Last week, my best pick was the Jacksonville Jaguars, who handily beat the Cleveland Browns. Unfortunately, the Los Angeles Chargers – another very popular pick – lost. I did recommend saving them, but I still had them in the mix, and I did play them in some pools where I had multiple entries. My other suggestions in the Las Vegas Raiders and Pittsburgh Steelers also hit. I recommended fading the Detroit Lions, who nearly lost in OT, as they have great matchups down the line.
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Week 2 NFL Survivor Picks
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-8.5) vs Cleveland Browns
My top pick for the second consecutive week is the team playing the Browns. Like the Jaguars last week, I am not a fan of Tampa Bay’s schedule down the line. There are very few games where we can expect them to be favored by around a touchdown or more. From the lookahead lines that some sportsbooks make available, their next best game is against the Falcons in Week 8. There are better picks that week, like the Cowboys (vs Cardinals), Patriots (at Dolphins), Packers (vs Panthers), Bengals (vs Titans), and Steelers (vs Browns).
While the Buccaneers lost to the Bengals, Tampa Bay turned the ball over 4 times. Cincinnati scored 24 of 33 points off of turnovers. Baker Mayfield didn’t torch the Bengals, but he was solid. Importantly, WRs Emeka Egbuka and Chris Godwin Jr. looked good, as did RB Bucky Irving. The Browns should do more damage against the Buccaneers than against the Jaguars, but they shouldn’t win this one. In my larger pools, I am all-in on the Buccaneers. In some smaller pools or pools with multiple entries, I will lower my exposure.
Philadelphia Eagles (-7) at Tennessee Titans
From a future value perspective, the Eagles are not the best picks of the week. However, they offer an interesting pivot off of the Buccaneers. The next best games for the Eagles come Week 6 (vs. Panthers), Week 9 (vs. Giants), Week 11 (vs. Steelers), Week 13 (at Cardinals), and Week 14 (vs. Colts). However, the projected lines for those games are not high or include other away games against teams that look better than the Titans. There are also much better plays in most of those weeks as things currently stand. Teams can go up and down, and injuries happen.
The Eagles should still be one of the higher-picked teams, but they are a team that most survivor players will save. That gives you the chance to put some picks on them in case of upsets against the highest-picked teams of the week. The Titans could barely get anything going against the Jets last week. That struggle should continue against an Eagles team that outplayed the Commanders last week despite the close final score. I will have some Eagles in my survivor pools in Week 2, but not as many as the Buccaneers.
Los Angeles Chargers (-6.5) vs Las Vegas Raiders
Yes, they’re here for the second time. You probably noticed that a lot of entries ended up dead early in Week 1. Whether it was a fluke or me not being as concerned about the Cardinals as I should have been, we can only move on. While I did play the Chargers in some pools, I did not have that much exposure to them, and that will continue this week. However, there is a good chance that many people in your pools will be off of them. That makes them an interesting pivot in survivor pools in Week 2. You can pick them and hope that the highest-picked teams lose.
While I don’t think the Cardinals will be an amazing team, I do think the Chargers could be in some trouble. Former Dolphins HC Mike McDaniel became the offensive coordinator this year, and it looked like he was trying to do way too much instead of keeping things simple. I can’t fault a creative OC for getting creative, but anyone who watched the game saw a mess. This team has talent, but there are concerns, which is why they are the lowest pick of the week. The Raiders did benefit from playing the worst roster in the league last week, but Kirk Cousins is a competent enough backup to win a divisional game. This pick is not as safe as it looked before the season started.
Check out all of our Week 2 Rankings: Flex Rankings | QB Rankings | RB Rankings | WR Rankings | TE Rankings | MOP Rankings
Survivor Picks to Fade
San Francisco 49ers (-13) vs Miami Dolphins
The safest pick of the week is also my biggest fade. While the 49ers play in a difficult division and play multiple other good teams (Denver, Chiefs, Eagles), they have some of the highest future value in the league. They’re also a good enough team where they can be used as a last-ditch effort if your choice is between them in a decent matchup and a worse team in a tossup.
If you’re in a very small pool that you don’t expect to last very long, the 49ers are a viable option this week. However, for anyone in a medium to large pool where preserving future value is key, I am going to save them.
Make sure to check out all of our Week 2 Fantasy Football Rankings and Analysis!
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