Week 15 Takeaways: TreVeyon Henderson, Trevor Lawrence + Patrick Mahomes tears ACL

Summary

Fantasy Football Happy Hour with Matthew Berry

Episode: Week 15 Takeaways — TreVeyon Henderson, Trevor Lawrence + Patrick Mahomes tears ACL
Date: December 15, 2025
Hosts: Matthew Berry, Connor Rogers, Jay Croucher
Special Focus: Week 15 NFL and Fantasy Football Impact

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into the huge Week 15 NFL slate, highlighted by Patrick Mahomes’ season-ending ACL tear, key injuries to star players, fantasy playoff implications, and breakout performances (notably TreVeyon Henderson and Trevor Lawrence). The trio combines game analysis, actionable fantasy advice, and their trademark playful banter, covering waiver wire moves, rest-of-season outlooks, and the shifting NFL landscape.

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Key Discussion Points

1. Patrick Mahomes’ Season-Ending Injury

Segment Start: 02:27

• News: Mahomes suffers a torn ACL, ending his season and eliminating the Chiefs from playoff contention.

• Fantasy Fallout: Who to start in Mahomes’ absence? Gardner Minshew takes over, but isn't a plug-and-play. Questions surround the value of Chiefs' other skill players, notably Travis Kelce and Rashee Rice.

• NFL Impact: Universal sympathy for Mahomes, regarded as football’s "Roger Federer or Tiger Woods" (Jay Croucher, 03:44). Losing both Mahomes and Micah Parsons in one day is described as “brutal”.

  “It is brutal...I feel like Patrick Mahomes is one of those guys that has universal appeal, just universal approval rating. Who doesn’t like Patrick?” — Matthew Berry, 02:54

Fantasy Advice:
Tune in to their Waiver Wire show for replacements; Minshew is not an automatic start given Chiefs' overall struggles.

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2. Playoff & Division Implications from Injuries

Segment Start: 05:33

• Micah Parsons’ injury shakes up NFC North and Packers’ playoff odds, especially with other injuries to Christian Watson.

• Rams & NFC West: Devante Adams’ hamstring jeopardizes the Rams for Thursday Night Football. Short turnaround likely means Adams will sit, boosting Puka Nacua’s value.

  “Puka Nakua. How many targets can one man get? We’re about to find out.” — Jay Croucher, 06:41

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3. Officiating Woes and Inconsistencies

Segment Start: 07:27

• Discussion on confusing replays and inconsistencies in NFL officiating, particularly relating to pass interference and possession rules.

• The lack of universal standards leads to unpredictable outcomes.

  “I don’t pretend to understand how things are officiated...the biggest issue with officiating in America is that refs do it all differently.” — Matthew Berry, 07:28

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4. Fantasy Studs & Breakout Performances

A. TreVeyon Henderson — Patriots

Segment Start: 08:30

• Trend: Henderson’s explosive, Saquon Barkley-esque runs continue, averaging 17 touches and a significant target share since Ramondre Stevenson returned.

• Award Race: Now considered a favorite for Offensive Rookie of the Year due to high-profile, primetime performances.

• 2026 Draft Outlook: Projected RB12 by the hosts if drafting today.

  “It’s finally like ‘Free TreVeyon Henderson’…this is what happens when you free TreVeyon Henderson.” — Matthew Berry, 08:56

B. James Cook & Bills Running Game

• Both Cook and Henderson top 30 fantasy points in a comeback win over New England.

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C. Trevor Lawrence’s Historic Day

Segment Start: 22:18

• Performance: First QB in NFL history with 5 passing touchdowns, 1 rushing touchdown, and 50+ rushing yards in a game.
• ETN on Lawrence: “I don’t think I ever seen Trev like this...he’s on fire, man.” — Travis Etienne, 22:44
• Future Outlook: Despite the monster performance, caution is advised for his Week 16 road matchup at Denver.

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D. Rams’ Offense Rolls, Adams’ Injury Cloud

Segment Start: 14:23

• Sean McVay's Pessimism: Devante Adams’ chances to play Thursday look slim.
• Fantasy Shifts: Puka Nacua and Colby Parkinson see bumps; Kyren Williams’ role slightly reduced by Blake Corum getting more snaps (still start-worthy but with tempered expectations).

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E. Lions’ Passing Game — St. Brown and Jameson Williams

Segment Start: 19:42

• Amon-Ra St. Brown: Scores the most fantasy points by a WR in a game this season and two of the top three in 2025.
• Jameson Williams: Finally a fantasy WR1, now seeing consistent targets and producing since Dan Campbell took over play-calling.

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5. Fantasy Disappointments & Surprises

Segment Start: 31:41

• Surprising quiet weeks for some stars (Jameer Gibbs, Derrick Henry, Jamar Chase), while lesser-knowns like Trey McBride (TE2 this week) and Michael Wilson for Arizona explode.

• CJ Stroud has solid week, but Texans offense "still very strange" with injury chaos in their backfield; mention of Jawhar Jordan improbably surfacing.

  “Jawar Jordan, welcome to the conversation as well. It is a weird offense.” — Matthew Berry, 34:31

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Notable Quotes & Banter

• On Jay Croucher’s movie spoiler habit:

  “Jay’s plan is to slowly but surely ruin every single movie until only Magnolia is left...” — Matthew Berry, 01:49

• On drinks with McVay vs. Croucher:

  “I’m gonna say the romantic Italian dinner with Crouch was better...” — Matthew Berry, 18:22

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Notable Timestamps & Segments

• 02:27 — Mahomes injury & Chiefs fallout
• 06:41 — Devante Adams injury; Puka Nakua target share
• 08:30 — Bills comeback, Henderson & Cook shine
• 14:50 — McVay on Adams’ hamstring; Rams fantasy impact
• 19:42 — Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams surge
• 22:18 — Trevor Lawrence’s record game & what’s next
• 31:41 — TE explosion: Trey McBride, Kyle Pitts, Dalton Schultz
• 36:07 — Cardinals quarterback & offseason plans debate

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Actionable Fantasy Advice

Waiver Wire & Start/Sit

• Chiefs: Gardner Minshew takes over, but KC skill players are downgraded.
• Rams: Add Colby Parkinson if Higby remains out; Puka Nakua becomes target monster with Adams likely out.
• Texans: Watch Jawhar Jordan status if Woody Marks misses time.
• Patriots/Bills: TreVeyon Henderson and James Cook are top fantasy starters; avoid Pats pass-catchers except Drake May.

Rest-of-Season

• TreVeyon Henderson: RB1/2 rest of season, top-12 potential for 2026 drafts.
• Amon-Ra St. Brown/Jameson Williams: Set-and-forget WRs.
• Kyren Williams: Temper expectations with increased RB committee usage.
• Jameer Gibbs: Lower expectations due to O-Line and workload.
• Breece Hall: Bench if possible; usage plummeting.
• Trevor Lawrence: Strong but matchup-dependent QB1; "not a lock" against Denver.

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Memorable Moments

• Berry & Croucher’s “forbidden love” bit:

  "A Brokeback fantasy of Jay and I...it is. It’s an unspoken love and one that continues to burn bright.” — Matthew Berry, 18:53

• Deep dive on NFL officiating and how all refs see things differently, likened to baseball’s strike zone nuances.

• Rapid-fire endorsement of the George Kittle (future) show, and lively debate about snacks, drinks, and podcast camaraderie.

• Discussion on how the Saints’ Chris Olave is quietly a PPR star due to Tyler Shuck’s emergence.

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Closing Summary

This episode encapsulates the chaos and drama of a pivotal fantasy football playoff week: star quarterbacks and All-Pro defenders going down, unexpected backups shining, and classic fantasy heartbreaks delivered by underperforming studs. Listeners walk away with essential context on how injuries and emerging talents will shape lineups for the crucial fantasy semifinals, plus a generous portion of locker room banter and long-running inside jokes.

Next Up: Waiver wire pickups, deeper injury analysis, and playoff preview on tomorrow’s show.

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For More In-depth Rankings and Lineup Decisions:
Catch the video version on Peacock and NFL on NBC’s YouTube.
Follow Matthew Berry, Connor Rogers, and Jay Croucher for real-time updates.

Transcript

[Matthew Berry]

Did you hit for the first time in a while? Did that wake you up a little bit? Remind you of the game at all?

[Guest or caller]

I never minded that part of it. It actually was. My wife always tells me I'm crazy because there's been times in the last three or four years I said I wish I could just throw one and get hit hard.

[Matthew Berry]

She's like, you're, you're.

