NFL Survivor Pool Picks for Week 9 – Miami Dolphins

If you are unaware of what NFL survivor picks are, the basic concept is you make NFL picks throughout the season, but you can only pick a team once. Once you lose, you’re knocked out, so choose your Week 9 NFL Survivor Pool picks wisely.

If you are new to reading my survivor articles, what I do is outline my “lock of the week,” my “value of the week” and my “high-risk, high-reward pick.”

The lock of the week details what team I think has the best chance of winning their matchup. This would most likely be a good team that plays a bad team. The lock is also the official pick for NFL Survivor Pools, meaning we will not reuse a “lock.” My value pick of the week details a mid-tier team that has a good matchup. And finally, my high-risk, high-reward pick details a bad team that has a good matchup.

Teams Used:

1. San Francisco 49ers
2. Cleveland Browns
3. Cincinnati Bengals
4. Los Angeles Chargers
5. Jacksonville Jaguars
6. Green Bay Packers
7. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
8. Philadelphia Eagles

Week 9 NFL Survivor Pool Picks

Lock of the Week | Best Pick for NFL Survivor Pool Week 9

Miami Dolphins vs. Chicago Bears

Whether you believe in him or not, Tua Tagovailoa has proven that he can win games in the NFL. In the same offense that Mike McDaniel employed in San Francisco, Tagovailoa has shown that he can run that system better than Jimmy Garoppolo. Maybe that is not saying much, but Tyreek Hill being on pace for 2,000 receiving is something that is saying a lot.

This Miami Dolphins team is littered with talent across the board and should be able to use brute-force talent to beat the Chicago Bears. With Hill, Jaylen Waddle and Mike Gesicki, the middle of the field is where Miami is making its money. That shouldn’t stop in this game, as Chicago is one of the worst teams in the NFL at defending that middle of the field.

On the Bears’ defensive side of the ball, they lost their two best players in Roquan Smith and Robert Quinn and have two other major contributors dealing with injuries, in Eddie Jackson and Kyler Gordon. Injuries aren’t the only problem in this game for Chicago though. The Bears run a high school offense, with a majority of their plays being on the ground. Miami gives up just the sixth-fewest rushing yards per game.

Lock of the Week: Miami Dolphins

Value Pick of the Week | Week 9 NFL Survivor Pool Picks

Minnesota Vikings vs. Washington Commanders

This may seem like a cop-out answer for Value Pick of the Week, but to be honest, there is not a lot of value this week for Survivor Pools. I could have gone Chargers over Atlanta, but I think Atlanta wins that game. Outside of that, is picking Jacksonville over Las Vegas a good value pick? Probably not.

Anyways, don’t look now, but the Minnesota Vikings are 6-1 and have a substantial lead in the NFC North. It wasn’t pretty last week, but the Vikings were still able to ride Dalvin Cook to a win over Arizona. A fault on the Vikings this year though has been their inability to stop opposing quarterbacks in the passing game. On Sunday, they gave up over 150 yards to DeAndre Hopkins. Though that is a scary thing to see, you look at Washington’s roster and nothing outside of Terry McLaurin scares you. This should be a game where McLaurin is going to get his, but the Vikings win the game. Going up against Taylor Heinicke should provide Minnesota’s defense with the confidence to break on ducks and build their self-esteem.

Washington’s front four is scary for Dalvin Cook, but with the addition of T.J. Hockinson and the already there Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen, the Vikings should have no problem moving the ball. Plus, it is a major revenge game for Kirk Cousins.

Value Pick of the Week: Minnesota Vikings

High-Risk, High-Reward Pick of the Week | Week 9 NFL Survivor Pool Picks

New England Patriots vs. Indianapolis Colts

The Indianapolis Colts’ offensive line is just downright bad. Jonathan Taylor can’t get anything going, Matt Ryan was battered and the Colts are just struggling to score points in general. While some of that may be fixed with the firing of their offensive coordinator, how much can you trust them in their first game without him? Indianapolis’ inability to get a run game going plays perfectly into New England’s hands, who have been weak against the run, but fine against the pass.

The real reason why the Patriots are the pick here is that Sam Ehlinger will be lining up behind center for the Colts. While he did not look bad in his debut, once again, Ehlinger will be without his offensive coordinator, something that can’t help the progression of a young quarterback. We know that Bill Belichick will formulate a defensive game plan that should stifle Ehlinger. No matter who plays quarterback for New England this week, mark them down as a win.

High-Risk, High-Reward Pick of the Week: New England Patriots