Cowboys at Eagles Reaction + Christian McCaffrey added to injury report

Summary

Fantasy Football Happy Hour with Matthew Berry – Episode Summary

Episode: Cowboys at Eagles Reaction + Christian McCaffrey Added to Injury Report
Date: September 5, 2025
Host: Matthew Berry (w/ Connor Rogers, Jay Croucher, Dr. Danny Carter)
Key Themes: Cowboys at Eagles Week 1 Reaction, Christian McCaffrey injury update, Deep fantasy takeaways, Start/sit & waiver analysis, Injury tracking, Listener Q&A

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Episode Overview

This episode, coming hot off the Thursday night Cowboys-Eagles Week 1 match-up, focuses on deep fantasy football analysis and actionable advice. The crew—Matthew Berry, Connor Rogers, Jay Croucher, and Dr. Denny Carter—breaks down key storylines such as the standout fantasy performances, how to view volatile players like Javonte Williams, and urgent injury news around Christian McCaffrey. Listener questions and last-minute start/sit guidance round out a packed, witty, and detail-rich show true to Berry’s signature style.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Cowboys @ Eagles: Fantasy Fallout

Javonte Williams’ Big Night

• Statline: 15 carries, 54 yards, 2 TDs (+ 2 rec, 10 yards)
• "He looked better than he has the last two years, but I didn't think he looked all the way back." – Matthew Berry (04:03)
• Berry notes Williams will have fantasy value as the lead back (80% snaps), but isn’t expecting a league-winner; likens him to "Najee Harris with more touchdown upside."
• The panel debates if Williams’ stat line is deceptively good—driven mostly by goal-line usage, not explosiveness.
• Coaching/competition context: Miles Sanders' fumble and Jaden Blue's injury clarify Williams’ leading role.

Ceedee Lamb: Productive, but Left Points on the Table

• "Ceedee Lamb just had the worst 7-for-110 game in NFL history." – Barry quoting Ian Hartitz (20:51)
• Despite gaudy numbers, multiple drops limited an even bigger ceiling. Jay Croucher and Berry both recommend buying low, noting the underlying usage.
• "CD is just going to go scorched earth on the league." – Jay Croucher (23:16)
• The addition of George Pickens as the X-receiver opens up the offense for Lamb; Dak Prescott’s encouraging performance bodes well.

Jalen Hurts & Eagles Offense

• Hurts: 14 rushes, 62 yards, 2 TDs, >24 fantasy points without a passing TD.
• The hosts are bullish on Hurts as a potential fantasy QB1 overall, crediting his decision making, health, and situational adaptability.
• Defenses are keying on Saquon Barkley and A.J. Brown, opening opportunities for Hurts’ rushing and secondary targets like Goddard/Jahan Dotson.
• Eagles' play-calling will be highly matchup driven.
  • "We're going to take what the defense gives us and try to take it apart." – Berry, relaying Eagles staffer (13:30)

A.J. Brown Panic?

• 1 catch, 8 yards, 87% snaps, but heavily bracketed.
• Hosts encourage patience: "Better days are ahead... but there may be some clunkers." – Matthew Berry (17:38)
• Jay Croucher: WRs like Drake London/Nico Collins may have less week-to-week volatility, but Brown’s spikes will be huge.

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Waivers & Start/Sit Debates

• Javonte Williams vs. Jalen Warren rest-of-season?
  • "I'd rather have Jalen Warren." – Berry (08:46)
  • Berry prefers Arthur Smith as a play-caller for RB value, even over Dallas’ higher-powered offense.
• Ceiling comps: Gus Edwards-type double-digit TD season is in play for Williams, but volume-driven.
• "If you drafted Williams late out of desperation, you've lucked into something." – Berry (10:01)

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Notable Player/Team Insights

• Dak Prescott: Looks "phenomenal," added mobility after slimming down; “deserved a better fate than he got.” (23:22)
• George Pickens/Jake Ferguson: Pickens is the space-creator the Cowboys needed; Ferguson’s 18% target share cements him as a streaming TE.
• Saquon Barkley: Passing game use positive sign despite being schemed against on the ground.
• Defense Note: “Start your receivers against Adoree Jackson.” – Rogers/Berry (27:43)

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Injury/Coverage Corner

Christian McCaffrey’s Calf Injury (29:13)

• Initial optimism from Kyle Shanahan, countered by late-breaking injury report.
• "This just raises the alarm... calf is not what you want for a RB almost 30." – Jay Croucher (32:57, 33:31)
• Both Isaac Guerendo and Brian Robinson could split backfill work; watch practice reports. Berry advises Pierce Hall/Kittle boost if CMC sits.
• Jay: Betting line moved two points in response: "CMC is still one of the few RBs that move the line."

Other Key Injury Notes

• Von H and Tyreek Hill: expected to play.
• Christian Kirk: Hamstring—week to week.
• Jerome Ford: Named Browns’ starter, a high-end flex option this week (35:49).
• Amari Cooper: Announces retirement after a short comeback; Berry relates finding out he was "done" from league sources months ago.

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Memorable Quotes

• "He could be like the new Najee Harris... managed to fall into the end zone 6 to 10 times a year." – Berry on Javonte Williams (08:25)
• "Jalen Hurts could absolutely be the number one quarterback in fantasy this year and he showed last night he's got that potential for sure." – Jay Croucher (12:13)
• "If you have fantasy panic over A.J. Brown, you drink for free at the Happy Hour." – Connor Rogers (20:04)
• "You should get half points for DPI (defensive pass interference) in fantasy." – Berry’s campaign for fantasy scoring reform (27:13)

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Listener Q&A + Waiver/Start Sit (with Timestamps)

• (46:38) Tony Pollard vs. Jameson Williams or Diggs (Pollard the pick)
• (47:42) Chris Olave vs. Aaron Jones in flex (Olave wins)
• (49:24) Zay Flowers or DeAndre Swift (Swift for TD equity and volume)
• Berry tips Mark Andrews as a sneaky bounceback candidate in Buffalo.

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Notable Segments & Fun Moments

Dr. Danny Carter’s “Flexual Frustration” Clinic (39:08)

A fun, tongue-in-cheek therapy session for start/sit dilemmas:

• Tank Bigsby as a flex ("it's okay to prematurely start timeshare RBs")
• Wan’Dale Robinson ("starting him is a perversion")
• Keenan Allen ("stop comparing your current self to your younger self—flex him with pride")

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Last Call: Best Bets & Betting Angles

• Patrick Mahomes over 1.5 passing TDs (Connor & public consensus)
• Mahomes longest completion >35.5 yards (Jay)
• Xavier Worthy over 62.5 receiving yards (Berry)
• Titans-Broncos under 42.5 points (Connor)
• Jaylen Warren >12.5 carries (Jay; Berry picks this as his favorite "pickup line" bet for the weekend)

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Episode Structure at a Glance (Major Content Segments):

| Time (min:sec) | Topic | |-----------------|----------------------------------------------| | 03:30–10:26 | Cowboys @ Eagles reaction (Javonte, RBs) | | 10:49–19:09 | Eagles offense (Hurts, AJ Brown, gameplan) | | 20:34–27:48 | Cowboys weapons, CeeDee Lamb, Dak, streaming| | 27:48–38:44 | Injury roundup (CMC, others), retirement | | 39:08–43:13 | Denny Carter’s “Flexual Frustration” clinic | | 46:01–50:51 | Listener start/sit, waiver advice | | 53:12–56:10 | Best bets, “pickup lines,” closing thoughts |

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Overall Tone & Takeaways

Classic, quick-witted, data-driven fantasy banter with emphatic, clear opinions. Hosts challenge each other's takes while keeping the mood light ("You have managed to luck into something… much like Javonte Williams falling into the end zone twice.") The directness, candor, and willingness to advocate for “contrarian” moves make the episode especially valuable for serious players wanting to stay ahead of the Week 1 narratives.

For those who haven’t listened:
This episode offers a dense, actionable mix of fantasy insight, real talk about injuries and game theory, and laugh-out-loud banter—essential for tweaking lineups and waiver moves after an unpredictable NFL opener. If you roster Javonte Williams, Ceedee Lamb, or Christian McCaffrey, this is a must-catch breakdown.

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Transcript

[Narrator]

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[Matthew Berry]

Power.