[Guest or caller]

That's not normal. But so I didn't mind that part. The one with the, you know, the bobble snapper deal didn't feel great, but the other ones kind of got me going in the game. Felt it actually didn't feel too far off. It was kind of crazy how normal it felt once we got going in the game.

[Matthew Berry]

Fantasy Football Happy hour with Matthew Berry.

[Connor Rogers]

Happy Monday. Welcome to the Fantasy Football Happy Hour. Connor Rogers. Matthew Berry repping the Lions, of course, with a former Ride or Die pick over there. And Jay Croucher.

[Jay Croucher]

Hello, gentlemen.

[Matthew Berry]

Yeah, I like that. I like. And Jay Croucher.

[Connor Rogers]

Yes.

[Jay Croucher]

I didn't want to As a. No.

[Matthew Berry]

As. But as the. As an afterthought.

[Jay Croucher]

Oh, that's not. I was thinking more like the grand finale. Yeah. And also, you know, the. And credit in movies like William Hurt in A History of Violence just has a five minute cameo but kind of steals the movie.

[Matthew Berry]

Yeah. When usually that's what happens is that when there is a big name in an. In a movie but they don't have a huge role. So it's a little. It's like a little ego thing. That's exactly. Ego thing. And Leonardo. Yeah. And featuring, you know, famous person as fill in the blank.

[Jay Croucher]

Yep. Except in the movie Seven where they didn't advertise that Kevin Spacey was the villain and he was not in the credits.

[Matthew Berry]

Whoa. Once again.

[Jay Croucher]

Yeah, again. Came out in 1994. Sorry.

[Connor Rogers]

I have to say.

[Jay Croucher]

Sorry for anyone. Yeah. Literally 31 years ago.

[Connor Rogers]

Sorry.

[Matthew Berry]

Now we don't need to see seven.

[Connor Rogers]

No, I was thinking about watching.

[Matthew Berry]

I feel like. I feel like Jay. Jay's very smart. For all my criticisms of Jay, I will give him this.

[Connor Rogers]

No denying that.

[Matthew Berry]

Unbelievably smart. Really, really, really, really a sharp fella. And I will say that I think Jay has been playing a long game here that I just now figured out. And the long game is this is that Jay is going to spend this time. We've been together three and a half years doing this show on national tv and so Jay's plan is to slowly but surely ruin every single movie until only Magnolia is left and we have to watch it. And we have to watch it because it's the only mo haven't seen that hasn't been ruined for us. So Jay is playing the long game.

[Jay Croucher]

I'll never ruin that one at all. Has a surprise ending too. Really catches you by surprise out of the sky, so to speak, Matthew.

[Matthew Berry]

Yes, it does.

[Connor Rogers]

All right, let's get into it. We got weekend Warriors Sunday scaries and our Monday Night Football preview for you later in the show for Steelers, Dolphins. But we have to start with the Roto world player news and some sad news at the top of the show. Patrick Mahomes drinks for free after a season ending torn acl. So Patrick Mahomes, we are rooting for the comeback, which will be awesome to watch, but man, just, it's been a bad year for the Chiefs and this was kind of just the final, final blow.

[Matthew Berry]

It is brutal. I just, I feel like Patrick Mahomes is one of those guys that even though people are sometimes there are people that are quote, unquote, sick of the Chiefs. Chiefs, right. Chiefs have Chiefs fatigue in the, you know, in the, in the documentary everything. And we've seen them in the, you know, the AFC championship for the super bowl, like every single year it feels like. But I feel like Patrick Mahomes is one of those guys that has universal appeal, like, you know, just universal approval rating. Who doesn't like Patrick?

[Jay Croucher]

I like Patrick Mahomes.

[Matthew Berry]

Everyone likes Patrick Mahomes. Even if you're. Even if you're quote, unquote, fatigued with the Chiefs. You like Patrick Mahomes and you definitely don't want to see this happening. This is Petra Holmes tweeting this out.

[Jay Croucher]

Yeah.

[Connor Rogers]

Don't know why this had to happen. And not gonna lie, it hurts. But all we can do now is trust in God and attack every single day over and over again. Thank you, Chief's Kingdom for always supporting me and for everyone who has reached out and sent prayers, I will be back.

[Jay Croucher]

Yeah, Mahomes is obviously his standing in the game is the closest thing I think the football has right now to, you know, a Roger Federer or a Tiger Woods. Like, he is iconic. His performance, the fact that he was in seven straight AFC title games to start his career is just complete insanity. It's basically what LeBron James did. This is the parallel. Like, this is the regard that you have to hold Mahomes in so hopefully he can get back. It's a brutal day overall. Michael Parsons goes down to. There's like two of the 10 best players in the sport. To lose them on the same day.

[Matthew Berry]

Two ACLs, two. I mean there were a lot of serious Knicks, but like those are season. Those are serious injuries. The questions now become when will they be able to return? Will they be ready for the start of the season next year? We don't know, but massive implications for the Packers. Jay, I want to talk about that in a second. But with Mahomes, obviously the Chiefs got eliminated here. So there's. I want, there's obviously a fantasy impact because the Chiefs have games and you know, everyone has Kelsey and Rashee Rice on their teams. But. But yeah, I mean in terms of the NFL, it's just a. It just whatever. It just sucks, man. It just. You hate to watch tv. Yes. Love.

[Connor Rogers]

Love the Chiefs or hate the Chiefs? They are must watch TV with Patrick.

[Matthew Berry]

There's no question. I love Patrick. It's. It's a, it's a bummer here. Carson Cohen, 3, 8, 9 9. Who we picking up with no Mahomes, like. Well, you'll have to tune in tomorrow to the waiver wire show. Gardner Minshew will take over as quarterback for the Chiefs. I don't know that he's necessarily a quote plug and play. The Chiefs offense hasn't been great with Mahomes. It's been inconsistent, Jake.

[Jay Croucher]

Yeah, it has. I mean, on the season, like it's been fairly efficient. I think their past defense has been the biggest issue, but in recent weeks, like clearly wasn't very good against the Texans. They had their struggles yesterday against the Chargers. And I mean it's obviously a brutal way for the season to end with losing Mahomes like that. But I mean they were likely going to lose the Chargers and they were going to get eliminated from the playoffs. So yeah, terrible year for the Chiefs.

[Matthew Berry]

What are real quickly with Micah Parson, what are the odds of the packers making the Super Bowl? I assume they had to have moved.

[Jay Croucher]

They move now they're in basically a coin flip with the Bears to even win the NFC North. And it wasn't just Mike apostles like Christian Watson. Doesn't look like that's serious, but expect that he is certainly in some doubt for this week against the Bears. And that's a potential division deciding game. So the packers, who go from, you know, the second favorite to win the NFC after the Rams are now just in this cluster of teams and their upside, I mean that was so dependent on Parsons with that defense because he's the only guy generating pressure there. So yeah, just a different team without him.

[Matthew Berry]

There's no question about that. Also, Rams play the Thursday night game. It's a short week for L. A. They play the Seahawks. Speaking about another division that's sort of up for grabs, I think that game decides sort of the NFC West. And no devontae Adams, potentially, he leaves this game with a hammy. This is something that's plagued him throughout his career. He came into the game questionable with the hamstring injury. He leaves the game early, and now he's got a short week to turn around against Seattle, which would be tough if you're going into week 16, the semifinals, finals, without Devonte Adams. And there's a real possibility of that.

[Jay Croucher]

Yeah, absolutely. It likely decides who gets the one seed in the end. Like, this is the biggest regular season game of the season. And Devonte, I mean, not a doctor, but pulling up like that with a hamstring, when you've dealt with issues with it, you would suspect that on the road, on a short break, he is unlikely to play. That was what Sean McVeigh implied, that he's certainly in a lot of doubt. And so, yeah, Puka Nakua. How many targets can one man get? We're about to find out.

[Matthew Berry]

All right, My desperation play. Colby Parkinson back in place. Big moment for Kobe. Parkinson against the Seattle team that struggles against tight ends.

[Connor Rogers]

But you liked that review.

[Matthew Berry]

Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Jay Croucher]

I am very confused about that.

[Connor Rogers]

I think the world was. Unless he.

[Jay Croucher]

He juggled it, but.

[Connor Rogers]

And then repossessed the ball across the pot in an angle. Doesn't matter.

[Jay Croucher]

In an angle that was not shown to America.

[Connor Rogers]

Yes.

[Jay Croucher]

As Dave Landino said.

