NFL Week 3 Survivor Picks
Week three 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, they advance 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, they are 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.
Las Vegas Raiders (vs. Carolina Panthers)
Carolina is an absolute mess right now. Their defense is horrendous, Dave Canales looks clueless on the sidelines, and now Bryce Young has been benched for Andy Dalton. No joke, before writing this I completely forgot Dalton was still in the league. The sad part is, he might be better than Bryce Young who is JaMarcus Russell's level of terrible.
The strategy here is to pick whoever is facing Carolina in Survivor because the team is worse than they were last season. This week the Las Vegas Raiders will be facing them and the Raiders are the home team too. The Raiders are better in every single way than Carolina is and this is going to be a big game fantasy-wise for Alexander Mattison and Zamir White.
The Raiders don't even have that many options left to choose in Survivor. Maybe an argument can be made in Week 16 against Jacksonville, but who knows what happens at the time?
Cleveland Browns (vs. New York Giants)
How to explain the New York Giants. Last week was one of the most embarrassing games in Giants history. In their loss to the Commanders, the Giants became the first team ever to score three touchdowns, allowing no touchdowns, and still lose in regulation. The last time that happened was with the 1989 Los Angeles Rams.
After that game, the discussions need to begin on whether Brian Daboll should remain the coach because that loss is 100% on coaching, especially after the whole Graham Gano injury debacle that was poorly managed by Daboll. If they had a kicker, the Giants would win that game, no question.
As for this game, the Giants are playing in Cleveland. The Browns offense has question marks, but their defense is one of the best in the NFL. The Giants looked serviceable against the Commanders, but Washington easily has the worst defense in the NFL. Cleveland should win this game due to their defense and with Daniel Jones as the QB, the Brown's chances are good.
The three reasons why Cleveland isn't number one on this list are that they aren't facing Carolina, their offensive tackles are still injured, and Deshaun Watson is terrible. Besides that the Browns are a good pick to use in Survivor this week.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (vs. Denver Broncos)
The Broncos are another mess of a team. Bo Nix is nowhere close to being ready for a starting QB role as he has looked awful the first two weeks of the season. He's not Bryce Young bad, but Bo Nix is definitely up there. The Denver Broncos' defense is pretty mediocre as well. Now they have to go to Tampa Bay and face a really hot Buccaneers squad.
Bo Nix will have a really tough time handling this underrated Buccaneers defense. Tampa's offense is really great as well with the renaissance of Baker Mayfield. They should continue to expose the Broncos defense. Along with Tampa being the home team, they should take care of business and be a 3-0 team.
Risky Pick: San Francisco 49ers (at Los Angeles Rams)
It was challenging to select a risky pick this week. The San Francisco 49ers are the riskiest option, especially as they are playing a division game, are not the home team, and are dealing with a lot of injuries at the moment. Speaking of injuries, the Rams have a ton of them at the moment as well. Both teams are in a really tough spot, and the 49ers should handle business. If they can't and play like they did in Minnesota, then there are real problems with this team.
2024 Risky Survivor Pick History (2-0) - Week 1: Minnesota Vikings, Week 2: Washington Commanders
Trap Pick: Seattle Seahawks (vs. Miami Dolphins)
The Dolphins did not look good against the Buffalo Bills last week and Tua Tagovailoa is going to be out multiple weeks. Skylar Thompson will start for Miami and it doesn't help that Miami has to travel across the country to take on the 2-0 Seahawks.
Here's the problem, Seattle is the worst 2-0 team in the NFL. The Seahawks looked sloppy against the Denver Broncos and barely beat the New England Patriots. Seattle's offensive line, especially the interior, is a mess and Miami's defense is solid. Also, Seattle's run game is a mess. Kenneth Walker is currently hurt and Zach Charbonnet is terrible. DK Metcalf is dealing with an injury and might not be available this week, which is a big blow to this offense.
Skylar Thompson isn't great, but he's a very solid option at QB. Along with the Dolphins having extra time to prepare for this game, this will be a very tough matchup for Seattle. Seattle also has plenty of weeks to be used including Week 5 against the New York Giants and the Rams in Week 9 could be intriguing if the injury issues continue for LA.
2024 Trap Survivor Pick History (1-1) - Week 1: Buffalo Bills, Week 2: Indianapolis Colts
My Pick: Las Vegas Raiders
The Buccaneers are an intriguing option, but there are so many other weeks to take them. Especially when they get to play the Carolina Panthers twice. Cleveland is another good option but there is still a solid amount of future value. Week 5 against Washington and Week 13 against Denver are the most interesting options. This pick came against the Las Vegas Raiders or the San Fransico 49ers.
The Raiders are an intriguing option and with the 49ers injury issues, the Raiders are a much safer selection. I would have gone with the Raiders this week in survivor.
2024 My Survivor Pick History (1-1) - Week 1: Cincinnati Bengals, Week 2: Los Angeles Chargers
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