It’s Week 13 and the options are disappearing at a fast rate when it comes to NFL Survivor Pool selections. But there are gems to be unearthed, especially if you’ve incorporated a strategy that’s forward-thinking. Picking the right team at the right time is key — lasting deep into the season isn’t about just picking the biggest favorite. So before making your NFL Week 13 Survivor Pool picks, you’ll want to hear what SportsLine’s Mike Tierney has to say. The national sportswriter who has reported from seven Super Bowls has his finger on the pulse of the league, and he has developed a reputation as a Survivor Pool master. 

Tierney excels both against the spread and straight up. The past two seasons, he has hit on nearly 65 percent of his straight-up NFL office pool picks (330-180-2), beating the vast majority of experts on NFLPickWatch.com. 

Tierney is an amazing 88-40 picking every game straight up over the past nine weeks in a wild NFL season. Now, Tierney has studied the matchups and locked in his optimal Week 13 NFL Survivor Pool pick, in which you need to pick one team each week to win but cannot select the same team twice in a season. 

This week, we can tell you he’s not going with the Seahawks, 10-point home favorites against the 49ers. 

Seattle (6-5) has won two in a row, edging the Packers and Panthers the past two weeks. San Francisco (2-9), meanwhile, has not been able to get over the hump. The Niners have lost eight of nine, but there are reasons to shy away from picking against them.

For one, San Francisco has lost four straight on the road, but three of those were by a field goal or less. Quarterback Nick Mullens is the wild card for the Niners. He’s 2-1 as the starter and passed for 262 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in a 34-3 rout of the Raiders. In his past two games, losses to the Giants and Buccaneers, he completed only 63 percent of his passes with two touchdowns and four interceptions. 

There’s also the bizarre statistical anomaly of the Niners. While the team ranks 20th in scoring (21.7 points per game) and 26th in points allowed (26.6), San Francisco is far better in yards gained (17th) and allowed (11th). The Seahawks rank 16th in each yardage category and are just 2-2 at home this season. 

Instead, Tierney is revealing a confident pick that sets you up well in your pool without causing too much stress. The time to pick this team is right now, and he’s sharing his play over at SportsLine. He’s also naming backup teams in case you’ve used his optimal option. 

So which team is a must-back in your Week 13 survivor pool? Visit SportsLine now to see which team will survive and advance, all from the man who went 166-88-2 in straight-up office pool picks last season and 88-40 the past nine weeks.