[Narrator]

Because in every Chevy truck, like every Chevy driver, dependability comes standard. Visit Chevy.com to learn more. Chevrolet received the highest total number of awards among all trucks in the J.D. power 2025 U.S. vehicle Dependability Study Awards based on 2022 models. Newer models may be shown. Visit J.D. power.com awards for more details. Chevrolet Together, let's drive.

[Matthew Berry]

Fantasy Football Happy Hour with Matthew Berry.

[Connor Rogers]

Happy Friday. Welcome to the Fantasy Football Happy Hour. Connor Rogers, Jay Croucher. And freshly returned from the Week 1 opener in Philadelphia, Matthew Barry.

[Matthew Berry]

Fresh as it. Fresh as a daisy.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah, yeah, it's fair.

[Dr. Danny Carter]

Back in.

[Matthew Berry]

Am I ever, at this stage, am I ever really that fresh? Let's be honest there. Sorry, just tweeting out the link. Very exciting. Right on time. Yeah, that's what I do. That's what I do. Yeah.

[Jay Croucher]

Especially the daisy yesterday, Connie, you missed it because you had the day off because the Mets lost again. But Matthew, I could hear him, he was saying, guys, just wait a second. I got to tweet out the link. It's like, oh, the show.

[Connor Rogers]

Mike's hot.

[Matthew Berry]

Yeah, that's good. Yeah.

[Jay Croucher]

The show starts at 12.

[Connor Rogers]

To be fair, it's your first year on TV.

[Matthew Berry]

I'm the only one that does tweet at the link. But you know what people get to. I think people enjoy behind the scenes. I think they, they the rawness. I am nothing if not real.

[Jay Croucher]

Stop the draft.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jay Croucher]

Delay the television show.

[Matthew Berry]

Stop the TV show. Oh, man. Stop the cameras.

[Connor Rogers]

Plenty to go through today. Denny Carter joins the show for the first time this year.

[Matthew Berry]

Yes, it's Denny's debut for the year.

[Connor Rogers]

A frequent Friday appearance.

[Matthew Berry]

Yes, yes, exactly.

[Connor Rogers]

Denny will be with us on Fridays this year. We'll get into all the fun. But listen, we're gonna talk about the big game last night, a pretty awesome fantasy game for a variety of reasons. And listen, the storyline.

[Matthew Berry]

Would you Call it an awesome fantasy game. It was a very interesting fantasy fantasy game.

[Jay Croucher]

I mean, somebody fantasy.

[Connor Rogers]

Somebody on this desk in this league started Javante Williams. So it was an awesome fantasy game.

[Jay Croucher]

Someone saw Gyllenha as well.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah, things are looking up.

[Matthew Berry]

I didn't. I didn't start anyone in that game last night in our league, but I do have A.J. brown in a couple of leagues. That was not fun at all. We'll get into all of that as well. But yeah, it was just, you know, we had a rain delay. Right? I mean, we had weather delay. I should say so. Like, I didn't get home to the Hotel Till like 1:45 in Philadelphia this morning. And obviously then, you know, I had to get here to beautiful Stamford, Connecticut. So I've been up very. I do. I need my beauty sleep. I really need my beauty sleep.

[Connor Rogers]

How many Diet Cokes this morning?

[Matthew Berry]

Just one, but it was a big one.

[Dr. Danny Carter]

16 ounce.

[Matthew Berry]

The tall boy. It was a tall. I had to suck down a tall boy. But it's okay, Jay, I know you're worried about my mouth. I drank it with egg whites. Nice. I had egg whites.

[Connor Rogers]

That's a balanced breakfast.

[Matthew Berry]

Exactly.

[Connor Rogers]

You're really getting all the food groups in egg whites. Daiko.

[Matthew Berry]

And there's a bake.

[Jay Croucher]

Next time you should put the egg whites in the tall boy.

[Connor Rogers]

Diet Coke, all the favorites, cash.

[Jay Croucher]

Little Pisco Sour, Operation Pisco, Diet Coke.

[Connor Rogers]

All the favorites, cash. Let's get right into it. Obviously the Eagles win the game, but one of the surprise storylines is Javante Williams. 15 carries, 54 yards, but he scores two touchdowns here. Two receptions for 10 yards as well. Big night for Javante Williams.

[Dr. Danny Carter]

Who?

[Connor Rogers]

Listen, still 25 years old, didn't look like he had his legs under him in Denver after he returned from the injury. Matthew, maybe there's some hope he can. What made him once such a promising prospect.

[Matthew Berry]

I'm going to say what I think is probably a contrarian. Take this morning. Like last night I thought he looked better than he has in the last two years, but I didn't think he looked all the way back. I didn't think he looked like pre injury Javante Williams. And like to the extent you can sell high, he's going to have fantasy value this year and he's going to be a prophet at wherever you drafted him. So, Connor, congratulations to you for having him in our league.

[Connor Rogers]

I'll be getting Bijan Robinson in return.

[Matthew Berry]

Yeah, I mean you got. You obviously got value there, but like 15 for 54, right? He averaged 3.6 yards per carry. Like he managed to fall into the end zone twice. He's the lead running back on a good offense, so he's going to get run. And I think on games in which he doesn't fall into the end zone, like, I think he's going to be like a low end flex. And I, and I think that, and I mean, whatever, he scored twice this week, but like he generally should be like a low end RB2 flex this year and he's not. I mean he's going to be, you know, one of the top running backs this week because the two touchdowns. But like, I'm not all like, oh my God, we missed out, like. And the other thing, the other, the last thing I'll say here is that obviously the, the suspense, the, the ejection of Jalen Carter played a massive role. Huge. Now the counter to that of course is most teams don't have a Jalen Carter. So like they're going to, they're going to face Jalen Carter one more time. But still my fact is, is that the Eagles planned a specific defense thinking they were having Jalen Carter all game long. And then one play in, he's out.

[Jay Croucher]

Yeah, it's a weird one. I think Carter probably impacted the pass rush more than the run defense though he still makes an impact there. I think with Javante, it's strange because I mean, what, two years ago, the first Russell, the Russell Wilson season with Sean Payton in Denver, Javante was going like pick 55 in draft. So he was a trendy pick and we thought that he was going to be RB1 in a solid offense and he just hasn't looked good for two years. But I didn't think he looked like all the way back. But Connor, I thought he did look much more explosive than he had certainly.

[Connor Rogers]

Last year he had some leg drive. He had the 10 yard run inside the 20 where he was moving the, you know, pushing the pile a little bit. The good thing is he got around.

[Matthew Berry]

The corner on that one run. He did.

[Connor Rogers]

I didn't see like crazy birds. Exactly right. So, yeah, I think not better.

[Matthew Berry]

Not great, but better.

[Connor Rogers]

Exactly better. But it's more about the opportunity. You have the big Miles Sanders run, then the fumble. You're like, well, we might not receive Miles Sanders again. Jaden Blue's already banged up and he's already very small. This might not be pretty all year, but it might be effective in a way where it's, it's compiling volume stats which does help in fantasy considering his cost.

[Jay Croucher]

Here's the case of Joe Vonte Williams, we can argue about how good he looked. He looked competent. He looked like competent NFL running back last night. And Miles Sanders, who fumbled the game away and also got caught from behind by Zach Bourne, who's linebacker on his what should have been a breakaway touchdown run. That's his competition for touches at the moment. And so the case is basically that the coaching staff seems to believe in him and we're going to talk about Dak later. But I think this is going to be a really good offense. I think it's just going to be a really good fantasy offense. There's going to be a lot of scoring. The defense probably isn't going to be very good. And so it's just going to be a rich source of fantasy points. And Javante looks like he's going to be the guy and they're comfortable with him in close at the goal line.

[Matthew Berry]

I agree with everything you just said there. 80% of the offensive snaps. Javante played 80% of the snaps. Now again, blue was banged up here. You know, it was weird. It was like, you know, Sanders broke off that crazy long run. I'm like, oh well, it was fun where I lasted. And then he fumbled and I'm like, ah, Miles, it was fun while it lasted. That's one in a nutshell. I mean it really is. I just. The only thing I'll. So I do think you're right about that in terms of the opportunity. I do think they're going to be a very good offense. And he clearly is like the lead guy right now. But he's got two touchdowns. If I set the over under on seven touchdowns total for Javante Williams for the season, what side are you taking?

[Jay Croucher]

I would take over but I think it's like eight. Yeah. So I don't think he's going to go.

