The Circa Survivor contest, which has a prize pool of more than $9 million, is down to 10 participants after the Titans (our third option last week) eliminated two people and the Packers (our second option last week) eliminated one other person. Our top choice was the Rams, and half of the now remaining survivors went that route and enjoyed a relatively sweat-free week.

This is where it gets really interesting for those 10 remaining survivors, as the Circa forces you to pick the Christmas Day games as a separate slate. We'll dive into who has which options left for that slate below and take you through all best remaining options for Week 16 as a whole below.

When looking at your options for Week 16, 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 Bengals against the Steelers.

The Bengals were the only team aside from the Rams and Titans used by multiple Circa survivors last week, and what's interesting is that the entire field of 13 had them available to use, which wasn't the case for any other team that was used. That shows people are starting to get comfortable backing Jake Browning, but this is a spot where I would avoid doing so, even with Mason Rudolph under center on the other side.

The Steelers are the one team that has given Browning the most trouble so far, with Pittsburgh outgaining Cincinnati by nearly 200 yards in their Week 12 meeting. The Steelers were -2 in that game and covered, and the line has swung about eight points when you consider home-field advantage. That's because hype is building around Browning being a starting-caliber NFL quarterback as the Bengals have rattled off three straight wins, while the Steelers have dropped their last three games, including two at home to 2-10 teams.

But what if the Steelers are again able to find success against this bad Bengals defense that's now missing a key piece on the interior with nose tackle D.J. Reader out for the year? And what if Browning struggles in a game where he's not expected to have star wideout Ja'Marr Chase due to a sprained AC joint? Part of the argument for Browning's success is that he's surrounded by an elite set of weapons, but when you take the best of those off the table, it's possible the Bengals offense becomes much easier to defend and Browning starts looking more like a journeyman quarterback.

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 16? 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!