NFL Week 2 Survivor pool rankings: Strategy, advice and model picks

We tried to warn you about the Chargers. Sure, they were the biggest favorite in Week 1, but there were so many better options.In my pools, I took the Steelers in more than half of my entries. Pittsburgh looked lifeless against the spineless Falcons, but they came away victorious.For those of you who followed, you can now shove Aaron Rodgers into a drawer somewhere and ride into Week 2 with a smile as I look to again be aggressive in my Survivor pools.Below we take a hard look at the best Week 2 NFL Survivor teams in a week littered with big favorites.Everyone and their mother are all-in on the 49ers this week and that’s fair.

Rarely do you get a 14-point favorite at home in Week 2 of Survivor leagues. The Chargers lost last week as big 9.5-point favorites, though the Cardinals aren’t nearly as bad as they’ve been made out to be. Which brings me to my next point on why the 49ers are a great selection opportunity this week: Their schedule isn’t that easy the rest of the way. In Week 3, they play the Cardinals and early lines have the 49ers ridiculously favored by 11.5 points.Barring an injury to Jacoby Brissett, the Cardinals aren’t a team that should be that big of an underdog yet. So yes, you’re losing a highly coveted Week 3 team in Week 2, where there are loads of options available. That’s what makes this week tricky.What’s weird about this week is that Tampa Bay, despite turning the ball over five times, didn’t play that badly.In fact, if they had one or two less turnovers they may have actually stole a win over Cincinnati. Their issue was stopping the run, as Chase Brown exploded through their first level at will. If the Buccaneers get the Browns into a negative game script, this one will be sweat free as Deshaun Watson isn’t an NFL caliber quarterback anymore.The Chargers schedule is a gauntlet, this is basically your last chance to use them until late November at the absolute earliest. Los Angeles looked fraudulent, even disast...