[Matthew Berry]

I don't. I don't. I don't. I don't pretend to understand how things are officiated. And I think. I think the biggest issue. I don't want to derail us further than we've already been derailed. I think the biggest issue with officiating in the NFL, and I think, you know, so many people complain about officiating the NFL. I don't think it's rigged. I don't think these people are incompetent. I think they all try very, very hard. I think the biggest issue with officiating in America is that refs do it all differently, that there's not one consistent in terms of what one. One. One referee thinks is pass interference. Another referee does not.

[Connor Rogers]

Right.

[Matthew Berry]

And that's the issue, is that there's not a. There's not some. It all gets called differently.

[Jay Croucher]

Yeah.

[Connor Rogers]

Balls and strikes in baseball.

[Matthew Berry]

That's right. I mean, it's the same sort of thing. It's just what one ref thinks is. Is a possession is. Is what another guy's like, no, that's incomplete.

[Jay Croucher]

Yeah. And it's not like, you know, in baseball you can kind of adjust your strategy to the strike zone. In basketball, okay, they're allowing more. We can adjust how we're playing to that. And then if the NFL, it's like, all right, well, it's going to hinge on one or two different calls across the game. So it's not quite the same. So. Yeah, I didn't. I didn't understand that one.

[Matthew Berry]

Yeah.

[Connor Rogers]

All right, guys, let's get into some of these big games. Starting with the Bills come back against New England, they were down by 21 points. This game was really just headlined by some big plays. Huge day for Trayvon Henderson and James Cook. They both topped the 30 point marker. So the running backs go off in this game. Josh Allen does what you expect of him all year, but Matthew, the Trayvon Henderson explosive plays continue to carry him and many fantasy managers right now.

[Matthew Berry]

Yeah, really. I mean, just so impressive. Right. He's in the three games since Ramondre Stevenson returned, he's averaging 17 touches. He's got a 13% target share and that number can only go up. This is an offense that needs explosiveness. Right. And so they have found it in Travion Henderson. It's finally like free Travian Henderson. Oh, this is what happens when you free Trevan Henderson. I mean, I don't know that we're expecting like it's almost Saquon Barkley esque. Like he's having these 40 yard, you know, these huge big runs. He's now have four on the season, I believe of 40 yards or more for him now. He's still playing less than 50% of the snaps. It's weird. Ramondry played 67% snaps. I have to believe that Josh McDaniels realizes, like, we need to get this guy the ball in space more. We need to get him on the field more because he's got a chance to break one any time he touches the ball.

[Jay Croucher]

Yeah, it's. It's been a bizarre season for Travion, but his big play potential obviously is very evident. And now I think this is a reflection of the offensive rookie of the year race that a guy who's getting out snapped by Ramondre Stevenson is now the favorite to win offensive rookie of the Year.

[Matthew Berry]

But.

[Jay Croucher]

But he's in a cluster now with. With the Macaroo bucha and Teterroa McMillan. I suspect the winner is going to be whoever wins the NFC south between. Yeah, to be fair, Tyler Schuck, who was great yesterday, did everyone a favor because I can't say he's bad to Steven Blouse. I'm sorry it's been a plucky season, but I want to see the Bucks.

[Matthew Berry]

I actually disagree. I think Travian Henderson rightfully is the. It depends. I think he's got the opportunity to win this award because again, so next week Trayvon Henderson is on Sunday Night Football. He's on prime time on NBC. And Peacock, I'm a company man and so I think one of the reasons why Travan Henderson has shot up to the favorite is because he's not only had these big splashy plays, but he's had these big splashy pays plays. Excuse me. In big moments when everyone's watching. No one's watching the NFC South. That's the problem. Right. No one cares about the Carolina Panthers, even though they very well, very, very well may host a playoff game. It's just like, you know, the Patriots big game against the Bills. Right. This is a, you know, massive national game and they're going to be on a national tv. If he does something big against the Ravens next week, you know, and he's part of this story of the Patriots winning the one seed, I think he could absolutely do it. Aloha, bricks. What's going to be Henderson's ADP next year? He's going to be running back 12.

[Connor Rogers]

I was just going to say it feels like 10 to 12. Ish.

[Matthew Berry]

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think, I think the people like me will sit here and go like, well, can the big. Are the big runs sustainable? Is Ramon Jay back? Is he built to carry, you know, be an every down running back here? You know, do they get cute with.

[Connor Rogers]

A veteran on the roster because it's Mike Vrabel. But their offensive line might get even better in the offseason.

[Matthew Berry]

That's right. But there's a threat to steel carries at the goal line only from a veteran back. But Drake May, who's mobile, I mean, I feel like.

[Jay Croucher]

Does he drop that head of Ashton Genty?

[Connor Rogers]

Yes.

[Jay Croucher]

Yes. Yeah.

[Matthew Berry]

Depending on what the Raiders do in the office. I think the Raiders are doing a complete. I mean, I think Pete Carroll leaves. I think. I think they're, you know, nuclear. Nuclear. I think they have to blow it all up. So I think if they have a better offensive line, you feel better about who the coach is, you feel better about, you know, all of that, then maybe. But right now, if we drafted today for next year. Of course Henderson goes ahead of him.

[Connor Rogers]

By the way, Tyler Schuck, 25 to 1 in the offensive rookie of the.

[Jay Croucher]

Year race thought about that.

[Connor Rogers]

But the issue is the Jets, Titans and Falcons to finish the season if they go 30 in that stretch. He continues to put up good numbers. Everybody else remains uninspiring, which they've been can win it.

[Jay Croucher]

The issue for Shock is that we're headed into Week 16 and he has six passing touchdowns on the season. Like the numbers just aren't there, I suspect. I think Travyer could absolutely win if Travion goes off again against either the Ravens or the Jets. Yeah, then he can. He can win. I just think that Ibuka is more likely. I thought a Booker played really well last Thursday night. Bacon missed him a few times. I think that if a book has one more big game and the Bucks win the division, I think that his numbers will be better than Trayvon.

[Matthew Berry]

It will certainly be interesting. Either way, you're starting Travian Henderson, you're starting Drake May, who you know now has back to back games with 20 fantasy points for the first time since Week 6 through 8. So that's nice to see. But I don't know that there's anyone else on the Patriots for as good as they are that you feel good about next week in the, in the. In the playoffs, in the fantasy semifinals. Right. I mean Stefan Diggs, third straight game with under six fantasy points. He's got a 56% route position. I don't understand.

[Connor Rogers]

Can't start digs because of the usage. If he was always on the field, you'd be like it's going to turn at some point. But that's a wild route participation. Yeah.

[Jay Croucher]

To use your favorite word. It's a very egalitarian offense. Like there's just between Booty and Bob Douglas and Diggs and honey, it's just whoever's open.

[Matthew Berry]

That's right.

[Connor Rogers]

Is Hunter Henry going to catch one pass this week or seven?

[Jay Croucher]

Like, and Drake May runs it into the goal line as well. So there's just. It's Drake May is the one guy that you feel comfortable starting along with Travis Hansen because of the upside. But outside of that, you know what anyone you don't want any of the pause catches on New England.

[Matthew Berry]

And you know what's weird is like we always used to like with Brady. I just remember we used to on my old show and we would always joke about who did Brady post on his Instagram that week because we like okay, that's the guy that's getting the ball because, you know, Brady always used to mix it around when he was at when he was in New England and we was playing for Josh McDaniels especially, he would mix it around everything like that. And so I wonder if it's just a Josh McDaniels thing who just likes to use multiple guys. He's always like to use multiple running backs as well. So you feel good about Drake May, you feel good about Trayvon, and that's about it. Same thing for the Bills. As good as the Bills were in this game, obviously Josh Allen and James Cook. But after that, I don't know that you feel great about any other maybe Dalton Kincaid just because, yeah, Kincaid's front of the line.

[Jay Croucher]

But it's a bad line. It's not a line you want to be participating.

[Matthew Berry]

That's right.

[Connor Rogers]

All right, guys, our next game. The Rams offense rolls against Detroit in a huge win. When they got humming, they were off to the races here as you see Pukinokua with the Monster day. Good call, Matthew on Colby Parkins been awesome. They've been playing a ton of 13 personnel so their tight ends live on the field. Kyron Williams and Matthew Stafford, solid. But the story coming out of this one, guys, is the status of Devonte Adams. And we got to hear a somewhat pessimistic Sean McVay on this injury after.

[Sean McVay]

The game, you know, he was optimistic talking to him. He knows his body really well. They had an east and west double. He split it and then, you know, just kind of came up where he felt it. So we'll see what that means. I can't imagine that's good for Thursday with just the short amount of time, but I certainly wouldn't rule him out quite yet. But it didn't look good.

[Connor Rogers]

I love the McVeigh. He just talks.

[Jay Croucher]

It's great. He's got some Jameis Winston equity in him.

