Welcome back for another week of NFL football! Week 3 is upon us after a week of mostly expected wins. This week, there are a host of road favorites, which opens the door to all kinds of craziness. The craziest spread might be the Cleveland Browns favored on the road against the Indianapolis Colts. The Browns have not been favored in a single game since 2015!
Football survivor pool strategy/picks, Week 3: Time to use up a heavy favorite?
NFL survivor pools are back as the NFL season gets going. We are here to provide some tips to stay alive all season.
Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
The return of Week 3 means it is time to look at some of the best options for NFL survivor pools. For those new to this kind of contest, a survivor pool involves picking one team each week that you think will win. If your team wins in Week 1, you can make a pick in Week 2. If your team wins in Week 2, you can make a pick in Week 3, and so on. The catch is that you cannot pick a team twice. You could very well use a heavy favorite in Week 1, but you won’t have access to them later in the year if you’re alive in the closing weeks.
There is plenty of strategy in determining which team you will take each week, and SB Nation is here to help. We have three experts providing rankings for each week, and then some thoughts on weekly strategy. First up, we have a consensus ranking of all 32 teams, and which are most likely to win this week. That is followed by each writer making a pick, some reasoning for the pick, and some alternatives to consider.
Survivor rankings, Week 3
Rank | Team | Opp. | JG | SK | DG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Green Bay | vs. CIN | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 2 | New England | vs. HOU | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| 3 | Pittsburgh | @ CHI | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| 4 | Miami | @ NYJ | 5 | 5 | 3 |
| 5 | Denver | @ BUF | 6 | 10 | 2 |
| 6 | Carolina | vs. NO | 9 | 4 | 10 |
| 7 | Philadelphia | vs. NYG | 3 | 6 | 14 |
| 8 | Oakland | @ WAS | 7 | 12 | 5 |
| 9 | Atlanta | @ DET | 11 | 8 | 7 |
| 10 | Dallas | @ ARI | 8 | 9 | 11 |
| 11 | Baltimore | @ JAC | 10 | 7 | 12 |
| 12 | Kansas City | @ LAC | 16 | 11 | 13 |
| 13 | Seattle | @ TEN | 13 | 20 | 9 |
| 14 | Minnesota | vs. TB | 19 | 16 | 8 |
| 15 | Tennessee | vs. SEA | 20 | 13 | 16 |
| 16 | LA Rams | @ SF | 12 | 14 | 27 |
| 17 | Tampa Bay | @ MIN | 14 | 17 | 22 |
| 18 | Cleveland | @ IND | 15 | 15 | 30 |
| 19 | Detroit | vs. ATL | 22 | 25 | 15 |
| 20 | LA Chargers | vs. KC | 17 | 22 | 23 |
| 21 | San Francisco | vs. LAR | 21 | 19 | 24 |
| 22 | Arizona | vs. DAL | 25 | 24 | 18 |
| 23 | Indianapolis | @ CLE | 18 | 18 | 32 |
| 24 | Jacksonville | vs. BAL | 23 | 26 | 19 |
| 25 | Washington | vs. OAK | 26 | 21 | 21 |
| 26 | New Orleans | @ CAR | 24 | 29 | 17 |
| 27 | Buffalo | vs. DEN | 27 | 23 | 26 |
| 28 | Cincinnati | @ GB | 31 | 31 | 20 |
| 29 | NY Giants | @ PHI | 30 | 27 | 25 |
| 30 | NY Jets | vs. MIA | 28 | 28 | 31 |
| 31 | Chicago | vs. PIT | 29 | 30 | 29 |
| 32 | Houston | @ NE | 32 | 32 | 28 |
Jeff Goldberg
Best picks: Philadelphia Eagles, New England Patriots
Week 3 brings us the first of the season’s tooth-pullers, as very few games present themselves as slam dunks. The most obvious game has the Patriots hosting the Texans, a week after Tom Brady re-asserted his GOAT credentials and the keys to the Houston offense were handed over to a promising rookie, but a rookie all the same, playing in treacherous Foxborough.
The issue with using the Pats is forfeiting all sorts of future value in Week 3. Sometimes you have to burn a good team early in order to be alive late, but there is at least one other option worth considering, as we continue to look for teams to pick on. Suddenly, it appears there are two teams in New York threatening to go 0-16. The Jets, I’ve been advocating hard to pick against, and the Dolphins are a team with limited future value, so they are in a decent spot, although they are a road team playing a division game, which is always scary.
You know who else is playing a road division game on a short week? The Giants. Few teams look as terrible as the G-Men after two games. Eli Manning is a sitting duck behind a Swiss-cheese offensive line, and now the coach is taking inexplicable shots at his QB in the media. The Eagles have enough of a pass rush to continue to make life miserable for Manning. I’d feel comfortable taking the Eagles here and keeping the Patriots in my back pocket.
Derek Gordon
Best picks: Green Bay Packers, Denver Broncos
I could keep selecting the team that plays the New York Jets, but I’m not very confident in the Dolphins, even though they snuck out of Los Angeles last week with a win over the Chargers. I’ll use my Green Bay Packers card this week. Cincinnati is off to an awful start and just switched offensive coordinators. A road trip to Lambeau to take on the Packers who just got spanked by the Falcons isn’t ideal for righting a ship.
Denver is also a good choice this week. They are on the road, but the Bills offense is in shambles and Denver is riding high after their victory over the Cowboys. Or you can roll the dice with the Dolphins, but I will just wait till they play the Jets at home.
Zachary Senvisky
Best picks: New England Patriots, Green Bay Packers, Pittsburgh Steelers
My pick this week is New England. They’re coming back home and facing a rookie quarterback. The Patriots showed last week that they can still play their style of football. Houston seemed to have a better chance here last season but was completely embarrassed. I wouldn’t be surprised if history repeated itself. The New England defense should be able to show that it’s still championship material. My secondary picks are Green Bay and Pittsburgh. Green Bay will be looking to bounce back from a tough loss. The Packers are facing a team in disarray in Cincinnati. Pittsburgh is rolling right now and should easily beat Chicago. I can’t see the Bears keeping up with the offensive firepower of Pittsburgh.
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