If you find yourself reading this article, I can only assume you had success last week and are ready to make your survivor pool picks for NFL Week 9. Either that or you’re just super-dedicated to all the content here on Fantasy Alarm and read every word.

If it’s the latter, then a hearty thank you is in order. If it’s the former, then congratulations and let’s start talking survivor pool picks and the best survivor pool strategy for you moving forward.

 

 

 

Last week, I provided you with five different options in which four of them hit. As I mentioned in the article, in my survivor pool, I took the Denver Broncos who were actually the team most picked by the field. It was a mild surprise, but anytime you get the chance to grab a lesser team in a smash spot, you want to try and take it if you can. 

I also gave out the Detroit Lions as my top survivor pool pick of the week and they, obviously, cruised. The Green Bay Packers made you sweat it out a little with the Jordan Love injury and the Kansas City Chiefs game was a little closer than I thought it would be, but both prevailed.

The one that crushed people’s souls was the Baltimore Ravens who were upset by the Cleveland Browns and, for the second time this season, cost people their survivor pool lives. A Week 2 loss to the Raiders crushed me, and a ton of others, in Circa Survivor and now this loss did almost as much damage. 

They were the second-most selected team in my pool, so while I can give those who lost a sympathetic apology, it did put me in a much better spot for this week and beyond. So where do we go with our survivor pool picks for Week 9? What’s the best survivor pool strategy? Let’s dive into the matchups and the latest Vegas odds & lines.

Best NFL Survivor Pool Strategy For 2024 NFL Week 9

As we get ready to make our survivor pool picks for NFL Week 9, we need to make sure we are aligned with the best survivor pool strategy first and then see, like the past two weeks, if there are spots where we can deviate from what we expect to be the top picks taken by the group. 

We typically start with checking out which home teams have the softest matchups, which of those teams have the biggest and most favorable point spreads and, from there, check in with the money lines. The juicier the better. But before we even do that, we need to check and see who is playing the Carolina Panthers and see if they are available to us.

Targeting against the really bad teams is always a best survivor pool strategy practice. The Panthers are definitely No. 1 on the list, but we should also be checking out the New England Patriots, the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Tennessee Titans. If we can target against one of those teams each week, then making our weekly survivor pool picks is going to be a lot easier. No guarantees obviously – any given Sunday and all that – but if the matchups look good, we’re going to push the chips all-in.

 

 

 

NFL Survivor Pool Picks For Week 9

New Orleans Saints (-7 Road Favorite; -350 Money Line)

Despite this not being a home game, I expect the majority of people to latch onto the Saints with their survivor pool picks this week. Derek Carr is expected to return which puts the Saints offense on a much different level and the Panthers are already packing it in, having traded Diontae Johnson while exploring other options to move other players. 

There doesn’t appear to be another opportunity to take them as we see this week, so while yes, there is risk involved, given their recent struggles, this looks like the third-straight week we can take a not-so-great team and save some big guns for later. I’m going to lock them in as my survivor pool pick for this week but will shout it out in Discord if I change gears.

Cincinnati Bengals (-7 Home Favorite; -350 Money Line)

After another slow start to the season, the Bengals turned things around, winning three of four before falling to the Eagles last week. But that loss could actually help us this week as Cincinnati is now a desperate team in dire need of a big win this week. 

The Raiders are another team that appears to be set on auditioning younger players and after four-straight losses and a trade away of Davante Adams, this looks like a good spot for survivor pool picks. They do have a couple of games ahead on the schedule we may think about holding them for, but if the other options listed here are off the board, they might be your best bet.

 

 

 

Baltimore Ravens (-9 Home Favorite; -450 Money Line)

Dare we go back to the well again? And against the upstart Broncos who gave us the win last week? Absolutely. I wish I could take them this week as I do believe Denver is a fraudulent team, but I’ve already used them in my pool. 

Derrick Henry is likely to go off on this one as offensive coordinator Todd Monken probably doesn’t want to challenge the Broncos secondary, but when was banking on Henry, or Lamar Jackson’s legs for that matter, a bad thing?

Philadelphia Eagles (-7.5 Home Favorite; -350 Money Line)

Yes, there are flaws within the Eagles defense and yes, this sets up a revenge-game narrative for Doug Pederson but come on – the Jags are awful. Travis Etienne might return but he’s been ineffective even when he’s on the field, Christian Kirk is out for the season, Brian Thomas is questionable with a chest injury and Gabe Davis is nursing a sore shoulder. 

The Eagles do have an early-December home game against the Panthers, so you may want to save them for a future survivor pool pick, but if you need to take them here, it should be a win.

Kansas City Chiefs (-9 Home Favorite; -450 Money Line)

While the Tampa Bay Buccaneers aren’t exactly pushovers, their lack of true receiving talent is going to be very evident in this match-up against a very tough Chiefs defense.

They can also stop the run as well as the pass so it’s going to be tough sledding for the Bucs in this one. And then, obviously, you have Patrick Mahomes against a highly-suspect Bucs secondary. Say what you want about Patrick Mahomes, but I will always be happy to lean on him when I need it most.

 

 

 

Best of luck in Week 9 and I’ll see you for more survivor pool picks and the best survivor pool strategy in Week 10!