[Matthew Berry]

Great. Listen, I will tell you this too. So I've met Sean McGay a handful of times, like, because I knew him when he was the Titans coach of the Commanders. They weren't even called the Commanders.

[Connor Rogers]

All time coaching staff.

[Matthew Berry]

All time coaching staff. But anyway, so like I had one night when he was again, this is when he was the tight end coach of Washington. No one cared about him, but I did because I'm a crazy Washington fan. Like, you know, we had drinks one night at the combine. He's awesome. Yeah, he's like what you see on tv. Like, that's him. That's not an act. That's not like, that's not like something he puts on for the cameras. Like that's him 24 7. That's exactly like that. Like he is, he is like that. He's always been like that. And so, and he's done an unbelievable job this year. I don't think he's going to win coach of the year, Jay, but you can make a strong argument that he should.

[Jay Croucher]

Yeah, absolutely. He's one time coach of the year. He won in 2017 back his first year coaching the Rams when he took them to the playoffs. But yeah, McVay's done an incredible job. The offense is just absolutely humming and it's going to face its biggest test yet on Thursday against the Seahawks on the road. They didn't look great on offense the first time they played Seattle and likely no devonte Adams. I'm not sure if there's really much of an action though, in terms of who you want, because it's just Pukinakua is going to have like a 45% target.

[Matthew Berry]

That's right. I mean, they'll, they'll, they'll mix in some other guys here, but there's no one that you're going to feel good about starting in a playoff semifinal. I do think to your point about the 13 personnel again and Tyler Higby's been banged up, so Colby Parkinson, somebody they have looked to quite a bit. So we'll talk about him more tomorrow. I do think Colby Parkinson, especially if Higby remains out on Thursday, is really interesting against the Seahawks. The only thing I want to talk about here, and again, I agree with you, there's not really a takeaway because you're still starting Kyron Williams and it's great. But just I think the touchdowns mask the fact that he's still not playing a ton. You know, he, he, he. Over the last two weeks, he's playing just 53% of the snaps. I mean, Blake Corum's out there more than you would expect again and looks good. Like Corum got into the end zone as well. It was nice that Kyron got the two touchdowns, but again, and you're still starting Kyron. There's not a takeaway here, but it's just like sort of like lowering expectations for them. It's shocking to me on the other side of the ball in a game in which whatever 75 total points or whatever it was was scored that Jameer Gibbs had single digit fantasy points. It's going to, I'm in the final three of A guillotine league. And I'm dead unless Devon Achan has a 40 burger in him tonight. You know, I mean, we're down. It's three super teams in this. And so the fact that I got a 10 or 9.6 from Jameer Gibbs just. Just destroyed me in that league.

[Jay Croucher]

I think the sneaky thing with Gibbs, Connor, is that. So he has the massive game against the Giants where he has the long overtime touchdown. Since they've kind of given the keys more to him in the running game, he hasn't been that efficient on the ground because, like, the offensive. The interior of the offensive line is not that good. Like, he couldn't really get much going on the ground against the packers, against the Cowboys, he was inefficient outside of the touchdowns. And then yesterday, same story.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah, it's absolutely the case. It was all about the wide receivers, which we'll get to in a second. But Jonathan Medici says, Barry, which night was better? Drinks with McVay or a romantic Italian dinner with Croucher, who holds their six beers better?

[Matthew Berry]

You know, it's a great question. And they both, you know, they both hold a special place in my heart for different reasons. You know what I mean? Like, it was. But I'm going to say the romantic Italian dinner with Crouch was better. I'll just tell you why. Because it. It was. It's the continuation. Like, you know, there's a special relationship.

[Connor Rogers]

I heard it from Sean McVeigh says, exactly right.

[Matthew Berry]

It was one night. It was. You know, McVeigh and I had one night, but you and I had. You and I had one night in Buffalo. And that sparked a, you know, everlasting relationship. Yeah, exactly.

[Jay Croucher]

Spoiling a franchise of Dennis.

[Matthew Berry]

Yes, exactly. A Brokeback fantasy of Jay and I. You know, that's something that continues to this day. My wife continues to get jealous of it, but it is. It's an unspoken love and one that continues to burn bright.

[Jay Croucher]

A forbidden love.

[Matthew Berry]

A forbidden love, exactly. Jake holds his beers pretty well. I will say I've never. I don't think I've ever seen you drunk. I've been. I've been out drinking with you a handful of nights.

[Jay Croucher]

That's a lot.

[Matthew Berry]

I don't know that I've ever.

[Connor Rogers]

He just. He holds it really well. Where you don't go, Jay's drunk. You just. Jay's been drinking the same. He's just fine.

[Matthew Berry]

Yeah, he pulls it together pretty well. The one night in the combine where you somehow managed to scrounge up little bottles of wine at 2:30.

[Jay Croucher]

Yeah, that was good.

[Connor Rogers]

Next day you've had better moments.

[Jay Croucher]

I struggled.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah, you power through to your credit.

[Jay Croucher]

Yeah, I power through. Yeah. I always show up like, you know, Keanu raising hardball. Most important thing is showing up. I always show up.

[Matthew Berry]

There you go. I'm wearing 14 to represent Amon Ra St. Brown, who had the most points by wide receiver and G this entire season. He now has two of the top three games by a wide receiver in 2025. He has a 48% target share in this game. 18 targets tied for the third most playing a game this season. It says there's no takeaway other than that. Like if you faced Kyle Pitts on Thursday night or Trevor Lawrence, we'll get to him in a second and you're just like, oh man, I'm dead in the water. And then boom, here comes Amman Ross St. Brown to save you in the afternoon window. 14. We love you. Former ride or die. Always a ride or die. Valiant Vincent 13 writes no Barry. After what you did to Stafford, how dare you wear that. Stop it. Stafford was good last. Stafford was good yesterday after you spilled.

[Jay Croucher]

Diet soda on triggered a loss to the Carolina Panthers.

[Matthew Berry]

This is like even even though they had three rushing touchdowns, he still was a top 11 quarterback heading into Monday night Football. Matthew Stafford. Stop it. I'm on raw St. Brown. Don't worry, don't worry. I've got, you know, spill proof. Yeah, spill proof here. Yeah.

[Jay Croucher]

I think though the Amon Ra's game notwithstanding, the real takeaway is Jameson Williams just wide receiver one. Right.

[Connor Rogers]

Because the targets are consistently there. The whole story with Jameson Williams for how many weeks was oh cool, a goose egg or one target or two targets and now it's just consistently seven catch performance. He's the primary read off than Matthew since obviously since Dan Campbell has taken over plays, there's been an emphasis on Jameson Williams.

[Matthew Berry]

It's crazy for a guy that like a lot of people and we were at some point like, you know, yeah man, you can't trust this guy. You know what I mean? Like this is somebody that we saw. This is somebody that we saw dropped in fantasy Leagues since week nine, he's been the seventh best wide receiver in fantasy football over the last three weeks. He's got a 30% target share. Connor, to your point, like he's often the first read and because their defense is so, is so struggling, you know, I mean they're continuing to just. They're having to get into this game script and throwing it is, it is weird in a game that again, 45 points are scored and they're just throwing as much as they are where Jared Goff throws the ball over 40 times. That Jameer Gibbs can't do anything. But Jameson and Amon Ra, they don't really have a tight end. And you know, Isaac Tesla has not really. You know, I mean, so the passing game is really fairly narrow too.

[Jay Croucher]

Yeah, 75 points scored in the game. But the highlight very clearly, Aiden Hutchinson on the interception, looking over both of his shoulders, basically, like I would if I was trying to run back and forth. He got some legs on him, too. I nudged it for a defensive end, but just kind of ran out of gas at the end.

[Matthew Berry]

Yeah, exactly. They're home to Pittsburgh next week and then at Minnesota. So two home games or two dome games, I should say, for Jared Goff. So we expect the Lions to keep rolling.

[Connor Rogers]

Matthew, you mentioned Trevor Lawrence going nuclear this weekend against the Jets. That is the Trebler and the Trebler 44.3 points and they could have been even bigger. How about Travis ETN catching three touchdowns? Jacksonville's offense could have done whatever they wanted to in this game. Obviously, Lawrence put on a baseball hat in the fourth quarter. We got to hear from etn. He thinks this is the best Trevor Lawrence has ever played. And those guys go back all the way to their time at Clemson.

