NFL Week 9 Survivor Pool Tips: Best Picks and Strategies to Stay Alive
For fans who enjoy survivor pools, the 2023 season has been a brutal experience. We've seen significant upsets in almost every week of the season, and the Denver Broncos pulled one off in Week 8.
Denver beat the Kansas City Chiefs for the first time since 2015, which likely busted more than a handful of pools wide open.
With midseason rapidly approaching, survivor participants are running out of "safe" selections, and there aren't many of those in Week 9 anyway. The volatile Cleveland Browns are the heaviest favorites of the week, trending as eight-point favorites over the Arizona Cardinals.
It doesn't help that the Broncos, Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars and San Francisco 49ers will be on bye.
Below, you'll find some advice for staying alive for another week, using the latest Week 9 odds as a guideline.
Check the latest lines at DraftKings.
General Survivor Tips for Week 9
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There really aren't many easy picks this week, and if we've learned anything through the first two months, it's that no team is invulnerable.
The Philadelphia Eagles have the league's best record and will be at home in Week 9, but it's impossible to truly trust them in a divisional game. If you haven't used Philly, yet, we'd suggest saving the Eagles for Week 16 against the New York Giants or Week 17 against the Cardinals.
We'd recommend not touching Sunday night's game between the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals. Both teams are talented, both have had issues defensively, and prime-time games can be extremely unpredictable.
Buffalo has a more enticing matchup against the Broncos in Week 10, though that no longer looks like a gimme.
We'd also avoid the Pittsburgh Steelers this week, even though Pittsburgh is hard to beat at home in prime time. The Tennessee Titans can take advantage of an underwhelming Steelers run defense, and Pittsburgh may not have starting quarterback Kenny Pickett, who suffered a rib injury in Week 8.
The Steelers won't have star safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, who has been ruled out with a hamstring injury.
Tennessee is set to start rookie quarterback Will Levis again, which could favor T.J. Watt and the Steelers defense. However, it's still a very risky play.
Trust the Saints Against the Bears
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While the New Orleans Saints have been too offensively inconsistent to trust often this season, now's a great time to trust them.
New Orleans seemed to find an offensive spark against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 8, and it will return home to host the Chicago Bears.
Even if the Bears have Justin Fields (thumb) back under center this week, the Saints defense should contain Chicago. Bears head coach Matt Eberflus has stated that Tyson Bagent will start, according to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune, so we're likely to see a rookie QB against one of the league's better defenses.
The Bears defense, meanwhile, ranks 30th against the pass, which should help Derek Carr and Co. to continue rolling offensively.
The Bears have been stout against the run (3.3 yards per carry allowed) but New Orleans can compensate with Alvin Kamara and the short-passing game. Kamara has caught 29 passes for 228 yards in five games this season.
The Saints are seven-point favorites this week, and they should hold serve at home.
Consider Sneaking in the Browns or Falcons
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The Browns and Atlanta Falcons have both been volatile this season, but they're likely to have advantageous matchups at home against rookie quarterbacks.
The Minnesota Vikings are set to go into Arizona with rookie Jaren Hall following Kirk Cousins' season-ending Achilles tear. The Viking did acquire Joshua Dobbs from the Cardinals, but starting Hall is still the plan, according to ESPN's Kevin Seifert.
With both Cousins and Justin Jefferson out, the Falcons should edge out a win as five-point favorites.
Cleveland is set to host the Cardinals, who may not have Kyler Murray back under center until their Week 10 matchup with Atlanta.
Murray hasn't been activated from injured reserve yet, and according to ProFootballTalk's Josh Alper, rookie Clayton Tune is likely to get the start against Cleveland.
The Browns have been wildly ineffective offensively, and they've turned it over a whopping 17 times. However, Cleveland's aggressive defense should cause problems for Arizona's untested rookie.
Now's a great time to take a chance on the Browns, whose next two games are against the Baltimore Ravens and Steelers.
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