(Image credit Richard Mackson/USA Today Sports)
Written by: Nicholas Mullick
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-mullick-354076184/
Week 15 is officially in the books and hopefully you have survived and are now looking at who to pick Week 16 of the regular season for your survivor pools.
Again, I would like to remind everyone about What a survivor pool is and its rules. 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 Dallas Cowboys did last week against the New York Giants then the participant in the survivor pool advances to the next week. But, now you can't choose the Dallas Cowboys anymore for the rest of the season. But if the team that was the participant in the Survivor pool chose the team that lost, as the Arizona Cardinals did against the Detroit Lions, 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 16 of the 2021 NFL season.
Week 16 Top 5 Survivor Options
Overall Record (58-17)
1. Dallas Cowboys vs Washington Football Team
No brainer pick here. Especially with the outbreak currently going on involving the Washington Football Team. Plus the Cowboys have more talent than the Washington Football Team does (Excluding the horrendous coaching from Mike McCarthey) and the Cowboys are the home team. Not really much left to say here for this matchup.
2. Kansas City Chiefs vs Pittsburgh Steelers
The Chiefs have finally woken up and are now the #1 Seed in the AFC Playoffs. This week they get to face the Pittsburgh Steelers who are an incompetent organization that is dealing with a covid outbreak. I think the Chiefs are better in every way than the Steelers are. I would be surprised if the Steelers won this game.
3. Philadelphia Eagles vs New York Giants
The Eagles are facing a team that has given up the season. Plus the Giants are reverting to Jake Fromm or Mike Glennon at QB. Honestly, both did not impress last week at all and this is another easy pick to make. The Eagles will not have Nick Sirianni in this game as he has tested positive for Covid-19. I had to move the Eagles down on the ranking but they should take care of business against the New York Giants.
4. Los Angeles Chargers at Houston Texans
The Texans are tanking the season and have to start Davis Millis at QB who has not been good this season. The Chargers are not the home team but I think they are better than the Texans are. This could be a mismatch where the Chargers dominate the Texans all game.
5. Jacksonville Jaguars at New York Jets
While writing this article news came out that Robert Saleh has tested positive for Covid-19. I don’t think he will be available to coach in this game. The Jets will have improper practices for weeks and have a covid outbreak to deal with. The Jaguars just fired Urban Meyer and will have Darrell Bevell be the interim coach for the team. I really like the Jaguars in this game and yes they may be the worst team in the league but the risk is worth the reward here.
Trap Survivor Pick: Cincinnati Bengals vs Baltimore Ravens
It is tempting as the Ravens have struggled due to injuries and questionable play-calling lately. But I think Lamar Jackson should be available to play this week and I am up and down regarding the Bengals defense. I would stay away from this game via survivor and look at different options.
Record 8-6-1 (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, Week 12: Dal, Week 13: Min, Week 14: No, Week 15: Cle)
Who I would of went with for my Survivor Pick for Week 16: Jacksonville Jaguars at New York Jets
I don’t want to take the Eagles as Nick Sirianni tested positive for Covid-19 and I don't think he will coach this week. I want to save the Chargers as they face Denver next week and I don't think Teddy Bridgewater will be back this season due to his injury and Drew Lock is not great. The same can be said with the Chiefs as they later also face the Broncos. Even though the Chiefs will face the incompetent Pittsburgh Steelers I don't want to use them so this pick came down to the Cowboys or the Jaguars. The safe option is the Cowboys but you know what I am feeling risky here so I decided to go with my second favorite team in the NFL and take the Jacksonville Jaguars this week 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, Week 12: Bears, Week 13: Rams, Week 14: Packers, Week 15: Cardinals)