[Travis Etienne]

I don't think I ever seen Trev like this, you know, and I feel like we won a national championship together. And I feel like he's just out there. He's on fire, man. Like you've seen it. He rolled out again and he just kind of stopped and just Parker's down there somewhere. You know, he launched it and Parker made a great catch. So, man, I'm just grateful that I'm on his team and the growth that I've seen through him from him, man, just unbelievable. And it forces everybody else to step up that game as well.

[Jay Croucher]

It's very unclear how Jags jets has made the rundown over Vikings, Cowboys and other.

[Matthew Berry]

I didn't have anything to do with it.

[Jay Croucher]

Talking about Jags jets again.

[Matthew Berry]

See, this is what's weird is I don't think it's unclear at all. I think it's crystal clear. Our producer, Steven d' Agostino is a die hard Jaguars fan. He. He spends his free time away from his wife at a Jaguars bar in New York City.

[Connor Rogers]

Desperate, sad, with some weird teal liquid.

[Matthew Berry]

Yes, it's unbelievable. They drink the Jackson.

[Connor Rogers]

You know, it looks like windshield washer fluid.

[Jay Croucher]

Yes. To be clear, Phil Rivers is a grandfather who came back after five years of time. He hasn't made the rundown, but we're going to talk about Brian Thomas going 4 for 66.

[Matthew Berry]

Yeah. Yeah. So look, you know, you know what, Stephen? Screw these guys. I don't blame you. It's your team. You finally have something to be proud about. Yeah. You shove it into the rundown. What do you care? It's week 15. What do we care? You know, So I don't blame you. Stephen, don't listen to these guys as well. And by the way, what Travis. What Travis ETN is talking about is that was one of the throws of the year. Trevor Lawrence, like, off of his back foot, going across his body, cross the field to Parker Washington down there hitting him in stride. Unbelievable throw. Just an amazing throw. And here's what's amazing. Here's my takeaway. There's nothing you can do about it because I can't imagine as brilliant as Trevor Lawrence has played and as brilliant as his performance with since. Since week five, he's the third best quarterback in fantasy. On a points per game basis, 17 fantasy points in eight of the past 10. Obviously, this, this performance elevates that average and brings him up, but still, he's the first quarterback in NFL history with five passing touchdowns, one rushing touchdown, and 50 or more rushing yards in a game. Kudos to anyone that started him. He's probably started in a bunch of super flex leagues. He was on a love list this week. I had him as a top 12 play. Certainly didn't expect this. All that said, he's on the road at Denver next week and I don't know if you sort of trust Trevor Lawrence as great as he's looked on the road at Denver next week. Jay?

[Jay Croucher]

Yeah, I still, I think there's a few things with Trevor. One, he is playing very well and there are reasons to believe this signal in these performances and that he's getting more acclimated to Liam Cohen's system. He's got this rapport with Jacoby Myers, Brian Thomas Jr. Has turned the corner, etcetera, etcetera. The pushback is that, like, the jets are a fake team at the moment. Like, that was an absolute disgrace, that performance on David, and they just fired their defensive coordinator, Steve Wilkes as a result.

[Matthew Berry]

And now six days after a vote of confidence.

[Connor Rogers]

Yes.

[Jay Croucher]

Yeah, it's not. Yeah. Obviously, 12 hours after things aren't great in East Rutherford for either team, but this is great because all of this hype around Trevor Lawrence, which a lot of it is Deserved.

[Matthew Berry]

Now he gets to go on the.

[Jay Croucher]

Road to Denver, improve it against what's the top four or five defense in the NFL. I suspect that it's going to look a lot more difficult, but there is confidence. Like even going up against Denver, you still feel fine starting Trevor Lawrence in a super flex league? I think. I just don't think that he's a locked in QB1 or anything this week.

[Matthew Berry]

Like so I'm in my dynasty league that I'm in. I got a, I got a first run by. So I'm in the playoffs next week. I'm in the semifinals against actually against my good buddy Daniel Doppelganger. So it's a, it's a dynasty league with a bunch of my friends from, from espn and producer Damian, by the way, has the number two seed. So there you go. Shout out team NBC. But so here are my three quarterbacks though. Trevor Lawrence, Baker Mayfield, Jared Goff. Who am I starting next week? You know what I mean? It's a super flex league, right.

[Connor Rogers]

My, my positive outlook on Lawrence.

[Matthew Berry]

I've been starting Baker and Goff the entire year, basically. Yeah.

[Jay Croucher]

Still starting Baker and Goff against Carolina.

[Connor Rogers]

And the positive is bad. Mike hit the ball at will for the Broncos. Maybe that's a sneaky throw. Scri.

[Matthew Berry]

Yeah.

[Connor Rogers]

Anyway, moved the ball. It all fell apart after the insane interception from Certain and Christian Watson getting hurt on the same play. Denver's defense is really good. They're not in the territory of I can't start my fantasy.

[Jay Croucher]

I think Seattle Houston defense, I would agree with that.

[Matthew Berry]

But anyway, something to talk about all week long about whether you can trust Trevor Lawrence. You're still starting Travis etn. Obviously. Nice to see some signs of life From Brian Thomas Jr. Who's wide receiver 15 as we head into Monday football since in the three games since his return he's got an average up to target of 20.7. So it's just almost 70% of his passes have gone deep, which is nice because that's, that's what made Brian Thomas last year with all the deep throws from Mac Jones. So seeing Trevor Lawrence like seeing Brian Thomas getting back to being Brian Thomas.

[Jay Croucher]

Yes.

[Matthew Berry]

Just, you know, felt good to see that as well. And you know, again, Travis Ctan also on the love list here as well. I'm curious, Connor, because I was not, I did not watch SNY yesterday. I apologize. Yeah, no, no, I was on air and then, you know, we had. Watching football. What was the mood like after that? Because I agree with Jay.

[Jay Croucher]

It's not a Real same it's been for the past 54 years. Right.

[Connor Rogers]

Eventually you reach this point in the season where you're like, well, it's that point of the season again.

[Matthew Berry]

But I mean like, are you just like just bailing on these? I mean, like just bagging on them harshly or you're just like, ah, it's just whatever. It's a weird joke.

[Connor Rogers]

I mean, schematically, we've been tough on Wilkes because they are so poor. Schematically. But it's also reached the point of the defense where like they've shut a lot of players down. They've traded their two best players. I mean, you're starting an undrafted free agent at quarterback, like what can.

[Matthew Berry]

Right.

[Connor Rogers]

Eventually, what can you say? Right. I'm not saying they're tanking, but there is clearly at the tipping point of the season where like Breece Hall's usage. Yeah, Breece hall was basically nowhere to be found. It felt like the second half of the game and it feels like that's strategic.

[Matthew Berry]

So played just under 40% of the. His 38% rush rate was his lowest this season. He's now had back to back games with under six fantasy points. He was on the hate list this week. Love hate. Actually did pretty well this week. Over his past four games, he's averaging under three yards per carry. Like for a guy that you know, he's running back 43, you can't use Breeze Hall. If you survive this week to play next week in the playoffs and you have Breece hall on your team, you did it despite Breeze hall. Not because of him. You can't start him as well.

[Connor Rogers]

Saints defense also, by the way, playing pretty well right now.

[Matthew Berry]

They certainly are. Two things I'm going to ask you though. I thought for a game in which they got their asses kicked, I actually thought Brady Cook was fun. I thought better than expected. Maybe because expectations were so low.

[Connor Rogers]

We call it the Tim Boyle line.

[Matthew Berry]

And he's above it 1000%, which is.

[Connor Rogers]

A nice place to be for an undrafted free agent. And he got Adonai Mitchell to football.

[Matthew Berry]

That was the point of it. 27% target share that Mitchell's had now with the jets, he's had at least one end zone target in every single game. 17 fantasy points or more in two of the past three. Is this a signal here? Do you think you could trust Mitchell next week on the road at New Orleans again?

[Connor Rogers]

That Saints defense though, picking up? They're pretty good. Yeah, I would, I would hope to have better options. I don't Think Garrett Wilson is going to come off of ir. So Adonai Mitchell will still operate as the number one. There was no Mason Taylor in this game. It's a desperation flex play.

[Jay Croucher]

I said Brady Cook went like. He went like 1 for 5 with a double and a sack bunt pretty much came overall, but there were some.

[Connor Rogers]

Moments in, like, the eight hole.

[Jay Croucher]

Yeah, exactly.

[Connor Rogers]

That's. Yeah, yeah.

[Jay Croucher]

Cobra Kaga here. Barry's gonna take off the hat and shake off those golden locks he got in T Law's honor. Hell of a reveal, but I see it coming. That would actually be kind of reminiscent of Kevin Spacey's role in seven. For anyone who's seen that basically. Nice callback, emotional tenor.

