There are various fun ways to make NFL games even more interesting, beyond just enjoying football and rooting for your team. There is fantasy football, pick ‘em leagues, survivor leagues, etc. For those in a survivor league, the object is to pick one winner straight up each week, but a team can be chosen only once that season. Some leagues allow multiple strikes (or the ability to re-buy only after Week 1). Here are three teams to strongly consider in NFL Week 4 survivor leagues.
NFL Week 4 Survivor Leagues: Teams to Strongly Consider
Cincinnati Bengals Versus Jacksonville Jaguars (Thursday night game)
It is a strange world when taking the Cincinnati Bengals in a survivor pool seems like a good idea. And the Bengals have not looked amazing this season. But they have a 2-1 record and are 7.5-point favorites largely because the Jacksonville Jaguars are that bad.
The Jags defense is among the league’s worst in yards per game (29th) and points (28th) allowed. They aren’t exactly winning the turnover differential (-8) either where they rank last in the NFL. They also have not won a game since their 2020 season opener. The Bengals defense ranks eighth in yards and sixth in points per game. Jacksonville’s offense ranks 27th in points per game while Cincinnati’s ranks 17th.
The Bengals are far from being world-beaters, and Trevor Lawrence might throw a late garbage-time touchdown to make the game look a little bit closer than it really was, but this battle of the two last overall number one picks will go Joe Burrow’s way. As crazy as it sounds, taking the Bengals this week is a smart play.
Buffalo Bills Versus Houston Texans (Sunday at 1 PM est)
Coming into the season everyone knew the Houston Texans would be a dumpster fire. And that was before the organization decided to sit Deshaun Watson for the season due to his legal issues and Tyrod Taylor was injured and put on IR. Rookie quarterback Davis Mills will get his second career NFL start this week.
Conversely, the Buffalo Bills are one of the best teams in the AFC and a true Super Bowl contender. They also made life very difficult for another backup quarterback, Taylor Heinicke, last week in their game against the Washington Football Team. While Mills played admirably last week against the Carolina Panthers, the Texans offensive line could not protect their quarterback and allowed him to be sacked four times.
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Last week the Texans allowed Sam Darnold to throw for 304 yards and rush for two touchdowns. This week they will have to try to stop Josh Allen. While Darnold is having a really nice season now that he is no longer with the New York Jets, he is no Josh Allen. It is possible that Allen has a near-perfect quarterback rating on Sunday and the Bills actually cover the 16.5 points by which they are favored. The only reason to not take the Bills this week is they are a team worth holding onto for later in the season, particularly with games against the Jaguars (Week 9), Jets (Week 10), Atlanta Falcons (Week 17), and Jets again (Week 18) still on their schedule.
Tennessee Titans at New York Jets (Sunday at 1 PM est)
The Jets are absolutely abysmal. They have scored a total of 20 points this season, are 0-3 and their point differential is -50 which is the worst in the league. Zach Wilson, the Jets rookie quarterback, has shown some flashes of his talent, but his rating of 51.6 is the worst in the NFL and his QBR of 21.9 is the second-worst in the NFL. Only Justin Fields, who has to deal with the Chicago Bears and Matt Nagy’s egregious mishandling of his development, has a worse QBR this season.
All the Titans have to do is not look ahead to what should be an easy win against the Jaguars next week. If they just focus on the Jets, they should easily win and most likely cover the 7.5-point spread by which they are favored. But with two games each against the Jaguars and Texans still to come, holding onto the Titans might be the move.
But going with the Bengals, Bills, or Titans all seem like smart plays for NFL Week 4 survivor pools. However, when taking the future into account, rolling with Cincinnati this week is probably the best choice.
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