One of the most popular ways to tout your football knowledge is in a Survivor Pool. Each week you select a team to win their game with the goal of surviving as long as possible. The catch is you can only choose a team once, so it's imperative you think ahead when selecting.
If you've made it to Week 5 in your Survivor Pool, exhale. The Chargers fell to the Giants in a massive upset while the Packers tying with the Cowboys may have knocked others out depending on how the league is scored. After few weeks now with upsets, the pools are getting thinner and heat is ratcheted up. Here are some of the best picks for Week 5 if you've been following along with my advice.
Get instant alerts when a line reaches your target via the BettingPros App >>
NFL Week 5 Survivor Pool Picks
Buffalo Bills
If you've held off on the Bills this long you're in luck. We get another prime spot for the league's hottest team to pick up another win. On Sunday night the Bills will host the divisional foe Patriots in primetime. New England is coming off of a 42-13 win over the Panthers so they're riding high, but I'm not worried if I'm backing the Bills.
New England is a respectable 2-2 on the season in their first year under HC Mike Vrabel, but they've had one of the easiest strength of schedules, eclipsed only by the Colts and the Bills. They've played one team with a winning record, Pittsburgh, and turned the ball over five times in that game.
Buffalo will be on high alert this game. It seemed for a moment last week that the Bills were letting their guard down as the Saints looked to take the lead in the second half of the game. The Bills responded with a stop, then back-to-back drives resulting in points while the defense turned the Saints over on downs in route to a 31-19 win.
The Bills offense has been phenomenal and they're averaging over 160 yards per game on the ground. They will be plenty motivated to beat this division rival and show the Patriots a style of play they haven't seen all year. The next few weeks for the Bills include two road games, a bye and a meeting with the always tough Chiefs. If you still haven't used the Bills, this is the prime spot.
Arizona Cardinals
If you've already used the Bills this year and need another option, the Cardinals are a good team to look into. Arizona over the last few years has been a bit of an enigma. Some weeks they look like they could beat anyone and in others you wonder how they do so little with their talent. Sometimes both in the same game, like Thursday night when they looked left for dead after three and a half quarters. A frantic comeback came up just short as the Seahawks hit a game winning field goal with less than a minute left.
The Cardinals have two wins on the season already over the Saints and Panthers. These are arguably two of the three worst teams in the league so it might not seem all that impressive, until you realize they play the Titans on Sunday.
Tennessee has been abysmal and it's not just me saying it, their own rookie quarterback is saying it to the media after the game. They're coming off of back-to-back 21 point or more losses. Against a previously winless Texans team on Sunday they put up just 175 yards and 3.3 yards per play. Their 210.5 yards per game is worst in the league and their defense is also in the bottom ten in total yards allowed.
This is likely the last opportunity to play the Cardinals in Survivor this year, certainly in the next few weeks as they play three of four on the road with one home matchup against Green Bay. Arizona can be a tough team to back but they should pull through against a terrible Titans team.