[Connor Rogers]

I mean could you see him having like in 20, 23. This is too many touchdowns. But Gus Edwards had 810 yards and 13 touchdowns.

[Jay Croucher]

What did Jamal Williams have though that.

[Matthew Berry]

Feels like he had 18 touchdowns? Same thing. He had 18 touchdowns. It was stupid. That was a crazy year, right.

[Connor Rogers]

I could see the kind of season where it's 11, 10 touchdowns.

[Jay Croucher]

I think he is going to. I think that that question kind of maybe doesn't convey your point because I think it's going to go the other way where he might be 3.8 yards per carry but has a lot.

[Matthew Berry]

I'm saying this, I'm not saying this to troll you, but like he could be like the new Najee Harris, but like, Najee Harris was a volume guy for a while. Like, again, he was 3.6, 3.8 yards per carry, but he just, he never got hurt. He got a lot of work and like he managed to fall into the end zone six to 10 times a year. Yeah.

[Jay Croucher]

Who would you rather have. Would you rather have given to Williams or Jalen Warren going forward?

[Matthew Berry]

Jalen Warren.

[Jay Croucher]

Okay, so John, I would.

[Matthew Berry]

I would rather have. Again, we haven't seen it yet, but I just, I think the, I get that the Steelers are going to be. The Steelers are going to be a worse offense.

[Jay Croucher]

Yeah.

[Matthew Berry]

I just think Jalen Warren's a better player and I actually, I can't believe I'm saying this on national tv, but give me Arthur Smith.

[Jay Croucher]

Oh, my goodness.

[Matthew Berry]

For a run game, for run game play calling, I would prefer to have the lead running back of a Arthur Smith offense than a Brian Schottenheimer offense. I can't believe I just said that. I can't believe I said something positive about Arthur Smith. Do you guys disagree?

[Connor Rogers]

I'd rather have Shotty and Javante.

[Matthew Berry]

Okay.

[Connor Rogers]

I like Dallas's offensive line a little better.

[Matthew Berry]

I will say. I was about to say the Cowboys offensive line, I thought did hold again. They don't have to deal with Jalen Carter. But still they. I thought they looked better than I thought they were going to last night. Sure.

[Jay Croucher]

I would as well. I think it's close, but I would go Javante, just because I feel good that this Dallas offense can be a top 10 offense in the NFL.

[Matthew Berry]

I agree.

[Jay Croucher]

I don't feel good about that. About Pittsburgh.

[Matthew Berry]

Yeah, I just, I don't know. I just, I think it's. The Dallas offense will be better. I think the Steelers will be. Will be more run heavy and Jaylen Warren's better and I think Jalen Warren is better. So, I mean, but it's, but, but that's the right range, right? I mean, that's the, that's what we're talking about here with Devonte, like pick.

[Jay Croucher]

85, 90, that kind of range.

[Matthew Berry]

Ye. But the fact remains that if you did manage to. In the middle of your draft completely, you know, you're like, oh, I screwed up running back. God, I'm super desperate. Much like Conor Rogers did during the League of Assholes where you're just like, ugh, let me. Fine. I'm stuck with Javonte Williams. You have managed to roll. You have managed to luck into something. You've managed to fall into something much like Javonte Williams falling into the End zone twice. Connor Rodgers has fallen into Javante Williams in the league of assholes. Things are looking good.

[Connor Rogers]

You ever hear fantasy commenter live on television? Actual real life fear of a future champion.

[Jay Croucher]

Well, you drafted because you got Saquon as well. So you drafted in the legit RB1 and legit RB2. It's just they flipped around. You just didn't realize I have Kyron Williams as well.

[Matthew Berry]

Yeah, it'll be, damn it, having a good team. The only thing more knowing than you having a good team will be Jay.

[Jay Croucher]

Having a good yeah, well, let's get to Jalen Hurts, right?

[Connor Rogers]

We go right there because on the positive side of the Eagles night, Jalen hurts 14 rushes for 62 yards. The two touchdowns of course is what you love. And it didn't stop Saquon from having a completely fine night for Saquon. He scores as well. 60 carries. We saw some Will Shipley in this game, by the way, who looked pretty effective as in the backup role. So over 24 points for Hertz Jay, you have to be feeling great about.

[Jay Croucher]

That, feel very good about Jalen Hurts, I thought. And look, he didn't show up entirely in the stat. He had 24.3 fantasy points, didn't have a passing touchdown and throw for big yardage. 62 yards on the ground. Not absolutely massive. I thought he was awesome last night. I thought he took. I thought in a weird way it was a very mahomesy type performance where doesn't necessarily show up in the stats but it shows up in the underlying stuff. It's great but like EPA per play. I just thought he took everything that was there that the defense gave him. He made every play that he needed to. He was great with the scrambling scores, two non tush push touchdowns, both taking what the defense gave him on those plays. So I think Jalen Hurts. Look, I thought they were going to throw the ball and they didn't. And we'll get to A.J. brown and Co. But I think that was largely a product of the way that Dallas is playing defense. I was like, no man, coverage is all soft zone, soft zones and Jalen Hurts. He was just taking it. And so I think that look, there is a very real chance and it's not going out on a limb here, but Jalen Hurts could absolutely be the number one quarterback in fantasy this year and he showed last night that he's got that potential for sure.

[Matthew Berry]

I mean we've seen it before and we talked about it all in the preseason that we were saying like Jalen Hurts is actually weirdly of value this year because the difference between Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Jaden Danielson, Jalen Hurts isn't that much. And yet, for whatever reason, Jalen Hurts was just going like a round to a round and a half after those three guys that were all going more or less in the third round. And then Jalen Hurts would fall to like sort of the end of the fourth or those guys would go top of the third and he'd go like middle of the fourth. So it was just weird that, like, for whatever reason, people were out on Hertz relative to the other top three guys. But I'm with you. I thought. I thought Jalen Hurts played really, really well. Again, we'll get to Brown and Smith, but they were clearly a focal point of the defense, so. Okay. Dallas Goddard. Okay. Jahan Dotson. Okay, you guys aren't going to get to me. You're going to get play back and, like, not bring pressure. And I look around. Okay, fine. I will make plays with my legs. And like, he made some like, really crazy jukes to keep plays alive to get to the first fresh. He played smart, clearly healthy. I agree with you. I thought he was brilliant last night.

[Jay Croucher]

Health point is the key thing. So the past two years has always been like, Jalen Hurts. Like, is his knee really bothering him? Like, why does he look slow? Like, he would just have these random games like that. And he has dealt with injuries and he's missed time, but he looks completely spry. And that's the best physically that he's looked in a while.

[Matthew Berry]

I think I talked to a. I talked to a source. Not even. I wouldn't even say a source, but I was talking to somebody on the Eagles staff before the game. Yes. I was talking to Sirianni, me and Big Dom. Me, Big Dom and Sirianni. We were just all hanging out, doing shots. No, like, whatever. I was talking before the game there for Football night in America, and I was talking to somebody on the Eagle staff and I said, hey, let me ask you something. Like I said, I've been saying on air, you know, me, my co host, that we think you guys are going to throw more this year. Am I crazy on that, you know, or am I going to look stupid tonight? And he says, I honestly don't know. He goes, I really think what we're going to do is. Listen, we know that everyone. I'm paraphrasing here, but he said, we know that everyone has kind of got us circled on their calendars and they have spent the off season studying how to beat us. So I think we're going to be, I think there'll be some games where we are pass heavy, but I think if there are some games where we're going to very much sort of take what the defense gives us, we're going to like, it'll be game to game, it'll be sort of situation to situation. We're not going in with the attitude of like this year we're definitely passing more or this year we want to be very run heavy. We're just going to sort of see what the defense gives us and try to take it apart because we feel pretty good about where we are on all sides of the ball at every position, rightfully so. So. And that's what we saw last night. They played back, they played cover to a lot. They just kind of said like we're going to, we're going to play back. And so. So Jalen hurts like all right then I couldn't understand why the Cowboys didn't leave a spy on Jalen hurts.

[Jay Croucher]

But it's just like trade offs, right? Like you only get AJ Brown one catch for 8 yards by not doing stuff like that, like pick your poison. I suppose I do think that like the past two teams that have played the Eagles, they have made the choice. We are just not going to allow Saquon Barkley to beat us and go for these 70 yard runs and we're just going to over index on stopping him and he's been by just yards per carry, very inefficient in the super bowl, inefficient in this game and obviously he still has a ton of gravity. But I do think this is going to feel a bit more like Jalen hurts his offense this year.

