(Image credit Dennis Wierzbicki /USA Today Sports)
Written by: Nicholas Mullick
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-mullick-354076184/
Week 11 is officially in the books and hopefully you have survived and are now looking at who to pick Week 12 of the regular season for your survivor pools.
Again, I would like to remind everyone about What a survivor pool is and the rules of it. A survivor pool is a weekly contest where people select one team straight up per week to win their game. If a team that a participant in the Survivor pool chooses wins like the Miami Dolphins did last week against the New York Jets then the participant in the survivor pool advances to the next week. But, now you can't choose the Miami Dolphins anymore for the rest of the season. But if the team that the participant in the Survivor pool chose the team that lost like they Tennessee Titans did against the Houston Texans then the participant is eliminated from the pool.
Now that we know the rules in a survivor pool, here are the Top 5 options, A trap Survivor pick, and a survivor pick that I would have gone with if I was not eliminated in survivor (Again, Why is Mike Tomlin still the head coach for the Steelers again?) for week 12 of the 2021 NFL season.
Week 12 Top 5 Survivor Options
Overall Record (41-14)
1. Chicago Bears at Detroit Lions
Out of all the games being played on Thanksgiving this is the game I would utilize in survivor for this week. Out of both teams here I would take the Chicago Bears to win this game even though the Bears will not have Justin Fields at quarterback and are poorly coached by current head coach Matt Nagy. Quick question: Why is Matt Nagy still here? Especially after losing to a backup Tyler Hundley led Ravens team and with him botching the quarterback situation with this team earlier in the year. Luckily the Bears face the Lions who are the worst team in football no question. The Lions are a lot worse than the Baltimore Ravens are and the Bears should take care of business and defeat the Detroit Lions in this game.
2. New England Patriots vs Tennessee Titans
Not a hard choice to make as the Tennessee Titans are once again dealing with a ton of offensive injuries and their defense has not been the best this season. The Patriots have been excellent as Mac Jones has been a perfect fit in the Patriots offense. The Patriots also have a ton of time to prepare as they played last Thursday against the Atlanta Falcons where they won 25-0. Say didn’t Atlanta have a 25 point lead against the Patriots during Superbowl 51. Man the irony of the Patriots winning this game 25-0. The Patriots are a good pick but a big problem might be that many have already utilized the Patriots this season. But If you have not this is a great week to take them in survivor.
3. Philadelphia Eagles at New York Giants
I really like the Philadelphia Eagles this week as they face the New York Giants. Yes this is a divisional game but I feel that the Eagles have a stronger culture then the New York Giants do. I am not a fan of Nick Sirriani but I think he is a better coach than Joe Judge has been. I have a lot more confidence with the Eagles offense then the New York Giants have been and that is on the Giants Coaching staff. I have no clue what to think about QB Daniel Jones anymore and I wonder if he will be a part of the Giants next season. Saqon looks hurt and Kenny Golliday has not worked out with this Giants team. Both defenses are not that good but the Giants are more of a mess then the Eagles are and I think Philadelphia should win this game even though they are not the home team.
4. Houston Texans vs New York Jets
This is absolutely the riskiest pick to make this week in survivor. But it makes sense why to take the Texans this week. The Jets are a complete mess as well that are going to play without star rookie running back Michael Carter and most likely be without QB Zach Wilson. I won't be shocked if the Jets decide to start Joe Flacco again this week for some reason. The New York Jets defense is abysmal including the Jets secondary. Tyrod Taylor is a more confident QB to have then Davis Millis was. The best part is that this is probably your only chance to utilize the Houston Texans in survivor for this week. So I ask, is the Risk taking the Houston Texans worth the reward for survivor pools?
5. Baltimore Ravens vs Cleveland Browns
Every win is going to count when trying to win the AFC North. The Baltimore Ravens absolutely need to win this week to keep the momentum of making the playoffs. I think they should do a solid job and take care of business against the Cleveland Browns. I have no clue what is going on with the Browns now and questions are raising if Baker is the long term answer as he has been constantly dealing with inconsistency and injuries. They barely won against the Detroit Lions last week. Baltimore won against Chicago without Lamar Jackson and I think they should take care of business and defeat the Cleveland Browns.
Trap Survivor Pick: Dallas Cowboys vs Las Vegas Raiders
This is a game I have a fishy feeling about. The Raiders are not an awful team. The problem is that the Raiders have had many distractions during this Dark 2021 NFL season for them. I have noticed a trend with the Cowboys. When OT Tyron Smith is playing the Cowboys are an excellent team but when he is not the Cowboys struggle a lot. I doubt that Tyron Smith plays due to his back injury and this team is being held back from incompetent coaching from Mike McCarthey. I think the Raiders will have a strong shot upsetting the Dallas Cowboys.
Record 5-5-1 (Week 1: Jax, Week 2: Cin, Week 3: Dal, Week 4: Ten, Week 5: Bal, Week 6: Pit, Week 7: Cle, Week 8: Atl, Week 9: LV, Week 10: Pit, Week 11: SF)
Who I would of went with for my Survivor Pick for Week 12: Chicago Bears at Detroit Lions
This is the Toughest week to make a selection in Survivor for sure. So I can eliminate the Patriots and the Ravens this week as I took them Week 7 and Week 10. I don’t want to take the Eagles yet as they have plenty of weeks to utilize them via survivors including the New York Jets (Week 13), Washington Football Team (Week 15), and New York Giants (Week 16). This pick came down to the Houston Texans or the Chicago Bears and boy this was a hard choice but I think the Bears will likely win more than the Texans will. So the Bears will be my pick in survivor.
Teams Used: (Week 1: 49ers, Week 2: Steelers ,Week 3: Panthers, Week 4: Bengals, Week 5: Vikings, Week 6: Buccaneers, Week 7: Patriots, Week 8 Bills, Week 9 Colts, Week 10: Ravens, Week 11: Browns)