NFL Week 2 Survivor Picks: Back 49ers, Eagles This Week?

If you followed our Week 1 best survivor pick of taking the Jacksonville Jaguars, you survived quite comfortably into Week 2. However, those who took the Chargers weren't as lucky, with the Arizona Cardinals pulling off one of the biggest Week 1 upsets in recent memory.

Let’s highlight the best Week 2 survivor picks for your win-or-go-home pools and walk through some strategies that will get you through to Week 3.  

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Survivor Pool Week 2 Strategy and Outlook

After a tricky opening week, Week 2 is about targeting those teams that looked rough out of the gates. While there are some obvious selections in who to target, it’s always important to remember a couple of important things.

The first is future value. Future value is how often a team is favored in their remaining games. Things will naturally change week to week, but the league’s best will be favored to win more often than not. It’s about seeing which matchup you want to attack each week and whether you wish to save them for later. 

Saving a team for later carries obvious risk. One injury or personnel change can derail your plans. With that in mind, sometimes taking what’s right in front of you is the move.

Also consider is how big your pool is. Smaller pools are more about prioritizing heavy favorites early on. Larger pools may necessitate being contrarian and going against pick popularity.

Week 2 Survivor Picks: Teams to Target

Here are the top two teams to target for your Week 2 survivor picks.

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Note: payouts represent real-money earnings if a pick wins on PrizePicks. For example, a 2x represents a $100 entry on a correct pick that pays out $200.

San Francisco 49ers (vs. Miami Dolphins)

The 49ers have their first home game this week and open up as the biggest favorites of the week at 13.5 points. The 49ers looked dominant in their win against the L.A. Rams in Australia and aim to bring that momentum back to the States against the Dolphins. 

Miami never really seemed in it against the Las Vegas Raiders, playing catch-up the whole time and ultimately losing 27-13. While Week 1 is naturally overreaction time, the eye test alone shows you that these two teams are in vastly different groups.

According to the nflelo’s EPA tiers, the Niners are in the Super Bowl contender tier, while the Dolphins sit in a tier that may be expecting to pick in the top three of next year’s NFL Draft.

Adding on to the Dolphins' struggles, they had the most snaps by rookies in a single game dating back to 2008. Back-to-back road outings with a young team, plus a home opener for one squad, is a recipe for disaster.

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Philadelphia Eagles (@ Tennessee Titans)

While home teams are the ones usually targeted in survivor, we’re looking at a road crew this time out with the Philadelphia Eagles. According to PFF, Philly ranked as the sixth-best offense and sixth overall team in Week 1. \Meanwhile, the Titans ranked 29th overall with their best on-ball rating being special teams at 14th.

Meanwhile, the Titans sat 29th overall, with their best on-ball rating being special teams at 14th.

Robert Saleh’s team didn't record a single QB hurry or sack, according to Pro Football Reference. That doesn't bode well when facing a team that was top-10 in both pass-blocking and run-blocking in Week 1. To add to that, the Eagles ran for 136 yards in Week 1; the Titans gave up 152. 

In all facets of the game, the Titans look outmatched.

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Week 2 Survivor Picks to Avoid

Even if you’re not rolling with the picks above, avoid these teams when making your survivor pool pick in Week 2 — or the teams that are favored on the spread on PrizePicks but may be riskier than they seem.

Denver Broncos (vs. Jacksonville Jaguars)

It couldn’t have been more opposite to start the season for both the Denver Broncos and Jacksonville Jaguars. The Broncos came into Week 1 as one of the Super Bowl favorites and fell flat on their faces against the Kansas City Chiefs. 

Meanwhile for the Jaguars, they fired on all cylinders as they dominated the Cleveland Browns, highlighted by QB Trevor Lawrence’s 4 TDs. Denver’s miserable opener was highlighted by missed tackles in K.C. 

Even if the Broncos clean it up on the defensive side of the ball, they need to get going on offense after finishing the week dead last in total yards.

These two teams met last year in Denver with mostly similar rosters to what they have today, and the Jags came out on top 34-20. Lawrence comfortably won the head-to-head QB battle against Bo Nix.

The Broncos have high expectations for their season still and have their home opener, so perhaps expect a better showing out of them this week.

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Atlanta Falcons (vs. Carolina Panthers)

Divisional showdowns are always tricky and usually faded in survivor, which is exactly why this Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers matchup precisely falls into the “Picks to Avoid” category.

These two teams have quite the opposite issues to work out after Week 1. The Panthers gave up 59 points and 552 yards to the Chicago Bears as their defense looks a mess. The Falcons’ offense looked quite stagnant, only mustering up 264 yards of total offense that somehow outgained the Pittsburgh Steelers in a loss.

The biggest question mark for the Falcons headed into this one is their QB. As of Wednesday, head coach Kevin Stefanski said he's unsure who will be starting on Sunday. On the most recent Falcons injury report, Michael Penix and Cooper Rush practiced in full, and Tua Tagovailoa was limited. 

The Panthers have shown so far that points can be scored on them, but without a set game plan at QB for the Falcons, this matchup is tricky.

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Best Week 2 Survivor Pick: San Francisco 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers are my top pick this week for survivor pools vs. the Miami Dolphins. The 49ers get to host their home opener after a big divisional win.

Though the 49ers will be favorites quite often throughout the season, presently this is the only game they are favored by double digits in.

Make 2026 NFL Picks on PrizePicks

One week at a time — don’t lose your survivor pool in Week 2. San Francisco and Philadelphia present intriguing matchups for the weekend, with teams like Denver or Atlanta potentially being ones to avoid.

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