← Fantasy Football Happy Hour with Matthew Berry
Fantasy Football Happy Hour with Matthew Berry
Week 8 Takeaways: Breece Hall, Saquon Barkley, Bo Nix, Tucker Kraft
00:52:00
October 27: Matthew (@MatthewBerryTMR) and Jay (@croucherJD) recap player performances in Jets-Bengals, Giants-Eagles, Cowboys-Broncos, Bears-Ravens, Texans-49ers, and Packers-Steelers. The guys also highlight injuries to Cam Skattebo and Saquon Barkley, big days from Jonathan Taylor and James Cook, and unveil their favorite bets in Commanders at Chiefs.
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- [00:00]
Matthew Berry
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- [01:09]
Breece Hall
Numbers and all that right now. But man, defense, when it counted, you stepped your up and you made offense 500. I'm playing 254 rushing yards.
- [01:32]
Matthew Berry
Man.
- [01:33]
Breece Hall
I love this group. And man, from here on out, grit, grit. Cause I told you during the off season, man, we have to create an advantage. We did. But to show all the grit in the work, win this game. I love this dude, man. Let's call it up.
- [01:55]
Matthew Berry
Fantasy football happy hour with Matthew Berry.
- [02:00]
Jay Croucher
Leaping. Welcome to the fantasy football happy hour. New York jets fans drink for free after getting off the schneide. First win of the season one at seven. Aaron Glenn very happy.
- [02:11]
Matthew Berry
Aaron Glenn, very happy. Connor Rodgers, very happy. Literally still drunk. Connor Rodgers couldn't make it into work today. We'll see about tomorrow if he can make it in and drag himself off the floor. But yes. Drunk with delirium. Unbelievable. They have to change the name of Badlands to, you know, medium lands.
- [02:27]
Jay Croucher
Slightly worse lands.
- [02:28]
Matthew Berry
Slightly. Yeah, Slightly better lands, I guess.
- [02:30]
Jay Croucher
Yeah, yeah, sure. By the way, Matthew Barry J. Croucher. I actually don't know why. I literally don't know why Conor's not here today. So we will just go with the reason that he's drunk with delirium.
- [02:40]
Matthew Berry
I have to tell you, I agree with you. Co Breaker.
- [02:44]
Jay Croucher
Cobra Brack. Hydra.
- [02:46]
Matthew Berry
Cobra Kiger. Cobra Kiger. I Guess. Yeah, like Cobra Kai, but Cobra Kiger.
- [02:50]
Jay Croucher
Wow.
- [02:51]
Matthew Berry
That's a. Actually a pretty good name. Assuming his last name is Kiger.
- [02:54]
Jay Croucher
I would hope so, yes.
- [02:55]
Matthew Berry
Although it's actually pretty good Cobra Kiger. Anyway, Connor is too hungover. Celebrating. I agree with you. I think that's what it is. To be honest with you. The attendance on the show is somewhat spotty and as if I actually decided to read the memos. I normally don't read the memos around here. I think. I think attendance. Spotty attendance is upcoming for. For everyone. But your old. Your old pal Matty will be here every sing day.
- [03:17]
Jay Croucher
All right.
- [03:17]
Matthew Berry
Aloha, bricks. Conor Rogers finally got to celebrate something after the Emmys and the Mets. That's also true. He's been on a bit of a losing streak. Conor Rogers has been.
- [03:25]
Jay Croucher
Yeah. Can you imagine as well, how sad is it that Conor Rogers is skipping the show after the jets move to one and seven?
- [03:31]
Matthew Berry
Yes.
- [03:32]
Jay Croucher
Unbelievable.
- [03:32]
Matthew Berry
Yeah.
- [03:33]
Jay Croucher
Moving to playoff position.
