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The top NFL survivor pool picks for Week 10 of the 2025 NFL season. Kevin's weekly survivor league pool targets and avoids -- expert picks for survivor leagues.
Welcome back to our NFL Survivor Pool Picks for Week 10! Congratulations if you're still alive in your Survivor Pool, as there's still a lot of work left to do to be the last entrant standing, but we'll help get you there every week! This past week was absolutely brutal in terms of injuries that have rocked the core of several teams. Plus of course, bye weeks, with four teams off in Week 10: the Cincinnati Bengals, Dallas Cowboys, Kansas City Chiefs, and Tennessee Titans.
The Packers no longer seem like a team that is a lock in good matchups, as they had a gift-wrapped home game against the Panthers go awry when Rico Dowdle rolled up to put 130 rushing yards on Green Bay. To add injury to insult, they won't have the services of tight end Tucker Kraft, who tore his ACL. The Chargets lost tackle Joe Alt for the season, and the Commanders lost quarterback Jayden Daniels (dislocated elbow) in the midst of a 38-7 home blowout to the Seahawks.
All season long, this article will help guide you through weekly Survivor Pool advice for each NFL week, with a handful of teams to target and several teams to avoid using each week. Survivor league strategy is a major part of winning your pools, so we'll help dissect each pick with all angles accounted for. We'll be previewing Week 10 of the NFL season through a Survivor Pool lens, with more information and data points about each team to help guide you on your quest to win your survivor pool!
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Survivor Pool Tools and Resources
Love survivor pools as much as we do? Of course you do. Be sure to check these out:
Survivor Picks Tool
Optimize your weekly picks and plan your future picks with our free new Survivor Pool Picks Tool!
Survivor League Guide
For detailed Survivor Pool strategy and tips to help you win, check out our "How To Win Your Survivor League" guide!
Implied Point Totals, Point Spreads, and Over/Under Totals for Week 10
Before jumping into the picks for Week 10, it's helpful to get an overview of the slate with implied point totals, point spreads, and over/under totals from betting markets. All lines come courtesy of FantasyLabs each week.
My Weekly Survivor Picks
- Week 1: Denver Broncos (def. Tennessee 20-12)
- Week 2: Los Angeles Rams (def. Tennessee 33-19)
- Week 3: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (def. N.Y. Jets 29-27)
- Week 4: Buffalo Bills (def. New Orleans 31-19)
- Week 5: Arizona Cardinals (lost to Tennessee 22-21)
- Week 6: Green Bay Packers (def. Cincinnati 27-18)
- Week 7: Kansas City Chiefs (def. Las Vegas 31-0)
- Week 8: Cincinnati Bengals (lost to N.Y. Jets 39-38)
- Status: Eliminated in Week 8 (2 of 2 Strikes)
Let's look at the Survivor Pool pick recommendations to target and avoid for Week 10!
Top Survivor Pool Picks to Target for Week 10
Denver Broncos vs. Las Vegas Raiders
*My top pick for Week 10*
This week is a very tough week for Survivor Pool managers. There's four more teams on bye again this week, but the spreads on a lot of the games are 5.0 points or under on a majority of games. It's going to be hard to select teams to advance, but the Denver Broncos look like a good bet to with their game at home against the Las Vegas Raiders. It's a classic chalk pick that features a Denver team that's tied for the largest point spread (9.5) against a Raiders team with the lowest implied point total at 16.5 points.
The Raiders just aren't very good and their point-scoring took another hit when they traded wide receiver Jakobi Meyers to the Jacksonville Jaguars before the NFL trade deadline on Tuesday afternoon. Sure, they have Brock Bowers, but the Broncos at home are a different animal. The Broncos are sure to be the most popular pick among Survivor Pool players, and our RotoBaller Survivor Picks Tool backs that sentiment with 35 percent of RotoBaller users selecting Denver. They're the easy chalk this week and with good reason.
Carolina Panthers vs. New Orleans Saints
Among many other picks this week, we're going to back the chalk above with a somewhat contrarian pick in the Carolina Panthers. The Panthers are 5-3 and decided to ride the wave that is Rico Dowdle. All he's done since taking the majority of carries for the Panthers is average 150 yards rushing in those four games. To say Dowdle has been amazing is a massive understatement.
The Panthers are 5.5-point favorites at home against the New Orleans Saints, who are no better after deciding to install rookie Tyler Shough as the starting quarterback. Just two days after losing 34-10 to the Los Angeles Rams, the Saints traded away wide receiver Rashid Shaheed to the Seattle Seahawks. That should move the implied point total and spread a bit more to Carolina's favor, but simply put: the Saints will have a lot of trouble scoring points.
The Panthers are no world beaters, but the Saints DEFINITELY aren't. With no other usable games for the Panthers this season in Survivor Pool, this is your one shot to use them and save some of your top-end teams for future weeks.
Other Survivor Picks in Consideration:
- Buffalo Bills (at MIA)
- Seattle Seahawks (vs. ARI)
Top Survivor Pool Picks to Avoid for Week 10
Chicago Bears vs. New York Giants
The Chicago Bears have found an old-school mentality in running the ball to great success with D'Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai, but they tend to play with fire a bit with their defense. They gave up 42 points to the Cincinnati Bengals and while the New York Giants don't quite have the same offensive firepower to put up a similar performance, they're facing a Bears team that can collapse with the best of them.
Chicago is a 3.5-point favorite at home against the Giants and while they've won five of their last six games, even their losses raise some giant (no pun intended) red flags. They were blown out 52-21 by Detroit and lost to the Tyler Huntley-led Ravens two weeks ago, 30-16. They beat the Raiders and Commanders by the same 25-24 score, plus a win at home against the Saints. They might be eight in offensive EPA, but Chicago feels very "Jekyll and Hyde" as a team. I'm not comfortable using them with my Survivor Pool life on the line this week.
If you have your mind set on using Chicago this season, wait until Week 15 when they host the Cleveland Browns at home.
Cleveland Browns at New York Jets
Speaking of those Cleveland Browns, here they are as they draw the New York Jets in Week 10. The Browns are a slim 2.5-point favorite on the road against the Jets, who have removed a couple of pillars of their defense in trades. On Tuesday afternoon before the league's trade deadline, the Jets trade cornerback Sauce Gardner to the Colts and defensive lineman Quinnen Williams to the Cowboys. Even though those two losses are huge, it may not matter.
The Browns are still breaking in a rookie quarterback in Dillon Gabriel, who has been one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL since Week 6.
When you can't efficiently score points, your margin for error is incredibly thin. Not to mention, rookie running back Quinshon Judkins is still banged with a shoulder injury he suffered in the Browns' Week 8 loss to the New England Patriots before their Week 9 bye. Even with the Jets sinking further and further, I still don't trust the Browns to take care of business. Asking them to keep my Survivor Pool entry alive to Week 11 is a tall order, and a bet I'd rather not make this week.
Other Risky Survivor Picks:
- Baltimore Ravens (at MIN)
- Houston Texans (vs. JAC)
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