Is your Survivor pool going to make it all the way to the end of the season? By this point, there can’t be that many entries left and a lot of the good teams have probably been used. If you’ve been able to dodge all of the landmines while still keeping some of the better teams in the league available, you could not ask for a better situation.
A few more entries fell off the pace last week when the Las Vegas Raiders lost to Jeff Saturday and the Indianapolis Colts and the Philadelphia Eagles lost on Monday Night Football to the Washington Commanders. Taking the Raiders felt like a worthwhile gamble given the opportunity to steal a bad team in hopes of saving somebody better for later, but sometimes it’s more about going 1-0 and less about planning for the future. Choosing between those two mindsets is not easy, particularly in a season like this.
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We’ve got some obvious choices and some other contenders this week, depending on how many obvious choices you’ve got left. Let’s see what Week 11 has to offer.
GAMES TO CONSIDER
Buffalo Bills (-9.5) over Cleveland Browns
Teams coming out of the bye week have not played particularly well this season and the Browns got added to the list last week. They were soundly and thoroughly beaten by the Dolphins in a 39-17 romp. Tua Tagovailoa did whatever he wanted on offense and the Browns mustered just 4.8 yards per play with two weeks to prepare. Going up against the Bills isn’t exactly what you want to see after that kind of performance.
The Bills lost to the Vikings in somewhat fluky fashion with Josh Allen’s dropped snap, but Allen also had a couple of picks and some other errant throws that made you wonder if the elbow is something he can really manage. The weather also wasn’t ideal, but it’s Buffalo, so it almost never is.. Nevertheless, the Browns just aren’t a very good football team right now and Buffalo is one of the biggest favorites on the card, so you have to consider them. Keep an eye on the weather, though, as Buffalo could get a large helping of snow by Sunday night.
Philadelphia Eagles (-7.5) over Indianapolis Colts
The Colts played a passionate and inspired brand of football in the win over the Raiders last week, but the Eagles are a vastly superior team. Philadelphia did lose to Washington, but the Eagles are still one of the league’s top teams. That’s certainly better than what the Raiders are this season and this step up in class is a lot for Indy to handle.
The Raiders are one of the worst defenses in the NFL and it showed, as the Colts racked up seven yards per play. Real estate won’t be as easy to conquer against a Philly defense that ranks among the league’s best in yards per play allowed and only allowed 4.1 yards per play to Washington. Las Vegas is now a bottom-five group in that regard. Former Colts offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni also knows Indy’s personnel very well and will concoct a gameplan to have success. If you still have the Eagles, they’re a sound pick this week.
THE PICK
Baltimore Ravens (-13) over Carolina Panthers
Teams off of the bye haven’t done well, but John Harbaugh is 11-3 SU off the bye in his career. He’ll also face an old friend in Baker Mayfield, who gets the nod with PJ Walker sidelined. His Ravens will also be in much better shape, as Mark Andrews is expected to be one of a handful of players to return after some time to rest and recuperate.
The Ravens went into the bye on a nice run with wins in three straight and four out of five. The lone loss came against the Giants when Baltimore had a 168-yard edge, but found a way to come up on the short end of the 24-20 decision. As the biggest favorite on the board, the Ravens should be the play if you have them. Harbaugh teams were 80-40 after the bye going into last season, when they dropped seven of 10, but Lamar Jackson and several others missed ample time. He knows how to use it and uses it well.
