Anyone who took the Tennessee Titans or New Orleans Saints in an NFL survivor league last week got burned. The Titans looked like a safe pick going into the week, even without some of their top wide receivers, since they were playing the New York Jets. But the Jets knocked off the Titans in overtime and got their first win of the 2021 season. The New York Giants also got their first win of the season with an overtime win over the Saints. New Orleans is always a dicey pick in a survivor pool because they just seem to lose some games they shouldn’t. And this year they have Jameis Winston under center and it is difficult to risk everything on Winston. For those that survived Week 4 here are some NFL Week 5 survivor league top picks to consider.
Top Picks for NFL Week 5 Survivor League
Normally betting against the Jets would be a promising place to start, but they are playing the Atlanta Falcons (in London) this week. Under no circumstances would it be intelligent to take the Falcons in survivor, even if a pool provides multiple strikes.
New England Patriots at Houston Texans
However, going against the Houston Texans can often yield fruitful results. Coming into the season everyone knew the Texans would not compete for anything meaningful. And that was before the organization decided to sit their star quarterback Deshaun Watson due to his off-the-field legal issues.
True, the New England Patriots are coming off an emotional Sunday night loss to Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and there are no moral victories in the NFL, but not all losses are created the same. The Pats almost beat the Bucs while the Texans got steamrolled 40-0 by the Buffalo Bills. The Patriots are 9.5-point favorites for a reason.
The Patriots have the advantage in many aspects, including at quarterback. Rookie Davis Mills will once again start for the Texans, while the Patriots will have Mac Jones under center. Jones is simply the better of the two. The Patriots (currently rank sixth in scoring defense) also have the far superior defense over the Texans (rank 28th). And no disrespect to David Culley, but the Patriots still have Bill Belichick at the helm. Belichick will have this team ready to play on Sunday and the Texans could be just what the doctor ordered for the Patriots to get rolling this season.
Take the Patriots in survivor, give the points, and start Mac Jones and the Patriots defense in fantasy.
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Tampa Bay Buccaneers Versus Miami Dolphins
Many prognosticators thought that the Miami Dolphins would compete in the race for the AFC East crown this season. That has not and most likely will not happen. And while Brady and the Bucs are coming off an emotional win in New England Sunday night, they will not suffer any kind of a hangover this week.
The Dolphins have dropped three straight games, including a 10-point loss to the less than 100% Indianapolis Colts in Week 4. That was the Colts first win this season and while the Bucs defense is a cause for concern in their quest to repeat as Super Bowl champions, they are a far superior team to the Colts.
Brian Flores is familiar with Brady and that could help the Dolphins a little bit, but Miami will be starting their backup quarterback and they are limited at wide receiver. Tampa Bay simply has too much firepower for Miami.
Dallas Cowboys Versus New York Giants
With three wins in a row, the Dallas Cowboys might actually be for real this season instead of just being the best team in the league in only June and July. The defense is much improved from last season and Dak Prescott and the offense are playing at a high level. On the flip side, the Giants just got their first win of the season, and it took overtime to do it.
While Daniel Jones had an impressive outing in Week 4, it is doubtful the Giants offense can keep up with Prescott and all of his weapons. In addition, Jones has shown a propensity for turning the ball over and the Cowboys have forced 10 turnovers this season (second to only the Buffalo Bills) with eight interceptions and two fumble recoveries. It is doubtful that Jones escapes this game error-free. Division games can sometimes be a different animal than non-division matchups, but the Cowboys should win fairly easily on Sunday.
If the three teams mentioned above have already been used, taking the Titans on the road over the Jacksonville Jaguars might be an OK play this week. Both teams are coming off losses, though the Titans loss was worse. But Jacksonville is a mess this season and they are now having to deal with their head coach Urban Meyer being a distraction yet again. It is not the most automatic pick this week, but the Titans probably right the ship and get a win over the Jags. The Arizona Cardinals at home over the San Francisco 49ers would be a decent bet too. But going with the Patriots, Buccaneers or Cowboys are probably the safer picks this week.
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