[Connor Rogers]

They were run blitzing in the first half. It felt like quite a bit saying like, okay, you're going to have to do something else once in a while. And then Hertz took off even one of the touchdown runs. Saquon ran an in breaking route and was flowing with Hertz moving and the defender had to choose do I stay with Saquon or do I come up and tackle? Jalen hurts and Hertz just basically walked into the end zone. So they are learning, not learning because they won the super bowl last year, but they know exactly, hey, they're allocating attention here. We're going to go elsewhere. And that is why guys, there's going to be a lot of people panicked about A.J. brown today. He's going to have. It's not going to look like this every week?

[Matthew Berry]

No, like, no before we get that. So I mean, like, listen, again, like this is such a weird game that I would just truly throw it out for most purposes. Right. So Jalen Hurts averaged 4.9 air yards per attempt. This is somebody who averaged 7.8 last season. So it was really dinking dunk. He had only one pass attempt inside the red zone. That was that, that three yard pass to Saquon Barkley. But again they were all playing back and so to your point, he had two rushing touchdowns where he wanted to pass but it wasn't there. And so he had to run it in. They weren't, they were rushing touchdowns that weren't tush pushes as well. And so as you see here in terms like, you know, Goddard gets seven targets, I wouldn't be surprised if that's a season high for him. If there's a positive to Saquon Barkley, you see that he gets the five targets, four for 24. Like they use him more in the passing game, which is something that we wouldn't normally see here as well. So for people that might be a little panicked on Saquon Barkley, like, you know, whatever, he's going to be fine. Obviously got the touchdown. They're going to involve him more in the, in the passing game here. The other thing is, is that like because of the weather delay, it was also weird. So it was just such a, just such a.

[Connor Rogers]

The start of the game was insanely bizarre.

[Matthew Berry]

Right, With Jalen Carter.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah, you had Jalen Carter and Dak.

[Jay Croucher]

Prescott got someone getting carted off before the game.

[Connor Rogers]

Oh yeah, you have somebody hurt on the kick return. Like it was just a very, it was constant stop and start in this game.

[Matthew Berry]

If somebody offered you AJ Brown for Javonta Williams right now, would you do it?

[Connor Rogers]

I have to look at my roster and see what I need.

[Matthew Berry]

No, but I'm just like, right. You know, so eight, one one reception for eight yards. Zero. You know, one J.

[Connor Rogers]

Brown.

[Matthew Berry]

Of course. Yes. That's what I'm saying. Like, I just, I think they made.

[Connor Rogers]

It keep his value.

[Matthew Berry]

This was a, this was a. Again, we think they took what the, you know, what they took with the offensive. But look, A.J. brown played 87% of the offensive snaps, right? He, he ran 32 routes like he was out there. It was just like he was bracketed like. And they just, they made a point of taking him away. And so that's why you see suddenly Johan Dotson, you know, who's clearly going to be their number three wide Receiver Johan Dotson get looks. Dallas Goddard get looks. Five targets for Saquon Barkley. Again, the Eagles just sort of took what the defense gave them. Better days are ahead, I believe, for A.J. brown and DeVonta Smith. But there's a, There's a scenario where we're not going to see a game. We're not. We're likely not going to see a 1 for 8 game again from AJ Brown, but there may be some clunkers here.

[Connor Rogers]

Like 3 for 27.

[Matthew Berry]

Yeah.

[Connor Rogers]

You could have them because of the way they can play.

[Matthew Berry]

Yeah.

[Jay Croucher]

Look, I thought A.J. brown was going to have a great game last night. That matchup took him over 71 and a half yards and he went under.

[Matthew Berry]

He didn't underhand.

[Jay Croucher]

Yeah. Touch and go. But the thing with A.J. brown, even though I think that'll be fine, he's going to have a good year and finish it as a, you know, top 1012 fantasy wide receiver is that guys drafted in a similar range to him, like Drake London is just not going to have these games. Right.

[Matthew Berry]

It can't.

[Jay Croucher]

Nico Collins isn't going to have these games. They're too integral to their offense. So A.J. brown's probably going to explode for like 150 receiving yards and two touchdowns at some point. But because they just have this versatility of weapons and they have sake one and they have Hertz's legs, there are just going to be some strange games with AJ I think you just have to ride it out.

[Matthew Berry]

Yeah.

[Connor Rogers]

Kyle Adams in the comments says Dotson's over under was 7 receiving yards last night. They hit the big one though. Yeah, like that's. If you're gonna be playing Jahan Dotson over unders, you gotta meet, like have that one big play and he had it.

[Matthew Berry]

That's what you have to do. Saquon Barkley, under 19 and a half rush attempts though. That did cash. That was my, that was my. That was my best bet yesterday on this show. Meanwhile though, by the way, I got. I had to do a. Don't get me started. I had to do a four leg parlay last night anyway. And so, so I'm just like, you know what if I have to do four legs? I'm just, I'm outlining the crap out of this thing is what I'm gonna do. Right? And like one of my. Like and so some of them hit but like one of my. One of mine was like Jalen hurts to throw one touchdown pass which was at minus 500. But I threw into that. What is it for like Parlay. So I throw it in there. I find it didn't hit. That's, you know, tough business. It is a tough parlay business.

[Jay Croucher]

For like parlay, you need four things to go right.

[Connor Rogers]

By the way, if you're an A.J. brown manager, down and out today, you're off to a tough start for your fantasy season. You drink for free here at the happy hour.

[Matthew Berry]

Yeah, we're here for. We're here.

[Connor Rogers]

We're here for you.

[Matthew Berry]

You got you zero points, but you do have a free beverage as much as you want. Honestly. One for eight points. One point eight. Yeah. One point eight. Yeah. 1.8. Anyway, we will. We will give you a drink that is more than 1.8 ounces. I will say that. So, yes, feel bad for AJ brand managers.

[Connor Rogers]

I heard 1 is 1 is joining us in just a little bit.

[Matthew Berry]

Oh, really?

[Connor Rogers]

In our show week.

[Matthew Berry]

Is that Dennis Carter? That is young Dennis.

[Connor Rogers]

Young Dennis will be here. But before we go there, we have to talk about Ceedee Lamb, guys, and the Cowboys all the time. Because your guy eights in the box score. Seven catches for 110 yards looks lovely, but it feels like it should have been so much more.

[Matthew Berry]

My friend Ian Harditz at Fantasylife tweeted out, Ceedee Lamb just had the worst 7 for 110 game in NFL history. Which is true. Which is true.

[Connor Rogers]

I mean, they win the game if a couple more catches on those.

[Matthew Berry]

One of them, the long one was.

[Connor Rogers]

The ultimate difference maker, but, man, to have three drops in that shortest one.

[Jay Croucher]

I'm not going to penalize it.

[Matthew Berry]

The one that he had, they won that. He dove out again. An elite wide receiver makes that catch. But that was a tough one for sure.

[Jay Croucher]

The one before, he should have called the one before.

[Matthew Berry]

The one before on this. Yeah, that was bad. And there was another one, like, wasn't it? The. The. The one that was up top that, like, just hit him in the hands that went through. That would have. Because the Cowboys had stopped, they'd fumble the ball. Eagles get the ball back. They come back from the weather delay. They stop the Eagles. Eagles, in theory have momentum, although the weather delay sort of killed it. But they get a stop, they get a three and out. And now can the Cowboys go down and score? And Ceedee Lamb, that one would have kept that drive alive. And maybe they kicked the field goal or whatever, right? They just drive killers 100% and just listen, you know, I love my guy Aytes, but those are catches you have to make if you're an elite wide Receiver, which is what he is paid to be. To his credit though, he would agree with me. He took full responsibility in the post game comments and just said, you know, I have to make those plays and, you know, just whatever. Just a bummer. But for us, in the world of fantasy football, he put up numbers 7 for 110. You'll take that every day.

[Jay Croucher]

Here's my take. Everyone should try trade for CD Lam this morning because last night, forgetting the drop, he looked amazing. Like he absolutely destroyed Adori Jackson. He looked as explosive as he's ever been. And we're going to get to his quarterback. His quarterback looked phenomenal. George Pickens is like the ideal foil for CD Lamb because George Pickens is very good. George Pickens takes attention. He's someone that you have to respect. He creates space for CD and also, George Pickens is ideal because he's a very good wide receiver. He plays the X role and so CD can go into the slot more. And also, George Pickens is not going to get like 11 targets. Yeah, it's just not going to happen.

