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The top NFL survivor pool picks for Week 6 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 6 of the 2025 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 the same team again.
In Week 6, there are just two teams on bye: the Houston Texans and Minnesota Vikings. Even with two teams on bye, it removes one game from the equation when we're trying to plan out our path to Survivor Pool glory.
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 2025 NFL season. We're ready to preview Week 6, with more information and data points about each team to help guide you on your quest to win your survivor pool! Now, let's get some boilerplate stuff out of the way before diving right in with our Survivor Pool picks for Week 6 of the NFL season.
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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 6
Before jumping into the picks for Week 6, 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. NY Jets 29-27)
- Week 4: Buffalo Bills (def. New Orleans 31-19)
- Week 5: Arizona Cardinals (lost to Tennessee 22-21)
- Status: STILL ALIVE (1 of 2 Strikes)
Good lord, was there some chaos this week! The Arizona Cardinals lost to the Tennessee Titans 22-21, and a dropped touchdown by Emari Demercado before the goal line set this upset in motion. There's no doubt that this game was incredibly popular in Survivor Pools and knocked out a chunk of the field, as well as the Los Angeles Rams falling 26-23 to the depleted San Francisco 49ers in overtime.
Some Survivor Pools feature strikes, where you can stay alive with one loss, but two strikes and you're out. Luckily, we have one strike left moving forward through the rest of the season.
Now, let's look at the survivor pool pick recommendations to target and avoid for Week 6.
Top Survivor Pool Picks to Target for Week 6
Green Bay Packers vs. Cincinnati Bengals
*My pick for Week 6*
With a huge chunk of Survivor Pool entrants losing to popular picks like the Rams and Cardinals in Week 5, going back to basics with (relatively) known commodities seems like the best way to get back on track. Sure, the Packers lost to the Cleveland Browns in Week 3, but they dominated that game for all but the final few minutes. Sure, they also tied the Dallas Cowboys in Week 4 in a game they should have won.
In a get-right matchup for both the Packers and Survivor Pool managers, there's no better one than the Green Bay Packers hosting the toothless Cincinnati Bengals in Week 6. Green Bay is favored by 14.5 points over the Bengals and is the biggest favorite of Week 6. Not only that, the Packers have the highest implied point total, and the Bengals have the lowest implied point total.
Basically, this game should be a very one-sided affair with a strong Packers defense looking to get back to basics against new quarterback Joe Flacco, whom the Packers just saw a couple of weeks ago when the Packers played the Browns.
The Bengals get an upgrade in EPA per drop back, per Next Gen Stats. They're going from the last ranked QB in Jake Browning (-0.44) to the second-to-last ranked QB in Joe Flacco (-0.41).
— JJ Zachariason (@lateroundqb.bsky.social) October 7, 2025 at 12:30 PM
No games are "safe" in the NFL, especially in Survivor Pools, but the Packers beating the Bengals at home in Week 6 is about as safe as it gets. For those looking ahead, the Packers have one slam-dunk matchup against the Carolina Panthers at home in Week 9. Other than that, Green Bay's schedule is pretty tough for the rest of the season.
Indianapolis Colts vs. Arizona Cardinals
The Indianapolis Colts, through five weeks, are a real NFL team. Well, more real than they've been for the better part of this decade. The team adding Tyler Warren and then installing Daniel Jones has transformed this team from a middle-of-the-pack team to *clears throat* the best team in the NFL in offensive EPA per play. Over the Buffalo Bills, over the Detroit Lions; all of them. The Colts are on top.
These 4-1 Colts welcome the Arizona Cardinals, who were just shellshocked by the Tennessee Titans 22-21 in Week 5, while the Colts enjoyed a 40-6 route at home against the punchless Las Vegas Raiders. Indianapolis is a 6.5-point favorite at home against Arizona, and it feels like they should be bigger favorites based on the five-week body of work the Colts have presented this season.
Looking ahead for the Colts, they have one matchup left at home against the Titans in Week 8. That game represents the best time to use the Colts outside of this week, as they have some iffy matchups on the schedule, including two games each with Jacksonville and Houston, plus road games in Pittsburgh, Kansas City, and Seattle. It's easy to be confident in these Colts with this pick against an underachieving Cardinals team.
Other Survivor Picks in Consideration:
- Philadelphia Eagles (at NYG)
Top Survivor Pool Picks to Avoid for Week 6
Los Angeles Chargers at Miami Dolphins
The Los Angeles Chargers are a pretty solid team in the minds of the public, but are trending downward through sheer attrition. They've lost numerous pieces on offense, including bookend offensive tackles Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater, and then lost running back Omarion Hampton for the next four weeks after being placed on injured reserve on Monday.
The Chargers are a sizable road favorite heading into Miami for their Week 6 matchup, as they are 4.5-point favorites against the Dolphins despite a home defeat to the Washington Commanders 27-10. The Dolphins are nearly in the same boat, as they lost wide receiver Tyreek Hill for the season in Week 4 and were beaten 27-24 by the Carolina Panthers to drop their record to 1-4 on the season.
It's difficult to imagine wanting to put your Survivor Pool up for grabs by selecting the Chargers, even against the Dolphins, so I'm not going to touch this game. If there's a spot to consider the Chargers, it's their matchup in Week 9 in Tennessee or at home against the Raiders in Week 13. Outside of those games, I'm hands-off the Chargers until they show some consistency.
Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Seattle Seahawks
Look, the Jacksonville Jaguars have been a fun story through the first five weeks of the NFL season, but they feel pretty fraudulent considering all of the issues they've had on offense. Trevor Lawrence is currently the 20th-best quarterback in the league in EPA per play, Brian Thomas Jr. has been a disappointment after his awesome rookie season, and we're still waiting for Travis Hunter to make his mark on an NFL game.
Somehow, Jacksonville is a 1.5-point favorite at home against the Seattle Seahawks, who have looked much better than their offseason prediction. The best quarterback in EPA per play this season? Why that's Sam Darnold, of course. Seattle is ninth in offensive EPA per play, and it'll be a good matchup against Jacksonville, which is sixth in defensive EPA per play.
Do I want to pick one side in a coin flip? That's going to be a no for me. Are these Jaguars for real? The jury is still out on that one, and their upcoming stretch of games is tough. After Week 6, Jacksonville hosts the Rams before their Week 8 bye. After that, they have four of five games on the road against the Raiders, Texans, Cardinals, and Titans. I'm just not bothering with Jacksonville.
Other Risky Survivor Picks:
- Pittsburgh Steelers (vs. CLE)
- New England Patriots (at NO)
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