#Take the Vikings for your NFL Week 11 survivor pick

Though your nails might not be as long as they were a couple of weeks ago, you managed to put Week 10 in the “W” column in your survivor pool. The Packers won a surprisingly back-and-forth game over the Jaguars, and the Saints overcame an early 10-0 deficit to comfortably defeat the beleaguered 49ers. Last week’s two double-digit favorites had their tense moments, but the heavy chalk prevailed once again.

If you had the audacity to bet against Bill Belichick at home — and I don’t blame you if you did — you will have to sit on the sideline for the rest of the season and think about what you’ve done.

Though you likely won and advanced, so did much of the field. But a win this weekend will be a landmark: If you advance, you will have made it all the way to Thanksgiving weekend. Let’s try to make that turkey taste a little better by finding a winner.

Games to consider

Chargers over Jets: It’s 2020, so it is fitting that a 2-7 team will be a popular and viable survivor option. Going into last week, just two teams had not lost a game by more than seven points. Obviously the 8-0 Steelers were one, and the other was the 2-6 Chargers. That bizarre stat reveals that the Chargers’ talent is undeniable. They have led the Saints, Chiefs and Buccaneers by large margins. Though the talent gap is clear when comparing them to this week’s opponent, the Jets, I will pass. Nobody wants to go winless, and the Jets will see this as one of a few realistic opportunities to get off the schneid. I also worry that the Chargers’ compilation of heartbreaking losses will finally, well, break them. The Chargers (-10) are vastly superior in talent but might come out flat.

Saints over Falcons: The lookahead line was -8.5, but dipped to -3.5 when it was reported Sean Payton was expected to name Taysom Hill the replacement for the injured Drew Brees. His other choice was Jameis Winston. The Falcons are better than their 3-6 record would indicate, and NFC South games are notoriously wonky. A bad Atlanta team marched into New Orleans last year (back when we had full stadiums at sporting events — remember that?) off a bye and stomped the heavily favored Saints, 26-9. Atlanta, again off a bye, will move the ball and put up points. Let’s keep searching.

The pick

Vikings over Cowboys: I’ve become weary of plugging in “Team X that plays the Jets” or “Team Y that plays the Jaguars.” Let’s introduce “Team Z that plays the Cowboys.” After all, they’ve earned it.

I don’t know how many critics Dak Prescott will have after his injury, considering his team looks as if it belongs in the XFL without him. Ben DiNucci, Garrett Gilbert, Andy Dalton … these guys have not dissuaded me from thinking Prescott, like Tony Romo before him, has been propping up a poorly run, dysfunctional franchise. The Vikings are under .500 but have shown signs of improvement the past few weeks. Now they look like the playoff team oddsmakers pegged them as before the season. Coach Mike Zimmer will not take any matchup for granted, much less one against his former team. The Vikings (-7) will do what the rest of the league has done most of the season — beat up on the Cowboys. Dallas will not win Sunday and might not win again until September.