If you’ve made it this far in your NFL survivor pool, then chances are you don’t need our help. That said, read on for our NFL Week 17 Survivor Pool Predictions if you’re looking for some suggestions.
NFL Week 16 Survivor Pool Recap
My Week 16 Survivor Pool selections consisted of the Falcons over the Giants, the Bengals over the Browns and the Packers over the Saints (Monday Night Football). Atlanta, Cincinnati and Green Bay all won in convincing fashion, so hopefully you were able to burn one of those teams and advance to Week 17.
NFL Week 17 Survivor Pool Prediction: Indianapolis Colts, 1:00 p.m. ET
I’ll do my best to select teams that you may not have used in prior weeks. Hopefully that applies to the Colts.
I faded the Giants with the Falcons last week and while New York did take a brief 7-0 lead, the wheels fell off. Drew Lock threw two interceptions that were returned for touchdowns, one of which was by a defensive lineman. With the Raiders’ win over the Jaguars last Sunday, the Giants now own the No. 1 overall pick. While the players don’t give a rip about the franchise holding the No. 1 overall pick, the team wouldn’t be in this spot if the players were good enough to win. Thus, I see the Giants falling again this week.
Jonathan Taylor had a monster game against the Titans last week. After Bijan Robinson had fun running all over the Giants last weekend, Taylor should have another big game on Sunday for the Colts. Hopefully Indy’s defense will play better against Lock and Co. than it did versus the Titans in the second half in Week 17.
NFL Week 17 Survivor Pool Prediction: Seattle Seahawks, 8:15 p.m. ET (Thursday)
You may have burned the Seahawks in prior weeks but if not, you might as well use them in Chicago on Thursday night. There is some risk here, as the Seahawks have lost back-to-back games and the Bears play better at home than on the road. However, Seattle’s losses the past two weeks came to the Packers and Vikings – two double-digit win teams that are playoff bound. The Seahawks gave Minnesota all it could handle last week before succumbing, 27-24.
At 8-7, the Seahawks’ playoff lives are also on the line. Lose Thursday night in Chicago and the season might as well be over. The Bears defense has been a mess for over a month so if Geno Smith and Co. can’t figure out how to move the ball on Thursday night, I don’t know what to say.
I do expect this game to be tight. The spread is only 3.5 in favor of Seattle, so I don’t expect a walk in the park for the Seahawks. Again though, with their season on the line, it’s now or never for this NFC West team.
NFL Week 17 Survivor Pool Prediction: Los Angeles Chargers, 1:00 p.m. ET (Saturday)
In looking at the Chargers’ schedule, I’m not sure where survivor pool players would have used them, so I’ll include the Bolts on this list. Their win last Thursday against the Broncos was massive. Now they’re in the driver’s seat for one of the two remaining wild card spots in the AFC. The Chargers own the tiebreaker over the Broncos based on two head-to-head wins over Denver, but the Colts, Dolphins and Bengals are still lurking.
Despite being 3-12, the Patriots continue to play hard. They were up 14-0 on the Bills last Sunday in Buffalo and even went into halftime with a seven-point lead. While they eventually lost 24-21 due to a shaky third quarter, rookie Drake Maye has breathed life into this New England squad.
It won’t be easy, but I see the Chargers eventually emerging victorious in Foxborough.