Football survivor pool strategy/picks, Week 9: A couple useful choices

The 2016 football season is upon us, and that means all sorts of options for exercising our skill as football prognosticators. People will take part in fantasy football and pick ‘em contests, but Survivor pools are growing in popularity. For those new to the 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 use a heavy favorite in Week 1, but that precludes you from using them later in the season.

There is plenty of strategy in determining which team you will take each week, and SB Nation is here to help. We have experts providing rankings for each week, and then some thoughts on weekly strategy. First up, we have a consensus ranking of all teams in action this week, and which is most likely to win their game That is followed by each writer making a pick, some reasoning for the pick, and then some alternatives to consider.

Primary pick: Dallas Cowboys over Cleveland Browns
Secondary pick: New Orleans Saints over San Francisco 49ers, Atlanta Falcons over Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Dak Prescott actually looked like a rookie last week (so I hear, I’ve given up Sunday Night games for the luxury of more sleep). Dallas should run all over the Browns in what could be a quick a merciless shellacking. I also like the Saints on the road against the 49ers. The Niners may play better defense at home, but that won’t stop Drew Brees and company from administering a beat down on Sunday. Ideally, I like to avoid divisional matchups, but Atlanta should have Julio Jones on Thursday Night and Tampa’s defense is struggling.

Primary pick: Dallas Cowboys over Cleveland Browns
Secondary pick: Kansas City Chiefs over Jacksonville Jaguars

Dallas has been on a serious roll for the last two months and face a gimme in Week 9. Cleveland hasn’t beaten the Cowboys since 1994, when Bill Belichick was the Browns head coach. The streak will not end this season. With Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott, and Dez Bryant on offense, this game could get ugly. My secondary picks are Green Bay and Kansas City. Green Bay has come alive on offense and faces a struggling Indianapolis team at home. Kansas City is at home against Jacksonville. They’ll be without Alex Smith but haven’t lost to Jacksonville since 2009. The Chiefs didn’t have any trouble with Indianapolis in Week 8 with Nick Foles as their starting quarterback.

Primary pick: Dallas Cowboys over Cleveland Browns
Secondary picks: Kansas City Chiefs over Jacksonville Jaguars, Green Bay Packers over Indianapolis Colts

Will Cleveland go 0-16? They’re halfway there, and picking on them in Survivor pools certainly seems like the best way to go until ...

Even with the trade for linebacker Jamie Collins, it’s unlikely that “until” is coming this week, not with Ezekiel Elliott returning to Ohio to face a dreadful run defense -- not to mention a dreadful pass defense. If the Cowboys are not available to you (or if you’re saving them), the next best team to pick on right now are the Jaguars. Kansas City gets them at home, which sure, feels like a sure thing, even if Nick Foles is the starting QB. After that, Green Bay is a good under-the-radar pick against the slumping Colts and even though Drew Brees isn’t quite as good on the road, he’s still better than anything San Francisco can throw at him. The Saints are definitely in play.