It has been a relatively easy season in survival pools.
In those pools, you need to pick one team a week to win. If they win, you advance, but you can’t use that team again. Every season, a few big favorites will lose and cause some havoc. There haven’t been a ton of big upsets through six weeks. Most survival pools haven’t lost too many players.
Maybe that changes this week. There are three double-digit favorites and a 9.5-point favorite in Week 7, a pretty high number for an NFL week. Picking a team to survive will be easy. But some big upsets are going to come.
Here’s a first look at the Week 7 lines from BetMGM:
The Thursday night game features a reeling Broncos team against a banged-up Browns team. Baker Mayfield hurt his non-throwing shoulder but stayed in the game, while Kareem Hunt left with a calf injury. The Broncos are fairly healthy, but they’ve lost three in a row. The line has moved from Browns -5.5 on Sunday night.
Washington Football Team at Green Bay Packers (-9.5)
There’s no way to trust WFT going forward, with a defense that has surprisingly fallen apart and an offense that can’t carry the load. Green Bay just keeps rolling on, with five straight wins since a Week 1 loss. When this line was released on Sunday night, the Packers were -10.
Kansas City Chiefs (-4.5) at Tennessee Titans
Perhaps the line will shift one way or another depending on how the Titans fare against the Bills on Monday night. Either way, it’s a tough seven-day stretch for Tennessee.
Atlanta Falcons (-2.5) at Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins are in a bad way after losing to the Jaguars in London. Now they come back and face a Falcons team that at least got a win in London two weeks ago. There was a big shift overnight in this line. The Dolphins were 1-point favorites on Sunday night.
New York Jets at New England Patriots (-6.5)
Who thought the Patriots would be 2-4 at this point? A rough loss to the Cowboys in overtime on Sunday has put New England in a big hole. Good thing they’ll get the Jets, who they beat 25-6 back in Week 2.
Carolina Panthers (-3) at New York Giants
Sam Darnold’s hot streak is becoming a long-ago memory. He struggled again in an overtime loss to the Vikings. The Giants are struggling period, but hopefully they can get a little healthier before Sunday.
Cincinnati Bengals at Baltimore Ravens (-6.5)
The Ravens are getting a lot of respect with this line. The Bengals are 4-2 and look much improved. But the Ravens are coming off an impressive 34-6 win over the Chargers that pushed their record to 5-1. This is a surprisingly big game in the AFC North race.
Philadelphia Eagles at Las Vegas Raiders (-3)
The Raiders are coming off a dominant win over the Broncos, which was their first game after Jon Gruden resigned. Sunday will be a good test of whether the Raiders can keep up that level without their coach.
Detroit Lions at Los Angeles Rams (-15.5)
The Lions are 15.5-point favorites and not the biggest underdog of the week. The Rams look like they’ll win, but don’t forget they lost to a Jets team last December as 17-point favorites.
Houston Texans at Arizona Cardinals (-17)
The Bills closed as 19-point favorites over the Texans in Week 4, so a lot of money would have to come in on Arizona to make this the largest spread of the season. But it’s clear there’s no respect for the Texans in the betting market.
Chicago Bears at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-13.5)
Another double-digit spread to end Sunday’s games. The Sunday night game features the Buccaneers, who are just 2-4 against the spread this season, but 5-1 straight up. The line moved too, from Bucs -12.5 on Sunday night to 13.5 on Monday.
Indianapolis Colts at San Francisco 49ers (-4)
This is a strange Monday night game. Both teams had playoff hopes in the offseason but neither has been very good, due to injury, close losses and general malaise. It’s a game between two desperate, somewhat disappointing teams.
