This has been a tough year on Survivor pool players, and now that we’ve reached week 8, the challenge gets even more difficult.
You’ve likely given away the best options this season, so it may take some creative work to keep chugging along in the Survivor pool.
Here’s our best bet and sleeper pick for week 8 in the Survivor pool.
Best Bet
St. Louis Rams
We’re doubting whether you’ve taken the St. Louis Rams this season and still alive to talk about it.
With a matchup against the San Francisco 49ers, we like the Rams’ chances.
The 49ers have been on the road three times this season. One of those games was a hard-fought loss to the New York Giants. The other two were massive blowouts against Arizona and Pittsburgh.
We’re anticipating the latter to happen again.
Quietly, the Rams have been one of the better teams in the NFL. The schedule hasn’t been easy, with games against Seattle, Pittsburgh, Arizona and Green Bay, but the Rams are .500 and looking like a team that could compete for a NFC West title.
This game also looks good on paper for the Rams. The 49ers are unable to stop the run, giving up 113 yards rushing per game. Just last week against the struggling Seahawks, San Francisco allowed more than 100 yards rushing to Marshawn Lynch.
That doesn’t bode well with Todd Gurley suiting up for St. Louis. He has gone for more than 100 yards in three straight games and the Rams appear to be more than willing to keep feeding him the ball. St. Louis’ defense is good enough to stop San Francisco and this game shouldn’t be close.
Sleeper Pick
New York Jets
We know that after last week, everyone is likely going to give up a bit on the Jets.
New York looked good against the New England Patriots but didn’t have enough to come out on top. Bettors will likely see the East Coast to West Coast trip and factor in a letdown to go against the Jets. But don’t be so quick to dismiss the Jets.
The East Coast to West Coast isn’t as much of a telling factor as the west to east trip, and the Jets match up well against the Oakland Raiders.
The Raiders will want to pass, but will likely be unable to do so against the Jets’ stringent pass defense. The last time Oakland faced a secondary as good as the Jets, it didn’t move the ball at all against the Denver Broncos.
We’re expecting much of the same this week. New York will move the ball effectively against Oakland’s leaky defense and the letdown will happen with the Raiders, not the Jets.
Be careful
Minnesota Vikings
With the way Minnesota has played recently, Survivor pool players may look to utilize the Vikings in case they haven’t used them yet.
We would wait another week. Minnesota has been unstoppable against the spread this season, losing only in week 1. The Vikings have been a quality pick each week, but in this case, it’s not worth the risk.
The Bears are coming off a bye and haven’t looked as bad as many people thought they would look entering the season. Minnesota is entering back-to-back road games, which is difficult for many NFL teams to handle.
The matchup isn’t bad for the Vikings, since they will utilize a strong running game against the Bears’ bad rushing defense. However, we don’t like back-to-back road games.
This isn’t the week for Minnesota. Stay away from this game.
