Survivor pools are fun, and they seem easy, but it’s actually very hard to last longer than a few weeks. For those who have never done a survivor pool, the rules are simple. Each week you pick one team to win outright—usually, survivor pools do not use spreads. Once you’ve picked that team, they’re unavailable to you for the rest of the season.
These are three picks that will keep you alive.
*All home teams in caps.
The Sure Thing: Ravens over RAIDERS
For the second week in a row, our best bet is a road favorite. While it may be playing with fire to start off the year with road teams, we still have limited information. In fact, Week 2 may be even trickier than Week 1, since there is a tendency to overreact to what happened in the first game.
Yes, the Ravens lost pass rusher Terrell Suggs, and yes they held the Broncos to zero offensive touchdowns last week and still lost. Joe Flacco had one of the worst games of his career against a Broncos D that may end 2015 inside the top-5. Oakland’s defense won’t provide the resistance in the running game that Denver’s did, so Justin Forsett will have a better game on the ground. There are no lockdown corners in Oakland, so Steve Smith Sr. is due for a major bounce back game.
Also, the Raiders will likely be without starting QB Derek Carr. Their options are now Matt McGloin, or potentially Christian Ponder under center. Even without Suggs, the Ravens’ deep defense should feast. This is a lock. Don’t get cute.
The Next Best Thing: STEELERS over 49ers
This may look crazy after San Fran overcame their horrific black uniforms to swamp the Vikings on Monday night, but I’m all about not overreacting to one week of action. Minnesota looked underprepared, Adrian Peterson was not put to work, and their defense didn’t show up. Also, Teddy Bridgewater was curiously out of sync, making a Niners defense which lost three starters to retirement look a lot better than it is.
The Steelers will be at home in this one, with two-time Super Bowl champion Ben Roethlisberger at QB, and arguably the top wide receiver in football (Antonio Brown) catching passes. DeAngelo Williams was fine running the ball last week, and even though he probably won’t get 130 yards, he will continue to be effective. Additionally, the Steelers defense was carved up on Thursday night by Tom Brady and the Patriots, but Colin Kaepernick and co. aren’t capable of that kind of surgery.
If You Want To Get Cute: Rams over REDSKINS
The Rams looked phenomenal in Week 1 in pulling off a home upset of the defending NFC champion Seahawks. Their defensive line routinely caved in Seattle’s O-line and they sacked Russell Wilson six times. This week, they get the Redskins, who have Kirk Cousins under center, who will be playing minus his top deep threat, DeSean Jackson.
That said, the Rams are on the road, and the Redskins probably have a better offensive line than the Seahawks do. St. Louis can’t be crowned an offensive juggernaut just yet either. They were impressively creative in getting Tavon Austin the ball, and Nick Foles hung in there against Seattle, but this play isn’t as sure a bet as it seems on the surface.
Last Week's Pick: Packers over BEARS
Record: 1-0
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