As we enter NFL Week 7, making your survivor pool picks is getting more and more complicated. If you are still competing in a contest like Circa Survivor, you have to make sure the best survivor pool strategy you employ incorporates the need to hold teams for the holiday schedule. 

 

 

 

If you’re in just a regular pool, your options open up a little more, but how many of the top teams have you used already? You may have to adjust how you are making your survivor pool picks this week.

You never want to say it was an easy week, but last week saw the favorites go 12-2 straight-up, so chances are, there wasn’t a whole lot of movement in your pool. With my last remaining survivor pool pick, I took the Philadelphia Eagles which were the most popular across the board. 

Both the Atlanta Falcons and Houston Texans, who also made last week’s article, were the next two most common picks made, and both won as well. Two home favorites and one road favorite. We’ll look at who the big favorites are for NFL Week 7, see who jibes with the best survivor pool strategy we’ve laid out over time and make our selection.

Best NFL Survivor Pool Strategy For 2024 NFL Week 7

It’s time to dive into our criteria for making our weekly survivor pool picks. We’ll look at the latest Vegas odds & lines to see who the big favorites are and from there, we can take a look at whether or not we can continue to use the home teams or, like last week with the Texans, turn to a potential road favorite. 

Hard to believe it already feels like crunch-time here in Week 7, but this is the way things fell for us after so many killer upsets over the first few weeks of the season. We’ll continue to lay out the top picks based on the best survivor pool strategy, but obviously, you’ll have to make your own adjustments based on the contest and which teams are still available to you. 

Some of my favorite Week 7 survivor pool picks are not available to me in my pool, so this should be an interesting one as there are some really favorable chalk picks.

 

 

 

NFL Survivor Pool Picks For Week 7

Washington Commanders (-8 Home Favorite;  -400 Money Line)

The schedule beyond this week gets a little complicated for the Commanders, so this might be the optimal time to take them. They’re coming off a loss to the Ravens where their inexperience definitely showed, but they are still playing at a very high level, and the Panthers defense has been a hot mess all season. 

The high game-total indicates a bit of a track meet so don’t be alarmed by some early scoring by Carolina. Jayden Daniels and company should be able to come out on top with little issue.

Buffalo Bills (-9.5 Home Favorite; -500 Money Line)

This is going to be a very popular pick for those who still have the Bills available. They’re the biggest favorite on the board, the money line is as juiced as it gets and they’re riding high after not only beating the Jets on Monday, but then adding a high-end weapon like Amari Cooper for Josh Allen. 

The receiver was definitely a missing component, and it looks like the Bills are ready to reassert their dominance in the AFC.

 

 

 

Baltimore Ravens (-3.5 Road Favorite; -190 Money Line)

Many picked the Ravens to win the AFC this season and after a quick 0-2 start, they’ve rattled off four-straight decisive wins over some pretty strong opponents. 

I’m not a huge fan of taking a road team, but the Ravens offense is on-fire right now and they’re facing one of the weakest pass defenses in the league. Derrick Henry will do his best to soften the defensive line, but this one comes down to Lamar Jackson and he should deliver.

Cincinnati Bengals (-5.5 Road Favorite; -250 Money Line)

Welp, here’s where I’m landing for my survivor pool pick this week because I don’t have any of the three teams above available to me. I was wavering between the Bengals against a Browns team that continues to be a hot mess or the Rams who host the Raiders. 

The point-spreads are the same, though the Rams are at home. But despite losing other survivor pool picks when taking the Bengals, I’m going right back to the well. The Browns will try to avoid Deshaun Watson by running heavily, but the Bengals have Sheldon Rankins and B.J. Hill back which bolsters what was a shaky run defense. 

There’s just something about the Raiders defense against a soft Rams offensive line that makes me nervous, so for better or for worse, this is my pick this week. Again, only because I don’t have any of the other three available. This is the way it goes.

UPDATED 10/18

Jacksonville Jaguars (-5.5 “Home” Favorite; -250 Money Line)

Been thinking about this one for a while and I am going to use the Jaguars in my survivor pool pick this week. I was thinking about this during Thursday's Fantasy Alarm Show on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio. The public money is sitting on New England +5.5 at an 85-percent clip and I think that's a huge trap. You're going to think I'm crazy for why, so if you don't buy into it, I totally understand. But I am putting my survivor pool life on the line with them. 

First off, how many times do you think you'll get to use Jacksonville in survivor pools? None? Exactly. So this is a major contrarian move and something that will enable me to save better teams for down the road. Second, based off what we've seen from the Jaguars this season, how in the world could they ever be favored by more than five points over anyone? Seriously. And against a team as popular as the Patriots who have a rookie QB who just threw for 243 yards and three touchdowns? The books took a beating last week with the favorites doing so well. This is their revenge to bait you into a Patriots bet. Jags win this one and they probably cover too.  

 

 

Best of luck in Week 7 and I’ll see you for more survivor pool picks and the best survivor pool strategy in Week 8!