NFL Survivor Picks for Week 2: Which Super Bowl Contender Is Worth Burning Early?

"Playing it safe" ended up being a disaster to open 2024 as the largest favorite of the week, the Cincinnati Bengals, dropped their fourth Week 1 contest in five years. I had to buy back into my pool, so don't feel badly if you did, too.

NFL survivor pools are an interesting way to have some fun during the season, and this weekly article is here to help you stay alive deep into the season.

Based on numberFire's NFL survivor matrix, here are some of the best NFL survivor picks for Week 2.

All NFL odds come from FanDuel Sportsbook.

NFL Survivor Picks for Week 2

Best Picks

Baltimore Ravens

If you're out of reboots like me, this week is paramount to just stay in the game. According to the NFL odds at FanDuel Sportsbook, there's no likelier chance to win on the board than the Baltimore Ravens' 81.1% implied odds.

The thing I really like about Baltimore is their urgency already. Due to Isaiah Likely's shoe size, the Ravens are the only team on this list that lost last week, and 0-2 is a critical record to avoid when it comes to making the NFL postseason. Only 32 of 279 teams to start the season 0-2 have made it, and only three total have come all the way back to win the Super Bowl.

A rebound seems in the cards against a Las Vegas Raiders team that quite literally punted their chance to win last week, but Vegas' punt wasn't the only issue. The Raiders were the league's 6th-worst offense and 13th-worst defense against the rebuilding Los Angeles Chargers, per numberFire's Net Expected Points (NEP) model.

Week 1 came with unknowns, and it turned out Rhamondre Stevenson and the New England Patriots D were pretty sporty. After what we saw last week, it'd be pretty stunning if Gardner Minshew sent one of the Super Bowl odds-on favorites to 0-2 in their building.

Detroit Lions

Even though the Detroit Lions still got the dub on Sunday night, this feels like a spot where they -- not playing well -- can rebound against a team that vastly exceeded expectations in Week 1.

Detroit hosts the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a rematch of last year's NFC Divisional contest. Tampa Bay torched numberFire's worst secondary a year ago, the Washington Commanders, at home, but I've still got questions about this club that entered the year with just a 7.5-win total at FanDuel. If nothing else, the Bucs lost two starters out of their secondary last week entering this matchup with the high-octane Lions.

It's pretty ominous for the rest of the league that Detroit was ninth in Offensive NEP per play last week despite quiet outings from both Amon-Ra St. Brown and Sam LaPorta. As Jameson Williams emerges, this team just got that much harder to stop.

If you're counting on Las Vegas to spoil the chalk two weeks in a row, Detroit isn't a bad pivot with 75.6% implied odds to win. Their difficult division means we don't have a look-ahead spot where we'll absolutely love to take them.

Los Angeles Chargers

Eventually, we're going to run out of Super Bowl favorites if just choosing them. Streaming against terrible teams is a must to win survivor pools, and the Carolina Panthers made a statement Sunday on that end of the spectrum.

I was as optimistic as you'd find about new coach Dave Canales turning around Bryce Young, but the Panthers got mopped in every phase and lost 47-10 to the New Orleans Saints. Carolina was the second-worst offense and second-worst defense we saw this weekend, per nF's NEP model.

Many will blindly run to the board and fade them, and Jim Harbaugh's Los Angeles Chargers certainly aren't a bad horse to back when doing so. As the model's ninth-best rushing offense behind J.K. Dobbins and sixth-best overall defense, the signature traits of Harbaugh's clubs already seemed modestly instilled.

Venue here is less of an issue since every L.A. game is a road game for them, but I'll be backing the Panthers' spread to show some pride in Week 2. I'm not in love with this square -- even as hard as it seems to forecast an upset based on Sunday's events.

Digging Deeper

Do you want -- or need -- to use other squads than the teams listed above? Here are some other options.

Dallas Cowboys

Last week, I avoided the Atlanta Falcons on the basis of "saving their spot". They did us a favor losing outright anyway, I guess?

For Week 2, the "avoid" due to looking ahead is the Dallas Cowboys. Dallas had arguably the most impressive win of Week 1, planting seeds of doubt in the Cleveland Browns about their quarterback situation and defense that was the top-ranked unit by numberFire a year ago. Tom Brady figured out quickly that Micah Parsons and company were a problem.

This week in Jerry World, they'll draw the Saints, who enter in a letdown spot if one ever existed. They won by 37 despite being put on "upset alert" as just 3.5-point favorites over Carolina, but Parsons and this Dallas pass rush are a frightening matchup for Pro Football Focus (PFF)'s second-worst offensive line entering the season.

I see the Cowboys as the second-best option overall on the board, but patience could pay dividends. With the Washington Commanders and New York Giants looking awful and letting their quarterbacks get hit plenty, there could be a free square on the board in Big D later this season.

Houston Texans

If there's a team that probably deserved to lose in Week 1 and didn't, it was the Chicago Bears.

Chicago also covered the spread thanks to a generational meme from Will Levis, but a date with C.J. Stroud may not provide so many opportunities for the Bears defense to rally them back into a game.

Stroud and the Houston Texans were the third-best offense last week, according to nF's NEP model. Their defense was fourth-worst, though, inviting a potential bounce-back spot for both units on that side of the ball. I'm inclined to side with Demeco Ryans in lieu of a rookie quarterback that just lost one of his top weapons, Rome Odunze (knee).

Houston seems like one of those sharp survivor pivots this week. They're 73.0% implied to win at FanDuel, and a comfortable win wouldn't surprise anyone. Yet, it's just tough to lock them over Baltimore, Dallas, and Detroit against a defense that's played as well as Chicago's since acquiring Montez Sweat.

Philadelphia Eagles

I'll be frank; I don't see the case for the Philadelphia Eagles this week.

It's not to say that they shouldn't be favored to win this game, but even I was falling into the narrative of a raucous Eagles crowd in primetime, and it's simply not been a great spot for them. They're just 5-3 straight (SU) and 2-5 against the spread (ATS) in primetime non-Sunday games since the start of 2020.

Motivation here couldn't be more stark, either. Philadelphia won a sloppy affair in São Paulo to escape the Green Bay Packers, and the Falcons are coming off a season-opening home loss where the offense looked awful. Philly's secondary -- or nF's 17th-ranked pass defense last week -- might be able to help correct those woes a bit.

There's also the same added incentive to not use them yet that came with Dallas; matchups with Washington and New York are looming. I'll be betting the Falcons in this contest and avoiding the Birds in survivor pools.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your