[Matthew Berry]

He's never been that guy.

[Jay Croucher]

Perfect guy to put next to CD I think there is a very good chance on what I saw last night with how good Dak looked, how good the offensive line looked, how bad the defense is probably going to be. I think that there is a very good chance, I honestly might even make him the favorite, that CD Lamb finishes as the number one receiver in fantasy because he just went 7 for 110 against one of the best defenses in football, even without Jalen Carter. And he left like 90 yards on the table.

[Connor Rogers]

10 for 170.

[Matthew Berry]

Yes, exactly.

[Jay Croucher]

Absolute monster game. So I think I come out of last night thinking like, CD Is just going to go scorched earth on the league.

[Matthew Berry]

Yeah. No, I agree. I agree with all those takes and I do like, you know, me, I haven't been. I haven't always been the biggest Dak Prescott fan, but I agree with you. He looked phenomenal last night. They should have won that game. They had that game.

[Jay Croucher]

Lane ripped.

[Matthew Berry]

Yeah.

[Connor Rogers]

Just looking in a good spot, finally moving well. And just the accuracy was on point.

[Matthew Berry]

Talking to some of the guys on football night, they all noticed, you know, that he. They think that he lost about 15 pounds just to the eye test, you know, that he looked different. Yeah, it looked a little, you know, shredded. Matthew Barry, like a young Matthew Berry out there. Certainly we have the same hair, but. No, but Dak looked great and deserved a better fate than he got. Unfortunately, the drops Just absolutely killed him. But, you know, 11 different attempts of 15 or more yards, they were throwing it down. Not only throwing it a lot, but throwing it down the field. And so, you know, it doesn't show up in the box score because they had the two rushing touchdowns with Javante and everything like that. So he finishes with under 8 fantasy points. To me, the better trade is to trade for Dak Prescott.

[Connor Rogers]

Because you probably can.

[Matthew Berry]

Because, yeah, I mean, like, who's giving up CD Lamb. The drops were bad, but, like, he's still. He's still 7 for 1 10, you know, and anyone that has him used a top five or six pick on him most times, you gotta ride it out. You'd have. Right. So I think you would have to pay a lot to get CD Lam not saying it's not worth it, but I do think Dak Prescott is gettable, and I do think Dak Prescott's gonna finish the year as a top 10, top eight fantasy quarterback. This just. It was just a bad game in terms of, you know, they're not gonna play the Eagles every week.

[Jay Croucher]

Yeah, I think with Dak, there was like. Dak wasn't good last year, and that was a big reason why his ADP was suppressed this year. Not just coming off the injury, but before he got hurt, he didn't play well. And there were two ways to look at that. One, it's like, all right, he's kind of getting older. He's on the other side of 30. He's had a lot of injuries. Maybe he's just entering the other phase of his career. The other way to look at it was CD had the contract thing last year, coming into the season, disrupted preseason. Wasn't really himself. The first couple of games, there was no real great receiving option alongside CD. Offensive line was in flux with two new rookies starting there. And also the McCarthy offense just went stale. Like, not a lot of motion, a lot of play action. It felt like Dak just wasn't getting helped in the offense. Now it looks like he might actually be getting help outside of the drops, the cost of the game. So I think the Dach very within the range of outcomes that he's like a top eight fantasy quarterback, and he's just. He's just the guy that he was in 2023 when he finished second in MVP.

[Matthew Berry]

Yeah, I think he'll certainly earn more defensive attention, and I think things will open up for George Pickens if there's a positive here. I get it, you know, 3 for 30 on only four targets, but played 91% of the offensive snaps. He averaged 13 yards per air target. So I mean, they were taking deep shots to them. Those will start hitting. They'll take more and those will start hitting. Especially as CD Lamb just continues to get so much volume here. The last thing I'll say, Connor is sort of interesting. Jake Ferguson 5 for 23. 18% target share. An 18% target share for Jake. For a tight end is borderline tight end one material and could have a touchdown. 12.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah, exactly. Pass that you expect him to catch more often than not. So Jake Ferguson, Dak loves him. I mean, we've seen it over and over again. And goes back to your point. Jay Pickens didn't come into this offense and kind of push aside the roles that already exist. He's filling one that they didn't know how to fill. Right. Trading for Jonathan Mingo. And in all seriousness, now you just put Pickens in the X CD in the slot and Ferguson as a legitimate top three pass catcher in the offense. I mean, they're not going to be throwing the Javante that much. Jaden Blue's not ready. There's something there. Yeah, definitely something there.

[Jay Croucher]

George is Klay Thompson. He's running around, setting screens, creating space for everyone else. And he's not going to hold the.

[Connor Rogers]

Ball at all through the dpi.

[Matthew Berry]

Yep.

[Connor Rogers]

Which is a big call.

[Matthew Berry]

I know. I'm a big believer that in fantasy football, I wish we could figure out a way to do this. Like, you should get like half the points. Like if you draw a DPI, like whatever George Pickens got, whatever it was, 50 yards, 45 yards on that DPI inside his right. And he almost caught it with one hand.

[Connor Rogers]

Like really close.

[Matthew Berry]

Very close. So like that's 45 yards. Like in theory that should be. If he catches the ball, it's 5.5 fantasy points. Like he should get 2.5 for that.

[Connor Rogers]

Point for a DPI.

[Jay Croucher]

It's harder to do it. Also, if you like CD got mugged in the end zone by Dory Jackson. Like, that could have been a touchdown as well.

[Connor Rogers]

So Dory Jackson.

[Jay Croucher]

But Eagles did not look great overall, by the way.

[Matthew Berry]

They're lucky to get. They're lucky to get out of there with a win. Like Dori Jackson is going to be a problem, like for the Eagles. That's what I'm saying.

[Connor Rogers]

Like, start your receivers against The Dory Jackson 100%, clearly.

[Matthew Berry]

Oh, like, yeah. So.

[Connor Rogers]

All right, let's get into the injuries we're tracking going into the weekend because.

[Matthew Berry]

Am I listed on it.

[Connor Rogers]

Oh, no, it's not fun. We'll get to Christian McCaffrey in just a second.

[Matthew Berry]

Can I take a nap or we had a commercial break. Ted.

[Connor Rogers]

We're almost there.

[Matthew Berry]

We'll let you sleep.

[Connor Rogers]

I don't know.

[Jay Croucher]

At some point you sleep when you're dead.

[Connor Rogers]

Von H and then Tyree Kill are expected to play per their head coach Christian Kirk, though things are not looking good for him. That could be a week to week injury now with the hamstring situation. Jane Reed has been back at practice, which is nice surprise because he was in a boot at one point this summer. Darnell Mooney is also back at practice. Michael Penix's number two wide receiver is day to day per his head coach right now.

[Matthew Berry]

So we're all day to day.

[Connor Rogers]

We are and so is Darnell Mooney, although things are looking more promising. But we have to start with Christian McCaffrey here, guys, who in classic fashion, Kyle Shanahan, you know, downplayed his injuries.

[Matthew Berry]

And literally we okay. Yesterday on this show we literally. Connor, you weren't here. You were mourning your met.

[Connor Rogers]

I'll be off when they win too, by the way, on Thursday. Don't get your hopes up anyone.

[Matthew Berry]

When the Mets win on Wednesdays.

[Connor Rogers]

I won't be here on Thursdays.

[Matthew Berry]

He's got to go to the gun show.

[Connor Rogers]

That's right.

[Matthew Berry]

Always open.

[Connor Rogers]

Always open like club said.

[Matthew Berry]

So anyway, we literally played Khan. We literally played sound from Kyle Shanahan talking how confident he was about Christian McCaffrey's health, how he feels good. And two hours later the report comes out that he's on the injury report. Limited in practice with. With a calf injury.

[Connor Rogers]

Which is the scary part.

[Matthew Berry]

Which by the way, doctor but for running backs that use their legs, they need calves. Jay Croucher.

[Jay Croucher]

It's just not good. Like this is not what you want. Christian McCaffrey's dealt with calf issues in the past. They cost him time at the end of 2023. The thing with McCaffrey is that even the last season when he was healthy in 2023, he's still like coming out of games early. He missed the last two games of the season or game and a half of the season with the calf. He was very lucky that they had the buy going into the playoffs. Like he has been really banged up. And I think, well, at least me and Matthew were high on McCaffrey coming.

