NFL Football - Survivor Football

Alright, halfway there!  Onto Week 9, and I’ll provide a little more detail on the prior weeks.

Week 1: Patriots 38, Dolphins 24- Week 2: Steelers 24, Seahawks 0- Week 3: Chargers 20, Chiefs 17- Week 4: Packers 49, Broncos 23- Week 5: Saints 30, Panthers 27- Week 6: Raiders 24, Browns 17- Week 7: Cowboys 34, Rams 7- Week 8: Ravens 30, Cardinals 27

The Rams beat the Saints?  Really?  I honestly didn’t see that coming.  I do try to avoid the road team whenever possible, but I absolutely did not see that coming.  The Ravens/Giants also survived scares, but they held on.  I was distinctly afraid that Cardinals were going to beat the Ravens, but a win is a win.  I’m also glad the Ravens, and their inconsistent offense are out of the way on my teams to pick in Survival.

Going forward, I’m going to pick 2 teams, one to continue my own survival pool, and another one following the “Giant” debacle in Week 5.

As always, we’ll review 5 popular picks, and then I’ll give you my pick.

Houston Texans:  (ESPN 23% / Yahoo 28.4%) – The Browns had optimism coming into Week 9, but on Friday, Peyton Hillis re-aggravated his hamstring and with Montario Hardesty out as well, Chris Ogbonnaya will be the starter for the Browns.  The Texans should be in line for a comfortable; although, not a blowout win vs. the Browns.  The offense is necessary, but so far the Texans re-vamped defense has been the key to Houston’s success, and ultimately they’ll make a big play to cement the game.

Atlanta Falcons: (ESPN 19% / Yahoo 36%) – The key here is Michael Turner.  If he ends up having a strong game along with the Colts and their propensity to give up many RB points, the Falcons should roll.  The Falcons are coming off a bye week, and should be prepared for the winless Colts.  Jim Irsay, the owner of the Colts, gave a cryptic tweet earlier this week on the return of the one Peyton Manning.  Additionally, he wants to win now, and Curtis Painter has said, he’ll “blow it up”.  Most likely, this is all talk, but I avoid road teams unless there’s other options, so I don’t mind passing on this matchup.  Eventually, the Colts will win, just hope it won’t be this week.

Dallas Cowboys: (ESPN 20% / Yahoo 11.6%) – The Cowboys looked like a bunch of Cowgirls against the Eagles on Sunday night.  The Eagles have the potential to be a great team, but the Cowboys just looked lost.  The Seahawks secondary is decimated, so unlike the Eagles who have strong CBs, and the Cowboys will be able to take advantage of this weakness en route to a strong passing attack.  Miles Austin, Dez Bryant, Jason Witten and Tony Romo all should be primed to have strong games inside the “Death Star” aka Cowboys Stadium.  Wit uncertainty at Seattle QB, I think this is a strong play; although, I used Cowboys against the Rams earlier in my pool.

Kansas City Chiefs: (ESPN 6.0% / Yahoo 8.3%) – The Chiefs have looked strong recently.  They are 4-0, and they’re facing the winless Dolphins.  By those two stats, they look like a strong play.  However, they won an emotional OT game on MNF, so they’re coming off a short week.  The Dolphins on the other hand have lost by 3 pts in the past 2 weeks, and they’re getting closer and closer to their initial win.  While they should be participating in the “Suck for Luck” campaign, Bill Parcells will have too much pride to go winless, so they’ll win at least one game on the season, and if you’re taking the Chiefs you should hope that this is not the week for the Dolphins.

Oakland Raiders: (ESPN 4.8% / Yahoo 5.3%) – Raiders are coming off a bye week, but the team is in shambles.  The Broncos are also a mess with Tim Tebow at the helm, but his charisma (which you can’t deny) could carry them in a close game.  With Darren McFadden out and Carson Palmer still learning the offense, this could end up being a “closer than the experts” think kind of game.  I’d avoid this if at all possible.

My pick…

Survival Pool (Starting Week 6 & Entire Season)

Houston Texans: The injury to Peyton Hillis should only confirm confidence in taking the Texans.  Schaub, Foster, Daniels, and company should take care of the Browns in a comfortable win.  The only real concern is a stout Cleveland DEF; although, the Texans are 3-1 at home, with their only loss being to the Raiders.  On the road, they are only 2-2, and for the record, I would not feel comfortable taking them in front of the Cleveland Dawg Pound , but playing at home in the friendly confines of Reliant Stadium, I expect the Texans to roll.

If you have questions on other matchups, reach out to me at Twitter @FD_James.