NFL Survivor Pool Picks Week 5: Opening Line Report

It has been a pretty brutal couple weeks for NFL Survivor Pool players. There was no shortage of upsets during Week 4 among the matchups most popular for Survivor Pool contestants. It started off Sunday as the Buffalo Bills upset the previously-undefeated Falcons. The LA Rams shocked Dallas on the road. The Patriots fell to 2-2 after a home loss to Carolina. Everyone’s favorite fade team, the New York Jets, improved to 2-2 with a home OT win over the Jags. The late games went mostly as expected, but the damage was already done. Personally, I dropped one card on Atlanta but had Seattle for a winner and now my main pool, which started with more than 200, has been knocked down to less than 50.

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Things get a little tricky here in Week 5 for NFL Survivor Pool players. This is the first time teams have bye weeks. Denver, Atlanta, New Orleans and Washington all have the week off. Those are some pretty good teams right there, so we have to try as hard as ever to pick a winner this week.

Here in this spot every week I will run down the biggest favorites among the NFL opening lines for the week. I like to do this every week in order to build a pool of potential matchups I want to use. Once I have a few teams I am interested in, I normally do further research until I narrow down to my pick. I normally will only focus on the favorites of more than three points here as it is too early in the season to try and use teams that are favored by three or fewer points. That will come later down the line when the list of available teams is shortened.

Week 5 NFL Survivor Pool Picks: Opening Lines

New England -5.5 at Tampa Bay (Thursday): This is one I am staying away from for a variety of reasons. The Patriots have some problems right now, mainly a defense that is allowing some of the worst numbers in the NFL. The Pats are also a road team here. And this game is on Thursday, and these quick turnaround games normally favor the home team. I love the Bucs plus the points in this matchup, so obviously am not even considering New England for my NFL Survivor Pool pick for Week 5.

New York Giants -4 vs. LA Chargers: One of these teams has to win and finally get a mark in the win column. I am not risking my Survivor Pool life that it will be the Giants. This one is a total coin flip, and as a bettor you have to like the underdog getting this many points here in this type of situation with two crappy teams that are already out of the playoff hunt.

Pittsburgh -8.5 vs. Jacksonville: The Steelers are the biggest favorite on the board this week, and at 8.5 points that shows us that this is going to be a pretty tough week for Survivor Pool players. Many players already used the Steelers Week 1, so if you have them as an option then they should certainly be a possibility for this week. These teams don’t play often, but the Steelers have won three straight meetings in the series. Pittsburgh looked very good in their road win at Baltimore last week, and now they are at home where they are normally excellent. The Jags took a poop last week in an OT loss at the New York Jets. But the week before they looked like a playoff contender in a rout of Baltimore in London. I think the Steelers will win this one, but going against an inconsistent team like Jacksonville scares me because you don’t know which squad will show up from week to week.

Philadelphia -6.5 vs. Arizona: This is the only other decent favorite on the board this week. I think I might like this pick better than the Steelers. The Eagles are a very good team and probably my pick to win the NFC East. Their opponent, Arizona, I believe has a lower ceiling than the Jags and that is why I might like this pick better than the Steelers for Week 5 NFL Survivor Pools. The Cardinals miss RB David Johnson big time as he was the focus of the offense. Without him they have beat their two worst opponents – barely – and lost badly to the two good teams they played. The Cardinals have a strong history in this “battle of the birds,” however, winning in five of the last six meetings. I have been very impressed with the Eagles thus far, though, and think they have the best chance of any team on the board to win in Week 5.

So there you have it. Only four teams are favored by more than three points this week. The Monday Night Football matchup, Minnesota at Chicago, is currently off the board at most sportsbooks, but if Vikings QB Sam Bradford is a go then they will certainly be favored by more than three. But since this is a division matchup and a road favorite I will have no interest in them for my Survivor Pool. I have already used the Raiders for my Survivor Pool, but I actually think that they are an interesting option this week for those that just hate the bigger favorites. I don’t like this Ravens squad much, and they have a lot of injuries now. After losing to two very good teams in Washington and Denver, the Raiders are almost in a must-win situation in this game and I think EJ Manuel is a viable placeholder until Derek Carr returns at QB. Oakland would probably be my second or third choice this week for Survivor Pools, and I will be betting on them in this game for sure.