Week Nine of the 2024 NFL season is here. As always, I will start by discussing the rules for a survivor pool. It is a weekly contest where people select one team per week, straight up, to win their game.
If a chosen team wins, it advances to the next week, but remember that the selected team can’t be used for the rest of the season. If a team they chose for that week loses, it is eliminated from the pool.
Now that the rules are set, it is time for me to give my top three options: a risky pick, a trap pick, and a survivor pick that I would have made if I were still alive in Survivor. It would have been nice for Cincinnati to prepare for their first regular-season game.
The easiest and safest choice to make is Survivor. Philadelphia’s Defense is terrible and the offense has question marks, but Jacksonville has way too many injuries and has waived the white flag on the season. That moment came when the Jaguars traded Cam Robinson to the Vikings for a conditional day 3 pick. On the Injury front, the Jaguars will likely go into this game with Parker Washington as the number 1 receiver. The Eagles should win this game if they want to prove they mean business.
Want to know a fun fact of the day? Tua Tagovailoa has only beaten the Buffalo Bills once in his entire career. In fact, in the last 23 games these two have had together, Buffalo has won the last 18. Don’t expect that to change with how awful Miami has been. Even last week they lost to a mediocre Cardinals team in a game Miami choked away.
It doesn’t help that Mike McDaniel has regressed a lot as a head coach. He’s made some baffling coaching decisions this season and he keeps getting exposed as a fraud.
Miami’s defense is a Bottom 5 defense in the NFL and are going to have their hands full with Buffalo’s stacked offense. It’s hard to tell what’s worse for Miami, the pass rush or the run defense.
In Week 2 the Dolphins looked awful and that’s with the team being healthier and being in Miami. If you have not used the Bills, this is another solid week to utilize them in Survivor.
This is a bad spot game for the Buccaneers. Tampa Bay is dealing with a ton of injuries on offense and the Chiefs are an unstoppable dynasty at the moment. Blame the incompetent Todd Bowles for pulling a Brandon Staley with keeping his players in for meaningless garbage time football for that. Tampa facing a Top 5 defense in the NFL already, so it’s going to be extremely difficult to begin with.
The Chiefs offense is going to torch this Buccaneers defense in the air. The Bucks secondary has a ton of problems and don’t be surprised if DeAndre Hopkins has a big first game as a Chief.
If you want to burn Kansas City here, this game is a solid one to do it.
https://www.nfl.com/videos/bengals-vs-saints-preview-week-6Many analysts put Cincinnati as a risky pick of the week and they have points as the Bengals are awful. However, there is one game that defines the word risk in survivor pools. That is taking the New Orleans Saints who are playing the Carolina Panthers this week.
A big reason why there is a risk is it’s unclear who the starting QB for the Saints is. They could have Derrick Carr back for this game depending on how his injury goes, but if he’s not ready it’s likely another week of Spencer Rattler.
Honestly, it doesn’t matter who starts for the Saints, Carolina’s defense is absolutely terrible. The Saints can mostly utilize Alvin Kamara on offense and should take care of business and with the team healthier they should look competent. However, the word competent should not be used for Dennis Allen who is the worst head coach in the NFL.
Carolina is so bad that picking the team against them is the strategy for the rest of the season. The Saints are a risky choice, but they make sense. Besides this week the only other time to take them in Survivor is in Week 17 against the Las Vegas Raiders. If you go with the Saints, beware of the divisional factor, not being home, and keep an eye out for the injury report for both teams.
2024 Risky Survivor Pick History (6-2) – Week 1: Minnesota Vikings, Week 2: Washington Commanders, Week 3: San Francisco 49ers, Week 4: Tennessee Titans, Week 5: New England Patriots, Week 6: Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Week 7: Jacksonville Jaguars, Week 8: Arizona Cardinals
Can someone please explain why the Ravens are 9.5-point favorites in this game? It makes zero sense at all and Baltimore is the most overrated team in the NFL and Denver is a respectable team now.
Baltimore has issues all over the place, including on defense. Their secondary, excluding Kyle Hamilton, is absolutely awful, and the Ravens had no answer for Cedric Tillman, Jerry Jeudy, and Elijah Moore last week. This is going to be a tremendous Cortland Sutton game, and he is a must-start in fantasy. Baltimore’s pass rush has been a disappointment as well. When Kyle Van Noy is the best pass rusher on the team, that’s a problem.
Baltimore has issues on offense too. While they acquired Diontae Johnson from Carolina via trade, there is still a massive problem, Baltimore can’t block on the right side of the line. Ronnie Staley and Tyler Linderbaum are the only good blockers on the team. The guards on this roster suck and their right tackle Rosengarten has not been good. Baltimore’s running game has been good, but they are going to have a challenge with Denver’s run defense. Here is the worst part, Lamar Jackson is injured and dealing with a back/knee injury.
Something else nobody is mentioning, Baltimore may look ahead of this game. The next week they got to play the Cincinnati on Thursday Night. It still is mind-boggling that Denver is 9.5 underdogs and it’s a must-bet spread. Especially with Baltimore having a coaching problem and blowing big leads it makes no sense. Stay away from Baltimore in Survivor, wait to use them in Week 15 against the New York Giants.
2024 Trap Survivor Pick History (3-5) – Week 1: Buffalo Bills, Week 2: Indianapolis Colts, Week 3: Seattle Seahawks, Week 4: Philadelphia Eagles, Week 5: Chicago Bears, Week 6: Buffalo Bills, Week 7: Cincinnati Bengals, Week 8: New York Jets
Can’t use the Philadelphia Eagles as they were my pick in Week 6 this season. The Chiefs have plenty of weeks to choose, so I would have saved him. This pick came down to the New Orleans Saints and Buffalo Bills. Out of the bunch, the Bills are the safer option, but I would rather pick a team facing Bryce Young than Tua Tagovailoa. So, I would have rolled the dice and picked the New Orleans Saints with my survivor choice.
2024 My Survivor Pick History (5-3) – Week 1: Cincinnati Bengals, Week 2: Los Angeles Chargers, Week 3: Las Vegas Raiders, Week 4: Tennessee Titans, Week 5: New England Patriots, Week 6: Philadelphia Eagles, Week 7: Los Angeles Rams, Week 8: Denver Broncos
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