Week 16 NFL Survivor Pool Tips: Best Picks and Strategies to Stay Alive

With only three weeks left in the 2024 NFL season, over a quarter of the league has been eliminated from playoff contention. Fans participating in survivor pools are still hoping to avoid a similar fate.

While Week 15 didn't bring many outright upsets, Week 16 could easily be more unpredictable. Survivor participants must also deal with the reality that most of the league's good teams have probably already been used.

Byes are a thing of the past, though, so a few solid plays should be on the proverbial table. Here, you'll find some picks and Week 16 survivor tips for survivor play, using the early odds as a guide.

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.

The Week 16 schedule features a few exciting playoff-caliber matchups early in the week, and we'd look to avoid them.

The Denver Broncos have played like a better team than the Los Angeles Chargers as of late. However, Los Angeles (-3) will have home-field advantage on Thursday night and won the first meeting with its AFC West rival. The week's opener is a tricky one with no truly "safe" play on either side.

Saturday's game between the Houston Texans (-2.5) and Kansas City Chiefs became clouded when Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes suffered an ankle injury in Week 15. The Chiefs "don't think" that it's a serious injury, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter, but it is the dreaded high-ankle sprain.

Kansas City and their shaky offensive line will either start Carson Wentz or an injured and less-mobile Mahomes. Neither prospect is ideal against Houston's ferocious pass rush, though, it's hard to completely discount Kansas City at home.

Saturday's other game will be an AFC North showdown between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens (-6). Games between these two rivals are usually tightly contested. Pittsburgh won the first meeting but has key players T.J. Watt (ankle), George Pickens (hamstring), Larry Ogunjobi (groin) and Donte Jackson (back) on the injury report.

The Steelers won't be overly cautious with any of their stars.

"We're playing for division title this week," head coach Mike said, per ESPN's Brooke Pryor. "Those that are healthy will play."

However, Pittsburgh doesn't have a healthy roster. This makes Baltimore a bit more attractive, but it's far from a sure thing.

Another game we'd avoid is Sunday's matchup between the San Francisco 49ers and Miami Dolphins (-1.5). San Francisco is too injured to field a highly competitive team, but Miami keeps finding ways to blow pivotal games.

Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill and the Dolphins offense should find success against San Francisco's sagging defense, but the 49ers may have one last spoiler effort in them.

A couple of teams stand out as obvious picks in Week 16. The Green Bay Packers (-13.5) are heavy favorites at home against the Seattle Seahawks. The Buffalo Bills (-14) are massive favorites over the New England Patriots.

Chances are, however, that the Packers and Bills are already off the board.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-4) aren't huge favorites heading into their road game against the Dallas Cowboys. However, they should come through for survivor players this week. The Bucs are coming off of a dominant win over the Chargers and know they can't afford to slip and still win the NFC South.

While Tampa's defense hasn't been good, Dallas' defense has been equally lackluster. It has been especially bad against the run, ranking 29th in yards per carry allowed.

The Bucs should be able to lean on Rachaad White and Bucky Irving to control this game and escape with a win. With star Cowboys corner Trevon Diggs set to miss the rest of the season with a knee ailment, Tampa may also get Baker Mayfield, Mike Evans and the passing game going as well.

This should be a competitive game, but ultimately, Tampa should be able to score too frequently for the Cowboys to keep pace.

It was hard to watch the Atlanta Falcons stumble through their Monday night win against the Las Vegas Raiders and feel like Atlanta is a trustworthy survivor option. Quarterback Kirk Cousins has become a liability, and the Falcons spent most of Monday night trying to hide him.

Still, the Falcons are set to host the New York Giants (+8.5), who have an even worse quarterback situation. The Giants also have a bad run defense (31st in yards per carry allowed), which is why Atlanta should come through.

As long as Cousins doesn't make repeated back-breaking mistakes, the Falcons should be able to run their way to a victory. Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier are still a terrific backfield tandem, and they should find running room against New York.

There's still some upset potential in this game because the Falcons defense continues to underwhelm. There's a non-zero chance that rookie wideout Malik Nabers goes off and the Giants stumble into a victory.

However, New York seems more focused on trying to earn the No. 1 overall pick than in picking up meaningless wins. At a time when "safe" plays are few and far between, the Falcons are worth a flier.

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