The first two weeks have gone great for the survivor picks, with all six selections winning. It will get difficult as the weeks go on, but avoiding the land mines early are important. There is only team favored by double-digits. The Broncos are at home favored by 10.5 points over the Jets. Four teams are favored by at least seven points.

Here are my top survivor picks for the week.

  1. Denver Broncos: The Broncos are the biggest favorite in Week 3 and will likely be a popular pick. They opened the season with road wins against the Giants and Jaguars. The Broncos always play well at home in September and have an excellent defense. Denver is 80-31-2 all-time at home in September. The Broncos are 18-3 in their last 21 home openers. The Jets have lost their first two games against the Panthers and Patriots. Rookie quarterback Zach Wilson struggled last week against the Patriots, throwing four interceptions and was sacked four times in a 25-6 loss. The Broncos held Trevor Lawrence to 118 passing yards and intercepted him twice last week.  
  2. Baltimore Ravens: The Ravens tend to beat up on bad teams. The Ravens opened the season with an overtime loss to the Raiders on the road and then came from behind to defeat the Chiefs, 36-35, on Sunday night in an emotional win. The Lions defense is one of the worst in the NFL. The Lions have been competitive, but they want to run the ball and that's the strength of the Ravens defense. The Ravens have scored 63 points in the first two games and is averaging 443.5 yards per game. The Lions are allowing 38 points per game and it's difficult to see them slowing down the Ravens offense.
  3. Carolina Panthers: If you like to look ahead and find prime spots to use a team, there aren't many ideal ones for the Panthers. This might be the best option, despite being on the road on a Thursday night. The Texans have played better than expected, but it was mostly due to TyRod Taylor, who is out with a hamstring injury. Davis Mills will get the start without much practice. He replaced Taylor last week against the Browns and went 8-for-18 for 102 yards and averaged 5.7 yards per attempt. The Panthers defense has been excellent in the first two games with 10 sacks and is first in points, yards allowed and yards per play. Sam Darnold has played well with a lot of weapons to utilize. He has 584 passing yards and is completing 68.5 percent of his passes.