2024 NFL Pick Em Confidence Pools Strategy & Advice: Week 1 Predictions

The 2024 NFL season kicks off tonight on Thursday Night Football with the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens squaring off at Arrowhead Stadium which also means it’s time to make your final Week 1 picks for 2024 NFL Pick Em Confidence pools.

Among the millions of ways you can lay action throughout the season, a 2024 NFL Pick Em Confidence pool is one of the most common and, for some, one of the easiest ways to stay involved all year. People routinely lose interest if their fantasy football teams struggle and weekly NFL DFS contests and betting games each week may take you out of your budget. 

A 2024 NFL Pick Em Confidence pool is usually a one-time, up-front entrance fee and you get to make picks throughout the entire season. Some even take you into the playoffs, but that’s for another time.

2024 NFL Pick Em Confidence Pools Strategy For Week 1

So, the folks at the office are putting together a 2024 NFL Pick Em Confidence pool and you’ve never played before? No problem. We’re here to help. Have you ever played in one? Are you looking for some confidence 2024 NFL Pick Em Confidence pools advice to decide if you want to play or not? Keep reading then.

First and foremost, be sure the stakes are agreeable with your budget. $50 entry for the season? $100? Whatever it is, be sure you are comfortable with the number. You never walk in with a losing mentality, but should things not go the way you hoped, you always want to be sure you aren’t losing more than you can afford.

The concept of the pool is pretty straightforward – you pick the outright winner for each game of the NFL week. No point-spread is involved here. Just the winner. Then you rank your picks 1 through 16 in order of most confident (16 points) to least confident (1 point) and if you are correct, you score the points for the wins and add them up for the week. That process repeats throughout the NFL season and the person who scores the most points wins. In some 2024 NFL Pick Em Confidence pools, there is also a weekly prize for the highest score, so you can actually win money without winning the overall pool.

There are a variety of tools you can use to help you make your picks each week. Whether you are a bettor or not, using Vegas point spreads and money lines is always a great way to get started. Obviously, it’s not an exact science, but using them as guidelines can help you set your confidence levels for each game and help make some of the tougher decisions on the close games.

You should also check out the Fantasy Alarm NFL Game Previews. The charts will help break down the matchups and provide some additional insights for the individual games, which can lend you valuable confidence pools advice. You’ll actually find the content throughout the site – fantasy and betting – will be helpful throughout the season, so read as much as you can leading up to the Thursday Night Football game and, if possible, wait until the last minute to finalize your picks so that you have as much information as possible.

Another bit of confidence pool advice to start with is to remember you are playing the long game. We always want to be the weekly winner, but the overall prize is what we should covet most. Keep things simple at first. Trust in the knowledge, use the spreads and money lines, but if there is no reason to get cute, don’t. There may be a time to swing for the fences or get a little contrarian, but until the overall standings start to take shape, you want to make strong, sensible picks.

Again, we’ll discuss things throughout the season and offer different confidence pool advice for those in various places in their pool standings – when to play it safe and when to take some chances. For now, let’s get ourselves started here for Week 1.

NFL Pick Em Confidence Pools Advice

While the NFL schedule-makers have some real treats throughout the season, Week 1 can often be the most difficult, so you want to start your 2024 NFL Pick Em Confidence pools on the right foot. With eight new NFL head coaches and 16 new offensive coordinators, simply looking at last year’s data isn’t going to get the job done. Relying on point spreads and money lines is important here, especially if you don’t feel like you have a strong read on a team or a particular match-up. 

Have you ever heard of Occam’s Razor? In layman’s terms, it is a scientific principle that states the simplest answer is usually the right one. For Week 1, the Cincinnati Bengals are an 8.5-point favorite over the New England Patriots which is the biggest point spread for the week. The money line for the Bengals to win is -380 which is also the biggest favorite. 

The majority of the field in your 2024 NFL Pick Em Confidence Pool will not only pick the Bengals but also assign the highest confidence rating of 16 points. Are you going to follow suit and keep pace with the pack or are you going to try and get cute and start the season behind?

With more uncertainty in Week 1, playing the chalk is likely your best bet and something you’ll find prevalent in articles regarding confidence pools advice. That’s not to say you can’t take a few chances, but if you do, be sure you are setting the confidence level low so that, if you are wrong, you don’t put yourself into too deep a hole right from the start. There are always a few upsets in Week 1, but identifying them can be difficult, so while yes, you can take some chances, don’t go overboard. Of course, I am picking a few upsets of my own.

With my chart below, you will be able to follow all of my 2024 NFL Pick Em Confidence Pool picks this season and you’ll be able to easily see where and when I will be taking a few chances. I will use them specifically for my pools and let you know each week where I am in my overall standings. That should help with the strategy each week as I offer additional confidence pools advice. Best of luck to you all!

NFL Week 1 Confidence Pools Expert Picks