NFL 2024 – Underdog Survivor Pool – Who Will Be The Last Team Not To Be Favored In Any Game?
Welcome to the least exciting game show in the NFL, Underdog Survivor Pool. This is a contest for the truly inept and hapless teams who cannot find a single game, home or away, to be favored in. Already after 5 weeks, we are down to only 4 teams who can win the pool: Carolina, New England, LA Rams, NY Giants.
As a side note, no team is winless straight up or ATS, and only the Minnesota Vikings are an unblemished 5 – 0 ATS. The Chiefs are also 5 – 0 straight up, but 3-1-1 ATS.
2024 NFL Favored/Underdog By Team
Underdog Survivor Pool Winner Projection
The only thing more exciting then waiting on mediocrity, is trying to project mediocrity. So let’s look at the schedules for the 4 teams still alive and see if/when they could be favored in a game.
LA RAMS
This is the easiest one. They should be favored against the Raiders in week 7 when they are at home(they have the bye in Week 6). O’Connell would probably need to look like the second coming of Kenny Stabler for the Raiders to be favored in LA. That or a Stafford injury. So the Rams appear to be the first of the 4 teams out.
New England Patriots
The Pats have a few spots they could be favored. The November 17 game against the Rams at home is one. The Colts on 12/1 is a possibility. They already played the Jets in New York and have them again on Oct 27.
My guess is the Pats get favored by or on Dec 1st. Even @ Tennessee on Nov 3 has a chance to break the streak. If they somehow get through this gauntlet of mediocrity without being favored, they could share the title with the loser of the biggest Underdog Survival Pool showdown of the season.
Carolina Panthers & NY Giants
The way I see it, the Panthers have one chance to be favored and the Giants have 2 – 3, though none are locks, save maybe one.
So let’s talk Giants first. They have a home game against the Colts on Dec 29th that they could be favored by a point or two in. If Carr is out(or in sometimes), they have the Saints at home on Dec 8. Personally I wouldn’t make the Eagles any kind of sizeable favorite in their game at New York in week 7. But there is one game they should be favored in.
And it happens to also be the one game that Carolina has left that they would most likely be favored in, or better to say, have the highest chance to be favored in. And that is a titanic matchup NY Giants @ Carolina on Nov 10th. On Neutral Ground, in Munich. Yes, on that date, one of these two teams are out unless Vegas wants to yank my chain and make the game a pick’em.
Right now I would say that NY Giants have an 80-90% chance of being favored in that game. If they are, it is pretty much all she wrote for Carolina when it comes to their chances of being favored in a game.
Which means, barring equal, or possibly greater incompetence by New England….
Congratulations to the Carolina Panthers, projected winners of the 2024 Underdog Survivor Pool. May you be clawless in all your games!