[Matthew Berry]

In because I was very much.

[Jay Croucher]

Because I think the people were just baking in too much. It's like 100% chance that he's going to get hurt and it's never that. But when you look at his games played since 2020.

[Matthew Berry]

Yeah, right.

[Jay Croucher]

3, 7, 17, 16.

[Matthew Berry]

Yeah, but, but again, like he's. This is last year, obviously was a brutal year for, for Christian played only the four games, but he played 33 games the two years prior. Like he's been relatively healthy since coming to San Francisco except for last year. I'm not panicking just yet.

[Jay Croucher]

Raises the alarm.

[Matthew Berry]

It just exactly. It raises the eyebrows. It makes Brian Robinson, to the extent you can get him more of a priority. I will say though, if somehow we'll watch the practice reports today and this is a good promo, by the way, Jay, myself and you, Lawrence Jackson, George Tavarikis fantasy football pregame Sunday morning, 11am Eastern, all the way to kickoff. We're back again on YouTube on the NFL NBC YouTube channel and of course, Peacock. So we will have all the latest updates Sunday morning getting you ready for all the week's action, both fantasy and betting. But we'll watch the practice reports today. Hopefully he practices in full or, you know, loses the designation if for some reason he were to miss this game. I think if I had to start a 49ers running back, it would be Isaac Garendo because Robinson just got there. You know, Guerrendo was in the I.

[Connor Rogers]

Don'T think they'll care.

[Matthew Berry]

You think?

[Connor Rogers]

I think they're just like, hey buddy, fire it up.

[Jay Croucher]

Celsius, right?

[Matthew Berry]

No, exactly. Here you go, off tackle.

[Connor Rogers]

I know what you're saying.

[Matthew Berry]

You're hitting the A gap, but I.

[Connor Rogers]

Know what you're saying. Yeah, I think they them going trading for B. Rob tells me what they think of their other backs.

[Matthew Berry]

Maybe week one. That's what I'm saying. I'm arguing week one that if I had to pick one like for the season, Brian Robinson is clearly the the insurance running back you want if you have McCaffrey. I'm just saying for week one, I'm Guerrendo has been there. He's been in the offense and so I might feel better about him than Brian Robinson. I think he's more explosive than Robinson. Honestly, what I would think is that this game is going to be all George Kittle and Ricky Pierce.

[Connor Rogers]

My mind goes through right away. And Juwan Jennings, to an extent, things are looking better. They had 3 million due his playtime incentives. He's back at practice. He has been limited, but he has told some people, some reporters that he's personally expecting to go. We'll see. But Pierce, hall and Kittle you know, are, you know, full throttle.

[Matthew Berry]

Just, he hasn't been in camp, so, like. And he's already a little bit banged up, so does he play limited snaps? You just don't know. Like, you feel really good about Kittle and Pearsall this week. I would say we'll wait to see on McCaffrey and his health, but it's just. It's one of those things where just like with it's week one, like, how's he limited in practice in week?

[Jay Croucher]

I would say also he was limited in practice and listed questionable week one last year, and then we didn't.

[Connor Rogers]

So here's what scares me is that this designation pops up after. When you look at the practice week for an NFL, a typical NFL week, especially week one, and you're playing on a Sunday or even if you're playing on a Monday, that Wednesday is like, okay, yeah, we're going here. We're going full throttle. So they go full throttle for the first game of the season, and this pops up right away.

[Matthew Berry]

Yeah, it.

[Connor Rogers]

That's what worries me. It's not like a, you know, last week of July. Ah, we got to be careful here. Yeah, it's like, oh, we were game planning. We're running what we're practicing for the actual game. And all of a sudden this is back again.

[Matthew Berry]

Even in a Wednesday in week seven, you know, you'd be like, whatever, you know.

[Connor Rogers]

Exactly.

[Matthew Berry]

They played the.

[Connor Rogers]

Differently.

[Matthew Berry]

They played the Monday night game all the way, you know, so shorter week and they were cross country and yeah.

[Connor Rogers]

We need this guy good for the Thursday or at Friday, get a practicing on the Friday. It's like after Wednesday, this comes up. I just. It just doesn't feel. It understandably does not feel good.

[Jay Croucher]

Yeah. Calf is also not the one you want in terms of aggravation risk. Soft tissue for guys almost 30. It's not. Not ideal. It's not ideal, but line move from nine is minus two and a half in Seattle to nine is minus one and a half.

[Matthew Berry]

Wow.

[Jay Croucher]

I personally think the Seahawks will win that game, but we will see. Purdy has struggled against Mike McDonald, but at times in the past, including on Christmas, famously.

[Matthew Berry]

Oh, for sure. That's interesting that McCaffrey's worth a point. He's. I mean, like, yeah, two and a.

[Jay Croucher]

Half to one and a half isn't a big move because it's not through three. Not many games end on two specifically. But yeah, it is material. Like Christian McCaffrey is two years ago. He's the most running, most valuable running back in the NFL largely because of the work that he does in the past game. And even coming into this year, there's not many running backs who are more valuable than him. Like in terms of how they affect the line. Might be Saquon Bijan. There's not that many guys.

[Matthew Berry]

Yeah.

[Connor Rogers]

All right, guys, some more injuries here and that's obviously going to be just a massive one to watch all the way till kickoff, of course.

[Matthew Berry]

Why can't we have nice things now?

[Connor Rogers]

You can, you cannot. Especially if you drafted CMC Jerome Ford listed as the starter on the Browns depth chart. Fire up Jerome Ford time maybe.

[Matthew Berry]

I believe so. Look, I He made my love list. He also made I have a new column out. I'm not writing Love Hate anymore, but I am writing a column on Thursday. It's much easier for me to write than it is Love Hate. So I'm not going back on my words from Love Hate. But it's called 10 facts you need to know before week one. And next week it'll be 10 Facts yous Need to Know Before Week Two. See, can't wait for week five.

[Connor Rogers]

You actually start prepping for week eight instead.

[Matthew Berry]

But you know, I just talked about the fact that, you know, this is Jerome Ford when he has gotten work, has been productive and most importantly, look, they are, they are five and a half point underdogs to the Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals are a team last year that gave up a lot of receptions to opposing running backs. That's an area of weakness for them. We don't think their defense is very good at all. So in theory, the Browns should be in game script quite a bit. They're going to be throwing, they're going to be trailing against a defense that gives up a lot of receptions to opposing running backs. So yeah, Jerome Ford, who is not only their pass catch running back, but right now to your point about being first on the depth chart, I suspect they trust Jerome Ford a lot more than the rookie Dylan Sampson. If I'm starting a Cleveland running Browns running back this week, it is Jerome Ford and I think ford. I'm at 23. I'm as a high end flex low end RB2.

[Connor Rogers]

It's the Bengals.

[Matthew Berry]

It's the Bengals like I do think. I think Jerome Ford is somebody that should be started in a lot of leagues this week. He's not 100% rostered by the way, so worth checking to see if he's out there. It'll be interesting to see if Jaden Higgins does anything with the opportunity now that Christian Kirk is Out in Houston or just if Nico Collins just goes nuclear.

[Connor Rogers]

Our last bit of news here, guys. We wave goodbye to. We wave to low and then goodbye to Amari Cooper. He's announced his retirement after 10 seasons. That was the quickest comeback of all time. Dude, how many days?

[Matthew Berry]

Three. Yep.

[Jay Croucher]

Similar amount of days of Joe Flacco's comeback in 2023 when he won comeback player of the year. Similar amount of time.

[Matthew Berry]

Similar. Similar amount. We'll see if Amari Cooper wins comeback player of the year as well. But like, this is me. So a guy that I follow on social media, Burgundy blog. He just does a great job. He does a great job covering the commanders my team. And so he tweeted out, this is from March 14, who said he was just trying to think like, hey, I wonder if we should add to our wide receiver death room. Amari Cooper's out there. And I just replied to him. Amari is done. That's not me talking. That's from an offensive coach of a former team of his I spoke to at the combine. Again, this Tweet is from March 14th and Twitch Burgundy blog was like, yeah, okay, my bad. Nevermind. He's great. He does a great job. He's very insightful. Commentary around the team. Like, I enjoy following them quite a bit. But what I would say is, is that if you go back to my 25 things I heard at the combine, that was one of the things I heard where I. I talked to an offensive coach of one of his former teams where I said, hey, what happened to Amari last year? And the answer was, I think he's just done. I mean again, like he couldn't get production with Josh Allen in an opportunity like they needed him. Right? I mean like, I mean like Keon Colin Collins instead and Keon Coleman was. Took a time to develop. So they. They wanted Amari Cooper to work and he just. He just didn't. He just couldn't. Right. And so, so anyway, not surprised that you know that he called it. Called it a career. Look, he is somebody who had 7,000 yard receivings. Four different. Four different games.

