NFL Picks Week 6: New York Jets and More Survivor Pool Traps to Avoid

We're only five weeks into the NFL season, but survivor-pool picks are inevitably already getting difficult. In all likelihood, most survivor pool players have already used most of the NFL's elite teams like the Green Bay Packers and New England Patriots.

Because of that, things are becoming increasingly tricky with the uncertainty surrounding many of the league's teams. The show must go on, but it is vital to select your team carefully.

Here are three survival-pool options that look great at first glance but should ultimately be avoided due to the high probability of an upset.

Cincinnati Bengals

Prior to the season most probably thought they would be taking the Cincinnati Bengals' opponents in a survivor pool rather than the Bengals themselves, but Cincinnati has surprised everyone by getting off to a 3-2 start. Because of that and their matchup with the 0-5 Indianapolis Colts this weekend, they look like a pretty safe survivor pool pick.

I have my reservations about the Bengals, though. Rookie quarterback Andy Dalton has yet to have an error-filled game, but you have to figure that it's on the horizon. Also, the Colts have played much better with Curtis Painter at quarterback over the past few weeks. The seven-point spread also puts undue pressure on the Bengals, so I can see the Colts pulling the upset.

New Orleans Saints

Since a tough opening-night loss to the Green Bay Packers, the New Orleans Saints have proven to be one of the NFL's premier teams with four straight wins. Quarterback Drew Brees and the passing game has been as good as ever, and the Saints have won most of their games quite comfortably.

New Orleans will travel to take on a 3-2 Tampa Bay Buccaneers' squad that suffered an embarrassing 48-3 loss to the San Francisco 49ers last week. This game may seem like it has New Orleans blowout written all over it, but the Bucs have been very pesky in divisional games and managed to beat the Saints once last season. Tampa will desperately want to bounce back, so an upset could be in the cards.

New York Jets

At 2-3, the New York Jets need a win on Monday night, and the 0-4 Miami Dolphins would seem to be a good opponent to get one against. The Jets have really struggled lately, though, as they have lost three consecutive games.

While the Dolphins haven't started off the season too well in their own right, they have kept it close against some solid teams like the San Diego Chargers and Houston Texans. New York's biggest Achilles' heel has been its run defense and the Dolphins will likely try to pound the ball with rookie running back Daniel Thomas. If Miami can play ball control, then they certainly have a shot to win.