We're only two weeks into the 2024 NFL season and nearly three-quarters of fans making NFL survivor pool picks have already been eliminated. The Bengals lost as 7.5-point favorites to the Patriots in Week 1, while the Ravens lost as 8.5-point favorites against the Raiders in Week 2. This week, there are five teams favored by six points or more in the NFL odds, so how can you find a team in position to get a win while avoiding upsets with your NFL knockout pool picks? Winning NFL eliminator pool picks are all about understanding how to duck the major upset while also leaving yourself with reliable options later in the season. Before finalizing any Week 3 NFL survivor picks, you need to see which team proven expert R.J. White is backing.
White has been SportsLine's No. 1 NFL against-the-spread expert over the last seven years, going 643-543-34 against the spread to put him up more than 46 units on those picks at SportsLine since 2017. He has also delivered a 56.7% hit rate on his Vegas contest picks over the last nine seasons and has two finishes in the money, including finishing 18th out of 2,748 entries back in 2017.
His advice can be used to crush the Survivor Pool format, which calls for picking one team to win each week but never using the same team twice. In Week 1, White correctly recommended to avoid the Bengals, who lost to the Patriots as 8.5-point favorites. Instead, White picked the Saints, who beat the Panthers by 37 points in the most lopsided game of the week. Then in Week 2, he avoided the Ravens, who lost to the Raiders as 8.5-point favorites, and instead backed the Texans, who defeated the Bears.
Anyone who followed his advice avoided two of the biggest NFL upsets of the season and advanced to Week 3.
Now, White has turned his attention to the latest Week 3 NFL odds and locked in his Week 3 survivor pool pick. You can only see who White is backing this week at SportsLine.
Top Week 3 NFL survivor pool predictions
In Week 3 of the 2024 NFL season, White is avoiding the Bengals (-7.5, 47), even though they are the biggest favorite of the week. Cincinnati was already responsible for eliminating nearly 38% of NFL survivor pool players in Week 1 and then they blew a late lead to drop to 0-2 when Harrison Butker hit a field goal as time expired to give the Chiefs a 26-25 win in Week 2.
Meanwhile, Jayden Daniels is completing 75.5% of his passes and averaging a respectable 7.7 yards per pass attempt in his rookie season. The Commanders are coming off a 21-18 win over the Giants last week and have enough offensive capability to keep this competitive. Ultimately, White advises against backing the Bengals until you see the offense firing on all cylinders and is avoiding a game that could lead to a large number of players being eliminated once again. See which team to pick instead here.
How to make Week 3 NFL survivor pool picks
Instead, White is backing a team whose opponent "cannot move the ball." The time to pick this team is now, and you can only see the play over at SportsLine.
Which team is a must-back in your Week 3 NFL survivor pool? Visit SportsLine now to see which team carries you to victory in Week 3, all from the expert who avoided the Bengals in Week 1 and Ravens in Week 2 and is up almost 50 units on ATS picks.