Welcome to my Week 9 Survivor Pool Picks. Each week I am going to break down my strategy, including my three favorite picks, and my top pick to stay away from. Let’s survive to check back in Week 10.
More fantasy football fun for Week 9: Waiver Wire | FAAB Guide | Start & Sit | Loves & Hates | Stock Watch | Sleepers & Streamers | D/ST Streamers
Week 9 Survivor Pool Picks
As usual, we start off with a look at how Vegas sees these matchups. The table below is order from the strongest favorites to the weakest.
| Matchup | Betting Favorite |
|---|---|
| Buffalo Bills @ Jacksonville Jaguars | BUF -1100 |
| New York Jets @ Indianapolis Colts | IND -560 |
| Denver Broncos @ Dallas Cowboys | DAL -450 |
| Tennessee Titans @ Los Angeles Rams | LAR -360 |
| Green Bay Packers @ Kansas City Chiefs | KC -350 |
| Houston Texans @ Miami Dolphins | MIA -290 |
| Chicago Bears @ Pittsburgh Steelers | PIT -290 |
| Atlanta Falcons @ New Orleans Saints | NO -260 |
| Minnesota Vikings @ Baltimore Ravens | BAL -230 |
| New England Patriots @ Carolina Panthers | NE -194 |
| Las Vegas Raiders @ New York Giants | LV -168 |
| Cleveland Browns @ Cincinnati Bengals | CIN -152 |
| Los Angeles Chargers @ Philadelphia Eagles | LAC -122 |
| Arizona Cardinals @ San Francisco 49ers | ARI -118 |
Picks of the Week:
Denver Broncos @ Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys are perhaps one of the most complete offenses in all of football. They proved this last week when a Cooper Rush led Dallas team came away with a win over the Vikings. Dak Prescott is expected back this week, and if that is the case it truly opens up this offense to its full potential. I simply do not think that the Broncos defense is going to be able to keep the pace this week, I expect Dallas to take care of business at home in Week 9.
Tennessee Titans @ Los Angeles Rams
While both of these teams are playoff contenders, one team just lost the best running back in football. To be perfectly honest, the loss of Derrick Henry may be something that this Titans offense cannot recover from. I expect there to be some growing pains in terms of the run game this week, and they will be forced to pass the ball. With Jalen Ramsey likely shadowing A.J. Brown, this is basically a Julio Jones or bust type of game. I think the Rams will come away with this one comfortably.
Houston Texans @ Miami Dolphins
Miami may be one of the better 1-7 teams that I have ever seen, at least on paper. They couldn’t get the job done with Jacoby Brissett, but this team is a better football team with Tua healthy and on the field. As we get into the later goings of the survival pool season, if options are starting to get thin, the Dolphins are certainly worth a look this week. Tyrod Taylor is expected to return, but Miami is the better team, even though the record may not indicate that.
Matchup to Avoid:
Green Bay Packers @ Kansas City Chiefs
We got robbed of a Rodgers/Mahomes matchup due to the fact that Aaron Rodgers tested positive for Covid-19 earlier in the Week. So we are going to witness Patrick Mahomes versus Jordan Love. The thing is, the Chiefs were very close to losing to the New York Giants in Week 8, and Mahomes very well could have thrown three interceptions. The Packers are a better overall team than the Giants, and I am not sure that this Chiefs run defense will be able to hold Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon. So here is the thing, this game to me is either going to be a close Packers win, or a Chiefs blowout. But either way, this is one matchup I am avoiding this week.
Check out our Week 9 Rankings: QB | RB | WR | TE | Kicker | D/ST | PPR | Flex
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I want to save the Cowboys for a really tough week 12 when they host an under rated Raider team in a week where I don’t expect any spreads to be over a TD.
I also feel the Fins (with a banged up Tua and Parker going on IR) is a trap against a brutal Texans squad that gets their QB back this week (Texans looked much better in the 6 quarters that Taylor played than what they have looked like with Mills)
I think I’m “wasting” the Bills this week – feels extremely safe, but it’s going to make things tougher in the future since I’ve already used a few of the better teams (including the Rams so they are not an option this week)
PS – I agree with avoiding KC…
I used the Chiefs last week and barely got by the Giants – I am glad I don’t have to find a spot to use them going forward – they have been spooky all season