(Image credit Kim Klement/USA Today Sports)
Written by: Nicholas Mullick
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-mullick-354076184/
Week 5 is officially in the books and hopefully you have survived and are now looking at who to pick for Week 6 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 Cincinnati Bengals did last week against the Jacksonville Jaguars then the participant in the survivor pool advances to the next week. But, now you can't choose the Cincinnati Bengals anymore for the rest of the season. But if the team that the participant in the Survivor pool chose the team that lost as the New Orleans Saints did against the New York Giants 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 5 of the 2021 NFL season.
Week 6 Top 5 Survivor Options
Overall Record (16-4)
1. Los Angeles Rams at New York Giants
This is the safe pick of the week. The Giants most likely will not have their starting QB Daniel Jones, RB Saquon Barkley, WR Kenny Golliday, WR Darius Slayton, WR Sterling Shepard, WR Kadarius Toney, OT Andrew Thomas, and OL Ben Bredeson. The Giants are dealing with a ton of injuries right now and to make it worse they are facing the Los Angeles Rams, one of the best offenses and defenses in the NFL today. If the Los Angeles Rams lose this game I will be completely stunned as this game should be a blowout.
2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Philadelphia Eagles
This has got to be the third or 4th Thursday night game that has made the Top 5 Survivor options. The Philadelphia Eagles defense has struggled and last week they had a good performance against Sam Darnold. Now Darnold is absolutely not Tom Brady and Tom should have a solid performance this game even with a hand injury. Tampa’s offense is too talented and should have a strong performance this game. The Buccaneers defense should do a good job in this game especially as Dallas Goedert is on the Covid-19 list. I don't like how the Eagles are playcalling and refusing to utilize the running backs properly. I expect the Buccaneers to win this game and are a solid option for this week
3. Kansas City Chiefs at Washington Football Team
I call this game the battle of disappointments. Both the Chiefs and the Washington Football Team have been a complete disappointment this season. Mainly due to how terrible they have performed on defense. The Washington Football team’s defense has heavily disappointed me especially with the secondary. William Jackson has been completely awful for Washington and side note Why was he not suspended for his hit on Taysom Hill? Washington needs to step up or else there could be major changes for them during the offseason. The Chiefs defense is holding back this elite offense. Daniel Sorensen has been a big disappointment for the Chiefs in fact their entire secondary is a mess. This game came down to who the better quarterback is Taylor Heineke or Patrick Mahomes. There is no question which QB is better here. While the Chiefs are not the home team I expect them to win this game. If they don’t then it is panic time in Kansas City especially in a tight decision like the AFC West currently is and they should be a big play via survivor this week.
4. Indianapolis Colts vs Houston Texans
This is a very interesting game to watch in survivor. Houston has been a team that fights hard and plays games really close. They didn't quit but boy did they choke a gigantic lead against the New England Patriots. Davis Mills came back after a brutal performance in Week 4 against the Buffalo Bills. But the Texans best offensive lineman Laremy Tunsil suffered a hand injury and could potentially miss this game which is a huge loss. Especially with how good this Colts defense has been at getting to the quarterback. Now the Colts are dealing with injuries but they should be healthier in this matchup against the Colts. Bonus points to the Colts are that they will be the home team.
5. Miami Dolphins at Jacksonville Jaguars
This is the riskiest pick of the week to make via survivor. Mainly because the game is in London and I would normally stay away from London games. But I really like the Miami Dolphins in this game. Especially as Tua Tagovailoa has been activated in IR and will most likely play against the Jacksonville Jaguars who are a complete mess. The Dolphins have the better defense and better coaching staff and although it is risky If you are in a tight spot I would absolutely consider taking the Dolphins in this game.
Trap Survivor Pick: Pittsburgh Steelers vs Seattle Seahawks
Don’t even think about taking the Pittsburgh Steelers in survivor. Especially as it is clear Big Ben is still hurt and should have retired last year. It makes no sense why he is still on the field for the Steelers right now. If Mason Rudolph was the starter I would have maybe considered the Steelers as a potential survivor pick. But I have a feeling this will be a classic Mike Tomlin team that will be playing down to massively inferior competition. This is a habit for the steelers where they play down to massively inferior competition many times throughout the past decade with Mike Tomlin as the head coach. Remind me Why Mike Tomlin is still the head coach of the Steelers Again? Anyway, the Seahawks may be terrible on defense and lost Russel Wilson due to a brutal finger injury. But I really like the Seahawks as Geno Smith was not terrible last week against the Los Angeles Rams excluding a terrible pick he threw at the end of the game. I won't be surprised if the Steelers lose this game at all.
Record 3-2 (Week 1: Jax, Week 2: Cin, Week 3: Dal, Week 4: Ten, Week 5: Bal)
Who I would of went with for my Survivor Pick for Week 5: Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Philadelphia Eagles
This was a tough week to make a choice in survivor. Especially when Bye Weeks are starting now. I don't want to use the Los Angeles Rams as they have a ton of future survivor pick value. I don’t know what to think of the Chiefs but they have some future survivor value so I decided to wait on them. Miami is a bit too risky and the team has plenty of weeks to utilize in fantasy. I debated using the Indianapolis Colts or Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Both teams are dealing with injuries but I am looking to survive for next week and I feel Tampa will make me survive for next week. So I would have burned Tampa here and taken them in Survivor.
Teams Used: (Week 1: 49ers, Week 2: Steelers,Week 3: Panthers, Week 4: Bengals, Week 5: Vikings, )