Survival Pool Advice: Week 15 looks like easy street ... is it?

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Resources: Yahoo survival pool pick distribution • SurvivorGrid.com
Week 14’s biggest killer: Indianapolis Colts losing to Houston Texans (6.74 percent of entries)
Week 14’s biggest winner: Detroit Lions over Chicago Bears (60.42 percent)
Total Week 14 eliminations: 8.22 percent
Perfect entries remaining on Yahoo: 9,861

It’s hard to imagine there’s ever been an easier Week 15 in the history of survival pools.

Four squads with a combined seven wins, all playing on the road? Two of the games featuring spreads of 14 points or more? The other two featuring the Browns and Jaguars?

It really doesn’t get much better than this.

Of course, we could all be walking into a trap. That feeling is always in the back of your mind in survival pools, especially when you get this far.

But given the relative breeze the last six weeks have been and the combined crumminess of the league’s bottom four teams, I feel confident saying that most players are going to live to see Week 16.

Let’s look at the only four games you should be considering in Week 15

Atlanta Falcons over San Francisco 49ers

Only around 55 percent of users are going with the Falcons this week and I honestly can’t understand why that number isn’t higher. Yes, 19 percent of people successfully picked the Falcons for their blowout win over the Rams in Los Angeles last Sunday but the Falcons haven’t been tabbed by any big numbers during any other weekend of the season.*

*Well, 14.56 percent unsuccessfully picked the Falcons over the Chargers in Week 7, but they’re not here to tell us about it, are they?

Simply put, if you have the Falcons you have no reason not to be taking them. They’re 14-point favorites over a 49ers team that has lost 12 straight games and couldn’t even close out a bad New York Jets team at home last weekend. The 8-5 Falcons need a win in their tight NFC South race with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and have one of the league’s best offenses going against the league’s worst defense. They’re going to get that victory easily, you might as well be along for the ride.

Seattle Seahawks over the Los Angeles Rams

I’m a little surprised so many people still have the Seahawks available to pick.

But after 38 survived a Week 1 nailbiter against the Dolphins, Seattle has been sitting on the underselected side. The Seahawks’ biggest survival game since the opener was 9.9 percent successfully picking them over Carolina two weeks ago.

At 15 points, this Thursday night game features the biggest spread of the week.

You might have some jitters picking the Seahawks given the way they played in Green Bay last weekend (and maybe the fact that Los Angeles beat Seattle earlier this year) but any concerns should be calmed by the absolute mess the Rams have become. Los Angeles has lost 8 of its last 9 games, can’t move the football on offense and just fired their coach on Monday morning. You think they’re really going to turn it around and win in that atmosphere just four days later?

There’s really one reason not to pick Seattle: They’re playing the 49ers in the final week of the season. Yes, it’s on the road, but it could be for a first-round playoff bye and it’s against a team that checked out on Chip Kelly back in training camp. Look at who you might have left three weeks from now and evaluate whether you might want to save the Seahawks.

Buffalo Bills over Cleveland Browns

Given the attractiveness of the first two matchups, it’s a little harder to place your trust in a 6-7 Bills team that may not be employing Rex Ryan for much longer. Or let’s put it this way: Are you really going to tab Tyrod Taylor over Matt Ryan or Russell Wilson with your fantasy life on the line? This isn’t a bad pick if you’ve already exhausted the Falcons and Seahawks but otherwise it’s not the best option out there.

Houston Texans over Jacksonville Jaguars

Replace Tyrod Taylor with Brock Osweiler in the question above.

My pick: Falcons over 49ers

Who are you picking this week? Let me know in the comments below.