Week 10 of the NFL season is here, and the hierarchy is beginning to take shape. We have teams vying for a potential No. 1 draft pick, while others set their sights on division titles and playoff seeding. There is still a ton of football to be played, and in survivor leagues you still may have a handful of teams remaining depending on the size of the NFL survivor pool. Last week almost had multiple big upsets, but the favorites found a way to survive.
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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 10 NFL Schedule
Thursday |
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| Colts at Titans (-2) | ||
Sunday |
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| Texans at Browns (-3) | Jaguars at Packers (-13.5) | Washington at Lions (OTB)Â |
| Eagles (-3.5) at Giants | Buccaneers (-5) at Panthers | Broncos at Raiders (-5) |
| Chargers at Dolphins (-2.5) | Bills at Cardinals (OTB) | Seahawks at Rams (-1.5) |
| 49ers at Saints (-9.5) | Bengals at Steelers (OTB) | Ravens (-7) at Patriots |
Monday |
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| Vikings (-2.5) at Bears |
Week 9 NFL Survivor Picks RecapÂ
Steelers
The Steelers were my pick and 47% owned in Yahoo survivor leagues last week. It was no surprise, as they were a two touchdown favorite against the Cowboys and an obvious choice. It certainly didn’t go according to plan as Dallas led most of the game and the Steelers had to dodge a late drive from Garrett Gilbert and the Cowboys to avoid the major upset. Pittsburgh was able to hold on, and for survivor purposes that’s just as useful as a blowout win.
Patriots
Almost 23% of people went to the Monday night game as the Patriots won the weekly lotto of getting to play the winless Jets. Picking on New York has been an effective strategy, and despite being on the road, New England was around a 10-point favorite. Like with Pittsburgh, it was extremely dicey, and they needed a game-winning 50-yard field goal to avoid overtime. If either of these games went the other way, we would be talking about pools with a lot more dead teams, but New England did enough to keep everyone alive.
Houston
If you don’t pick on the Jets, then the Jaguars are the next team to target. They have a lone win and lost their starting quarterback to injury, so Jake Luton was under center. I didn’t love the idea of backing a struggling Houston team on the road, and sticking with the theme of the week, they needed to dodge a late 2-point conversion to avoid overtime as well. They weren’t nearly as popular as the other two huge favorites, so this wouldn’t have been a major loss to pools even if the Jaguars were able to pull the upset.
Week 10 NFL Survivor Pool Picks
Packers
A home matchup against the Jaguars is going to attract some attention. Furthermore, the Packers are getting healthier week after week, so it is just a bad situation all around for Jacksonville. This is going to be a near two-touchdown spread around kickoff, and the Packers got some extra rest after playing in the Thursday Night Football game last week. This is the obvious spot if you have Green Bay available, and they will be the most popular choice this week.
Saints
New Orleans – San Francisco feels like a significant matchup, but it’s a 9.5-point spread in favor of the home Saints. The 49ers simply are depleted to an extreme between injuries and COVID, and they barely fielded a competent team in Week 9. They could have some guys available for this matchup, but going to the Superdome against the Saints is a recipe for disaster. This doesn’t feel like the best spot to burn the Saints, as they have some easy games down the stretch. But at the same time, we have to consider this spot with how banged up San Francisco is.
Raiders
The Raiders are 5-point favorites at home with the Broncos coming to town. This isn’t nearly as big of spread as the previous two games so the only reason to go here would be to try and roll the dice and hope one of the major upsets occur. You also save teams like Green Bay and New Orleans, which is important, but at the same time you take a much bigger risk with the Raiders. So far this season Denver has dealt with a ton of injuries on both sides of the ball, but Drew Lock has returned and provided some offensive firepower in recent weeks.
My Week 10 NFL Survivor Pool Pick: Packers
Teams I’ve already used: Colts (L), Buccaneers (W), Eagles (T), Rams (W), Cowboys (W), Dolphins (W), Chargers (W), Chiefs (W), Steelers (W)
There are going to be upcoming weeks where we are forced into difficult decision to teams we don’t feel super comfortable backing. However, we will cross that bridge when we have to, as the Packers are in too good of a spot to pass up, and I don’t love the alternatives presented this week. Denver is playing better, and the 49ers are a very injury-plagued team, so they are a wild card each week. The Jaguars going to Lambeau is a disaster spot, and Green Bay has all their key offensive weapons back.
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