The Seattle Seahawks and Kansas City Chiefs sit at the top of ESPN’s Week 9 NFL survivor pool recommendations, and both come with a clear edge in the numbers.
Seattle leads the way with an 82% win probability from ESPN Analytics. The Seahawks are hosting the Arizona Cardinals as 12.5-point favorites and are listed at -700 on the moneyline. Even with that profile, only 17% of entrants had taken Seattle by Wednesday morning, while 81% still had the Seahawks available.
Kansas City checks in right behind them at 80% win probability. The Chiefs face the New York Jets as 9.5-point favorites and carry a -575 moneyline.
ESPN Survivor entrants have been slow to jump on them, too: just 12% had selected Kansas City, and only 28% still have the Chiefs left. That makes this a particularly useful week to deploy them, especially with their next strong matchup not arriving until Week 11 against the Cardinals.
A few other teams also rate well in ESPN’s weekly breakdown. The San Francisco 49ers are third at 84% win probability against the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Jacksonville Jaguars land fourth at 81% against the Baltimore Ravens in a Thursday night game. The Chicago Bears are fifth at 63% versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the Dallas Cowboys are sixth at 61% at the Indianapolis Colts.
One team ESPN is steering pool players away from is Detroit. The Lions are drawing a 31% ESPN selection rate for their road game against the Miami Dolphins, which makes them an overselected option. Their 78% win probability is solid, but not enough to justify that level of ownership when Seattle and Kansas City are sitting there as cleaner alternatives.
The pool is getting thin, too. Only 1.9% of total ESPN Survivor entries remain heading into Week 9. Last week, a Cincinnati Bengals overtime win over the Tennessee Titans kept 27% of remaining entries alive, while the Dallas Cowboys’ loss to the Arizona Cardinals - after they blew a 14-point fourth-quarter lead at home - knocked out another 13% of entrants.
In Other News...
Seahawks Week 9 Outlook Just Got Tougher Before Kickoff
The buildup to Sundays game in Seattle took another turn when both the Cardinals and Seahawks released injury reports that underscored how thin the margin could be in Week 9. Arizona is preparing to move forward with Gardner Minshew at quarterback after trading Jacoby Brissett, while Seattle will be without Sam Darnold and turn to Drew Lock instead. With both teams managing health issues on the eve of kickoff, the final roster decisions could matter as much as the matchup itself.
Arizonas report also included some notable names on rest days, while Walter Nolen was back at practice, giving the Cardinals a clearer picture of who might be available when they get to game day. The Seahawks, meanwhile, are dealing with their own quarterback uncertainty and will have to piece together a plan around Lock as they try to hold serve at home. Before the teams finalize everything for Sunday, the injury list has already made this one feel a little more complicated than it did a day ago. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Win Is Hitting Cowboys Fans Even Harder Now
The Cowboys loss to the Cardinals has only deepened the unease around a season that already feels like it is slipping away. At 3-5, Dallas is trying to steady itself after another damaging defeat, and defensive tackle Quinnen Williams has been leaning on the same message in the aftermath: the defense has to execute better, starting with the next chance against the Indianapolis Colts.
Not everyone is hearing that message as a reset. Skip Bayless took aim at the Cowboys performance and Williams repeated use of the word execute in an interview, turning the postgame discussion into another round of criticism for a team that keeps finding new ways to invite it. For Arizona, the win is already in the books, but for Dallas, the fallout is still growing. [Read more 🡒]
Trey McBride Is Taking Cardinals Tight End History Somewhere Jackie Smith Never Could
Jackie Smith helped define what a modern tight end could be after the St. Louis Cardinals drafted him in 1963, and his 15-season NFL career still stands as part of the franchise's long memory at the position. But the Cardinals have now moved into a different era with Trey McBride, whose rise has given the team a new benchmark at tight end and put his name alongside the most productive pass-catchers at the spot in league history.
McBride has already pushed past previous team standards and given Arizona something it had never really had before at tight end: sustained, top-tier volume year after year. The bigger significance is not just the record book entry, but how far he has carried the position for this franchise, with his latest run leaving the Cardinals with a new history to measure against and one more milestone still hanging in the balance. [Read more 🡒]