[Matthew Berry]

Cobra Kiger. That's not going to happen this year now.

[Connor Rogers]

But it could. But it could. All right, our next game, guys. Another blowout here. My goodness. Houston killed Arizona, but Arizona is the master of these garbage points. Draymond Bride over 37.

[Matthew Berry]

Unbelievable. I almost roar War McBride today instead of Amon Ra. You know, it's the third best fantasy game by a tight end this season. Even against Houston, the elite Texans defense. Jacoby Brissette gets it done once again. Another start where He's a top 12 quarterback. We'll see what happens tonight, but Assuming Rodgers or Tua, Jacoby Brissette is QB12, as we had Monday Night Football, at least 18 fantasy points in all nine of his starts since taking over as the starter in Arizona. He's the fifth best quarterback in fantasy. Why Kyler Murray couldn't do any of this is unbelievable to me. He's the first quarterback. He's the first quarterback. Jacoby freakin Brissett is the first quarterback to score at least 20 fantasy points against the Houston Texans this year. And even Michael Wilson, it wasn't, you know, crazy. Number one wide receiver in fantasy football. But Michael Wilson, very usable. Over 16 fantasy points, he's wide receiver 7:17 on the week so far. Six end zone targets the past four weeks. Jacoby Brissette understands the assignment, guys.

[Jay Croucher]

Yeah, it's so funny. Trey McBride. Here you see a stat line and then in brackets on the rundown, it says tight end two. I was like, what? I was like, ah, Kyle Pitts.

[Connor Rogers]

One of the greatest games in fantasy tight end history.

[Matthew Berry]

What a wacky week.

[Jay Croucher]

12 for 134 and 2. Only good for the shadow of Kyle Pitts.

[Matthew Berry]

For you, you have these crazy. I mean, it's like every week in NFL and fantasy football is wacky, but, like, this one just feels, like, special. You had like, you've got like the Amon Ra and McBride and you know, Kyle Pitts and Trevor Lawrence and Aaron Williams and Travis Etienne's had a bad week.

[Jay Croucher]

And Puka, right, Puka goes 9 for 181. It feels like an afterthought.

[Matthew Berry]

Right? That's right. And yet. So you have these massive blow up games and then you have all these, you know, disappointments. Right, right. You have, you know, Jameer Gibbs not doing anything. Right. You know, I mean like in, you know, some of these, these bigger name guys.

[Connor Rogers]

Joe Burrow.

[Matthew Berry]

Yeah. Joe Burrow brewed Austin.

[Jay Croucher]

Yeah.

[Connor Rogers]

Jamar Chase didn't do much like cheapy production, but. Right.

[Matthew Berry]

It's just like. Yeah, but like Derek Henry against the Bengals, 10 fantasy points. Like, how's that?

[Jay Croucher]

That was a bad game. That was a bizarre.

[Matthew Berry]

Yeah, we're gonna get to that Texan.

[Jay Croucher]

Side of the ball. It's just, it's a very strange offense still. Stroud gets his numbers. That Arizona is so decimated on defense, I'm not sure how much you can read into it as sustainable. But Nico Collins looks like Nico Collins for some splash plays. But still only four targets, which was less than half the amount of targets that Dalton Schultz got. But Matthew, I think the most interesting aspect of this now is the Texans backfield.

[Matthew Berry]

Yeah. Obviously Nick Chubb wasn't active for this game. He's hurt. Woody Marks leaves this game with an injury. And so you know, Dario Gumbow and Jawar Jordan. I mean, Connor didn't even get to.

[Connor Rogers]

Him in the draft.

[Matthew Berry]

I mean, like I will just say this. Connor Rogers has as deep a knowledge of college football players as any guy I've ever met.

[Connor Rogers]

I need to look at my 2024 rankings and actually see, I don't like Jordan. It's not off the top of my head. Jawar Jordan, I need to like check my notes, but I know he was a sixth round pick, but man, like for this to happen, it's like who and when?

[Matthew Berry]

And I mean it literally. But it was like. Wait, George, hang on. Like, hang on. Let me flip to the back of that.

[Jay Croucher]

Like, immediately thrusts himself into the JJ Power rankings as well. Which we talked about last week.

[Matthew Berry]

Right? And we got Jaw Jordan. Yeah, sure. By the way, home to Las Vegas next week. We'll talk about Jawar Jordan more tomorrow as we get more information on Woody Marks injury here.

[Jay Croucher]

But Jawar Jordan or Saquon Barkley?

[Matthew Berry]

All right, it's a question.

[Connor Rogers]

Here it is, guys.

[Matthew Berry]

You have a report on him? See, I told you. Conor Rogers goes Deep man.

[Connor Rogers]

It's amazing the names that go just in and out of your brain. He was RB22 for me that year out of 31 around household names like George Helwani on the Seahawks, Jaden Sheardon. Kamani Vidal was a couple spots ahead of him as we still in lobby. Kendall Milton was a spot ahead of him. He was a senior bowl guy. Kind of this like undersized, slippery kind of running back.

[Matthew Berry]

But where'd he play college ball?

[Connor Rogers]

Louisville.

[Matthew Berry]

Okay. Louisville. All right, fair enough.

[Jay Croucher]

All right.

[Matthew Berry]

Jawar Jordan, welcome to the conversation as well. It is a weird offense. I mean Schultz, I feel like you can continue to count on Schultz. Like just the volume is there. He is a. He's a catch and fall down tight end. But 11 or more fantasy points in seven of the last 10 games, you know, 35% target share in this game. It's unbelievable. The fact that Nico Collins can only get four targets. It's just mind boggling to me as well. But we thought CJ Stroud would be a good streamer this week and he was his most fantasy point since week five. But you know, it was all dink and dunk stuff. Like he just, he just wasn't. His average depth of target in this game was four. Like it was all. And that's why Schultz had the game that he did.

[Connor Rogers]

Right. And they're kind of moved the offense to being like this in recent weeks where it's working. Our defense is awesome. We don't need to open it up. So let's, let's play a more surgical smart game. It's good for real football.

[Matthew Berry]

It is. Yeah.

[Connor Rogers]

But if you're expecting. And Stroud was good in this game. But if you're expecting these just like drop back bombs.

[Matthew Berry]

Nico and Schultz are the guys that you're absolutely starting in. And we'll talk about the backfield tomorrow. But potentially in a deeper league if you, if you're desperate, you might need to. Especially the Cardinals backfield banged up as well. But you know, I think you never want to root for injury. You never want to. But from a fantasy football perspective, I think we're all saying Marvin Harrison Jr. Take your time. Come back next year healthy. Let's get you healthy for next year. No. No need to rush back. No, you know, let's. Because I mean Michael Wilson is the greatest wide receiver in fantasy football since mh. It's so bizarre to me.

[Jay Croucher]

Yeah.

[Connor Rogers]

We've at least figured out the offense.

[Jay Croucher]

Yeah.

[Connor Rogers]

Of what it is in fantasy.

[Matthew Berry]

I just wonder. I'm going to Derail this one more time for one second here. But, like, if you're Arizona guys. Connor, if you're. No, I'm dead serious. If you're Jonathan Gannon, if you're Drew Petzig, if you're the front office of the Cardinals, what are you doing this offseason?

[Connor Rogers]

Because, well, you won't have to worry about that.

[Matthew Berry]

Yeah. You think they're all gone?

[Connor Rogers]

I think Monty Ossenfort survives because, shockingly, like, their drafts aren't as bad as you would think for how bad the team is.

[Matthew Berry]

Yeah, it's weird because the defense has shown signs of life.

[Connor Rogers]

Right.

[Matthew Berry]

But. And then they're putting up points. What's weird is, like. I mean, like, it's not real offense, though.

[Jay Croucher]

It's not, like, real.

[Connor Rogers]

In the first half of every game.

[Matthew Berry]

Yeah, no, I know.

[Jay Croucher]

They're torching prevent defenses.

[Matthew Berry]

Is that what it is? I just wonder, like, if you. If you invest in the defense in the off season, like, I don't think Joey Brusett is like. But, like, if you. But it feels like with Marvin Harrison Jr. Trey McBride and Michael Wilson, like, it's. Suddenly there's. There's pieces there.

[Jay Croucher]

Like, you got to draft a quarterback, I think.

[Matthew Berry]

And they will.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah, they will. They'll move on from Kyler. They'll try to get a quarterback in a draft that doesn't have a lot of them. They'll do something different.

[Matthew Berry]

Mendoza after Mendoza and who else?

[Connor Rogers]

We'll see if Dante Moore declares.

[Matthew Berry]

Okay.

