NFL Week 6 is here and after the survivor pool bloodbath we witnessed last week, you can really feel the anxiety levels rising. The Arizona Cardinals were the most-picked team across most survivor pools and there is now a major shift in which teams we should be picking and which teams should be held for later weeks. Everyone is scrambling to avoid this week’s big upset. Remember, the best survivor pool strategy isn’t simply about picking the biggest favorite each week; it’s about understanding matchups, managing risk, and planning several weeks ahead. Everyone is looking to avoid early elimination, so identifying the best survivor pool strategy can be the key to outlasting the competition and claiming the prize. In this article we'll take you through our process to help you make the most sensible picks to advance to next week and beyond.

 

 

 

Best NFL Survivor Pool Strategy for 2025 NFL Week 6

The best survivor pool strategy for most weeks here in the first half of the season, revolves around the "chalky" plays. You know – the reliable favorites with the biggest spreads, but not overexposed in most pools. You also prefer to have a home team and, in a lot of cases, avoid the divisional matchups. For NFL Week 6, the premium example is the Green Bay Packers who are a 14-pont favorite over the Cincinnati Bengals who just benched Jake Browning in favor of the recently-acquired Joe Flacco. Yeah, that’s right – they added a 40-year-old, flat-footed quarterback when they have no offensive line or any legitimate pass-protection. However, the Packers also have a pretty tasty home match-up against the Panthers in a couple of weeks. Do we still take them? Our friends over at Pool Genius point out, the Packers have a 43-percent popularity score and a 2.7 Future Value. Most people who have the Packers remaining avoided that big bust against Cleveland, so it’s more than likley that they will be the most taken team this week.

Dominate Your Survivor Pool with Pool Genius

Back in Week 3, you got a great introduction to Pool Genius and everything they have to offer. If this is your first time hearing about them, please allow me to show you the way, because they have some exciting tools to help you make the right picks. What happens is, you load in all the information about your pool – how many total participants, cost per entry, specific rules to your pool regarding things like repeat picks or buybacks and since we are already here in Week 5, who you’ve taken so far. From there, they analyze all the data and make suggestions as to who to take, so it is a VERY personalized service.

To continue guiding you, I am using all the tools Pool Genius has to offer and making one of my picks based solely off their data and recommendations. The pick I had been tracking in this article series had Arizona last week, so I am shifting gears. I have a few other picks in pool, so I am stull using the tools here, but instead of trying to track another pick, I will simply discuss the top few recommended picks overall and from there, you can determine who you want to take eaxch week.

The top Pool Genius recommendations are as follows:

  1. Indianapolis Colts (vs. Arizona Cardinals, 5% popularity)
  2. Green Bay Packers (vs Cincinnati Bengals, 43% popularity)
  3. Philadelphia Eagles (at New York Giants, 15% popularity)
  4. Las Vegas Raiders (vs Tennessee Titans, 4% popularity)

According to Pool Genius the Packers and Eagles are expected to be the most popular. I’m going to bypass the Eagles because it’s a road game for them, it’s in the division and it’s on Thursday night. Too many negatives for me, regardless of whether or not Saquon Barkley is off the injury report. The other three picks, despite good future value for Green Bay and Indianapolis, seems like the way we need to go.

Before I get to my favorite picks to use, I do want to remind you that Pool Genius is a paid service, but for the Fantasy Alarm #Family, they have some discounts available to you. The data and service they provide has been fantastic thus far and I feel confident using their suggestions. 

Now let’s get to my three favorite options for NFL Week 6:

 

 

 

NFL Survivor Pool Picks for Week 6

Cincinnati Bengals vs. Green Bay Packers: Pick Green Bay Packers

Like our friends over at Pool Genius have said, the Packers are going to also be a very popular pick this week. They have the largest point spread on the slate at 14 and the Bengals, now with Joe Flacco under center, still seem to be a hot mess. The Packers are coming off a bye, are well-rested and have a fantastic pass-rush that will overmatch the Bengals busted-up offensive line. It doesn’t matter who the weapons are. Flacco is going to have a very difficult time.

The Packers offense is likely to hammer the Bengals defensive line with a punishing rushing attack. Josh Jacobs will establish the run and open things up for the passing game. The Bengals secondary is pretty sketchy, so Romeo Doubs, Matthew Golden and Tucker Kraft should have little trouble finding success. This pick seems like a no-brainer for this week and given the Wek 5 massacre, I’ll probably just lean here.

Arizona Cardinals vs Indianapolis Colts: Pick Indianapolis Colts

The Colts are a strong home-favorite by a touchdown and, according to Pool Genius have a 74-percent win odds. Daniel Jones has been a revelation for this team and Michael Pittman has been everything you want in a No. 1 wide receiver. But the bread and butter for this offense is Jonathan Taylor and even though the Cardinals are allowing just 92.4 rushing yards per game, you know Taylor is ready to dominate.

The Cardinals will obviously be looking for some redemption from last week, but this Colts defense is more than prepared. Their defensive line should have little to no issues with Michael Carter or Bam Knight and while the secondary has had some recent injuries, the only legitimate receiving threats are Trey McBride and Marvin Harrison Indianapolis ranks right in the middle of the DVOA rankings against the tight end, so they should be able to hold this offense at bay. 

Tennessee Titans vs. Las Vegas Raiders: Pick Las Vegas Raiders

I get it. It’s extremely tough to trust the Raiders this week after watching just how bad Geno Smith looks under center. Fortunately, the Titans are allowing the third-most rushing yards per game and have allowed a league-high 10 rushing touchdowns. Say hello to Ashton Jeanty. I expect a heavy lean on him in this one so that when the passing attack does open up, we aren’t too reliant on it.

The Titans are feeling it right now after notching their first win of the season last week, but that was more about the Cardinals losing than it was the titans winning. Calvin Ridley finally showed up, but can this offense be consistent? Too early to tell, but I’ll just say this – the 4.5-point spread may not be that convincing, but even with everything moving the Titans way, Vegas is still saying to take the Raiders and lay the points. That’s enough for me to use them in survivor.

These are the picks in my order of preference this week. Best of luck to you all in your survivor pool contests. 

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