(Image credit David Butler II /USA Today Sports)
Written by: Nicholas Mullick
Week 6 is officially in the books and hopefully you have survived and are now looking at who to pick Week 7 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 Tampa Bay Buccaneers did last week against the Philadelphia Eagles then the participant in the survivor pool advances to the next week. But, now you can't choose the Tampa Bay Buccaneers anymore for the rest of the season. But if the team that the participant in the Survivor pool chose the team that lost like the Miami Dolphins did against the Jacksonville Jaguars 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 7 of the 2021 NFL season.
Week 7 Top 5 Survivor Options
Overall Record (16-4)
1. Los Angeles Rams vs Detroit Lions
The Jared Goff and Matthew Stafford Revenge game. Yeah sorry, Jared it is going to be a tough matchup as he will have to face one of the best defenses in the NFL today. This game is an absolute Mismatch as the Rams are better on offense, defense, special teams, and with coaching. It's nice to see Matthew Stafford finally have a competent coach, a good o-line, and a good running back on offense. The Lions will have to travel to Los Angeles and I would be surprised if the Lions won this game.
2. Arizona Cardinals vs Houston Texans
This is another slam dunk pick for survivor pools as this game is also a complete mismatch. Arizona has been one of the surprising teams of the season being the only team in the league that does not have a loss. The Cardinals offense despite the question mark at running back has been excellent and adding Zach Ertz to that offense is a big upgrade over Maxx Williams who was recently placed on IR. This is a JJ Watt revenge game as this will be the first time Watt will face his former team. Now I don’t think Davis Mills is terrible but he is going to have a tough time in this game after Laremy Tunsil was placed on short-term IR. The two reasons why this is not ranked #1 is that I have no idea if Kliff Kingsbury plus other coaches will be returning on the sidelines in this game and if Houston Texans QB Tyrod Talyor will be ready to go for the Houston Texans.
3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Chicago Bears
Once again the Tampa Bay Buccaneers make the Top 5 survivor picks list. The Buccaneers offense is one of the best in the league and their defense is also really good. The Buccaneers secondary is a mess and Richard Sherman is dealing with a hamstring issue but that is their only main weakness on defense. I got to ask is Matt Nagy trying to get fired with his poor play-calling this season? I really won’t be surprised if he is gone at the end of this season. Coaching is a tremendous issue for the Chicago Bears. Justin Fields has a ton of promise but he has a poor offensive line blocking for him. If you have not utilized Tampa Bay this season this is a great week to pick them in survivor pick.
4. Green Bay Packers vs Washington Football Team
Washington has been a huge downer for me. Surprisingly their offense is not the issue and Taylor Heinicke has not been terrible this season. Terry McLaurin is the best player on this offense no question as he has been fantastic every game he has played in. He should have a strong game against Green Bay’s secondary. Washington’s defense is continuing to prove how much of a disappointment they have been this season. No joke in Fantasy I have contemplated dropping them due to how disappointing they have been. They are going to get torched all day by Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. The game is also going to be in Lambeau Field which is a tremendous plus for Green Bay.
5. New England Patriots vs New York Jets
You know the old phrase When in doubt take New England. Well, that also applies this week as the Patriots will once again take on the Jets in Foxborough Stadium. Now, this pick is a bit risky as the Jets were on a bye last week. But Bill Belichick will do anything to beat the Jets after he resigned from the team decades ago. The Jets are a strong run defense but their pass defense is not the best due to the lack of experience in the Jets secondary. Remember the Jets could not even do well against a Falcons team that is on the decline and currently tanking this session. The Falcons also in that game did not have Calvin Ridley in that game. Kyle Pitts exposed this defense after he was finally utilized properly and I expect both Jonnu Smith and Hunter Henry to have good games and expose the Jets again. I will be surprised if the Patriots lose this game against the Jets.
Trap Survivor Pick: Cleveland Browns vs Denver Broncos
I would not even go near Cleveland at all as the Browns are dealing with a ton of injuries right now. It is clear that Baker is injured and I wonder if he will play against the Denver Broncos this Thursday Night. It might be the right move and the Browns current backup is Case Keenum. The Running back core as well is beaten up with both Nick Chubb out this week and Kareem Hunt being placed on IR and I don't even think Jarvis or Odell Beckham Jr. will be healthy either. The big kicker is that both tackles as well could miss another game due to their injuries. Denver is not completely terrible especially with their defense and Teddy Bridgewater is not terrible. He is a lot healthier than he was last week. I would not touch this game at all in survivor.
Record 3-3 (Week 1: Jax, Week 2: Cin, Week 3: Dal, Week 4: Ten, Week 5: Bal, Week 6: Pit)
Who I would of went with for my Survivor Pick for Week 7: New England Patriots vs New York Jets
There are plenty of options to choose from for this week in survivor. I can rule out using the Buccaneers as they were my survivor pick last week. I don't want to take the Rams or Cardinals as they have future survivor value. The Rams Future survivor value includes Week 8 at Houston, Week 13 vs Jacksonville, Week 15 vs Seattle, and Week 16 at Minnesota. The Cardinals future survivor value is against Week 10 vs Carolina, Week 13 at Chicago, Week 15 at Detroit, Week 16 vs Indianapolis, and Week 18 vs Seattle. I would wait on choosing them. This pick came down to Green Bay or the New England Patriots. Green Bay has plenty of other weeks to be utilized including Week 10 vs Seattle, Week 14 vs Chicago, Week 17 vs Minnesota, and Week 18 at Detroit. In the case of the Patriots the only other week I see utilizing them is Week 17 vs Jacksonville. It is a gamble as the Jets are coming off a bye week, but the Patriots will be playing in Foxborough which is a big advantage and Bill Belichick will do what he can to be the Jets. I am willing to take the risk and take the New England Patriots this week in Survivor.
Teams Used: (Week 1: 49ers, Week 2: Steelers, Week 3: Panthers, Week 4: Bengals, Week 5: Vikings, Week 6: Buccaneers, )