Football survivor pool strategy/picks, Week 16: A couple big options

Welcome to the penultimate week of the 2016 NFL regular season. Week 16 means some of you are playing in your fantasy football championship game, and to those i say, good luck. For some of you who are still alive in your survivor pool, impressive work! The lack of a lot of truly significant upsets knocking out left and right seem relatively rare this season, but it is still no simple task to stay alive through 15 games.

We are back once again with our rankings and picks for NFL survivor pools. We start with a consensus ranking of all teams in action this week, and which teams are most likely to win their games. The winless Cleveland Browns host the San Diego Chargers. The Chargers will likely be a popular pick this week. If you have not used the New England Patriots, their home game against the New York Jets is a must play. Seattle at home against Arizona, Green Bay at home against Minnesota, and Dallas at home against Detroit are some other options if you have not used those big names yet.

Here is a look at our rankings of all 32 teams playing this week. That is followed by each writer making a pick, providing some reasoning for the pick, and then providing some alternatives to consider. Best of luck!

Primary pick: San Diego Chargers over Cleveland Browns

Secondary pick: New England Patriots over New York Jets, Dallas Cowboys over Detroit Lions

This seems to be getting more difficult each week. I’m starting to think that may be the point of the game. I’m taking the Chargers on the road against the Browns. I can see the Browns pulling off an upset, but I have faith that San Diego hasn’t completely checked out, and I’ll never doubt Philip Rivers’ competitiveness. I also like the Patriots over the Jets, but I’ve already used them earlier in the season. Dallas is another team to target. Detroit is getting better on defense, but this is their second consecutive road game and the Cowboys will likely dominate time of possession.

Primary pick: New England Patriots over New York Jets,

Secondary pick: Dallas Cowboys over Detroit Lions, Seattle Seahawks over Arizona Cardinals

The Jets were just blown out by a Miami team starting their backup quarterback. This was despite playing at home. New England has plenty to play for, including home-field advantage. Being favored by more than two touchdowns says a lot about what is going to happen in Week 16. My secondary picks are Dallas and Seattle. The theme continues about teams positioning themselves for the playoffs. Dallas and Seattle want the first-round byes and winning here moves them closer to that goal.

Primary pick: Green Bay Packers over Minnesota Vikings

Secondary pick: Oakland Raiders over Indianapolis Colts

We’ll get the obvious out of the way first: If you have one of New England, Seattle or Dallas still available, use them. If you have more than one, congratulations, you probably just won your Survivor League. If you don’t have any of them, it’s another brutal week to find a reliable play. Green Bay would be my next pick beyond the Big Three. Oakland will be a popular pick against Indy. After that, depending on how many other people are alive in your pool, you might want to think about some home-run plays, like LA against the 49ers. Risky, but could result in you owning the whole pot if no one else in on them.

Here are two teams to avoid this week like the plague: San Diego and Washington. We’ve been picking on the Browns all season, and we haven’t slipped up yet. But for the Chargers, who are virtually a lock to leave San Diego in a few weeks, this game comes sandwiched between home games against division rivals. Next week vs. the Chiefs, most likely the last game in San Diego for a long, long time, promises to be extremely emotional. This week, however, is a total letdown spot. On the other side, it’s the last chance for the Browns to get a win. They are not winning next week in Pittsburgh, and they know it. So the emotional pitches of the two teams will be at opposite poles, and it screams trap game for San Diego. As for the Washington, they looked horrible on Monday night, and now get an increasingly scrappy Bears team on the road on a short week. Stay far away.