Survivor Pool Picks Week 9: NFL Survivor Strategies & Safest Pick This Week

Those that still had the league-best Indianapolis Colts to use in their NFL survivor pool picks benefited greatly last week, as two other teams that were a touchdown favorite (Bengals and Falcons) cost several their survivor pool entries. We’ve officially entered the second half of the season in Week 9, and are back to provide more insight into our NFL picks. 

With three teams as double-digit favorites, survivor pool contestants seemingly have a number of solid choices for their NFL predictions for Week 9.

🎯 Best NFL survivor pool picks: Week 9

NFL survivor pool picks for Week 9; best NFL odds subject to change.

🐏 Safest NFL survivor pick: Rams (90.91%) over Saints

The Los Angeles Rams are just 2-2 following a bye since 2021 under head coach Sean McVay. But they should not be in danger of getting upset by the New Orleans Saints, who are suddenly amid a quarterback controversy after benching Spencer Rattler for Tyler Shough in the third quarter last week.

New Orleans has committed four turnovers in back-to-back games for the first time since 2012. The Saints also have a tendency to get behind early in games, being outscored in the first quarter 68-16. They enter Week 8 as the only team without a win against the first-quarter spread this season.

🧀 Best NFL survivor pick: Packers (90.48%) over Panthers

The Carolina Panthers entered last week with a winning record through Week 7 or later for the first time since 2019. But they are now .500 after a 40-9 blowout loss to the Bills, with the 40 points being the most it allowed at home since 2020.

The Panthers are just 1-3 on the road this year. They should hope that Bryce Young recovers quickly from a sprained ankle that kept him out of last week’s game. Backup quarterback Andy Dalton fell to 1-6 as the Panthers' starter.

The Green Bay Packers are one of four teams with an undefeated home record. And quarterback Jordan Love is coming off one of the best games of his career, torching the Pittsburgh Steelers for 360 passing yards and three touchdowns while totaling a career-best 20 straight completions.

⚡️ NFL survivor strategy pick: Chargers (85.71%) over Titans

The Los Angeles Chargers have extra rest to prepare for this game after beating the Minnesota Vikings by 27 points last Thursday night. In that 37-10 victory, Los Angeles amassed 419 total yards and 29 first downs against a Minnesota defense that had been in the top 10 in points per game allowed.

The Tennessee Titans are off to their worst start (1-7) since they were the Houston Oilers in 1994. Six of their seven losses have been by double digits (the most in the NFL), so I am not worried that Los Angeles had three other starters (Derwin James Jr., Tarheeb Still, and Mekhi Becton) go down with injuries last week.

🐦‍⬛ NFL survivor pick to avoid: Ravens (80.77%) over Dolphins

Weird things have happened on Thursday Night Football this year. Underdogs have won three of the last four Thursday contests, including two outright wins by 'dogs of more than a touchdown.

The Miami Dolphins allowed only 45 rushing yards last week after entering the game with the worst rush defense (159.3 yards per game allowed) in the league. And while quarterback Lamar Jackson appears on track to return from injury this week, I want to see him in game action first, in case his hamstring injury severely impacts his running ability.

Our Gary Pearson sees this as a high-scoring game with his early Ravens vs. Dolphins prediction, adding another risk element to backing Baltimore.

💵 Circa Survivor contest update

Over half of the 4,210 remaining Circa Sports Survivor entries to begin Week 8 were eliminated, as the Falcons and Bengals were responsible for 2,152 eliminations (51.1% of the pool). Week 9 begins with 2,053 entries remaining.