- [03:34]
Matthew Berry
Yeah. You call me a homer, but at least I show up. I'm, you know, like, again, I'm usually drunk, but I'm. I am. This is. And this is the difference between me and Connor Rodgers, to be honest with you, is that Conor can't hold his booze. I can. Anyone that watched fantasy football pregame on Sunday know I'm impervious to alcohol. And so at least when it comes to beer. And so I'm just going to let you know right now that like when my commanders win a game and happens a lot more frequently than the jets do, but when my commanders win a game and I get loaded, I get lit up, I still show up to work the next day. That's the kind of professional I am. That's the kind of veteran I am. As you will like, you know, that's. That comes with wisdom and experience. Connor Rogers, still a young puppet, still doesn't know, hasn't had a drink in seven weeks. Obvious, but finally the jets get one done. Spliff McGriff wants to know I'm here for the security guard stories. Not enough of them. Honestly, Jay, they were actually good to, you know, and like, they were a little. There was, you know, a valiant. Vincent. No, I did not find that security guard. I did not have a drink with him. Screw that guy.
- [04:34]
Jay Croucher
Yeah. To be honest, some relationships can be repaired. That one was beyond repair. That was irreparable.
- [04:40]
Matthew Berry
Absolutely not.
- [04:41]
Jay Croucher
Although our bricks. Barry versus the security guard. One of the great rivalries of our time.
- [04:45]
Matthew Berry
Yeah.
- [04:45]
Jay Croucher
The new Brady V. Manning of our time. Barry v. Anonymous Akashore Stadium security guard. I was so scared of the 30.
- [04:52]
Matthew Berry
For 30 about it.
- [04:52]
Jay Croucher
Yeah. I was so scared by the experience last year that I decided not to go to the game last night. I just went home. Yeah. I spent time with family. Redux.
- [04:59]
Matthew Berry
People understand, like, Jay is, you know, much nicer than I am. So you didn't want to get into it, but. No but. Right. Well, you didn't want to get into it and you didn't want to, like, talk about it on air. But like, what do I care? Again? And so, But I mean, you were right. Like, so you guys know, it wasn't just me versus security guard. It was me with Jay and Lawrence and one of the army of men and one of your friends, my friend Garrett. Your friend Garrett. Yeah. And so like the four of us. And like, we had tickets to get in and he wouldn't let us in.
- [05:27]
Jay Croucher
Oh, it was good.
- [05:28]
Matthew Berry
And like, and like VPs from the Steelers came out and they're on the other side. They're like, we invited him in. He's supposed to be in here. And like, anyway, it was just. But this one guy, this short, little fat old guy who has nothing going on in his life other than the fact that he gets to be a security guard at eight Steelers games a year, you know. You know, you know, buckled up his, you know, put his big belly over his, like his little. His little belt, you know, and. And waddled up to me and said, no, no, no.
- [05:59]
Jay Croucher
Yeah, no. It was a tough scene. Two things quickly. One, glad there's a bit more physical distance between us than the previous shows. It's good to have that room.
- [06:07]
Matthew Berry
The sexual chemistry was too much for. For Peacock. They asked us to tone it down. They said, what is this? Love Island? Absolutely not. Talk football. Fake football nerds.
- [06:17]
Jay Croucher
Indeed. And the second thing is that for anyone who is fortunate enough to miss Matthew's story live on fantasy football pregame yesterday on the turf at Akritura Stadium, Matthew claimed that he is scientifically that if he drinks six beers, he will blow 0.0 on the breathalyzer, which is physically impossible and a ridiculous claim to make, frankly, in any circumstance or context, but particularly on the turf of Akashore Stadium. I still can't believe that actually happened.
- [06:42]
Matthew Berry
Look, I may be exaggerating that six period, but I will tell you, I will tell you. I will tell you. I will double down on this. It's a shocking. My wife and I and anyone out there with kids. This is for you and your daughters, right? They're young, right? Still. But I will tell you that speaking as somebody that is that has had three teenage boys go through the house. Like, my youngest boy is now legal drinking age and at Alabama. But I got. I got news for you guys. High school kids sometimes will occasionally drink. They will.
- [07:09]
Jay Croucher
Right.
- [07:09]
Matthew Berry
Even though it is not legal in the state of America. And so in the country of America. But what. What. So what my wife. I did is instead of turning a blind eye and burying our head in the sand, we bought a Breathalyzer.
- [07:20]
Jay Croucher
Sure.
