Hard Rock Bet Survivor Week 5 Recap: 61,376 Players Alive for $2 Million Prize

Week 5 is officially in the books with 61,376 players advancing to the next round of the Hard Rock Bet $2 Million NFL Survivor contest. It was an up-and-down week, with the most popular pick falling flat on Thursday night, but thankfully that was the only stumbling block among the top five most-selected teams.

Let’s break down Week 5 of the NFL season through a Survivor lens.

The Most Popular Picks: Week 5

Let’s break down the three top picks from last week:

Dallas Cowboys – 25,518 Picks / 26.5% Pick Rate ❌

Sadly, the most popular pick on the Week 5 Survivor slate was the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday night.

I’ll put my hand up, I gave this out last week as my favorite play of the week for a variety of reasons:

• home game
• undrafted rookie QB opponent
• biggest spread of the week
• more talented team

and that’s just a few of them. But hey, credit to the NFL – there’s a lot of parity here – nothing is guaranteed. That’s one of the reasons why Survivor contests are so fun.

Sadly, 25,518 players rode with the Cowboys on Thursday night and will play no further part in the contest – that represents 26.5% of all players that submitted a Week 5 pick.

Cincinnati Bengals – 21,632 Picks / 22.5% Pick Rate ✅

The Cincinnati Bengals were the second-most popular selection of the week, traveling to South Florida to take on the winless Miami Dolphins. The final score ran out as a 31-24 win for the Bengals, and a late flurry of points by the Dolphins made this one seem a little closer than it actually was.

The Bengals jumped out to an early lead and never really looked like they were going to lose this one making for a clean Survivor sweat. The 21,632 players on the Bengals are on to Week 6.

Houston Texans – 17,614 Picks / 18.3% Pick Rate ✅

The third-most popular pick of the week was the winless Houston Texans taking on the winless Tennessee Titans. Much like the Bengals, this was a clean run out for the Texans backers who enjoyed a painless 26-3 win. No tension, no drama, just a ticket to the next round for 17,614 participants.

Getting Different

Sometimes it pays to get different in Survivor contests as it creates options later on that may not be available to other remaining players. I tip my cap to:

• The 230 players that picked the Bucs to beat the Cowboys
• The 368 players that advanced by selecting the Jets to beat the Browns
• The 709 players who checked the Steelers off their list

Tie Counts As a Loss in NFL Survivor

In case you were wondering: your team has to win to advance in a Survivor contest.

Sadly, for the 1,060 players that picked either the Commanders OR the Giants – a tie isn’t good enough. After a calamitous sequence of events that included a missed field goal, an inexcusable fumble, and one of the most egregious examples of clock mismanagement in NFL history, this one ended as a 27-27 tie after ten minutes of overtime – eliminating all players that made a pick on the game.

The Great Escape: The Jacksonville Jaguars

I wrote about this one as a potential trap last week and feel slightly vindicated in the way it played out. The Jags were well and truly on the ropes in this one with the Eagles kicking a go-ahead field goal with just eight seconds on the clock.

The Jaguars then returned the ensuing kickoff 53 yards to the Philadelphia 39 and Cam Little knocked through an improbable 57-yard field goal to win it as time expired sending the 6,246 players that picked the Jaguars on to the next round of the competition.

Winners Share: $32.59 and Counting

With 61,376 players still in contention the current value of each entry has risen to $32.59 each ($2 million / 61,376), and will continue to increase with each elimination. Good luck to everyone still in the pool and don’t forget to submit your picks within the betting app.

I’ll be back on Thursday with Week 6 ownership data and Survivor strategy insights.