The Jaguars cleared out a few folks, but it was an otherwise mostly quiet Week 7. We’re back to provide some tips to stay alive this week.
Welcome back for Week 8 of the NFL season! If you are still alive in your Survivor pool, congratulations! Week 7 was a fairly quiet week, with the Jacksonville Jaguars home loss to the Houston Texans the only game that had a big impact on most pools. The Tennessee Titans made a go of it against the Los Angeles Chargers, but their decision to go for 2 at the end of the game did not pan out.
For those new to the contest, a Survivor pool involves picking one team each week that you think will win. If your team wins in Week 1, you can make a pick in Week 2. If your team wins in Week 2, you can make a pick in Week 3, and so on. The catch is that you cannot pick a team twice. You could very well use a heavy favorite in Week 1, but you won’t have access to them later in the year if you’re alive in the closing weeks.
There is plenty of strategy in determining which team you will take each week, and SB Nation is here to help. We’ll take a look at the safest choices, best value picks, and then two trap picks.
Safest picks
New England Patriots over Buffalo Bills
Los Angeles Rams over Green Bay Packers
We are approaching the halfway point of the season, and you have to decide whether or not to use some of the heavy favorites. The Los Angeles Rams were a popular choice last week, and this week, the Patriots are the heavy favorite people might jump on. Tricky things can happen in divisional road games, but I don’t think anybody would fault you for making the pick this week.
Best value
Chicago Bears over New York Jets
The Bears will be favored a few more times over the second half of the season, but this might be your last best bet. They travel to Buffalo next week, so you could save them, but I like a home game against the Jets. There is some concern about a letdown after a disappointing close loss to the Patriots last week, but I think this is still your safe play of the week.
Trap picks
Kansas City Chiefs over Denver Broncos
The Chiefs are double digit favorites over the Broncos for the first time since at least 1985. They will probably win handily against a shaky Broncos squad. And yet, this game does not sit well with me. I could very well just be over-thinking things, and maybe either way you save the Chiefs for Week 10 at home against Arizona — but something leaves me wondering with this matchup.