- [07:20]
Matthew Berry
And we wouldn't let them go out if they'd been sneaking beers or, you know, or whatever. Seltzers or whatever it is. And so we bought a Breathalyzer. And so one night, one night I drank a ton of beers. We're all hanging around at how my wife and I had friends over and we were like, we were showing them the breathalyzer. We all like, you know, hey, I wonder what my number is. Wonder what my number is. I blew a 0.0 and everyone else was. I'm just. And I've been drinking beers all night. And we have tried this again since. So I'm just telling you, maybe we had an effective Breathalyzer. I'm just. But it worked for everyone else. And I'm just telling you, I can drink a lot of beer and it does not affect me at all. I do not feel drunk. You give me two glasses of Pinot Grigio, though, and I'm feeling you up.
- [08:02]
Jay Croucher
Sure.
- [08:02]
Matthew Berry
So I'm just. I'm just saying.
- [08:04]
Jay Croucher
Yeah, okay. Yeah. I think it's a new batteries for the Breathalyzer. But in any case, also, if you cut Matthew, he doesn't bleed.
- [08:10]
Matthew Berry
People don't know this.
- [08:11]
Jay Croucher
He doesn't bleed blood. All right.
- [08:13]
Matthew Berry
Yeah, it's gravy. That's what comes out. It's a white gravy.
- [08:15]
Jay Croucher
Diet soda. Legs bought this Breathalyzer on Amazon Prime Day half off.
- [08:20]
Matthew Berry
Maybe it's very good.
- [08:22]
Jay Croucher
From raises the flag. Searching up the regulars power range rankings. All right, lots to get to Sunday. Looking at some Monday Night Football at the end of the show. We're going to be off the rails today, but we start off with the Rotow player news, headlined by Breeze hall as part of that epic jets win. And we heard from Breeze hall on telling coaches he needed the ball in week eight.
- [08:44]
Breece Hall (player interview)
You know, I kind of went to, you know, the coaches this weekend, not complaining, but I told them, I was like, if Garrett, if Gary not playing, I need the ball at least 20, 25 times. So, like, I've Always told them, you know, I hate losing, but if we lose, I want it to be on me. I want to go out swinging. So. And my coaches know like, they know like, you know, I'm unselfish, like I'm not, you know, out there begging for.
- [09:08]
Jay Croucher
The ball and whatever.
- [09:09]
Breece Hall (player interview)
But you know, they have told me like, Breece, you got every, you earned a respect to everybody. You got every means to, you know, demand the ball and you know, talk to us. And for me it was, I'm more so chill, like, you know, just let the game come to me type of thing. But, you know, this week I was just like, I needed this, I need the ball this weekend.
- [09:28]
Jay Croucher
Okay. It's Breece hall on sny wearing a Mets hat. Man knows his way to Connor Rodgers heart. So Breece hall puts up 32.9 fantasy points. That huge comeback in the fourth quarter, it was a fantasy fiesta for the most part. Chase Brown had the best game of his season. Joe Flacco didn't play amazing but put up stats. Ja' Marr Chase had a million targets, so it's kind of surprising. Only ended up with 21 fantasy points. But the big story here is obviously the jets and their offense. How much are we reading into this or is this purely a reflection on the state of the Bengals defense?
- [10:00]
Matthew Berry
Both. I think it's both. I mean, look, make no mistake, the Bengals are awful. Like this is, this is a bad loss. Again. I feel so bad for the fans of the Bengals because every time you buy into them, they bone you. Everyone knows this. Everyone knows this. When you buy into the Bengals, when you're finally like, hey, maybe, maybe when you take, when you spend a lot of money on 80 to 1 tickets.
- [10:19]
Jay Croucher
So close. We almost had the AFC 80 to 1. It was so close. It was sitting right there for us and they blew it yesterday. Now the Bengals bone you. They do it.
