2023 NFL Weekly Survivor Pool: Week 15 Top Picks & Plays
It was a tough week with many upsets, including the Packers losing to the Tommy DeVito-led Giants and Zach Wilson becoming a real boy against a Texans team that lost C.J. Stroud and Nico Collins in that game. We need to dust ourselves off and keep moving into Week 15, where we’ll have full 16-game slates for the rest of the season now that bye weeks are done. Let’s get it!
We will help you get to the promised land one week at a time with our picks, but in case you’re not familiar with Survivor pools, here’s a quick rundown:
Pick a team that wins in each NFL week. Typically, you choose a team just once, so each selection is essential. Some survivor pools have double-elimination so that you can slip up and still be in the running. Make sure you’re checking out our weekly matchup previews and our Survivor League Strategy in the Fantasy Alarm Draft Guide as guides toward picking the best winners for each week and developing a strategy.
Let’s dive right in with Week 15’s picks!
2023 Survival Pool Picks Record
Week 14: 2-3 (.400)
Overall: 49-21 (.700)
NFL Week 15 DraftKings Odds, Implied Totals, Spreads, and Over/Under
*All lines current as of 11:00 PM ET, 12/12/23, courtesy of Vegas Insider*
NFL Week 15 Survivor Picks
Los Angeles Rams
Washington’s defense is horrendous, bordering on offensive. We can use that to our advantage with the Rams, as they’re 6.5-point favorites at home against the Commanders. Washington is giving up the most points in the NFL (30.4) and is dead last in yards per attempt allowed, yards allowed, and touchdowns allowed. Matthew Stafford has three touchdowns or more in his last three games, and with Cooper Kupp, Puka Nacua, and Kyren Williams keeping defenses honest, it’s hard not to back the Rams here at home.
There haven’t been a lot of spots here to use the Rams this season, but this is a good spot for Los Angeles as they look to keep pace at the periphery of the NFC playoff picture.
Cincinnati Bengals
Nothing is safe anymore, especially if you’ve exhausted favorites in your run thus far in your Survivor pool. The Bengals may not feel great to use, but Jake Browning has been pretty decent in the last couple of games, and Cincinnati is a 3.5-point favorite at home against the Vikings, who trot out Nick Mullens as their starter.
While Justin Jefferson has come out to say he’s playing on Saturday against the Bengals, he will be banged up after leaving the game with a chest injury. Alexander Mattison may also miss Week 15, shifting this game toward Cincinnati’s advantage even more.
The Bengals aren’t sexy, but they’re playing much better football and are clearly in a better way right now than the Vikings, who are playing quarterback roulette and may also be without their top running back and wide receiver.
Atlanta Falcons
Depending on the Atlanta Falcons to keep the Carolina Panthers free square is undoubtedly a dicey proposition, but look: the Panthers are the worst team in football and have not put a game together where they were competent on offense since the one game Bryce Young missed, and Andy Dalton moved the ball.
Despite the Panthers being at home, the Falcons have the clear talent and coaching advantage here as they should ground and pound and take to the air with Drake London and Kyle Pitts. Somehow, the Falcons tossed out 394 air yards as a team — seventh highest in Week 14.
The Falcons should be able to handle the worst team in the NFL on the road that has scored the third-lowest total points this season.
Other NFL Week 15 Survivor Pool Options
Kansas City Chiefs
While the Kansas City Chiefs have lost three of their last four games, seeing the New England Patriots across from them could be the cure that ails them. One thing about the Patriots? They can’t score. Like, not even a little bit. They’ve averaged 8.5 points per game in their last four games, including a 21-point “outburst” in Week 14 to upset the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Chiefs are still an almost 10-point favorite on the road against New England, who sports the lowest implied point total of the Week 15 slate at 13.75. Do you know how bad your offense has to be to get a 13.75 implied point total at home? The Chiefs should get back on track here in Foxboro against the Patriots in a must-win game to get some momentum for the playoffs.
Miami Dolphins
This is last call to use the Miami Dolphins, as their remaining schedule has Dallas, Baltimore, and Buffalo left after facing the Jets in Week 15. Do we believe Zach Wilson has turned a corner after putting up a massive performance against the Texans in Week 14? I answer that question with a question: do we have any reason to believe that the Week 14 Zach Wilson is for real?