[Connor Rogers]

He's in the playoff. And then Ty Simpson could declare.

[Matthew Berry]

Okay.

[Connor Rogers]

Sellers just went back to school, which is the right. Oh, my goodness. No.

[Matthew Berry]

You're not a Diego Pavia fan.

[Connor Rogers]

I don't know how many five, nine quarterbacks will go in the first 100 picks.

[Jay Croucher]

We'll see.

[Connor Rogers]

We'll see. Our last game, guys. Packers, Broncos. This one was a great game from Bo Nicks, especially after the first quarter where he was just on fire in this one, Cortland Sutton and Troy Franklin, the beneficiaries of that. And then, of course, the unfortunate news, Christian Watson getting hurt. And really, since Jordan Love threw that pick to certain Matthew, it was kind of all downhill for Green Bay.

[Matthew Berry]

Yeah, Jordan Love looked good for a while there. Jay, your good name was. Had been restored.

[Jay Croucher]

And then, tell you what, they were -410 live to win the game when they were up eight or something. And then it all fell apart after that. It's so funny. This is the epitome, right, of the packers passing offense. The note next to Jaden Reed here In the rundown team high 17% target share. 17% is the team high for this offense, which just distributes evenly. It looks like Watson's injury is not serious. Still has to be in some doubt for the game against Chicago.

[Matthew Berry]

But if you game and that game is on the road at Chicago, if.

[Jay Croucher]

Watson can't go, I think, I think Jaden Reed is the guy that you feel best about in this offense because Dobbs, his role is just seemed to diminish.

[Matthew Berry]

I. But you know, on the road to Chick, I agree with that. But on the road to Chicago, I just. It's a playoff semifinal. I can't imagine starting anyone other than Josh Jacobs on this team. Like, hey, signs of life from Matthew golden. You know, three for 55. His most receiving yards in a game. You know, they actually, actually saw Go. But Right. But like, yeah, and so you got Dobbs. And I said, I agree with you that if I had to pick a Packers wide receiver if Watson's out, Reid is the obvious guy. But I don't. Yuck. You know what I mean? I just. And I don't feel great about Jordan Love. I know he had, you know, he had a nice game here, but I, I don't know. I wouldn't. We'll talk more about that week. It was interesting though.

[Jay Croucher]

But.

[Matthew Berry]

But with. With Pat Bryant out and who else got hurt in this game? Did Franklin get hurt in this game? There was another wide receiver that got banged up in the Denver game, but basically all the targets went to Courtland.

[Jay Croucher]

Huh? Mims.

[Matthew Berry]

Mims. That was, I think Mims. But Cortland Sutton just basically got all the targets right. 10 targets. Huge game. 7 for 1. 13 and a touchdown. 31% target share. His third straight game with at least an end zone target. Sutton is a, you know, it would be a real good game against Jacksonville next week, I think. You know, Knicks and Sutton you feel good about. On the Broncos side, RJ Harvey. Not a huge game there, but still the usage was somewhat there, which was encouraging.

[Jay Croucher]

Great game from Bo Nix.

[Connor Rogers]

He was awesome.

[Matthew Berry]

He was awesome.

[Connor Rogers]

He was really awesome.

[Jay Croucher]

He has been inconsistent, much maligned, but played very well.

[Matthew Berry]

He did play very well.

[Connor Rogers]

All right, we're going to take our first break. When we're back, weekend warriors and Sunday scaries from week 15 after this.

[Travis Etienne]

Absolutely not.

[Matthew Berry]

He's Jesus Christ lizard running on water. Just no ball security fake pitching at.

[Guest or caller]

The end of a 40 yard run.

[Jay Croucher]

Absolutely.

[Guest or caller]

Just diabolical behavior by QD Wong.

[Connor Rogers]

But I love it.

[Matthew Berry]

As long as he's running out of.

[Connor Rogers]

Bounds, I don't care.

[Matthew Berry]

Just don't take a hit and I.

[Guest or caller]

Just don't need that in my life.

[Connor Rogers]

Weekend Warriors. That was George Kittle who always got something interesting to say.

[Matthew Berry]

I am. I cannot wait for the George Kittle show whenever that airs.

[Jay Croucher]

Whenever.

[Connor Rogers]

You bet.

[Matthew Berry]

I mean somebody needs to put that together. NBC, if you guys are listening, break out the checkbook. Jameis and George, come on. Tell me that's not a show. Tell me that's not must see tv.

[Connor Rogers]

Well, right now, Purdy and George was the show we got to see. Brock Purdy was awesome yesterday against the Titans and George Kittle benefited from that. Jay, 88 yards and a touchdown.

[Jay Croucher]

Yeah, understand it was against the Titans, but that's. That's the most kind of 20, 23, 9 as he. They've looked, I think all season. Purdy was on the move, slinging it remind us he can move as well. So yeah, it bodes well in a pretty favorable schedule the next two weeks at least. They go at the Colts on Monday Night Football and then home to the Bears. Those secondaries not particularly frightening. So yeah, I think Brock Purdy and George Kittle should have a huge close.

[Connor Rogers]

Despite a loss for the Giants. Matthew, against your commanders. Jackson Dart and Tyrone Tracy finally getting some volume and he looked good with it.

[Matthew Berry]

Yeah, I mean that was the key. Like we expect Jackson Dart to do this against the commanders. He's had at least 22 fantasy points in three of the last four and five of the last seven since week six. He's the second best quarterback in fantasy football and you like his game next week at home against the Vikings. But how about Tyrone Tracy who very quietly has been a top 13 running back in three of his past four games. He's gotten at least 18 touches in each of those games. Huge game here in terms of the catch, everything like that. But like it feels like I'm hoping that, you know, this 18 touch game for Tyrone Tracy carries on and that they stop with the Devon Singletary nonsense.

[Connor Rogers]

He looks healthy, creative everything and looked healthy.

[Matthew Berry]

He came to the game with a hip injury. There was concerns there, but he looked like Tyrone Tracy. They play the Vikings as I mentioned next week. So I do think Tyrone Tracy is a viable flex next week in the fantasy playoffs.

[Connor Rogers]

Another DOJ. D.J. moore and DeAndre Swift each with two touchdowns in this game. The Bears are so effective at running the ball.

[Jay Croucher]

Yeah, great individual game from DJ Moore, but I'd be selling this a little bit, just not a high target. You only had the five targets. He's in a game in which Roma.

[Matthew Berry]

Dunes A was ruled out late.

[Jay Croucher]

Warm ups needed an all time miracle throw connection with Kayla Williams in the end zone as well. DeAndre Swift I think is a bit more sustainable because this rushing offense just cannot be stopped. Super efficient against what had been one of the best rushing defenses in the league and now they get, you know, packers without Micah Parsons and then this Niners defense sneak thing about the Niners, they have one of the worst defenses football like they don't have any horses left and they're doing with all smoke and mirrors. I think the Bears are going to do whatever they want in that I.

[Matthew Berry]

Am not a huge DeAndre Swift fan or I've not been throughout my career. I will say that his the one of the touchdown runs was unbelievable. He said a good year. He's had a really, really good year. He's, he has, he's, he's stunted the growth of Mike Kalamanung guy who I love. He doesn't get into the end zone in this one as well. But Swift was fantastic. 55% rush rate. He's now had 20 or more fantasy points in two of the last three. Swift is somebody that I think obviously continues to be a borderline RB one.

[Connor Rogers]

Matthew, we brought up earlier how well Tyler Schuck is playing and Chris Alave starting to really benefit from that.

[Matthew Berry]

He's had at least a 25% target share in four the past five games. This is what we thought would happen when Rashid Shahid went to Seattle and that's exactly Chris Olave. Like give Tyler Schuck credit. He is kind of gutty and he does what we care about. Get the ball to Chris Olave, who's been quietly one of the unheralded stars of fantasy football this year in terms of, in terms of value at adp, right? I mean like just everyone sort of kind of left him for dead and he's, he's continued to sort of PPR scam his way to relevance here. He's the ninth best wide receiver in fantasy as we head into Monday Night Football. Gets the jets next week. Your pathetic Jets.

[Connor Rogers]

Good matchup for Shuck.

[Jay Croucher]

Awesome play call by Kellen Moore to end the game.

[Connor Rogers]

Both play callers have been great for the Saints.

[Matthew Berry]

Kellen Moore is not going to win a bunch of Coach of the Year votes, but he's absolutely, he should be in the conversation because he's done an unbelievable job with Coach of the Year.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah, there we go.

[Matthew Berry]

Kellen Moore has done a great job this year.

[Connor Rogers]

Hand up Jay I thought Tony Pollard's week last week was a total one off in fantasy but effective. Not the same week, but effective again.

