It took five weeks, but serious carnage struck the Circa Survivor contest on Sunday.
Key Takeaways
- The bloodiest week of the contest takes out 62% of the participants who made it through four weeks.
- The Rams and the Cardinals combined to end 54% of entries in their upset losses.
- There are fewer than 4,700 entries left battling for the record $18.7-million prize pool.
Just days after the Rams lost to the 49ers on Thursday night, eliminating over a quarter of the entries, the Arizona Cardinals dramatically blew a win on Sunday, wiping out another 25.4%. This eliminated almost 54% from just those two games.
Circa Survivor began with a record 18,718 entries, with contestants battling for an $18.7-million prize pool. The first four weeks of the NFL season took out more than 6,300 entries, but Week 5 claimed 7,735 participants in the bloodiest week the contest has seen this year. Sunday alone took out more than a third of the participants who had survived the first four weeks.
#CircaSurvivor 2025 🏈🏆Week 5 Selections
— Circa Sports (@CircaSports) October 5, 2025
📄https://t.co/mrhHZENcbQ pic.twitter.com/TbmHycZU3V
Claiming entires
The Titans’ late-game comeback, filled with bizarre occurrences, led to a wild 22-21 upset of the Cardinals, sending 3,152 entries packing in Circa Survivor. The Bills were also stunned by the Patriots on Sunday night, ending the hopes of 756 more entries.
With more than 3,500 entries eliminated when backup quarterback Mac Jones and the 49ers beat the favored Rams, combined with other losses across Sunday, over 62% of the Week 4 surviving entries were eliminated from the contest in Week 5.
There are 4,669 entries remaining heading into Monday night’s Chiefs-Jaguars game. Jacksonville was unselected this week, while 23 entries are riding with Kansas City.
It got weird in Arizona
The thousands who picked the Cardinals were left in shock on Sunday afternoon.
Arizona appeared to take a three-touchdown lead early in the fourth quarter, but running back Emari Demercado dropped the ball before crossing the goal line, leading to a touchback instead of a score that likely would have sealed the game for the Cardinals.
He let the ball go too early! Touchback! 😮
— NFL (@NFL) October 5, 2025
TENvsAZ on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/ZHxNItODj2
Down 21-6, the Titans took advantage with a long touchdown drive, and then two possessions later, Cam Ward threw an interception. However, the Cardinals fumbled the ball, and it was kicked into the end zone before Tennessee jumped on it for a touchdown in one of the weirdest scores this season.
Picked!
— NFL (@NFL) October 5, 2025
Fumbled!
Touchdown!
A WILD @TITANS TD! pic.twitter.com/o22RMgaghL
Arizona failed to run out the clock, giving the ball back to Tennessee after the two-minute warning. Ward then hit Calvin Ridley on a deep 38-yard pass to set up the game-winning field goal that sent Circa Survivor into chaos.
Other results
The Seahawks cost another 155 competitors their $1,000 entry fee after the Bucs won an entertaining game 38-35. Losses by the Chargers, Giants, and Dolphins ended the contest for another combined 104 entries.
The Colts routed the Raiders to help over 2,400 entries advance, most of any one team in Week 5, with the Lions pushing through another 1,719 contestants with an easy victory over the Bengals.
The Vikings kept over 350 participants alive, while 99 brave souls rode the Saints to their first win of 2025. Despite the Eagles suffering their first loss of the season, only 28 participants were on Philadelphia against Denver on Sunday.
