Anyone who faded the 49ers, Colts and Eagles with their NFL survivor picks in Week 1 dodged a major bullet, as all three favorites lost outright. Those who went with teams like the Chiefs, Ravens, Bills, and Patriots lived to see another day and are now pondering their Week 2 NFL survivor pool picks. This week, it will be important not to overreact to what you saw on opening weekend and instead make your decisions based on NFL matchups.
Just like last week, there are many teams that come in as big favorites, with William Hill listing nine of the 16 games at six-point spreads or higher. Who should you target with your NFL knockout pool picks? Is there a lesser favorite that wins and sets you up for the rest of the season? Before you make any Week 2 NFL Survivor picks, see what NFL guru Mike Tierney has to say.
SportsLine's all-time No. 1 NFL expert, Tierney excels both straight-up and against the spread. Anyone who has followed his NFL picks is up more than $4,300.
Last year, Tierney went 161-94-1 on straight-up NFL picks, beating the vast majority of experts on NFLPickWatch. A renowned sportswriter who's reported from seven Super Bowls, Tierney is an authority on the survivor pool format.
Last week, when players blew their entire season by picking the Colts, Eagles or 49ers, Tierney rolled with the Ravens over the Browns. The result? Baltimore 38, Cleveland 6. He has studied the entire regular-season schedule, plotting out which team he plans to take each week. You can only see his optimal survivor pool strategy over at SportsLine.
Top Week 2 NFL survivor pool predictions
For Week 2, Tierney is not going with the defending NFC-champion 49ers, even though they're smarting from an 0-1 start and laying a touchdown to the the lowly Jets.
San Francisco has a tempting matchup at New York, with the Jets coming off a rocky offseason and showing little to instill confidence in a 27-17 loss at Buffalo in Week 1. Still, the 49ers have to travel across the country for an early kickoff, and there will be other chances to go with the NFC champs, including next week's game in the same stadium against the Giants.
How to make Week 2 NFL survivor pool picks
There's a much better option, Tierney says. He has a confident pick on a team whose opponent is at a major disadvantage. Picking this team not only will get you to Week 3, Tierney says, but it will also put you in the optimal position to go deep in your NFL survivor pool. The time to pick this team is now, and you can only see the play over at SportsLine.
Which team is a must-back in your Week 2 survivor pool? Visit SportsLine now to see which team carries you to victory in Week 2, all from the No. 1 expert who crushes the NFL year-in and year-out, and find out.
