How many people picked Cardinals in NFL survivor pools? Last second loss to Titans eliminates more than 3,000

Teddy Ricketson

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How many people picked Cardinals in NFL survivor pools? Last second loss to Titans eliminates more than 3,000 image

Survivor pools are growing more and more popular. Each week, your task is to pick one team to win that week. The catch? If your team loses, you are eliminated from the contest, and you can't use a team more than once.

As the season progresses, the choices get more and more difficult depending on which teams you have remaining to choose from and their matchups. In Week 5, the Arizona Cardinals took on the winless Tennessee Titans, and survivor players who still had the Cardinals available were celebrating at their no-brainer choice for the week.

Yes, the Cardinals were entering the week 2-2, but Titans rookie quarterback Cam Ward was still searching for his first win, and after the team's Week 4 loss was quoted as saying his team was "a**."

With a touchdown early in the second quarter, Arizona took a 21-3 lead over Tennessee. Then, the game got weird. Emari Demercado had a 72-yard touchdown run wiped off the board because it was determined that he fumbled the ball before crossing the plane of the endzone. The Arizona defense picked off Cam Ward in the redzone, but then the Cardinals defender fumbled the ball, kicked it into their own end zone, and it was recovered by the Titans for a touchdown.

At one point, Tennessee had a 1.8% chance to win. With all of the craziness that developed in the game, the Titans kicked the game-winning 29-yard field goal as time expired. This marked not only one of the most improbable wins of the season, and in recent memory, but also a catastrophic turn of events for those with the Cardinals in NFL survivor pools. 

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Here is more on how many players in Circa's survivor pools were knocked out by the Cardinals' loss. 

How many people picked Cardinals in Circa survivor pools?

Circa Sportsbook developed a huge Survivor pool contest with various prizes up for grabs. 

Arizona was the second-most selected team in Week 5, trailing only the Rams, who also ended up losing. From those teams alone, more than 6,600 contestants were eliminated. 25.4% of the remaining contestants were on the Cardinals. 

MORE NFL: Emari Demercado's fumble explained

NFL survivor Week 5 picks grid: Best and most popular picks

The Rams were the most popular pick for Week 5. Los Angeles opened Week 5, taking on the San Francisco 49ers for "Thursday Night Football." The 49ers were down quarterback Brock Purdy, which led to Mac Jones getting the start. San Francisco also had some big injuries to its wide receiver corps, but came away with the 26-23 win in overtime. 3,524 contestants were eliminated with the loss. 

Other popular picks this week included the Indianapolis Colts (2,408), the Detroit Lions (1,719) and the Buffalo Bills (756). Indianapolis dominated the Las Vegas Raiders and won 40-6, easily keeping the contestants that had faith in them alive. 

The Sporting News has been running a weekly article giving our Survivor pick each week. This week, we went with the Lions over the struggling Cincinnati Bengals. Detroit was up a lot early, and Cincinnati clawed its way back into the game, but the Lions were still able to survive with the 37-24 win.

The Bills will take on the New England Patriots for "Sunday Night Football," but are heavy favorites to win. 

Teddy Ricketson

Teddy Ricketson is a Digital Content Producer at The Sporting News. He joined the team in 2024 after spending the last three years writing for Vox Media as part of its DK Nation/Network team. Teddy does his best to support the South Carolina Gamecocks and Carolina Panthers, but tends to have more fun cheering on the Atlanta Braves. In his free time, he loves spending time with his wife, Brooke, and their two dogs, Bo and Hootie.