How to play

NFL Weekly Pick'Em Elimination · 2026 season

The game in thirty seconds

Each week you pick NFL teams you think will win. One team a week to start, two a week later on. The twist is that every team can be used only once all season, so the easy picks run out and the late weeks get interesting. Nobody sees anybody else's picks until kickoff. Most wins after week 18 takes the league, and a bad week never knocks you out.

A typical week

Tuesday to SaturdayPick your teams for the week. Change your mind as often as you like.
Sunday morningIf you still have a pick to make, your phone or inbox gets a nudge.
KickoffThe week reveals: everyone's picks appear on All Picks, and picks lock.
As games finishWins and losses land on your picks and the standings move. Insights sum up the week.
MondayLast call if a Monday night team is still open for you, then a new week opens.

The details

Making picks

Weeks 1-4: choose one team to win each week.
Weeks 5-18: choose two teams to win each week.
Once you have used a team, you cannot select them again all season. There are 32 teams and 4 + 28 picks, so by the end you will have used every team exactly once.

No head-to-head

You may not choose two teams that are playing each other. Taking both sides of a game would guarantee one win no matter the result.

Browns vs Jets? Take the Browns or the Jets, not both.

The picker hides a team once you have chosen its opponent that week, so you cannot pick an illegal pair by accident.

Picks are hidden until reveal

Your selections are hidden from everyone else until the week is revealed. From the start of Sunday’s games onward, a week reveals as soon as every player has made all their picks, or once every game that week has kicked off, whichever happens first.

Nothing reveals before Sunday, even if everyone has picked early in the week.

Revealing also locks the week. Once everyone can see the picks, nobody can change theirs, including picks for games later that day. Otherwise you could read the room and switch to differentiate, which is the whole reason picks are hidden.

While a week is still hidden, you can keep changing any pick whose game has not started. Each pick locks on its own the moment that team kicks off.

Scoring

Every pick is a win, a loss, or a tie. Standings are ordered by most wins. Ties are not worth points; they are only used to separate players who have the same number of wins.

Place	Record	Why
1st	30-1-1	30 wins, and more ties than the next player
2nd	30-2-0	Also 30 wins, but no ties to break it
3rd	29-0-3	29 wins beats nobody on 30, however many ties

A tie will never make up for a missing win. It only helps when two players are already level.

Ties in the standings

Equal points means an equal finish. Two players tied for first are co-champions, and the next player finishes third. There is no second place.

Questions people ask

What if I forget to pick?: You simply miss out on that week's wins. There is no extra penalty, and the Sunday and Monday nudges make it hard to forget.
Can I change a pick?: Yes, right up until that team kicks off or the week reveals, whichever comes first.
My team is on a bye. Can I pick them?: No. The picker only offers teams that play that week.
What if a game ends in a tie?: The pick is a tie. It does not count as a win, but it breaks ties between players with the same number of wins.
Do I have to use my best teams early?: That is the whole game. Spend the favorites now for safer wins, or save them for weeks when the schedule is ugly. Every plan has a cost.