The good news for survivor pool contestants is that last week's biggest favorites, the Los Angeles Rams (-500), took advantage of the Carolina Panthers' mid-week coaching change and won outright 24-10. The bad news is that each of the next four biggest favorites (Tampa Bay Buccaneers -375, Green Bay Packers -355, Baltimore Ravens -230, San Francisco 49ers -230) all lost.'
Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers losing as big favorites to the Steelers and Jets is the most surprising, given that this was the first time in 32 weeks that both Canton-bound quarterbacks lost as favorites of at least a touchdown in the same week (per ESPN Stats & Info).'
Are we in for another week of massive upsets, or will most of the favorites exert their dominance?
Like last week, my selections for this week will be broken down into the following categories: safest picks, riskier plays that will be popular, and contrarian plays to beat a large pool. Even though survivor pool rules say you cannot pick the same team twice, I will outline multiple scenarios if bettors wish to navigate their own path.