- [10:27]
Matthew Berry
They do it every single year. They always bone you. But you know what? They put up 38 points, Jay. That should be enough to win an NFL game. Yes, the jets against the jets should only need 20. Yes, they put that up. And so we'll talk about Cincinnati, the offense in a second here. So. But you asked about the question about the jets offense. So what do I think is realistic? Do I think, you know Breece hall getting a ton of work? Yes, obviously that can continue. Now do I think he always throws a touchdown pass, an ill advised one that Mason Taylor basically had to Randy Mossett over two defenders. But God bless, you know, he pump fake and still threw A ball into double coverage, but somehow Mason Taylor came down with it. But still four red zone rushes. He's had at least 18 or more touches in four of the past five games. So the workload has been there. Jay, for Breece hall, like to see him involved a little bit more in the passing game here. Only got three targets here because part of the other thing that's sort of interesting here is Isaiah Davis and we'll talk more about him tomorrow. But we've talked about him a few weeks in a row. Like Isaiah Davis is good and there is a scenario where Breece hall either he was banged up coming into this week, there's a chance that he could suffer another injury or he gets traded. He is rumored to be on the trade block. This performance certainly ups his value. Nice win for the Jets. Glad they're off the Schneide. But they're still one in seven and not likely going anywhere this year. So it would think that the jets might look around and say like hey can we get something for Breece hall that allows us to move the ball forward next year in the future. And so Isaiah Davis, who had 109 yards from scrimmage, 17% target share, just looks the part of like a. Just needs a roll.
- [12:00]
Jay Croucher
Yeah. And absolutely. And if he does get that role, the jets offensive line has not been the weakness of the team. The O line is fine. If Fields who has certainly kept his job for a couple of weeks, I would of this performance. He is a cheat code for running backs. Even though he's not the threat to pass the Jaden Daniels or Lamar Jackson, etc. As a running quarterback it makes it easier to be more efficient as a running back taking men out of the box. So Isaiah Davis, I think that he's a. A prime stash candidate. Another running back.
- [12:28]
Matthew Berry
Although I just one thing about Justin Fields real quickly. We talk about this a little bit more tomorrow. So Justin Fields, right, has now had 20 or more fantasy points in four of his five completed games this season. Again, we can debate whether or not he's an actually good NFL quarterback, but fantasy wise, when he has been able to complete a game, he's actually been pretty good. Now that is skewed a little bit. I mean it's a legit stat. 20 more fantasy points in four of his five completed games so far this year. Right. So now one of the games was against Carolina. He got benched. He had only four fantasy points. You know the fifth game that he didn't complete was that 4.9 game that 4.9 points game against Denver. Right. He completed the game. He was brutal. They probably should have benched him against the Broncos overseas, but they didn't. So those are the five games. Twenty points in four of them. The Denver game and the fifth one. But then again, we say completed games because he gets benched. In the Carolina game, he had only under five fantasy points in that one. He left the Buffalo game with a concussion. So I mean, just like he's either been really, really good or really, really bad. But it's interesting. I don't know if he could sell high. Justin Fields but. But by next week is a buy. Then they're home to Cleveland, at New England, at Baltimore. It gets a lot tougher. You don't love any of those matchups, Jay.
- [13:44]
Jay Croucher
No, you don't. In Cleveland he might have game script, but Miles Garrett just sacked Drake May five times in one NFL game. So he's going to be licking his lips to go after Justin Fields. And then the Patriots defense continues to get better and the Ravens defense, which seemed like an easy pick off previously, they've kind of turned the corner. They were able to contain Chicago a bit and also before the buy, they played pretty well defensively against the Rams. Then it gets a bit easier. Falcons Dolphins at Jaguars at Saints.
- [14:12]
Matthew Berry
It's just a question of whether this is kind of interesting for the Jets.
- [14:14]
Jay Croucher
It is.
- [14:15]
Matthew Berry
Especially if Garrett Wilson gets healthy.
- [14:16]
Jay Croucher
I think fear and the thing with the jets too is that they really should have beat the Steelers. They really should have beat the Broncos. They could have beat the Bucks. They could have been Dolphins like this team could be hovering around.500 if a few things went right on the luck front. But I think ultimately the concern, the thing with Fields is that you kind of want a high floor quarterback to pair with him. And then when you need the high variance, you play the Fields card. And when you need the safety of a Jared Goffer Daniel Jones just getting you to 18 points, you play that card instead.
