NFL Week 3 Survivor Pool Picks (Packers on Thursday, NFC West Squad Are This Week's Featured Predictions)

Another week, another absolutely crushing week in Survivor Pools.

Three teams that were favored by at least 6.5 points lost in Week 2, as the Baltimore Ravens, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Los Angeles Chargers all lost winnable games at home.

One of those losses ended up dooming SI Betting’s senior editor Iain MacMillan’s Week 2 pick.

Even though the premise of Survivor seems simple, the NFL has so much parity week-to-week that even the safest picks aren’t safe.

We do still have one of our editors alive through two weeks, as the Philadelphia Eagles’ late comeback against the Tennessee Titans kept Peter Dewey’s entry alive.

NFL Week 2 Survivor Picks Recap

Peter Dewey: Philadelphia Eagles (W)
Iain MacMillan: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (L)

Now, even though MacMillan was bounced in Week 2, the SI Betting team is offering the ability to “buy back in” since we’d love to offer differing perspectives to our readers each week when it comes to Survivor.

Here’s a look at who we’re backing to win outright in Week 3.

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

NFL Week 3 Survivor Pool Picks

Green Bay Packers

I’m going to Thursday Night Football in Week 3 and taking the Green Bay Packers to win as seven-point favorites in their home opener.

Green Bay has been pretty shaky on offense with Josh Jacobs on the Commissioner’s Exempt List, but it found a way to beat the New York Jets in overtime in Week 2. Now, it takes on an Atlanta team that is dead last in the NFL in EPA/Play on offense with a ton of quarterback questions through two weeks.

Michael Penix Jr. (ACL recovery) and Tua Tagovailoa (oblique) have both missed the first two games of the season, and Cooper Rush was benched after another horrible showing in Week 2. Jack Strand then proceeded to come in and turn the ball over twice in a loss to Carolina.

With the Falcons on a short week, I don’t know how to justify betting on this team – on the road – to win this game.

The one concern would be the Green Bay offense, which is 28th in EPA/Play itself in 2026.

Interestingly enough, the Falcons are actually ninth in EPA/Play on defense (thanks to their Week 1 showing against Pittsburgh) despite back-to-back losses both straight up and against the spread.

Even if Penix or Tagovailoa returns in Week 3, I can’t get behind this Falcons offense right now. Both of those players are incredibly injury prone, and asking one to return on a short week is a tall task.

The Packers haven’t gotten off to a great start, but I don’t see another obvious Survivor spot for them until they play the Miami Dolphins on Dec. 20. Rather than try and hold onto them that late in the season, I’ll take them in their home opener against an Atlanta team that currently has the worst offense in the NFL. – Peter Dewey

San Francisco 49ers

If you're one of the few people who managed to survive Week 2 without taking the San Francisco 49ers, then now is the time to take them. They're looking like Super Bowl contenders through the first two weeks, and now they get to face an Arizona Cardinals team that was just steamrolled by the Seattle Seahawks a week ago.

San Francisco has struggled with injury issues the past several seasons, but they're relatively healthy at this point in the season, something a lot of other teams can't say. There aren't many more chances to take the 49ers this season, so taking them now and rooting for chaos across the rest of the league is going to be the strategy I'm rolling with in Week 3. -- Iain MacMillan

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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