Week 3 NFL survivor pool pick, advice, strategy: Expert who faded Bengals, Ravens shares top knockout pick

SportsLine NFL expert R.J. White, who avoided the Bengals in Week 1 and Ravens in Week 2, just locked in his top Week 3 NFL survivor pick

The Commanders ended their league-high nine-game losing streak last Sunday, which now gives Carolina the dubious honor of holding the longest winless streak. The Panthers have dropped five in a row, and Year 2 looked like a continuation of Year 1 for Bryce Young. That has led to his benching in favor of Andy Dalton, but is that QB change enough for you to avoid picking Carolina's opponent, the Raiders, with Week 3 NFL survivor pool picks? Dalton is 3-2 over his last five starts, with five TDs versus two INTs.

Dalton is also 4-0 in his career against the Raiders, with seven TDs and no picks. Your Week 3 NFL survivor strategy could take into account that the Raiders may be in for a letdown after Sunday's upset of Baltimore, so should you avoid Vegas for NFL eliminator pool picks and NFL knockout pool picks? 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, 48.5), even though they are the biggest favorite of the week. They will host the Commanders on Monday night, but Joe Burrow is just 4-4 in his career in primetime regular-season games. However, Washington has won its last three MNF games, despite being underdogs in all three, and two of the three came on the road.

This simply isn't the same Bengals team as in the past with Joe Mixon and Tyler Boyd in other locations. The Zack Moss and Chase Brown RB combo has guided Cincy to the No. 30 rushing offense in the league. Additionally, WR Tee Higgins (hamstring) hasn't played a snap yet this season, while Ja'Marr Chase has been a non-factor recently, not scoring a TD or having more than 64 yards in six straight games. With Washington just ending its nine-game losing streak in Week 2, the Bengals are too risky a play for Week 3 NFL survivor. 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.