The first week of the 2024 NFL season left a lot of people scratching their heads, wondering what the heck happened. So many people who thought they were following the best survivor pool strategy ended up getting eliminated after taking the Cincinnati Bengals and are either done making survivor pool picks for the season or are already dipping into their second chance.

 

 

 

For those who have multiple picks in their survivor pool, it’s a new week. We’re gearing up for Thursday Night Football between the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins and we’re getting ready to make our survivor pool picks for Week 2. We’ve checked in with the latest Vegas lines and odds and now it’s time to move forward with the best Survivor Pool strategy and complete domination.

Best NFL Survivor Pool Strategy For 2024 NFL Week 2

What I have learned over the years and what has helped me develop the best survivor pool strategy, is to never overreact to what happened the week before. Easy for me to say, because I didn’t take the Bengals, right? Wrong. If you read last week’s last week’s Best Survivor Pool Strategy article, you know I did just that in the Circa Survivor and I’m out. Or am I?

In addition to the two local survivor pools in which I play, I also jumped into Circa Survivor with the help of Winner’s Circle Proxy. I took an overnight trip to Las Vegas, met with one of their representatives and set myself up to play. But this being my first time in Circa Survivor, I wanted to make sure I was protected from an unforeseen disaster like the stupid New England Patriots and I bought myself a second pick. I mean, come on…. a chance at up to $14M this year? I’m no dummy. It’s an investment in myself and my future.

 

 

 

So, with that, here we are in Week 2 and, again, one of the best survivor pool strategy concepts is to not overreact to last week. That’s not to say I’m going to go back to the Bengals again this week. No way. But watching teams, whether they won their game or not, struggle to move the ball downfield or play an overall sloppy game, needs to be taken with a grain of salt. With so many guys not playing in the preseason, we should expect a few “growing pains” to open the year. 

When looking at the Week 2 games and thinking about our survivor pool picks, we need to stay focused on what we knew about these teams coming into the season, examine what we saw from them in their first game and make an informed decision. Vegas money lines will be a big help, once again, because, while some lines get a little too reactionary, the favorites are the favorites for a reason. 

Don’t be afraid to stay a little chalky here in the early goings. Teams’ strengths and weaknesses will be revealed as we move further into the season, but big upsets like we saw with the Patriots are not that common. Think about the rest of the options given in last week’s column. 

The Bills may have had a tough time early on with the Cardinals, but they won fairly handily. Same with the Seahawks. And the Saints? They just smacked the crap out of a hapless Panthers team. Funny enough, none of them had the risk heading into the game the Bengals had with Joe Burrow’s wrist, Tee Higgins’ hamstring and Ja'Marr Chase’s hold-out. So, for this week, let’s keep that risk to a bare minimum.

 

 

 

NFL Survivor Pool Picks For Week 2

Baltimore Ravens (-9.5 Favorite; -500 Money Line)

As the biggest point-spread and money line favorite, the Ravens appear to be as close to a lock as we’re going to see this week. They may have dropped their first game to the Chiefs at Arrowhead, but coming back home and knowing the extensive firepower they have, things could get rough for the visiting Las Vegas Raiders. They didn’t even unleash Derrick Henry to his full capacity last week, opting to have Lamar Jackson try to keep pace with Patrick Mahomes.

This week we expect to see the Ravens offense punish the Raiders defense. Henry will get his full complement of carries, Jackson will continue to do his thing and the receiving weapons like Zay Flowers and, yes, Mark Andrews should turn out this week. The use of a second tight end in Isaiah Likely offers as much additional blocking at the line as it does provide another strong receiving threat. 

Their defense will get to Gardner Minshew and the coverage schemes will focus on stopping both Davante Adams and Brock Bowers. I don’t know about the point spread, but I know the Ravens show up big-time for this one, so I plan on using them as one of my top survivor pool picks this week.

 

 

 

Detroit Lions (-7 Favorite; -350 Money Line)

Another home game for Jared Goff and the Lions should prove positive for those looking to take Detroit this week. The offense shows plenty of balance with a strong ground game and versatile receiving weapons. 

They didn’t even use Amon-Ra St. Brown last week and still managed an overtime victory against a tough Rams squad. With the amount of firepower they possess, it will be a tough task for the Bucs defense to hold it together. Tampa Bay may have won their first game against the Commanders, but they still allowed 138 rushing yards, and we watched Brian Robinson start to pick up some steam near the end. 

Most of the yards were picked up by Jayden Daniels, but a methodical ground attack like that of the Lions should do even more damage. That will only open up the passing attack even more. Not to mention, this Detroit pass-rush is going to put the Bucs’ offensive line on its heels most of the way. 

 

 

 

Philadelphia Eagles (-6.5 Favorite; -300 Money Line)

Last week, the Eagles did exactly what we expected. Kellen Moore’s power-run with Saquon Barkley lit up the Packers and while it took a little bit of time for the defense to start jelling, they were not going to let last season’s collapse ruin the start to this year. 

They may have allowed a few big plays to Jayden Reed, but overall, they held strong and showed that they are still one of the top teams in the NFC. We do like a Monday night home favorite as part of our best survivor pool strategy and coming up against Atlanta should be a good spot for them to go 2-0 on the season. 

Their offense is strong and will match up well against a Falcons defense that is still finding its way. And defensively, they are going to try and wreak havoc in the backfield as Kirk Cousins looks like he is still struggling to gain his full mobility following an Achilles injury. Atlanta still needs a few games to get going so be confident in the Eagles this week.

 

 

 

Dallas Cowboys (-6.5 Favorite; -300 Money Line)

This will be a classic Dallas home game this early in the season. I’ll have my money on them to win this game, but I’ll have the Saints with the points. It’s usually that way this early in the season. Dallas comes out like a house of fire and we’ll see plenty of Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb, but New Orleans is not a pushover team and they will make it difficult. 

I’m not going to overrate them for their thrashing of Carolina, but they still have some strong weapons. If you’re taking the Cowboys as one of your survivor pool picks this week, you’re going to sweat it out probably, so keep that in mind. 

 

 

 

Best of luck to you all with your survivor pool picks this week and look for more in the coming weeks as we start to make adjustments to our best survivor pool strategy and look to win it all!

See you all in the money this year!