- [14:44]
Matthew Berry
Quickly, jets talk for a show that Conor Rodgers is not on. It's. Yeah, it's, it's, you know, sub Bourbon breath, which by the way is a strong name. Bourbon breath, he says. I'm still not a Chase Brown believer. Is this sell high time? Seems like now or never. So they're home to Chicago next week. Then they've got to buy at Pittsburgh, home to New England. So a little bit up and down here, I don't know that Chase Brown is a sell high and I'll tell you why. I mean it depends On I guess what you can get I have no problem selling Chase Brown if you can get something for him. I think where he is is basically he's probably a middle to low end RB2 the rest of the way. Obviously the two touchdowns you love. The concern on Chase Brown is he played only 60% of the team's running back touches over the last two weeks. Right. So much P. Ryan was really involved here and given how much they pass and how much Flacco likes to pass, it makes sense. Feels like they trust Samaj P. Ryan and pass protection a lot more. They like him in that third down role. So much P. Ryan caught a pass and scored a touchdown here but this is now back to back games with 100 or more total yards for Chase Brown over the last three games he's he's averaging seven yards per carry. He just to the eye test he looks like the Chase Brown from last year on some the offense obviously isn't as good without Joe Burrow but he I just I so just to answer the question directly in terms of is he a sell high? I got no problem selling him but again if you could get more than like mid to low tier. But I do think this offense under Joe Flacco is going to be better.
- [16:14]
Jay Croucher
Yeah, I mean they just they lost the game but they did score 38 points after putting up what 33 against the Steelers a week ago. So I do think this offense is going to be competent. Another offense.
- [16:23]
Matthew Berry
Can I ask you one last question about this and then we'll go off, I promise about this. But like so The Bengals are 3 and 5, right? But the Steelers lost last night. Yes, I know the Ravens won but like but there's still two games up on the Ravens or a one game, one game up on the Ravens. Like I like this was a game it would have been great for them to win. This is a game they needed to win when you sort of look at the schedule. But they're still not dead. No, they're not dead dead.
- [16:45]
Jay Croucher
No they're not dead dead. I think they're still close enough that they'll keep Trey Hendrickson assuming he gets healthy and they'll continue to compete because that division is is wide. Like Baltimore is the favorite to win the division now of course and Baltimore two and five. So it is a very, very winnable division. A division that might be a bit less winnable after yesterday. Matthew the NFC east where the Eagles handled the Giants Saquon Barkley was the big story early on, finally breaking a run longer than 17 yards and it went for 65. This is the first Saquon performance of the season. Looking like 20, 24 Saquon Jalen hurts four touchdown passes, no picks. He's had probably his best two game stretch of his career as a passer, but I think the story is Saquon. Matthew, how much do you buy into this as being the Saquon we're going to see going forward?
- [17:34]
Matthew Berry
Well, is he healthy? That's the concern here, is he left this game a little bit with an injury. So we'll talk about that more tomorrow, hopefully get more. Hopefully it's not a serious injury, but we'll talk more tomorrow about Tank Bigsby and what that injury looks like if it's more serious for Barkley because he did leave the game early. The game was already in hand for Philadelphia. But yeah, I mean, look, the Eagle to your point about the division, right? Cowboys lose yesterday, obviously the Giants lose to Philadelphia. My commanders play tonight. Expectation here is, you know, 14.5 point underdogs with Jaden Daniels out for this game, probably going to be a Chiefs victory. So yeah, the Eagles have the NFC east fairly in control and so they can be cautious here with Barkley. They can take their time. But I think if you are, if you've invested in Eagles skilled players, what you're excited about is like at first they were run heavy and they weren't getting anywhere. Then they started to pass a little bit more and you're like, okay, now finally the passing game is going and that will open up things for Barkley. This is what we expected over the last two weeks against the Giants. It did, you know, one of the first plays of the season. Boom. Of the game, I should say. Barkley over 60 yards to the house and you're like, okay, finally, finally one of those long runs that have been signature of Saquon in a Philadelphia Eagles uniform.
- [18:44]
Jay Croucher
Yep. Terrible news about Cam Scatterboo with ankle, lower leg injury suspect naturally that he is, he's out for the season. So best wishes to Cam Scatterboo.
