NFL Survivor Pool Picks Week 1: Upset Alert

Week 1 of the 2015-16 NFL season is one of the toughest weeks we will see all year. This may be the hardest week to pick a winner that we have seen in the last couple years. The Packers are currently a 6.5-point favorite at Chicago and the largest favorite on the betting board. Most of the strongest teams are on the road. If they are at home they are playing potential playoff teams. It can make a Survivor Pool player’s head spin just thinking about it.

We already have several pages of content for Week 1 here at SurvivorPoolPicks.com as we try to examine this week in many different ways in order to make the best decisions. This week we will look at possible upsets on the Week 1 betting board in an attempt to help us make successful picks for Week 1.

I also wanted to note that this has a chance to be a very lucrative Survivor Pool season just because the first half of the season has many tough matchups and parity is running rampant in the NFL this year. Those of us that do our homework will be ahead of the pack from the get-go!

NFL Survivor Pool Picks Week 1: Upset Alert

Pittsburgh Steelers +3 at New England Patriots: We don’t yet know if Tom Brady will have his “Deflategate” suspension reduced or dropped altogether. That is highly unlikely, though, and Jimmy Garoppolo will probably be the QB here for New England. The Patriots have a pretty hard schedule to start the season (only a matchup vs. Jacksonville is a “gimmie”) and could be 2-2 once Brady returns. I could definitely see the Steelers notching the upset here, and I will probably be betting on them if the current line of +3 holds up. This should be a great game to open the season, and New England is definitely on upset alert here. I would not touch this team for my Week 1 NFL Survivor Pool pick.

Chicago Bears +6.5 vs. Green Bay Packers: Not sure why this game scares me so much. Green Bay has absolutely dominated this series in recent years. They have one of the Top 3 QBs in the game and are stacked across the board. But I think the Bears are due for a win in this series. They have a new coach coming in here for his first regular-season game with the team, and that should bring in a new attitude. Chicago is one of those teams I just can’t get a read on. But I think they will be desperate to play well here in the home opener. And we all remember how lousy Green Bay looked in the early part of the season last year. This will be the most popular Survivor Pool pick on the board for Week 1. Not sure what I am going to do yet, but I will likely stay away from this one. Of course, Green Bay will probably pummel the Bears like always!

Kansas City Chiefs +2 at Houston Texans: This won’t be much of an upset since the home team is favored by only two points. But I have the Chiefs winning this one. I have already bet them, in fact. Both teams have excellent defenses. But the Chiefs offense, while still a bit lackluster, is still ahead of the Texans and they have the clear edge at QB and RB. I think the Chiefs are a 10-win team this season while the Texans look like they will win 8 or 9, but they play in a much easier division.

Jacksonville Jaguars +3 vs. Carolina Panthers: I won’t be playing Carolina in my Week 1 Survivor Pool. The Jags have a very good chance for the upset here. The Panthers were only 3-4-1 on the road last season. This line was +4 a couple weeks ago, and that means the professional bettors, the only ones betting into the NFL lines this early in the season, like the home team here. I would have bet the Jags at +4 but missed out on that line and probably won’t bet them at +3. But I think this will be a close game.

Oakland Raiders +3.5 vs. Cincinnati Bengals: The Raiders are one of the teams I am very high on for betting this year. I think they will be great in the underdog role, so I won’t be playing against them in my Survivor Pool, at least early in the season. This Bengals team may not be as good as the one we have seen the last couple years, and their confidence has to be shaken after so many early playoff exits. Plus, they are always inconsistent on the road. I have the Bengals on upset alert here, although I won’t be betting this game or using this one in my Survivor Pool.

New York Giants +5 at Dallas Cowboys: The Cowboys were only 4-4 at home last season even though they were a perfect 8-0 on the road. I pretty much automatically bet against the Cowboys as a favorite and bet for them as an underdog. This is a division game and a rivalry. I already bet on the Giants at +5.5, and I think they have a good chance to win this. Dallas just does not do well with high expectations, and this is a team to be very wary of in Survivor Pools.

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