NFL Week 2 Survivor Pool Tips: Best Picks and Strategies to Stay Alive

Plenty of survivor pools were busted in Week 1 when the Cincinnati Bengals came out flat against the New England Patriots.

Cincinnati came into Week 1 as the heaviest favorite on the schedule, and the result was a prime example of why opening-week games can be tricky to predict. The Bengals have a tendency to start the season slow—and losing Tee Higgins late in the week certainly didn't help—but New England was clearly the better-coached and better-prepared team.

Survivor participants who made it through the week, however, must play on, and Week 2 is nearly here.

Below, you'll find a few tips and tricks for navigating Week 2. You'll also find some top picks for the slate using the latest odds as a guideline.

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.

When examining any week in a survivor league, it's wise to identify games to avoid. Divisional matchups and prime-time games are notoriously tough, so we'd recommend not touching the Buffalo Bills (+2.5) and Miami Dolphins game on Thursday.

We'd also caution against overreacting to Week 1.

The Bengals certainly didn't look like a team capable of hanging with the Kansas City Chiefs last Sunday, but that's probably still a game to avoid at this point in the season. Kansas City is a heavy favorite (-6), will be at home and is coming off extra rest. Yet, the Bengals have typically provided them with a difficult matchup.

Cincinnati also has a tendency to rebound from rough starts, so we should see a more focused squad in Week 2. Kansas City's matchup with the Atlanta Falcons in Week 3 is much more favorable.

We'd also recommend avoiding games involving other talented teams that played sloppily in Week 1. The New York Jets were severely outmatched by the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night, but they shouldn't play that poorly against more average teams—and Aaron Rodgers did appear healthy.

That said, the Jets (-3.5) are no locks on the road against the Tennessee Titans.

The Cleveland Browns were a veritable disaster in Week 1, and with star tight end David Njoku injured (high-ankle sprain), they could struggle again against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

However, Cleveland still has a potent defense that could quickly force the Jaguars (-3) into the sort of game-altering mistakes that the Browns made on Sunday.

The Pittsburgh Steelers (-2.5) enter Week 2 as road favorites against the Denver Broncos. While Pittsburgh's defense looked elite in Week 1, it's hard to truly trust a team that didn't score a touchdown—and it appears that Justin Fields is in line for a second straight start.

It wasn't exactly a pretty win for the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 1, but that's probably how a lot of victories will look under new head coach Jim Harbaugh this season.

The Chargers outlasted the rival Las Vegas Raiders by leaning on their defense, a strong effort by running back J.K. Dobbins and some timely throws by quarterback Justin Herbert. That might not be a strategy that works against every team, but it should work against the Carolina Panthers in Week 2.

The Panthers were the NFL's worst team in 2023, and they didn't look any better in their Week 1 loss to the New Orleans Saints. Carolina's defense surrendered nine consecutive scoring drives to open the game, while quarterback Bryce Young still appears in over his head.

To make matters worse, the Panthers lost star defensive tackle Derrick Brown to a potentially season-ending knee injury.

"Definitely a huge loss," head coach Dave Canales said, per ESPN's David Newton. "He's one of our best players."

With Brown out, the Chargers (-6.5) should be able to hammer the Panthers with their ground game. And survivor players should be able to hammer whoever is playing Carolina each week until the Panthers prove that they can field a competitive football team.

The Indianapolis Colts fell short in a 29-27 track meet with the rival Houston Texans on Sunday. The game featured some stellar plays by Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson but not nearly enough of them.

Richardson (9-of-19 for 212 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT, 56 rushing yards, 1 rushing TD) is still a boom-or-bust signal-caller. This makes Indianapolis a volatile team in survivor leagues. That's before factoring in the injury risk that Richardson's dual-threat style of play carries.

While Indianapolis (-3) doesn't have a stellar matchup on the road against the Green Bay Packers, this may be a good time to sneak them into survivor play. The Packers have a strong roster and will have home-field advantage, but they won't have quarterback Jordan Love (MCL sprain).

This means that Green Bay will rely on backup quarterback Malik Willis, who has a career 48.7 passer rating. Green Bay's defense also showed a lot of cracks against the Philadelphia Eagles last Friday, and it may struggle to corral Richardson, Jonathan Taylor and Indy's rushing attack.

Theoretically, the Colts should be able to pound the ball on the ground and grind out a tough road win.

With Love out, this is probably the best non-divisional matchup the Colts will have before facing the Patriots in Week 13—and as Week 1 showed, New England can't be written off as an easy win.

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