Week 9 NFL Survivor Pool Tips: Best Picks and Strategies to Stay Alive

After a few weeks of largely expected results, the NFL returned to its wacky ways in Week 8.

The Baltimore Ravens and New York Jets both mismanaged games and lost where they had no business losing.

The Washington Commanders then won on a Hail Mary they had no business completingthanks to poor situational management by the Chicago Bears.

Even good teamsthe Jets don't countdo silly things that can absolutely wreck a survivor pool.

If you're still alive in yours, congratulations.

It's been a tough road.

At this point, it feels like no team is truly dependable in any given week, but survivor participants must play on.

The Pittsburgh Steelers and San Francisco 49ers will be off in Week 9, but a few intriguing options will be available.

Below, we'll dive into a few tips and suggestions for survivor play, using the early odds as a guide.

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook .

In survivor play, it's usually best to start by identifying games to avoid.

The first game of Week 9a Thursday night matchup between the Houston Texans (+1.5) and New York Jetsis just such a game.

The Jets aren't good, but they're slight favorites for a couple of reasons.

For one, they're at home on a short week.

Secondly, Houston is dealing with some serious issues at wide receiver.

Nico Collins remains on injured reserve, while Stefon Diggs is out for the season with a torn ACL.

Winning in New York with a short-handed receiving corps won't be easy.

At the same time, though, it's impossible to trust the Jets to do anything right.

We don't love the matchup between the Los Angeles Chargers (-2) and Cleveland Browns either.

Los Angeles has been the better team through the first two months, but Cleveland looked like a playoff contender with Jameis Winston under center on Sunday.

At 2-6, the Browns aren't contenders, but they can certainly be spoilers.

The Dallas Cowboys (+2.5) and Atlanta Falcons game? No thanks.

Dallas' defense remains a massive liability, and Dallas is trending toward being a flat-out bad team.

"The only hope the Cowboys really have right now is if some kind of move is made at the trade deadline," former Cowboys star Michael Irvin told TMZ Sports on Monday (h/t Bleacher Report's Scott Polacek ).

"...They have to do something.

It's bad right now." However, the Falcons are over-reliant on getting good play from quarterback Kirk Cousins.

When Cousins is offas he was against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 7Atlanta isn't good.

The Falcons' inconsistent defense and lack of a pass rush could doom them against Dallas.

Atlanta has struggled to grind out ugly games, and this could be one of those.

The Arizona Cardinals have won ugly over the last two weeks, and their resiliency shouldn't be ignored.

We're inclined to ignore Arizona (+1) against the visiting Chicago Bears, however.

That one's simply too close to call.

The Minnesota Vikings (-5) have lost two straight, and they suddenly appear vulnerable.

Minnesota's secondary hasn't been good enough, and the loss of left tackle Christian Darrisaw to a season-ending knee injury looms large.

Sam Darnold and the Vikings offense continually sputtered after Darrisaw exited the game last Thursday.

Minnesota traded for offensive tackle Cam Robinson on Tuesday, though asking him to start on Sunday would be a massive request.

Still, Minnesota is talented and deep enough to outlast the Indianapolis Coltsbarring an avalanche of self-inflicted mistakes, of course.

The Colts have questions at quarterbackthey're turning to veteran Joe Flacco for Week 9and their 28th-ranked defense is problematic.

Minnesota should be able to lean on Aaron Jones and the running game while limiting Darnold's odds of making mistakes.

This is is one of the safer options of Week 9, though it'll be a little more challenging with Flacco under center instead of the wildly inconsistent Anthony Richardson.

Anyone worried about taking the Vikings in a prime-time gamethose can be unpredictablecan also consider the Philadelphia Eagles (-7.5) against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Jacksonville has been a little more competent than Indy over the past couple of weeks, but it's still a two-win team with an underwhelming defense.

The Eagles have been clicking on both sides of the ball since their bye week.

Survivor players who have already used the Vikings and Eaglesor those who are simply willing to take a chancecan consider the New Orleans Saints (-7) against the Carolina Panthers.

We're not big fans of targeting divisional matchups, and last week's game between the Browns and Ravens is an example of whywe thought the Ravens were savvy enough to avoid the trap, but they weren't.

However, this might be the only time to use the Saints between now and, perhaps, their Week 17 game with the Las Vegas Raiders.

There's no telling how healthy New Orleans will be by then.

Injuries have been a major issue for the Saints since their 2-0 start, but it appears that quarterback Derek Carr will be back in the lineup this week.

"He looked good in the throwing session," Saints coach Dennis Allen said, per John DeShazier of the team's official website.

"I would expect him to be back out at practice on Wednesday, and then we'll go from there." The Panthers have been bad, especially on defense.

With Carr back in the lineup New Orleans should be able to get Alvin Kamara, Chris Olave and Taysom Hill going.

This is a bigger dice roll than the line would suggest, but anyone looking to sneak in the Saints should act now.

Gambling problem? Call (877-8-HOPENY) or text HOPENY (467369).

If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (IL/IN/MI/NJ/PA/WV/WY), 1-800-NEXT STEP (AZ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO/NH), 888-789-7777/visiting ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-BETS OFF (IA), 1-877-770-STOP (7867) (LA), visiting OPGR.org (OR), or calling/texting TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) or 1-888-532-3500 (VA).

Odds and lines subject to change.

21+ (18+ NH/WY).

AZ/CO/CT/IL/IN/IA/LA/MI/NH/NJ/NY/OR/PA/TN/VA/WV/WY only.

Eligibility restrictions apply.

See draftkings.com/sportsbook for full terms and conditions..

This article has been shared from the original article on bleacherreport, here is the link to the original article.