[Jay Croucher]

What language was that?

[Matthew Berry]

Dude, I'm on two hours of sleep.

[Jay Croucher]

Seven 1,000 yard receiving season.

[Matthew Berry]

Sorry. Seven, 7,000 yard. All right.

[Connor Rogers]

He's going to bring daddy on. Please bring Daddy on.

[Matthew Berry]

7.

[Connor Rogers]

Press the button.

[Matthew Berry]

Seven seasons where he had at least a thousand yards. A thousand yards receiving as well. We can always remember the December 24th game against Cleveland in 2023 where he had 51 1/2 fantasy points. 11 for 265, two receiving touchdowns. Amari Cooper, fantasy superstar. Much respect on your retirement.

[Connor Rogers]

Kevin Costa in the chat goes. I tuned in just in time. What a hell of a time to check out the show.

[Matthew Berry]

Sorry, Kevin, it's Friday. For the children out there. Oh, yeah.

[Connor Rogers]

What is that, Matthew?

[Matthew Berry]

A lot of people have flexual frustration. It's happening. I love going around slipping America. So many people. Oh, there's all. There's. There's. There's shows. There's shows. There's medicines that you can take. There's therapy you can go in for flexual frustration. Yep.

[Connor Rogers]

Supplements.

[Matthew Berry]

Supplements.

[Connor Rogers]

There's a lot of solutions, for sure.

[Matthew Berry]

There's things that will come in the mail for you, but you should see.

[Connor Rogers]

A doctor for all your recommendations. We have one on the show.

[Matthew Berry]

We do. Dr. Danny Carter.

[Dr. Danny Carter]

I am a doctor now, Guys, I just want to let you know I took the off season to get my doctorate in psychology. You know, most fantasy football analysts kind of just putz around during the off season. Not me. It usually takes four to eight years to get this degree. I got it in a few months. So I'm ready to go. I'm ready to help you with your flex frustrations. Your flexual frustrations?

[Matthew Berry]

Yeah, very important. Your flexual frustration. So here's my question, Dr. Carter. I'm having an issue with premature starting. And so is it. Is it too premature to start Tank Bigsby this week?

[Dr. Danny Carter]

Look, this is a common problem with fantasy football managers, and honestly, you should not have shame around premature starting of timeshare running backs, okay? It's natural. It happens. It happens to more people than you would think, honestly. But we have to remember that Tank Bigsby is listed as a co starter alongside Travis Etienne in the Jackson Jacksonville backfield ahead of week one. He's a big play guy. All the metrics say he can make a lot out of a little. So he doesn't need a bunch of carries. And he's not going to get that here. You know, you may say, well, is it wrong? Is it wrong of me to want to prematurely play this guy who is not involved at all in his passing game, in his team's passing game? And I would say no, I would say, it's okay. If you need a hug, I'll give you a hug. Whatever it takes. I think it's okay to play him in your flex, even prematurely.

[Jay Croucher]

Danny, I usually only like to see Wanda Robinson in the dark with the lights on. It's a little scary. Can you tell me, in a matchup against Washington, what are you prescribing with Wandell Robinson?

[Matthew Berry]

Yeah.

[Dr. Danny Carter]

Okay, so the urge to play Wondell Robinson in the flex, even the PPR formats, it's wrong and sickly. Honestly, it's a perversion.

[Matthew Berry]

Frankly, not surprised.

[Dr. Danny Carter]

I don't think. I don't think it's right. Look, this guy was 10th in receptions last year, 45th in receiving yards.

[Connor Rogers]

Guys.

[Dr. Danny Carter]

He had more receptions than Brian Thomas last year and was totally useless even in PPR formats. So you should actually feel some shame around this, and you should not play him in your flex. I don't think in week one.

[Jay Croucher]

Wow.

[Matthew Berry]

Actual shame.

[Jay Croucher]

He's done.

[Matthew Berry]

That's right.

[Dr. Danny Carter]

I'm not a very good therapist, by the way.

[Matthew Berry]

You just got your degree a couple of months ago, so it's all good. No worries. It was an offshore. Offshore school.

[Connor Rogers]

Denny, Kenan Allen has the Chiefs tonight in Brazil. But a lot of guys going into their mid-30s suffer from low testosterone or decline in testosterone. Are we worried about this with Kenan Allen or can we actually play him? And does the Brazil effect change anything here?

[Dr. Danny Carter]

You're not there yet, Connor. But as a man of an advanced age, I get it. And so I see Kenan Allen as a brother. In this way. You may ask yourself if a football player can still perform and deliver for his team at an advance, aged the same way that he did as a younger man. And I say no, he can't.

[Matthew Berry]

But that's okay.

[Dr. Danny Carter]

That's okay because Keenan Allen can still be a flex option as the check down intermediate play for Justin Herbert, especially against the Kansas City team that is going, I believe, to stop the run for the. Up for. For the.

[Connor Rogers]

For the Chargers.

[Dr. Danny Carter]

It could mean lots of targets for Keenan Allen. Look, it's not healthy to compare your current self to your younger self. I tend to find myself doing that. That's not okay. You need to stop that. And you need to stop doing that with Keenan Allen. But you can still play them in your flex.

[Matthew Berry]

Yeah.

[Connor Rogers]

Danny, thank you for your guidance, your prescriptions and your recommended supplements. We appreciate everything. Listen, if you have more flexible frustrations, Denny will be doing a live Q and A right after our show today at 1:00pm Right there from the road of World Football show.

[Matthew Berry]

Yeah. On YouTube. Go check out Dr. Carter. Ask them all about your flexural frustration.

[Connor Rogers]

Taking our first break when we're back, you guys are asking the big questions and we have the answers for what's on tap right after this.

[Matthew Berry]

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[Connor Rogers]

Sunday night, two playmakers at the top of their game collide. Reigning MVP Josh Allen and the Bills host two time MVP Lamar Jackson and the Ravens Sunday seven Eastern on NBC. And Peacock, I've heard both these guys, they're pretty decent. What's on tap is brought to you by Bud Light, the official beer sponsor of the NFL. Sundays are easy to enjoy when they're full and the fridge is filled with beer. And we're going to make it even easier for you by taking some of our best questions of the week. This one from TJ Shyhawks socks hello and thanks for offering. Laugh out loud. Need 1/2 PPR League Tony Pollard, Jameson Williams or Diggs I get the question.

[Matthew Berry]

Because the Titans on the road at Denver, very tough defense as well. But I just feel like the amount of touches that Tony Pollard is going to get. I understand the concern here but like he's not somebody that needs to come off the field on third down. They'll use him in the passing game as well. Listen, this is an improved offensive line from last season. Like the Titans really made that a focal point. And last year in games in which he played at least 60% of the snaps he got over 20 touches. He had a basically a 13% target share here. So I'm at running back 19 this week. I understand the question with, you know, Jameson Williams and some of the other guys, but just to me the guaranteed touches here with Pollard make it too hard for me to pass up.

[Jay Croucher]

Yeah, a lot of touchdown equity as well for Tony Pollard when they get close. And also just think about like they're going up against Patrick Satan. Broncos having one of the best pass rushes in football. The newly extended Nick Benito and co like Kem was not going to drop back 45 times in his debut. Like they're going to want to run the ball. Even if I think gamescript gets out of hand a little bit, I still don't think they're going to completely abandon the run.

[Matthew Berry]

And it's a half ppr. That was the other question about it. Like if it's full ppr, then maybe you might think one of the wide receivers, but I just think half ppr Pollard's probably got the best chance at a touchdown.

[Connor Rogers]

Classic Steve101 asks Chris Olave or Aaron Jones in my Flex Spot PPR.

[Matthew Berry]

Do you think he's a rock and roll DJ? Classic Steve.

[Connor Rogers]

Classic Steve 101.