[Jay Croucher]

Yep, he's just getting. He's getting 70% of the carries. The offense just looks much better as Cam Ward continues to grow in his rookie season. Now, I don't think the Niners defense is particularly good. I think that was a big part of this, but he's getting the work.

[Connor Rogers]

Dallas Goddard. Matthew. A big week in the tight end landscape. Six catches, 70 yards and most importantly for tight end, two touchdowns.

[Matthew Berry]

Yeah, he was. And by the way, you like him to keep going against Washington. You know, like I was asked on the football night in America pod, who was the. We asked him the hero of various games and somebody asked me what who is the hero of the Eagles game? And I said the schedule makers. Yes, exactly. They sent Las Vegas to them a week after a disaster on Monday Night Football.

[Connor Rogers]

Our last one here, Jay JJ McCarthy. Two touchdowns through the air, another one on the ground just tore up the Cowboys defense. A much better two weeks for JJ who things have settled down a little bit. I don't know if it's sustainable for the rest of the year, but things look a lot better.

[Matthew Berry]

I thought yes to the eye test. Connor, he looked much better.

[Connor Rogers]

The fourth down touch throw is what really gives you promise because he's just not throwing fastballs all the time. He didn't look as panicky in the pocket.

[Jay Croucher]

He looked in control.

[Connor Rogers]

That's exactly right. Like the offense is. Things are slowing down a little bit.

[Matthew Berry]

Yeah, better, but not there yet. I mean like he had Justin Jefferson on a crosser that he just completely overthrow him. Which drove me crazy because I had, you know, Justin Jefferson 50 yards and if he just hits, if he hits, Justin Jefferson's anywhere close that cash is as well. There's the end zone targeted where he again he threw a fastball where it's just like, just dude, take a little bit off of that and that's a touchdown. But still signs of life for JJ McCarthy. I thought this was impressive. I. I don't know what you can do. Like Justin Jefferson got eight targets in this game and still two for 22. Again killed my parlay last night. My. My best bet did hit. I had JJ McCarthy over on the rushing yard. So my best bet did hit. We're four in a row on best bet on Sunday Night Football. But my parlay, I hit two of the legs. But the third leg, Justin Jefferson 50 yards did not get it despite the fact he gets the eight targets and McCarthy's eight starts this season, he's under 10 fantasy points. He's averaging just nine fantasy points. They play the Giants next week. I just don't know what you do with Justin Jefferson.

[Jay Croucher]

I think you got to keep style again. Yeah, yeah.

[Connor Rogers]

Eight targets and it's the Giants. I play them again.

[Matthew Berry]

Yeah, I know. I get it. But tough game. Tough day at the office. That same game with George Pickens who now has back to back games with single digit fantasy points and a below 20% target share in that game. Does it seem, Connor, that teams are suddenly basically saying, like, we're actually okay with CD Lamb, we want to stop the big plays from George Pickens. That's where our defensive attention is.

[Connor Rogers]

The pendulum has started to swing that way. Where it's not, hey, George, just kill us while we shut down CD it's. They've definitely allocated more attention to him. Over the top. Tired of giving up those big plays. And you know, Dallas, at least that side of things hit a wall for them a little bit. Our next one. Another duo here, guys. Justin Herbert and lad McConkey, Jay, they. This offensive line does not give Herbert a chance. And I don't think it's going to get any better next week.

[Jay Croucher]

No credit to Justin Herbert. He's still standing in the pocket. He is not rattled by the pass rush or anything. It's just that he just doesn't have a chance. And this offense is. This team is the epitome of just doing enough to get these wins. But I think that yesterday said a lot about where the Chiefs are at at the moment. So just not a very. It's not fertile fantasy ground in Los Angeles right now.

[Matthew Berry]

No, it is not. I can't imagine, I don't know that there's anyone you feel good about starting on this Chargers offense.

[Connor Rogers]

I would play Hampton next week. Yeah, it's Dallas.

[Matthew Berry]

I believe that's fair enough. But fifth straight game for under 15 fantasy points for Justin Herbert since week 10. He's QB 30 on a points per game basis. And lad McConkey, under five fantasy points in three of the last four. Like it's just. No, it's not pretty. It is a tough scene in Charger land.

[Connor Rogers]

Not pretty either for Ash and Genti. We've said that too many times this year. They get blown out by the Eagles. Matthew, and no production for him since week 11.

[Matthew Berry]

He's got one game with more than 35 rushing yards. Their offensive line is just getting blown up. The play calling just isn't there. Like they've got to blow up the whole thing. You know, it's just tough with Genti, you know, I mean, they were on the road with the Eagles especially. By the way, they're at Houston next week. Like, it's done. You're not doing anything. You're literally not starting. I guess probably Brock Bowers. You still have to start, but whatever. Tedro McMillan had a tough game. Career low in fantasy points here in what should have been a good matchup. But it's the third straight game with two or fewer receptions like this. This is why I think Tedaro is somebody that you can't really trust and necessarily isn't going to win Rookie of the Year. And finally, tough game for Philip Rivers as well, because Tyler Warren just didn't get it there. Back to back games with under five fantasy point. Three straight games with under 25 fantasy 25 receiving yards. We'll talk more about Tyler Warren next week. But man, oh, man, like, I thought Philip Rivers with kind of a, you know, shot arm would at least get the ball to Tyler Warren. That didn't happen, guys.

[Connor Rogers]

All right, we're taking one last break. When we're back, we got our Monday Night Football bets for Steelers Dolphins right after this. Giraffe King Sportsbook is an official sports betting partner of the NFL. New customers can bet $5 and get $200 in bonus bets. If your bet wins, download the app and use promo code ffhh when you sign up. DraftKings Sports.

[Matthew Berry]

Oh, the crown is yours.

[Connor Rogers]

Last call. Let's take a look at the most bet Monday Night football. Props on DraftKings. Jay, anything more adventurous than this board?

[Jay Croucher]

Yes, slightly more adventurous.

[Matthew Berry]

I'm always shocked at people that take the -383 because they're chucking them in parlors.

[Jay Croucher]

Yeah. But we'll take a straight bet here. I'll take jaylen waddle over 63 and a half receiving yards. The Steelers play a ton of man coverage. Jalen Waddle is Miami's man coverage beta. He's gotten at least six targets in six straight games. No TJ Watt for this one, which will diminish Pittsburgh's pass rush a little bit. So I think Jaylen Waddle gets at least 64 yards.

[Connor Rogers]

I'm going to go with Devon HN under 17 and a half attempts. Now, when they were on the winning streak, he was clearing this number. But I think coming up a little banged up into this game, you'll see Jalen Wright a little bit more involved and it's still a big number for Achan who doesn't need 20 carries to go off. He could be effective without that. But coming into the game a little banged up. I think they'll be not super careful with him but not get to 18.

[Matthew Berry]

He is off the injury report or he's reported that he's a full go. He's got limitations. He's going to play as well. So I'm actually taking Devon HN over 82 and a half rushing yards. So he can still go under on the rushing attempts but still get that number. Look, he's gone over this line in four straight games. He's had at least 90 in all those games. 120. And three of four Steelers give up more than 125 rushing yards per game, 12th most in the NFL. They've allowed a running back to rush for at least 90 yards in four of the past five games. Cold weather game. Tua doesn't love to. He's not great in cold weather. So I do think they lean on the run game in this one as well. And so Achan to you to the point like he is always a threat to break a big one. So give me Devon HN over 82 and a half rushing yards tonight. Guys, big game here. I wonder if DK Metcalf continues like they felt like last week. They finally did something with DK Metcalfe. They threw deep and he was good. So will he get there as well? You see some of my ranks there as well. Warren, by the way, showed up on the injury report. There's a chance that he may not go tonight, which would mean the Kenneth Gainwell show. So just be ready to pivot if you're counting on Jalen Warren tonight as well. And you see DK Metcalf, the Steelers have struggled against tight ends as well. So there's a chance for a Darren Waller anytime touchdown. Who they use in the red.

[Jay Croucher]

Warren's out. Kenneth Gainwell gets the Jonathan Taylor workload. That's all America can watch. Kenneth Gainwell put the Steelers on his back. Should be glorious.

[Connor Rogers]

You know Aaron Rodgers will love to check it down to him.

[Matthew Berry]

Oh, there's no question. There's no question about that. All right, listen. You know what that music means? That music means it's closing time. Which means you don't have to go home, but you cannot stay here. You just can't. Good luck with your Monday night miracles for Jay and Conrad. Matthew, we'll see you tomorrow. Peace out.