NFL Week 2 NFL Survivor Pool Picks + Strategy | Titans or Bucs?

Before we dive into some Week 2 targets, here is a quick update about what exactly an NFL survivor pool is.

What is a Survivor Pool?

There are several variations of the Survivor Pool format, but the most basic and common one is each week everyone in the pool has to select one team to win a game straight up, not against the spread. If the team wins, you survive the week and move on, and if the team you pick ties or loses, you are eliminated from the pool. The twist is that you can only use any team once, so anyone you pick is no longer available for weeks in the future, making it increasingly difficult as the season goes on. The pool ends when there is one player left, and usually that player will take home a big pay day depending on the pool and the structure.

Week 2 NFL Schedule

Week 1 NFL Survivor Pool Picks Recap 

Buffalo Bills

Twenty-two percent of Yahoo leagues went with Buffalo, and that probably had to do with them facing the Jets. The offense for the Bills was serviceable despite some turnovers, and their defense absolutely overmatched the Jets in all facets. The game was never really tight, and if you went to Buffalo, you got through Week 1 without much of a sweat.

Indianapolis Colts

Unlike with the Bills, 21% of teams on Yahoo are very sour as they went with Indianapolis, who was unfortunately a landmine in Week 1. They were upset at home against the Jaguars 27-20 and they allowed Gardner Minshew to pick them apart. The strategy of fading Jacksonville still will be one people employ, but if you went there right off the bat, it did not work out.

Baltimore Ravens

Eleven percent of teams chose to burn one of the best teams in the league by going Baltimore in Week 1. They drew a divisional matchup against Cleveland, who did beat them last year in the regular season. That wasn’t the case this year as the Ravens dismantled the Browns, winning 38-6. Losing Baltimore early in the season isn’t ideal, but with the Colts taking out a large portion of teams, this worked out exactly as planned.

Week 2 NFL Survivor Pool Picks

San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers were another team that went down in Week 1 and killed 5% of teams in survivor. They look to rebound here and draw possibly the golden matchup with the Jets on the schedule. They sit at a 7-point favorite despite being on the road, and it is hard to imagine they will start 0-2. With so many spreads north of a touchdown this week, we have a lot of spots to attack, but San Francisco figures to be the most popular choice this week.

Green Bay Packers

Green Bay got things started with a big NFC North win against the Vikings. The demise of Aaron Rodgers may have been slightly exaggerated, as he looked as good as ever with his ability to torch the Minnesota secondary. Rodgers and Davante Adams make for one of the toughest connections to stop, and the Lions secondary is ill-equipped to do so. They blew a game they had won against the Bears last week, and now the competition gets that much tougher. Green Bay is a 6-point favorite at home, but this is a nice spot when looking over the personnel both of these teams possess. I expect the pick distribution to be spread out amongst a lot of games this week, and Green Bay has to be considered.

Tennessee Titans

The largest spread on any slate has to be a reasonable choice, and that’s what we have here with the Titans at home to the Jaguars. This strategy burned a lot of people last week, but it doesn’t mean that we cannot attack the Jaguars, as they are a 9-point underdog on the road. They will have a difficult test stopping Derrick Henry and the Titans offense, and I do not expect to see the same effectiveness from Minshew. With so many games on the schedule, people may be looking to pick against teams that already are 0-1, but the Jaguars are a team to target regardless of their impressive win to open the season.

My Week 2 NFL Survivor Pool Pick: Buccaneers

Teams I’ve already used: Colts (L)

With so many options, I would feel comfortable with a lot of teams this week in survivor. The three I talked about above all make a lot of sense and should be in line to pick up relatively easy wins. I am going to select Tampa Bay this week, who is also a slate-high 9-point favorite. They are looking to avoid 0-2 after not being able to win a tough matchup in the Superdome against the Saints.

I have mentioned a ton that I am not overly sold on Tampa this year, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t going to rack up some easy wins. There is no doubting their firepower, especially on offense, and their defensive front seven is one of the strongest in the league. Carolina gave up 34 points last week to the Raiders, and if that is an indication of their defense, then this game will be out of hand early.

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