NFL Survivor Pool Week 10 strategy: Passing on the Raiders, and breaking down every worthy option
Last week featured one big loss in NFL survivor pools with the Bills falling to the Jets as double-digit underdogs, a truly disappointing result for those who used Buffalo after saving the presumed best team in the league for eight weeks. We liked them for the people who managed to get through Week 8 without using the Cowboys, as the best Buffalo week on the remaining slate also featured a great Dallas matchup.
The bigger concern for the Bills is the injury to Josh Allen, and that also speaks to the risk survivor pool players face with "saving" good teams. Now, the Bills are probably good enough to beat opponents like the Browns (Week 11 at home) or the Lions (Week 12 in Detroit) with Case Keenum at quarterback, but it's certainly not ideal to play any team running out its backup quarterback.
Our original season survivor plan was to use the Bengals last week, so congrats to anyone who did so and didn't have any type of sweat. The big favorite we suggested passing on last week was actually the Chiefs, and they escaped their matchup with the Titans by the skin of their teeth despite being bigger favorites than the Bills.
Each week, I break down several options you should consider and lay out the other spots where you might end up wanting to use each team later in the season, along with your other options on those weeks. That format should allow you to tailor the advice specifically to the size of your survivor pool remaining as well as the teams you've already burned. There are a few clear options to use this week, but it's becoming increasing likely anyone alive in survivor pools won't have teams like the Eagles and Chiefs to use in any given week. Digging a little deeper with the moderate favorites, the one I like the least is the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Raiders have what appears to be an easy matchup against a Colts team rolling out a first-time coach and first-time play caller, and it's true that I don't see the Colts scoring many points in that game. But I'm also not just chalking up the Raiders for an offensive showing like we saw when they played other bad teams like the Texans, because the Colts actually have a very good defense. This feels like the type of game that could hinge on a defensive score or a special-teams miscue, and I'm not exactly trusting Josh McDaniels and Co. in that situation considering they're having trouble just holding on to 17-point leads.
Why listen to me? Well, I'm 445-378-24 on against-the-spreads picks over the last five years and even better with my top five picks each week, going 329-250-21 (56.8%) over the last seven years in the Westgate SuperContest. While this doesn't involve picking against the spread, I do believe by applying the strategies I've developed to have long-term success on those picks to survivor pools, we'll be in the best position to outlast the competition.
What are the best options to use in survivor pools in Week 10? And which teams should be saved to use later in the season? ... Join SportsLine right now to see NFL Survivor Pool strategy from the expert who's 445-378-24 on ATS picks from 2017-21, returning $2,542 to $100 players!
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