Last week was Elimination Week in survivor pools. If you play in a relatively small pool, it was likely decided no later than Week 13, and if you're in one of the larger competitions with 1,000-plus entries, a majority of the remaining field was likely wiped out last week. That includes our entries in the DraftKings survivor competition, where we went with the Steelers instead of the Buccaneers only to watch Pittsburgh fall completely flat at home against the Cardinals.

The Steelers and Jaguars were the two most popular plays in most survivor contests last week, and both lost at home with the Jaguars doing so as double-digit favorites. The Jaguars are also the reason I was eliminated early on in the Circa Survivor, as they got stomped by the Texans in Week 3 as similar-sized favorites and have now lost outright in the two games where they were the biggest favorites this season. Congrats to anyone who found reason to not trust this team in obvious spots.

When looking at your options for Week 14, it's important to project out the rest of the schedule (hence the point of this weekly column). It's also important to know the format of your pool, as Circa Survivor adds two standalone slates for Thanksgiving and Christmas. We'll get into our top options below, but I would avoid using the Texans against the Jets.

Yes, the Jets can't score on offense with their quarterback situation, but there isn't expected to be much scoring in this game anyway with the total at 33. Bad weather could help to neutralize the Houston passing attack, and if this game is reduced to a running-and-defense matchup, doesn't that favor the home Jets a lot more than the Texans?

Even if passing isn't terribly limited, the Jets pass rush could make things tough for C.J. Stroud as Houston gave up five sacks last week with Tytus Howard injured. That helped keep the score in check, with the Texans only winning by five despite dominating statistically, including winning the turnover margin 3-0. If things go that right for the Texans and they can only win by five, imagine what happens when things aren't going right.

Despite Houston's relatively easy schedule since the bye, the Texans haven't won a game by more than five points since Week 6, and that run includes a road loss that also doubles as the Panthers' only win of the season. I find it hard to trust them in this road spot in what could be poor conditions against what can be a great defense.

Why listen to me? Well, I was 535-450-30 (+3532) on ATS picks over the last six years and even better with my top five picks each week, going 376-290-24 (56.5%) over the last eight years in the Westgate SuperContest. While this doesn't involve picking against the spread, I do believe by applying the strategies I've developed to have long-term success on those picks to survivor pools, we'll be in the best position to outlast the competition.

Below, you'll find my top options for this week as well as a tiered set of options for every week over the rest of the season. Let's dig in.

What are the best options to use in survivor pools in Week 14? And which teams should be saved to use later in the season? ... Join SportsLine right now to see NFL Survivor Pool strategy from the expert who's 535-450-30 on ATS picks from 2017-22, returning $3,532 to $100 players!