- [18:55]
Matthew Berry
But, and honestly if you think about it, I mean that was, it was such a brutal injury and Scatterboo is so fun, so beloved. He should have been the one to drink free. Now, now, did producer Steven screw up? Yes. You know, and jets fans drink, it's fine. But like thank you for it because of. Exactly. And because of Conor. Like we talk about the Jets a lot, but Scaboo has this like brutal, awful injury. I don't know if you saw video of it. Like it was. It was awful. Do not search it up. It is. It is nasty. Like it, like, like. I mean like imagine this is his foot. And then like. I mean it's. It was. It was awful. And you know, so we love Cam Scatter Boo here. We wish him a speedy recovery. It was awful. He should have drank free. You know what, Cam? If you're watching this, screw the sign, screw Stephen. You drink free. You honestly drink free for the rest of the year. Honestly. We love scatterboo here. A Ms. Bike producer. Stephen, if you're being honest.
- [19:51]
Jay Croucher
Yes, I would say a rare miss, but a miss yes. Question from Ved. How much fab should we use to pick up Tyrone Tracy now that he is the clear RB one in New York?
- [20:01]
Matthew Berry
Yeah, we'll talk about that tomorrow. I think some, but not a like Tyrone Tracy isn't as good as Cam Scatter Boo. And I don't have as much confidence the goal line with Tracy that I do with Scatterboos smaller back. Obviously. You know they used him like he didn't do much. Right. The game was somewhat out of hand. Giants by the way got hosed on it didn't make a difference. I mean the fumbles were. But the fumble and. And the Darius Slayton touchdown was called back. Yeah, both of those were absolutely brutal calls, Jake.
- [20:30]
Jay Croucher
Yeah, no stuff. Yeah. There's no, there's no justification for the. For the fastest forward progress in the history the sport of football. Let's jump ahead anyway so we'll talk.
- [20:40]
Matthew Berry
About Tyrone Tracy more tomorrow and Jackson Dart. So some. I think he'll be a usable flex low end RB2 in various weeks, but I don't. They'll use Devon Singletary more than you want is what I would say there. I don't know there's anything else to say other than hey, Jackson Dart continues to be good. Continues to get you points with his legs.
- [20:59]
Jay Croucher
Indeed. All right, let's go to another quarterback who continues to get your points with his legs. It's Bo Nix with the Broncos. Hearst hosted the Cowboys minus three and a half. I thought the Cowboys might get this one close. They did not. The Broncos emphatic 20 point victory. Troy Franklin, RJ Harvey, not the names that you expect to go off. Bo Nix as well played. I think his best game of the season. Dak Prescott has really his first non superhuman performance since the Bears loss. But the big story is the three touchdowns for RJ Harvey. Yeah, it's not sustainable. But how much do you buy into his upside going.
- [21:36]
Matthew Berry
This was so annoying. So incredibly frustrating because J.K. dobbins ran really well, ran for over 100 yards here. RJ Harvey got eight touches, eight touches total in this entire game. But three of them end up in the ED zone as well. By the way, of the eight touches that he got, only three in the red zone, but he did convert all three. I will say this to the eye test. Like, he looks good. He looks fast. He looks, you know, shifty. And you sort of get why the Broncos drafted him. He looks like the guy we saw in college. But we know there's still issues in past production. We know they love J.K. dobbins again. In a game in which they scored over 40 points and they blew the Cowboys out, this guy got three touches. I'm sorry, eight touches. But of course, three of them are touchdowns. Speak as somebody who has a lot of J.K. dobbins and literally none of R.J. harvey and is going to lose a matchup this week in my dynasty league. Jay, just. I'm going to give me a quick time out for Rant here. I'm in a dynasty league and I'm in first. I'm in first place. Like, I am crushing it. Like, I built my team slowly but surely. Tinkering, tanking, you know, everything like that. And I'm playing a team that's tanking. That is not good. But this particular week, all my. It's a super flex league, and the only quarterback I have that wasn't on a buy this week is Baker Mayfield. Brutal. Chris McCaffrey, brutal. I'm playing a guy, he's got. I got a guy that he's got Tua Again, this guy, he's only got one quarterback as well because his guys are either hurt or injured. But his quarterback's tuo, who gets four touchdowns out of nowhere, and he throws R.J. harvey in there. Three touchdowns. My J.K. dobbs. I have J.K. dobbins on this team. What are you talking about? So anyway, unless somehow Jakori Koski, Merritt and Zach Ertz outscore Rasheed rice tonight by 12. I'm losing. I'm losing to this guy. And both of us. What's so frustrating is both of us, both me and the guy that I'm playing, both want me to win. He's tanking. He's playing for next year. Who are both frustrated by this, both incredibly frustrated by it. Anyway, RJ Harvey, super annoying. The takeaway here is that if there's a positive here, again, he looks good and they are using him around the goal, you know, in the end zone. But I can't imagine starting a guy that got eight touches, you know, and a 20 touch win. It's only his third game this season with more than 30 yards from scrimmage. It's just one of those, like super annoying things because instead of Cortland Sutton and J.K. dobbins, the guys we want.
