Welcome back for Week 12 of the NFL season! It’s Thanksgiving week, which brings the turkey day tripleheader. And this year it’s a fun one with all three matchups featuring historic rivals. In the meantime, if you are still alive in your Survivor pool, congratulations! Week 11 saw the Chargers get knocked off at home by the Broncos, and while not a big upset, Oakland winning in Arizona likely cost a few people.
Week 12 NFL Survivor strategy and picks
We had a couple upsets in Week 11 as we are coming down the home stretch of Survivor pools. We’re back to provide some tips to stay alive this week.
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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 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’ll take a look at the safest choices, best value picks, and then two trap picks.
Safest picks
Los Angeles Chargers over Arizona Cardinals
I pondered the Chargers as a potential trap pick given their matchup in Pittsburgh next week. Had they beaten Denver I could see them looking past Arizona, but with the loss, I would be surprised if they were not a little extra focused on this game.
Best value
Whether it’s Lamar Jackson or Joe Flacco, the Ravens should have no trouble with the Raiders. If you have not used the Ravens to date, the opportunity to use them decreases considerably after this week.
The Colts are rolling, having won four straight, but the return of Ryan Tannehill makes this a tough one to get on board with. Indianapolis probably wins, but the quarterback change brings an x factor to the matchup.
The Saints could win this game by 30, and I would not be surprised. But divisional games are a tougher call, and if you add in this kind of historic rivalry happening on a short week, I’m inclined to stay away from it. I wouldn’t judge someone for taking the Saints at this point, but it leaves me wary.
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