NFL Week 6 Survivor Pool Tips: Best Picks and Strategies to Stay Alive

If you're still alive in your survivor pool entering Week 6, congratulations. You've avoided traps like picking the Dallas Cowboys in Week 3 and resisted the urge to pick against the Chicago Bears every single week.

It's always difficult to find "safe" survivor matchups in the second month of the NFL season, but it's an even bigger challenge this year. The San Francisco 49ers might be the only legitimately great team, and the Carolina Panthers remain the league's only winless squad.

With byes also a factor—the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers are off this week—survivor players have even fewer enticing options.

Below, we'll examine our top picks for Week 6, using the latest odds as a guideline, and dive into some survivor strategies for the upcoming slate.

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General Survivor Tips for Week 6

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Bengals QB Joe Burrow

We have not yet reached a point where players should have to rely on struggling or inconsistent teams. That's a positive because it should allow players to take a wait-and-see approach with teams like Chicago and the Cincinnati Bengals.

Chicago's offense has looked great over the last two weeks, but that might just be the product of playing a bad Denver Broncos defense and the ill-prepared Washington Commanders.

It's hard to trust the Bears, who are 2.5-point underdogs to the Minnesota Vikings, this week. It's also hard to trust the Bengals, even though Joe Burrow and the offense finally looked good in Week 5.

Cincinnati's defense still doesn't look playoff-caliber, and the Bengals could struggle against the Seattle Seahawks despite being three-point favorites. We should have a better idea of who the Bengals are after next week's bye. If the Bears look good again, they could be a sleeper pick against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 7.

The Raiders and New England Patriots game is one to avoid entirely. Both teams have struggled offensively this season, and it's impossible to trust Josh McDaniels against Bill Belichick, even if Las Vegas is a three-point home favorite.

If you haven't picked the 49ers yet, it might be better to save them for later in the year. San Francisco is coming off a huge and possibly emotional win over the Cowboys, setting up this week's game as a potential trap.

The Cleveland Browns, who are 5.5-point home dogs, have struggled offensively. However, their defense is capable of wreaking havoc and has had two weeks to prepare.

San Francisco will probably escape with a victory, but a long road trip following a three-week home stand could lead to some wackiness. Next week's game against the Justin Jefferson-less Vikings is much more appealing.

Kansas City Chiefs over Denver Broncos

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Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes

The Kansas City Chiefs have provided plenty of scares to survivor players this season. They lost in Week 1 and have won each of their last two games by one score.

It could be another tricky week for the Chiefs, with a short week and a familiar opponent in the Denver Broncos. However, it's as good a time as any to pick the Chiefs to keep you afloat.

The Broncos defense has simply been too bad to suggest that they'll slow Patrick Mahomes and Co. Denver is allowing a league-worst average of 451 yards and 36.2 points per game and it does appear that Travis Kelce (ankle) will be available.

"He's feeling a little bit better, which is good," head coach Andy Reid told reporters on Tuesday.

While Russell Wilson and the Broncos offense have looked better under Sean Payton than they did in 2022, they're going to have a tough time against a potent Chiefs defense. Kansas City is allowing an average of 301 yards and 16 points per game, and it can force Wilson into mistakes.

And here's where we point out that Mahomes has never lost to Denver. The last time the Broncos bested the Chiefs was in 2015, when Peyton Manning was under center for Denver.

The Chiefs are 10.5-point home favorites, and they should win by two scores.

Miami Dolphins over Carolina Panthers

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Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill

Things could get difficult for the Miami Dolphins in the not-too-distant future. Miami will face the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 7 and the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 9. The Patriots look like an easy win in Week 8, but the loss of running back De'Von Achane could be problematic even in that one.

"Dolphins RB De'Von Achane is expected to miss multiple weeks with his knee injury and is a candidate for injured reserve, per sources," ESPN's Adam Schefter posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Now's a great time to pick Miami before any other injuries cloud the equation. The Dolphins are 13.5-point favorites at home against the Panthers, and they should have little trouble getting to 5-1.

Raheem Mostert is perfectly capable of carrying the backfield load against a Carolina defense allowing 4.9 yards per carry. Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill and the Miami passing attack will be too potent for rookie QB Bryce Young and the Panthers to match on the scoreboard.

Carolina will eventually find a win, but the Panthers showed in last week's 42-24 loss to the Detroit Lions that they're incapable of hanging with a legitimate title contender.

The Dolphins have the talent and the coaching to make a very deep playoff push. They'll take another step toward that goal with a decisive win over Carolina on Sunday.

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