The Dolphins are favored by more than a touchdown at home and should roll after being upset by the Titans on Monday Night Football. They can’t afford to drop a second-consecutive game against a subpar opponent.
Player News
InsideTheBirds.com’s Andrew DiCecco reports there “could be more variance” for the Eagles offense under new coordinator Kevin Patullo.
DiCecco said several Eagles players this spring have suggested that the team’s offense under Patullo could be more balanced after being among the NFL’s run-heaviest units in 2024. The Philly offense would still revolve around Saquon Barkley following his 2,005 rushing yards in 2024, though the team could try to “preserve” the centerpiece of their offense with a slightly lighter workload in 2025. Barkley, 28, last season recorded 378 touches, the most of his NFL career. More passing for the Eagles would primarily benefit DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown, who dominate targets in the Philadelphia offense. The Eagles in 2024 had the fewest pass attempts (448) in the NFL.
Steelers signed LS Tucker Addington, formerly of the Texans.
The veteran long snapper most recently played for the Texans but has also seen stints with the Patriots, Dolphins, Cowboys, Jaguars, and Commanders during his three-year NFL career. He slides in behind Christian Kuntz on the team’s depth chart and should provide valuable experience at one of the game’s most underrated positions.
Russell Wilson said he chose to play with the Giants because of WR Malik Nabers.
“I came here because of him,” said Wilson about Nabers during a panel at Fanatics Fest over the weekend. “I really wanted to play with someone who is special like him.” As a rookie in 2024, Nabers was targeted 170 times, which was second-most among NFL wide receievers. He also led the Giants with 109 receptions for 1,204 yards and seven touchdowns. Wilson, who will turn 37 years old during the 2025 season, had only one player with 100/1000/7 in a single season (Tyler Lockett in 2020). Wilson signed with the Giants in March following a one-year stint with the Steelers.
The Athletic’s Zak Keefer says we should “look for more emphasis on explosion” from the Chiefs’ passing game this season.
As Keefer notes in the article, Andy Reid “made a point of it all spring” for the Chiefs to “get back to pushing the ball deep down the field.” Per PFF, since 2021, Patrick Mahomes has ranked 21st or lower in ADOT (min. 300 dropbacks), but finished sixth in ADOT in 2018 when he broke out for 5,097-50-12 on his way to winning his first MVP. A lot has changed since Mahomes last aired it out at a high rate. Most notably is the departure of Tyreek Hill in 2022 and Travis Kelce no longer being the spry, explosive playmaker we saw several seasons ago. The Chiefs hope the return of Hollywood Brown and a second year of work for Xavier Worthy will lead to more explosive plays next season, which could spell big things for fantasy managers who decide to take shots on pieces of an offense that ranked 15th in scoring last season.
The Athletic’s James Boyd believes Daniel Jones “has already taken a significant lead” in the Colts’ QB competition.
Jones and Anthony Richardson are supposed to compete for the QB1 job in camp. While Richardson recently said he expects to be ready to go by camp, an offseason shoulder surgery has slowed his progress for the upcoming season, and opened the door for Jones to work almost exclusively with the first team offense. Jones has struggled to look like the player who was taken No. 6 overall by the Giants in 2019, but Richardson’s underwhelming performance in 2024 (1,813-8-12) that was headlined by a 47.7 completion percentage was far worse than any single season of Jones’ six-year career. The Colts will string this competition along for as long as they can — assuming Richardson is healthy enough to play in camp — but Richardson is well behind Jones at this point.
Jets owner Woody Johnson has agreed to purchase a 43 percent stake in Premier League club Crystal Palace.
Johnson will buy his stake from American businessman Jon Textor. According to reports, the deal is worth $254 million pending approval from the Premier League and Women’s Super League. The move will make Johnson partners with two other NFL owners as Commanders principal owner Josh Harris and minority owner David Blitzer own the majority stake in the team along with Steve Parish. The 78-year-old Johnson, who served as United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom from 2017 to 2021, previously attempted to buy fellow Premier League club Chelsea in 2022, but was unsuccessful.