[Matthew Berry]

You know, here's some Moby, here's, you know, here's some Deep Purple.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah here's the Dire Straits.

[Matthew Berry]

Absolutely. Yes. Classic Steve is definitely classic Steve101 coming to you live. All right, I took Chris Olave here, guys. I mean, I get the. I get the questions here as well, but I have a lobby at 33. I just. Game script should work here. Positively your Saints should be down. Bit like they're almost a touchdown underdog here right at home as well. Lobby's fully healthy. Like, it's week one. It's fully healthy. Spencer Rattler does have Connor, some sort of, you know, Brett Favre. Yolo to him.

[Connor Rogers]

We hope he just takes some shots down the field this year like he used to back in college. And that's what you hope for him and Rashid Shahid.

[Jay Croucher]

Yeah. Saints fans are unbiased, but Chris Olava is the answer here. I think we forget how good Chris Olava is when he's actually out there and healthy.

[Matthew Berry]

It's been so long.

[Connor Rogers]

Multiple concussions. That young is scary, but he's ready.

[Jay Croucher]

To roll when he's out there. Like, he is a top 20 wide receiver in the NFL. Like that level of talent and Spencer Rattler, hopefully. And I think that he will be. He's not the type of guy to like Tim Boyle, check down everything. Like he's going to let it fly, I think.

[Matthew Berry]

Yeah. And by the way, that is one area where the Cardinals struggled last year. I believe they were bottom 10 last year in terms of deep pass completions allowed. Like, you can throw deep on Arizona.

[Jay Croucher]

They're a very exotic defense. Like, they do a lot of funky stuff, and funky stuff can lead to both splash plays in both directions.

[Connor Rogers]

All right, our last one from quattro billiard. Ask 12 men, full point PPR. Zay Flowers or DeAndre Swift.

[Matthew Berry]

I like Zay Flowers as a player so much more than DeAndre Swift, but I think the answer here is DeAndre Swift. Like, I'm just saying, as an NFL player, I like Zay Flowers a lot more than DeAndre Swift. But as a fantasy play, answering this question, 12 team, full point PPR. I'm going to say DeAndre Swift here, guys, like, is, you know who's got the better chance at a touchdown? It's definitely DeAndre Swift. Zay Flowers has never been a big touchdown scorer here as well. And that's going to be an intense game on Sunday night. Be a great game. But on the road above, like, it's a high over under. I'm taking the under on that. I actually don't think there's going to be a ton of points scored relative to expectations in the in the Ravens Bills game there as well. So Swift, who, you know we've sort of talked about, he's kind of similar to Javante Williams. Like he's the only running back that we know of. Like, even though we don't think he's that good, he's going to get a bunch of volume here as well. He had one season under Ben Johnson. It was 2022 in Detroit. He was running back 15 on a points per game basis here. So I'm going with Swift. I just think he's got the more guarantee he's got, the better chance at a touchdown and the more guaranteed workload here. This is the last thing I'll say on this one. I weirdly think I have no sets to back this up. I weirdly think going back to Buffalo where Mark Andrews had such a brutal drop, I weirdly think they try to make this a Mark Andrews game. Like they're going to play the game, they're going to try to win. They don't. But but Andrews is such an important part to that team. I do think there's a they make a goal of trying to get Andrews into the end zone, get him going, try to get the confidence back.

[Connor Rogers]

Bill's weakness is safety right now, too, which aligns with that theory.

[Jay Croucher]

Also, Derek Henry has done whatever he wants against the Bills in their two matchups last year, and I think that's a bad matchup for Buffalo in terms of those those safeties trying to stop Derrick Henry once he gets to the second level. Also, kind of a crowded wide receiver room in Baltimore sneakily now with New Hopkins in there with Zay Flowers and Rashad Bateman.

[Connor Rogers]

That'll do it for what's on tap. Presented by Bud Light. Easy to drink, easy to enjoy. We're gonna take our last break when we're back though. It returns pickup lines on Friday. Jay and I have bets for Matthew. He can only pick one right after this.

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[Connor Rogers]

DraftKings is the official daily fantasy partner of the NFL. And right now all Pick Six customers can play free for a share of DraftKings biggest bag ever. Hit all six picks for your cut of a million dollars or more. Just download the Pick six app and use promo code FFHH when you sign up. Ride the upside with Pick six. It's time for Last Call. We're going to start with our best bets tonight for the big game in Brazil between the Chargers and the Chiefs. Here's the most bet player props right now. Patrick Mahomes alt passing touchdowns. I'm actually taking this one guys. I went over one and a half. This line has moved though. I believe when I originally originally checked in on DraftKings was minus 135. I guess the public is all over. It's now minus 152. Jay, what do you got for us tonight?

[Jay Croucher]

It's like Patrick Mahomes longest completion over 35 and a half yards. I think that they will overcompensate trying to hunt explosives against the Chargers team that is liable to giving them up. My home's at a 50 plus yard pass yet last year against the Chargers.

[Matthew Berry]

Yeah, I completely agree with that. So I'm going with this with Xavier Worthy who we've talked about made the love list. Give me Xavier Worthy over 62 and a half receiving yards. He had at least 65 yards in four of the final five games last year including the playoffs. To your point. The deep pass is a point of vulnerability for the Chargers fantasy wise guys. By the way, I think this is all fairly chalk like you're starting, you're starting Mahomes, you're starting Kelce, you're starting Worthy, you're starting Pacheco, you're starting McConkey now at wide receiver 40, you're starting Hampton. And I think Herbert ideally you have somebody better this week as well. Connor, what's your best bet tonight?

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah, I just want Mahomes over one and a half passing touchdowns. Listen, it's what the public is on but I think the Mahomes revenge tour it's here. I think he's going to be Ready to throw. Not throwing a ton over expectation, but enough that he comes out firing. And I think this will be a pretty entertaining game in terms of the scoring power. I know both defenses are good, but I think these, both these quarterbacks will take some shots down the field in this game.

[Matthew Berry]

One last thing I just want to say, I want to take one quick shout out. I want to give a shout out to a guy named Peter Overzet. Peter Overzed is a friend of mine. He works at fantasy life as well. He's going to be doing the fantasy segment on the pregame show tonight for YouTube and that is a big thing for the fantasy community to have a guy doing fantasy on a pre game of an NFL show. So kudos to Peter Obrezet. Just shout out to him again just for the entire industry. The more people we can get talking fantasy and betting on pregame NFL shows is good for the entire industry. So I'm excited to see Peter tonight.

[Connor Rogers]

Jayna, I got pickup lines for you.

[Matthew Berry]

Okay, let's do it.

[Connor Rogers]

Our best bets of the week.

[Matthew Berry]

Yeah.

[Connor Rogers]

Going into the weekend for me, guys.

[Matthew Berry]

Let's go.

[Connor Rogers]

I'm on the under for titans Broncos. It's 42.5. This is a brutal draw for Cam Ward who I'm excited about this year. I think it's just really tough to go to Denver, play your first NFL game and put up a ton of points. I think the Titans defense is good where I love the Broncos this year, but the Titans defense should be able to somewhat limit that Denver offense. 42 1/2 points is a lot in this game. I love the under.

[Jay Croucher]

Okay, I like that too. My one Matthew mentioned Jalen Warren before his rushing attempts set at 12 and a half. Last year the Steelers running backs, on average, they averaged 25 rushes per game. Najee Harris, my man was the number one running back. He averaged 15 and a half carries per game. I think that Jaylen Warren, in a game where the Steelers are favored, where the jets, even if the jets win, I don't think gamescript is going to get away from Pittsburgh by any means. So I think Jaylen Warren is the number one running back in that room. I think he will go over 12 and a half rushing attempts.

[Matthew Berry]

So listen guys, both really good bets. I like both of them. No flexual frustration for me. So you're getting a fresh Matty. That'll be good for both you guys. But. But honestly, Jay, I'm going home with you. I like the bet as honestly, Jay.

[Connor Rogers]

You might be surprised about this.

[Matthew Berry]

I decided to go home with you. Listen, I believe in Arthur Smith. I do think. With Caleb Johnson, Kenneth Gainwell. I do think they lean on Jaylen Warren here. My nervousness is that Cam Ward throws like, a pick six or something like that. It's closing time. You don't have to go home, but you can stay here. For Jay, for Connor, for Denny Carter. I'm Matthew. We'll see you on Sunday. Morning. Morning. Peace out.