- [23:54]
Jay Croucher
The guys we like, Troy Franklin, Pat Bryant. Yes, A little Pat Brian action. Franklin is, I think, more interesting in a way because he did show those flashes in the first two weeks of the season and then kind of disappeared. But I think as well, you can't. It's only the second game the season where he's actually really done anything statistically.
- [24:13]
Matthew Berry
Only a second game this year with more than 55 receiving. Our point. But over the last two games, five end zone targets as well. 29% target share in this one. Again, you know, all the, you know, college teammate with Bo Nicks, blah, blah, blah. Like, we'll talk about it more tomorrow, I'm sure, but I still just feel like the guys that we thought were going to do well in the Dallas game are still the guys that you feel good about. Like, it's good to have Harvey and Franklin on your radar and probably on your roster, but next week, I don't know that I'm necessarily trusting them. At Houston, by the way, a very tough matchup. You know, it's still. Sutton and Dobbins are still the focal points. They just, they got unlucky with the touchdowns.
- [24:53]
Jay Croucher
Yeah, I don't think there's much to say about Dallas. You just throw that game in the bin. It was a weird game. Dak throws two interceptions. Jake Ferguson does absolutely nothing on national tight ends day.
- [25:02]
Matthew Berry
Ferguson has been the best tight end of fantasy up until this week. But, you know, but like he was open. He was open on a long seam route and then. And Dak just underthrew him and it was a pick. And like, again, playing at Dallas is. Playing at Denver is tough. You know, just. I think I agree with you, Jay. Better days are ahead for the Cowboys. You know, Lamb and Pickens were fine. Javante gets two touchdowns. So I'm with you. They're home to Arizona next week. The Cowboys will be fine. Just bad day at the office.
- [25:29]
Jay Croucher
Indeed. All right, let's go to Chicago. At Baltimore, the Ravens save their season without Lamar Jackson. And now they're seven and a half point favorites on Thursday night against the Dolphins with a chance to move to 3 and 5 and kind of re emphasize their favoritism in that Division. The story here, Matthew, Derrick Henry scores twice. Not particularly efficient with the 21 for 71 but still gets in the end zone.
- [25:55]
Matthew Berry
Yeah, you know, look, in his first five games he was averaging just 13.6 touches per game. I think what you're, what you're happy about here is now had back to back games with over 20 touches. He's had multiple goal line rushing attempts in four of the last five games. They play at Miami next week, then at Minnesota. I think that's the Thursday night game. Right? The Baltimore. Yeah. Ravens. So they play at Miami a little bit later this week, then at Minnesota at Cleveland, home to the Jets. And so the expectation here is that Lamar will be back by Thursday. But certainly if he's not, Huntley showed enough here that he can move the chains. And you feel good about Derrick Henry. You mostly feel good about the fact that I refused to accept Jay Croucher's offer of Quintean Judkins. We'll get to him in a minute. For Derrick Henry this is a very smart move. Might be he tried to rip me off Swindler J over here. But I would not fall for it. I would not fall for it. I saw through your tricks. I hung on to Derek Henry and I got a chance of getting a win tonight. We will see. No one's counting any chickens but I'm not for once going into a Monday night I actually have a chance at winning.
- [26:59]
Jay Croucher
A chance. You're 99% favorite on the upper 1%.
- [27:03]
Matthew Berry
The way my season's going like I am, I'm taking nothing for granted. I will be locked in on this game.
