On the NFL Survivor front, this is a week where one must roll up the sleeves.
After dealing with a deluge of favorites to pick from in Week 8, Week 9 is a much different offering. With a slew of games with point spreads hovering around a field goal, this is a week where creativity will be tested.
And test we shall.
Here is a breakdown of NFL’s Week 9 through a Survivor lens. Buckle up for this one.
Survivor Week 9 Best Picks
Cleveland Browns vs Arizona Cardinals
Oh, these quarterback situations are a mess.
For Cleveland, is this the week Deshaun Watson finally returns? Or will it be P.J. Walker or Dorian Thompson-Robinson once again?
Better yet, does it even matter?
The oddsmakers don’t seem to believe so, and it’s hard to argue otherwise. And for as strange as the Browns’ QB situation is, Arizona’s is even stranger.
Kyler Murray is nearing a comeback, which is good news for the Cardinals. With that being said, it doesn’t seem like that first game will come just yet. If it doesn’t, rookie Clayton Tune will get the start now that Joshua Dobbs has been moved.
Again, yikes.
Defensively, Cleveland should be a force here. Despite all the questions and moving parts, there’s little questions about that side of the ball in a game like this.
Use our NFL Eliminator tips to place bets with the top NFL odds:
New Orleans vs Chicago Bears
Once again, we’re betting against an opponent rather than for one.
Make sense?
Allow me to explain.
The Bears are simply a work in progress, and backup QB Tyson Bagent will once again get the start with Justin Fields battling an injury. Bagent, still just a rookie, doesn’t have the experience or the supporting cast to win a game in a tough road environment.
Granted, New Orleans isn’t perfect. The Saints did beat the Colts by double digits on the road, which is a good sign. Quarterback Derek Carr looked the part in that game, which hasn’t been the case for much of the year.
While New Orleans has holes, the Bears have voids. And at home, expect a much cleaner performance from a Saints team that might be finally figuring some things out on the offensive side.
Survivor Week 9 Rankings Grid
| Rk | Team | Opponent | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Miami Dolphins | Tennessee Titans | A+ |
| 2 | San Francisco 49ers | Seattle Seahawks | A+ |
| 3 | Baltimore Ravens | Los Angeles Rams | A |
| 4 | New Orleans Saints | Carolina Panthers | A- |
| 5 | Houston Texans | @ New York Jets | A- |
| 6 | Pittsbugh Steelers | New England Patriots | A- |
| 7 | Detroit Lions | @ Chicago Bears | B+ |
| 8 | Green Bay Packers | @ New York Giants | B+ |
| 9 | Cleveland Browns | Jacksonville Jaguars | B |
| 10 | Atlanta Falcons | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | B |
| 11 | Kansas City Chiefs | Buffallo Bills | B |
| 12 | Los Angeles Chargers | Denver Broncos | B |
| 13 | Dallas Cowboys | Philadelphia Eagles | B |
| 14 | Las Vegas Raiders | Minnesota Vikings | B- |
| 15 | Cincinnati Bengals | Indianapolis Colts | B- |
| 16 | Indianapolis Colts | @ Cincinnati Bengals | B- |
| 17 | Minnesota Vikings | @ Las Vegas Raiders | B- |
| 18 | Philadelphia Eagles | @ Dallas Cowboys | B- |
| 19 | Denver Broncos | @ Los Angeles Chargers | B- |
| 20 | Buffallo Bills | @ Kansas City Chiefs | C+ |
| 21 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | @ Atlanta Falcons | C+ |
| 22 | Jacksonville Jaguars | @ Cleveland Browns | C+ |
| 23 | New York Giants | Green Bay Packers | C- |
| 24 | Chicago Bears | Detroit Lions | C- |
| 25 | New England Patriots | @ Pittsbugh Steelers | D+ |
| 26 | New York Jets | Houston Texans | D |
| 27 | Carolina Panthers | @ New Orleans Saints | D |
| 28 | Los Angeles Rams | @ Baltimore Ravens | D- |
| 29 | Seattle Seahawks | @ San Francisco 49ers | F |
| 30 | Tennessee Titans | @ Miami Dolphins | F |
Survivor Week 9 Sleeper
Las Vegas Raiders vs New York Giants
What a dreadful, awful football game. Let’s start there. Oh, and the Raiders just fired head coach Josh McDaniels. There’s that, too.
Las Vegas just laid an egg against Detroit, showing little on the offensive side. And the Giants just collapsed against the Jets, looking utterly lost on offense with injuries taking a toll.
It sounds like New York will have Daniel Jones back this week, which is a good sign. But the issues with the offensive line could once again make operating in this offense extremely challenging.
Aidan O’Connell likely gets the start this week, and this is actually a good thing. Expect more offense from the capable QB than we’ve seen of late.
The negative momentum from last week’s loss carries over to another Sunday. Raiders win another ugly game, even with a shocking coaching change midweek.
Survivor Week 9 Team to Save for the Future
Cincinnati Bengals vs Buffalo Bills
Although it’s one of the truly superb games of the week and even the young season, the Bengals will be tempting for some.
After a sluggish start, Cincinnati delivered an emphatic win over San Francisco on the road. QB Joe Burrow was nearly perfect, and the bum calf that hindered this team and his performance seems like a distant memory.
Buffalo, meanwhile, has been sluggish. Against lesser teams, the Bills manage to make life much harder than it needs to be. Josh Allen, while immensely talented, can also be a tad unreliable.
His turnovers have hurt this team, and it doesn’t feel like any part of the Bills is fully firing.
Still, Buffalo is talented. And Cincinnati, as good as it has looked, has other opportunities in front of it. Home games against the Texans and Steelers over the next few weeks could be great Survivor spots.
Let’s sit this one out and tackle one of those instead.
Survivor Week 9 Chalk Team That Could Lose
Los Angeles Chargers at New York Jets
Regardless of the opponent, the New York Jets are feisty.
They can play the best or worst team in football, and the outcome is likely to be somewhat similar. The game will be close, low-scoring, defensive-focused, and probably not all that easy on the eyes.
That was certainly the case last week against the Giants, which required a miracle to win. And it will be the case this week against the Chargers, which will be a much tougher opponent.
Los Angeles is coming off one of its best wins of the year, although it came at home to the Chicago Bears. A cross country trip against a much better defense will certainly change that outcome, even though Justin Herbert is capable of taking this game over.
But the Jets have a formula that tends to work, and it’s not something we want to mess with this week. Buyer beware if you plan to play the Chargers.
