One-Third of Splash NFL Survivor Entries Eliminated Thanks to Week 7 Mayhem

Every week, NFL Survivor casualties are claimed. Usually, one or two of the favorites flop, but most of the popular picks hit. Week 7 of 2023 was not usual.

Eleven different teams received at least 1 percent of entries this week, a massively wide distribution that can be largely attributed to the coincidence of evenness spread across many of the matchups. Of the week’s 13 showdowns, nine of them had a line of 3.5 points or below, and none stretched beyond 8.5 points.

Underdogs ousted six of the 11 most-preferred Week 7 options in Survivor contests, a devastating blow to the campaigns of many in the Splash universe. And who knows: maybe the Vikings will topple the 49ers tonight in a cruel twisting of the knife.

Splash was among the deflated on Sunday. The Bills were our Lock of the Week pick for Week 7, and like more than 17 percent of Survivor entries, we were wrong. Despite a 1-5 record and sitting near the bottom in most statistical categories, the Patriots poisoned their divisional adversary in a stunner, 29-25, as Mac Jones responded to critics with 272 yards and two touchdowns while completing 25 of his 30 passing attempts. It was New England’s first victory in the series in five tries dating back to December 2021.

For the second week in a row, we have to walk the walk after talking the talk. Those who went for the Bills as their first pick in the Week 7 Splash NFL Survivor Revival will get their money back, and our tails will remain pinned between our legs until next weekend when this surely can’t happen for a third time in a row, right? Right?!?

The Patriots caused the most carnage of anyone, ripping 17.50 percent of Splash Survivor entries to shreds – as Mike Gesicki and his quarterback delivered one of the worst attempts at The Griddy ever caught on camera, those of us with eyes weren’t the only ones crying out for help – but New England was far from the week’s only destroyer of dreams.

Survivor players made the Rams the third-most selected Survivor squad in Week 7 with 6.06 percent in their corner, and they repaid this trust with a 24-17 defeat at home to the Steelers. The Raiders sat at five on the list with 3.86 percent backing, and they lost handily to the once 1-5 Bears, 30-12. The Bucs were seventh, and the 3.36 percent of players who backed them are no more after the Falcons fried their foe, 16-13, in Tampa Bay. The Packers and Commanders rounded out the ranks of teams that gained at least 1 percent of entries that could not get it done, both embarrassing themselves against teams that had one win each prior to kick off. In all, those six disappointments accounted for 34.77 percent of entries face planting into the afterlife.

More chaos could come. Almost 6 percent of entries still hang in the balance; San Francisco will be in Minnesota tonight to close Week 7, and with how things have gone so far, that 6.5-point spread doesn’t mean much.

Yuck it up, the 46.76 percent of you sitting pretty after the Seahawks sunk the Cardinals, 20-10, in one the few games of the week where the favorite followed through on expectations. I’m sure you’re having a grand, ol’ time strutting around town with Geno Smith and Kenneth Walker III on each arm, not a care in the world. Just remember, life is fragile. Today it was us, tomorrow it could be you.

It wasn’t just Survivor players who were caught off-guard over the weekend. So many of the picks against the spread on Splash platforms fell flat. Not only were Splash users way off on each of already-mentioned matchups, with gaudy numbers like 78 percent expecting the Bills to cover or 76 percent predicting the Buccaneers to do the same, but 70 percent of picks went for the Lions to overcome the 2.5-point spread in their road rumble versus the Ravens. In reality, Baltimore blasted Detroit, 38-6, in one of 10 games that the consensus of Splash pickers against the spread flubbed.

The pairings in Week 8 don’t appear to bear the same lack of separation as the Week 7 ones did. Six of the week’s 16 contests feature early lines of a touchdown or more, and only five games have spreads smaller than 3 points. This probably indicates a less erratic week of action in comparison. Of course, we won’t know that until the final whistles blow – just ask the Bills why they play the games.

If you find yourself on the outside looking in on the Survivor fun after the NFL’s Week 7 anarchy, there is a way to climb back on to the ride. The Week 8 Splash NFL Survivor Revival contest is here, and it means even the downtrodden can rise again.

Prepare for perceptions to pancake with petite pretense, though. If Week 7 taught us anything, it’s that the adage of “any given Sunday” is law in this league. But if you know your stuff and catch a lovely streak of luck, perhaps this redo will be the one that carries you to the promised land. Just remember: in the NFL, not everything is as it seems.