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The top NFL survivor pool picks for Week 8 of the 2025 NFL season. Kevin's weekly survivor league pool targets and avoids -- expert picks for survivor leagues.
After seven long weeks of the NFL regular season, welcome back to our NFL Survivor Pool Picks for Week 8! 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!
Week 8 is the start of "BYE-mageddon", with a whopping SIX teams on bye: the Arizona Cardinals, Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars, Las Vegas Raiders, Los Angeles Rams, and Seattle Seahawks. This week removes one of the teams we like to align our picks with in the Raiders, but also eliminates five other options, including three teams sitting at 5-2: the Lions, Rams, and Seahawks. It's a tough week this week, but we know this going in!
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 8 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 8
Before jumping into the picks for Week 8, 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)
- Status: STILL ALIVE (1 of 2 Strikes)
We got a chance to breathe and nab an easy win with the Chiefs thoroughly decimating the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 7. The Raiders had a total of THREE first downs the entire game and ran just 30 plays. Compared to our matchups earlier in the season, this Chiefs win was a walk in the park for our Survivor Pool entry. Fingers crossed we get some more room to breathe in Week 8!
Let's look at the Survivor Pool pick recommendations to target and avoid for Week 8.
Top Survivor Pool Picks to Target for Week 8
Cincinnati Bengals vs. New York Jets
*My pick for Week 8*
At some point, you have to take a risk in your Survivor Pool. There are no layups (see Arizona losing to Tennessee a couple of weeks ago) or gimme picks. I have to admit, it does feel a bit unsettling, but the Bengals are in a very good spot this week at home against the winless Jets.
Cincinnati is a 7.0-point favorite against the Jets, who have put up 17 points in the last two games combined against the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers at home. Jets head coach Aaron Glenn was non-committal about who would be the starting quarterback for the Jets in Week 8, but no matter who is at quarterback, their receiving corps is one of the worst that we've seen in the NFL in a number of years.
Woody Johnson said the QB decision is "completely up to the coach." Aaron Glenn hasn't announced his plans yet, but he's moving toward naming Tyrod Taylor his starter, sources tell ESPN. #Jets
— Rich Cimini (@RichCimini) October 21, 2025
Joe Flacco was able to make this offense a functional unit again in their win over the Steelers last Thursday night, with Flacco throwing for 342 yards and three touchdowns. Not only that, the run game averaged 6.2 yards per carry as a unit. While we certainly can't expect those gaudy numbers each week, there's at least a floor of competency with the Bengals that the Jets just do not have.
The Bengals are highly unlikely to be favored in any game the rest of this season, so if there's a time to use Cincinnati in your Survivor Pool, it's now. Survivor Pool strategy is about taking very measured risks with your entry, and saving the good teams while using middle-of-the-road teams like the Bengals is a great way to get a leg up on your competition if it hits.
Indianapolis Colts vs. Tennessee Titans
The Indianapolis Colts are the stone chalk pick this week in Survivor. Saying that the Tennessee Titans are struggling is an understatement. They're 0-1 with their interim head coach, Mike McCoy, and are a wayward franchise looking for direction. The Colts, on the other hand:
Through seven weeks, the Colts are the most efficient offense by points per drive this century pic.twitter.com/4oyLckuShS
— Anthony Dabbundo (@AnthonyDabbundo) October 20, 2025
Indianapolis is a 14-point favorite at home, and if you want a stress-free Sunday afternoon, the Colts are the pick to advance. Everything lines up here: the Colts having the highest implied point total (30.75 points) on the Week 8 slate, the Titans being tied with the Browns for the lowest implied point total on the week (16.75 points), and the Colts being a two-touchdown favorite on the best run they've had since Peyton Manning was in the building.
There are other spots to use the Colts this season, but in terms of safety and being comfortable with a pick to advance to Week 9, it doesn't line up any better than selecting the Indianapolis Colts in your Survivor Pool this week.
Other Survivor Picks in Consideration:
- Baltimore Ravens (vs. CHI)
- Atlanta Falcons (vs. MIA)
Top Survivor Pool Picks to Avoid for Week 8
Philadelphia Eagles vs. New York Giants
Just two weeks ago, the New York Giants hung a convincing win at home on these Philadelphia Eagles by the score of 34-17. Between then and this week, they blew a 19-0 lead to the Denver Broncos on the road and lost 33-32. While the Giants sit at 2-4, they're feisty and competitive with Jaxson Dart as their starting quarterback and Cam Skattebo as their workhorse.
It's one thing to play a team early in the season and then meet up with the same team later to find out they're a different team than the one previously faced, but with 16 days between meetings, it's hard to forget what the Giants did to Philadelphia. Sure, the Eagles are 7.0-point favorites at home in Week 8 and looked fantastic with the passing game against the Minnesota Vikings on the road.
Still, the Eagles have a much better spot to select them in your Survivor Pool this season: a Week 15 game at home against the Las Vegas Raiders. I'd rather save the Eagles for that spot instead of banking on getting redemption against a divisional opponent Philadelphia just lost to a little over two weeks ago.
New England Patriots vs. Cleveland Browns
The Patriots have had some early-season games worth using in Survivor Pools, such as their wins against the Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints, and their most recent win against the Tennessee Titans in Week 7. They host the Cleveland Browns in Week 8, who have been a hard team to figure out this season. It's going to be a defensive game, with the over/under total set at just 40.5 points -- the lowest combined total of Week 8.
New England is favored by 7.0 points over the Browns, but this could have the makings of an ugly game. Typically, in low-scoring games, all it takes is a turnover or two to turn the game completely in the other direction. Look at Cleveland's 13-10 win against the Green Bay Packers earlier in the season. It took a Jordan Love interception and good field position to score their first touchdown, and then a blocked field goal and 16 yards to kick a game-winning field goal.
The margins are very thin in games like this, so with a team that is prone to turnovers like the Patriots are, the margins are even thinner. Despite Drake Maye breaking out in his second season, it's still a bit hard to feel good about the Patriots from a team perspective. The comfort level isn't quite there with New England, so I'm going to hold off for potentially better spots to use the Patriots later in the season.
Other Risky Survivor Picks:
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers (at NO)
- Houston Texans (vs. SF)
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