NFL Survivor Pool Picks Week 7: Opening Line Report

Another lousy season for me for NFL Survivor Pool picks. Hey, Survivor Pools are tough. There are hundreds of players in most pools and only one winner (or several if more than one competitor makes it through Week 17). I have been lucky enough to win in the past and I am confident I will win in the future. There seems to be more parity every year, which makes picking a winner each week even harder. Also, maybe the pressure of releasing picks to the public has thrown me off my game.

I’m actually not totally done yet as I made a change in my picks from what I posted on here and I had two cards going into last week and used the Chiefs, my top pick, on one and used the Steelers as my top pick on the other card because KC had already been used. The Chiefs rolled over the Raiders on the road, but Ben Roethlisberger got hurt early at the Dolphins and this team is just not the same without their QB. I have said before that luck plays a big part in winning an NFL Survivor Pool, and bad luck with injuries can quickly get you bounced from your pool.

There are lots of people still left in Survivor Pools across the country and many play in second-chance or loser pools, so we will still be here every week throughout the 2016-17 pro football season in order to give you some advice that will hopefully help you do well in your pool.

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Week 6 was a pretty tough one for NFL Survivor Pool players with Pittsburgh going down. They were the most popular pick in our weekly poll and in my personal Survivor Pool. Most of the other big favorites won, but most pools have been whittled down to a manageable number by now. So if you are still alive, it’s time to put those eyes on the prize and make the best picks possible down the stretch. Week 7 has a limited amount of games that qualify for me, but there are some strong picks on the board. Each week in this spot I examine the opening lines and put together a pool of teams that my eventual picks for the week will come from.

Green Bay -7.5 vs. Chicago (Thursday): As I stated early in the article I still have one card alive in my personal pool and I will be using that card on Green Bay this week. The Packers are not as strong as in previous years and I normally try to stay away from Thursday night games. But Green Bay just had their butts handed to them by a very good Dallas team and they will want to get back on the winning track against their biggest rival, the Bears. This series has been one-sided in the Packers favor for years but the Bears won last year in Lambeau. I don’t see that happening twice in a row, and this year’s Bears team is even worse than last year’s version. I think Green Bay dominates this one.

Kansas City -6.5 vs. New Orleans: I’ve used the Chiefs already but would certainly consider them for NFL Survivor Pool picks Week 7 if I had not. This team got off to a slow start last season before reeling off 10 straight wins. They played their best game of the season last week off the bye in Oakland, and this club finally looked like the strong playoff contender I expected to see from Week 1. The Chiefs are back at home for the first time since Week 3 and they have their confidence back after last week, not to mention Jamaal Charles is back in the mix for this team. This is a very solid Week 7 pick in my opinion.

Cincinnati -9.5 vs. Cleveland: This is the biggest Week 7 favorite on the NFL betting board. I am not a huge fan of this pick. The Browns are everyone’s top fade team this season, and for good reason. But they will still probably win a game or two and I don’t think you can just blindly fade a team for Survivor Pools every week of the season. The Bengals just look horrible this season and they really look like they don’t care. I guess so many years of playoff heartbreak will do that to a team’s morale. Cleveland has actually been very competitive in three of their last five games, and I love the coaching job Hue Jackson is doing because these guys are playing hard and probably a bit above their skill level. It would be about as shocking for me to see a straight up win for the Browns as it would to see a Cincy blowout. Pass.

Atlanta -6.5 vs. San Diego: This one has the same line as the Saints/Chiefs game but I tend to like KC more than this one for NFL Survivor Pool picks Week 7. The Chargers are a crazy team this year. Most of their games have come down to the final seconds and they will come into Atlanta with a lot of confidence after a solid win over Denver. They have had extra time off because they played Thursday as well, and that is another strike against Atlanta. But I just also worry about the Falcons in this spot. They were hot but lost last week in Seattle and you have to wonder if that was the start of their season coming apart like it did last season after a hot start. I really have no idea how this game will turn out, and I will probably take San Diego plus the points in this matchup for a straight bet. I could see another close game here involving San Diego.

New England -7 at Pittsburgh: Most Survivor Pool players have used the Patriots. But if you haven’t then they should be a strong consideration for top pick for Week 7. This team isn’t going to lose many games this season. They are playing a Pittsburgh team that is without Roethlisberger after he was injured in their embarrassing loss in Miami. A good team is more than just a QB, but that game showed just how important Big Ben is to this club. I don’t doubt that New England will cruise into Pittsburgh and take care of business without many issues. Very solid pick for Week 7.

Denver -7.5 vs. Houston (Monday Night Football): Denver has a mini bye week since they played on Thursday and this game will be on MNF. That would be a big check mark in the “pros” column when handicapping this game for Week 7 Survivor Pool picks. However, I don’t like this pick at all. I’m a big believer that most Super Bowl teams will struggle the following year, not just the losing team. So I was not a huge believer in the Broncos at the start of the season. They made me look foolish in that regard with a very strong start. But now they have lost two straight and their early-season wins against Carolina, Cincinnati and Indianapolis are looking worse every week. I think Houston is a pretty strong team and this game should be a low-scoring slugfest that could go either way.