patriots are the NFL's version of a bracket buster in Week 1.
Survivor pools are one of the most popular games that can be played throughout a football season. The premise is simple — pick one team every week that you believe will win, and you stay alive. In most leagues, it is restricted so that you can only pick a team once during the regular season. However, you're eliminated as soon as you pick wrong even once.
For Week 1, the Bengals were an incredibly popular pick in survivor pools. Joe Burrow and Co. were facing the Patriots at home to kick off the 2024 season on Sunday. While Cincinnati is viewed as a Super Bowl contender in the AFC, New England is more likely a team that will be in the running for the No. 1 overall pick.
However, the game is not played on paper. It's played on a gridiron where anything can happen, and that is exactly what occurred on Sunday, as the Patriots went to Cincinnati and delivered a 16-10 win on the road.
While the Bengals have a week to regroup before their next challenge, the same can't be said for those who rallied behind Zac Taylor's team against New England. For anyone who picked the Bengals in their survivor pools, it marks the end of their competition.
MORE: How Bengals' loss to Patriots continues trend of Week 1 woes in Joe Burrow era
Just how many people picked the Bengals in survivor pools? The Sporting News has the answer.
How many people picked Bengals in NFL survivor pools?
There were plenty of survivor pool users who were eliminated before the later afternoon slate could even get started, bringing an end to what was supposed to be a months-long adventure.
The Bengals were the most popular pick among a number of platforms for the survivor pool competitions, including 37 percent on Cover, 43 percent on Yahoo Sports, and 34 percent in CircaSports. It put thousands out of the fun before it even truly could begin, and in some cases, wiping out nearly half of the participants.
The No. 1 @CircaSports Survivor selection goes down as 4,895 entries on the Bengals are eliminated. pic.twitter.com/WKLChkjtoA
— VSiN (@VSiNLive) September 8, 2024
37% of the Covers 10K Survivor Contest selected the Bengals to beat the Patriots and have been eliminated 😬 pic.twitter.com/wQpZbV1GUY
— Covers (@Covers) September 8, 2024
Not only that, but the Patriots were also one of the least-picked teams in the competition, meaning that there were only a few people whose bold dare to take the Pats paid off. Now, they still have every other team in the NFL at their disposal going forward.
NFL survivor Week 1 picks grid: Best and most popular picks
This is what TSN's Sloan Piva had to say on the Bengals-Patriots game.
Cincinnati has PoolGenius's top odds and ranks as the most popular pick in Week 1. Joe Burrow is back, the Patriots are in a total rebuild after saying goodbye to Bill Belichick and drafting a rookie QB, and the game is in Cincy. If your strategy is to go as safe as possible, it's hard to argue with the Bengals being the optimal choice.
Here was how the NFL survivor Week 1 picks grid for The Sporting News looked like entering Week 1.
All odds and data courtesy of PoolGenius.
| Team | PG odds | Popularity |
| Bengals vs. Patriots | 74% | 37% |
| Seahawks vs. Broncos | 70% | 10% |
| 49ers vs. Jets | 69% | 4% |
| Bills vs. Cardinals | 68% | 14% |
| Lions vs. Rams | 66% | 2% |
| Dolphins vs. Jaguars | 64% | 3% |
| Bears vs. Titans | 63% | 4% |
| Chargers vs. Raiders | 62% | 2% |
| Falcons vs. Steelers | 61% | 2% |
| Buccaneers vs. Commanders | 61% | 3% |
| Saints vs. Panthers | 61% | 9% |
| Texans at Colts | 55% | 2% |
| Chiefs vs. Ravens (W) | 55% | 1% |
| Vikings at Giants | 54% | 1% |
| Browns vs. Cowboys | 53% | 0% |
| Eagles vs. Packers (Brazil) | 53% | 1% |
| Packers vs. Eagles (Brazil) | 47% | 0% |
| Cowboys at Browns | 47% | 1% |
| Giants vs. Vikings | 46% | 1% |
| Ravens at Chiefs (L) | 45% | 0% |
| Colts vs. Texans | 45% | 0% |
| Panthers at Saints | 39% | 0% |
| Commanders at Buccaneers | 39% | 0% |
| Steelers at Falcons | 39% | 0% |
| Raiders at Chargers | 38% | 0% |
| Titans at Bears | 37% | 0% |
| Jaguars at Dolphins | 36% | 0% |
| Rams at Lions | 34% | 0% |
| Cardinals at Bills | 32% | 0% |
| Jets at 49ers | 31% | 0% |
| Broncos at Seahawks | 30% | 0% |
| Patriots at Bengals | 26% | 0% |
