NFL Survival Pool update: Chaos carries from college football to the NFL
NFL Survivor Pools are supposed to be simple. Just pick an outright winner each week, using a different team, and try and last longer than your peers. Everyone should be able to last at least a few weeks, right? Well, this first week in the NFL was pure carnage though and I have to admit I was one of the casualties.
For those who have forgotten, I recommended taking the Tennessee Titans (a popular choice I am told). They were playing at home against the Giants in a game that they lost by a point even though they were up 13 points at one point and had the chance to win the game with a field goal as time expired. Talk about frustrating.
Such is the life of the Survivor Pool participant. Easy come and easy go.
Of course, when you are out in the first week you are kicking yourself because you truly had options but it is fair to remind yourself that this was a very rough week for teams that were supposed to win in the NFL.
Other than the Baltimore Ravens beating the New York Jets with ease, Sunday saw the San Francisco 49ers lose at the Chicago Bears, the Cincinnati Bengals lose to the Pittsburgh Steelers at home in OT, and the Indianapolis Colts tie with the Houston Texans (a tie is not a win). All 3 were popular Survivor plays and favored by at least 6.5 points. Then the Denver Broncos lost last night on Monday Night Football to add another popular play to the crash and burn pile.
So where do we go from here?
Well, some Survivor Pools offer mulligans so let's use one of those and get us back to the table. The same rules apply so we are looking for an outright winner and can't use a team we have already used this season. Sayonara Tennessee.
Week 2 Survivor Recommendation
This week is fascinating in terms of making a choice because the teams that are the biggest favorites, with the exception of Buffalo, all lost last week. Does that mean they are due for a win? Or have we totally miscalculated on teams like Denver or San Francisco, teams that are using new starting quarterbacks but seemed to have everything else in place. It is just one week but that is all the data we have.
The Pick: Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals were one of those home losers in the first week but they did not play especially badly and they are definitely set at QB with Joe Burrow. Last week, they were playing a division opponent in Pittsburgh and they just weren't quite ready to take a punch in the mouth (after losing in the Super Bowl). I like them this week because they get to play a Dallas team that not only lost at home but lost QB Dak Prescott to injury in the process. Cincinnati is not an elite defensive team but it is hard to see how the Cowboys are going to be able to cobble together enough offense to compete with Cincinnati, even if receiver Tee Higgins is not quite recovered from his concussion.
In terms of "burning" Cincinnati in this spot, I couldn't resist the matchup after Prescott went down. They also play in the very competitive AFC North and don't have a ton of gimmes on the schedule. Yes, they are at the Jets next week and that is a decent spot for them too but the Jets beat them last year. Just saying.
Just Stay Alive ... I will find you.
Matt Wiesenfeld has been handicapping games and espousing sports wisdom online for more than a decade, writing thousands of articles to help bettors understand and play the market. Matt loves to bet on, write about, and engage on MLB, the NFL, NBA, college football, and college basketball.
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