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Welcome to our NFL Survivor Pool Picks for Week 15 of the 2024 NFL season! There are so many different pools, fantasy leagues, weekly bets, and futures bets that it's hard to decide what to do with these choices. But survivor pools are the oldest and simplest leagues out there. All you have to do is pick a team and have it win, but you can't choose it again.
All season long, I'll bring you weekly survivor pool advice for NFL teams to target and teams to avoid each week. Survivor league strategy is a major part of winning your pools, and this article will help you through the 2024 NFL season.
At least there will be a larger pool of teams to choose from going forward, as from Week 15 until the final week of the NFL regular season, there are zero teams on bye. Let's look at some teams to target and avoid for survivor pools in Week 15.
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Implied Point Totals, Point Spreads, and Over/Under Totals for Week 15
Before jumping into the picks for Week 15, it's helpful to get an overview of the slate with implied point totals, point spreads, and over/under totals from betting markets. All implied totals come courtesy of FantasyLabs each week.
Now, let's look at the survivor pool pick recommendations to target and avoid for Week 15.
Top Survivor Pool Picks to Target for Week 15
Baltimore Ravens at NYG
This is a game of several feats and records, first off. The New York Giants -- at home, mind you -- have the lowest implied point total of the entire season thus far at just 14 points. The Ravens are favored by a spread LARGER than the opposing team's implied point total as a 15.0-point road favorite.
Frankly, that is beyond words and general comprehension. To give some context, the Giants enter Week 15 with their largest gap of a point spread for a home underdog in the last 58 years.
The Giants are currently +14.5 home underdogs vs. the Ravens in Week 15, their largest since 1966 (+14.5 vs. Cardinals).
If the line moves back to 14, it would still be their largest home underdog role since 1966 (+14 vs Cowboys) pic.twitter.com/MKhgP3hO9q
— ESPN BET (@ESPNBET) December 9, 2024
With the Giants' quarterback situation an absolute mess with Drew Lock, it's no wonder the spread isn't even larger. But if you haven't used the Baltimore Ravens this season, now is the time to do so and lock in one of the league's elite teams against a Giants team that is clearly subpar and not even close to the talent level of Baltimore.
The Ravens close out their season with the Steelers, Texans, and Browns, so it's hard to take them against any of those teams. So why not take the prohibitive chalk so late in the season in your Survivor pools?
Washington Commanders at NO
The Washington Commanders are fresh off of their Week 14 bye and now head to New Orleans to face off with the Saints in Week 15. The Commanders are tied with the Minnesota Vikings as the second-largest favorite in their game as 7.0-point favorites, but the Commanders are on the road whereas the Vikings will be in the friendly confines of U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
The big story with the Saints is the health of quarterback Derek Carr, who is labeled "week-to-week," has a significant non-throwing hand injury, and may miss the rest of the season. Carr is also in concussion protocol, so even if his hand injury isn't as serious, Carr would still have to move through concussion protocol to play in Sunday's game.
The presumptive starter for the Saints is Jake Haener, who will be given no favors considering his wide receiver room is in shambles following Rashid Shaheed's trip to injured reserve and Chris Olave's severe concussion knocking him out weeks ago with no timetable.
Without Carr, the Saints are 0-3 as a team, with the most narrow defeat happening by 18 points to the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 8. With the Commanders in solid positioning for the NFC playoffs, a win here off their bye is a nice stepping stone to their Week 16 showdown at home vs. the Eagles.
If you have selected the Ravens already, the Commanders are a nice pivot and consolation prize for Survivor pool participants needing a win. Plus ... come on, do you want to bet against Jayden Daniels?
Jayden Daniels rookie of the year pic.twitter.com/b8i5ZONOSR
— Football Insights 📊 (@fball_insights) December 5, 2024
Top Survivor Pool Picks to Avoid for Week 15
New York Jets at JAX
In a matchup of teams that are looking to set future tee times for after Week 18, the Jets will head south to Florida with a matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 15.
The Jets are 3.5-point favorites and compared to the Jaguars, look much more like the competent team. The Jets were without Breece Hall thanks to an MCL sprain that could knock him out of Week 15's game as well, but they weathered the storm decently with a rookie combo of Braelon Allen and Isaiah Davis carrying the workload.
Meanwhile, the Jaguars were without Trevor Lawrence again thanks to a brutal hit in Week 14, and scored 10 points against the Tennessee Titans; despite their best/worst efforts. Conventional thinking would lead you to (somewhat) confidently take the Jets over the Jaguars on the road, but the Jets in 2024 are anything but conventional.
Do you feel confident in a 3-10 Jets team that snatches defeat from the jaws of victory at seemingly every turn? I sure don't, so I'm staying away from this entire hornet's nest.
Arizona Cardinals vs. NE
In the only featured part of this entire article where we'll talk about a home team this week, the Arizona Cardinals host the New England Patriots in Week 15. The Cardinals are 4.5-point favorites at State Farm Stadium against the Patriots, who are fresh off of a Week 14 bye.
The Patriots haven't exactly lit the world on fire offensively, but the Cardinals will be one of the more popular picks aside from the Ravens and Commanders because there aren't strong favorites across the full 16-game slate.
Should they be? They've played Seattle twice and the Minnesota Vikings in the last three weeks since their bye in Week 11 and have lost all three matchups after winning four straight games. They're a "Jekyll and Hyde" team if there ever was one, and with the Patriots being a bit plucky with Drake Maye as the starting quarterback, I'm not sure if I want to put any chips on the Cardinals with their lack of momentum.
Sure, the Cardinals are good enough to turn the ship around in a winnable NFC West, but they're 100% behind the eight-ball after losing two games to the division-leading Seahawks. I'm fine with not tempting fate in Week 15 and taking a Cardinals team that may fall into further chaos with a loss against a fresh Patriots team.
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