- [27:08]
Jay Croucher
Question from Greg Laux. What do we do with Derek Henry? Is he fully back now? Is he a sell high trended candidate? I think he's back because the schedule gets so much easier and the expectation is Lamar Jackson will come back most likely this Thursday. That's what the line is reflecting at the moment. Then you look at the schedule after that. Okay, so the Dolphins very easy matchup notwithstanding what they did to the Falcons at Vikings. The Ravens will be significant favorites there.
- [27:33]
Matthew Berry
Against JJ Monte Vidal just ran all over that.
- [27:36]
Jay Croucher
Exactly. It's a very, it's been a good defense overall but a good pass defense. Not a good defense against the run at the Browns home jets they named two, two out of three weeks they play the Bengals.
- [27:46]
Matthew Berry
Matthew who just transformed 13 and 15. Yeah, weeks 13 and 15. We just saw Josh Jacobs run. Steelers have a good run defense. But again Derrick Henry is, is, is something different. Patriots and packers in 16 and 17 in the fantasy playoffs. But again, like Lamar is such a cheat code and assuming Lamar gets back to being Lamar. Right. They're just, they're going to be in scoring position often and they'll use Henry as a hammer. It's been a couple games since he's fumbled, so there's that as well. So I don't think he's, I don't mind selling him, but I don't think he's a sell high. I think he's, he's. If we were ranking for the rest of the season, again, given the schedule, he's probably a low end RB1, high end RB2. He's kind of in that, you know, running back 10 to 12 range for me right now the rest of the way.
- [28:32]
Jay Croucher
I get that because he just doesn't give you any receiving value. But just purely in terms of the rushing, I would make Jonathan Taylor the favorite to lead the league in rushing from this point forward. I'd have Derek Henry second just in terms of rushing yards because I think that with the schedule with Lamar coming back, he's going to more replicate what he did last season when he was close to 2k rushing. Let's go to the Bears side. Disappointing game for Chicago. Roma dunesday was Fantastic. Gets the seven receptions for 114 receiving yards. But another just kind of nothing day from Caleb Williams.
- [29:05]
Matthew Berry
He might not be good.
- [29:07]
Jay Croucher
I wouldn't write him off just yet.
- [29:08]
Matthew Berry
I'm not writing him off just yet, but I'm also not writing him in just yet either.
- [29:12]
Jay Croucher
Don't write him in. I mean this, you just hold the pen up. You don't have to do anything.
- [29:16]
Matthew Berry
It's kind of like I'm just waiting, I'm waiting to figure out what I write in there because I'm just not, I'm not sure, man. Like this, is this like his, the interception that he threw in his own red zone when they were, when they needed to come back. You know, they're down and like, okay, this is an important drive and just was a backbreaker. Yeah. Breaker. And then you think about, you think about the sequence at the end of the game where they're trying to get back in it. They're down two scores, right. So they're like on whatever the three yard line. Right. And he, he just immediately calls it audible and like, you know, tries to quarterback sneak it in.
- [29:54]
Jay Croucher
Yeah, right.
- [29:55]
Matthew Berry
They have no timeouts left and it's like it's under a minute to go. It's like it's like 35 seconds. Like it's like, I forget exactly the amount of time, but it's just like, dude, no, you don't have time to. I mean, I guess maybe he thought something he was going to be able to get in, but like, it's just, you're on the road at Baltimore, like, and then on fourth down, like, he's running around and he's got, he's got DJ Moore wide open in the end zone. And I get that he was under pressure, but like he throws it literally wide right. It's like, it's like the old major league. Just a bit outside. Like it was just, you know.
- [30:22]
Jay Croucher
Yes.
- [30:23]
Matthew Berry
Like, dude.
- [30:23]
Jay Croucher
Yeah, I think, dude, last year the organization. Last year the organization was a catastrophe. This year, like the jury's. I mean, are we writing in Ben Johnson as for sure an amazing head coach? I don't think we can write that in yet either. So, Caleb, it's a new system, new weapons. Offensive line is like, they've been going.
- [30:41]
Matthew Berry
Well and everything like that. And they've run the ball well. The offensive line is playing well. But again, like, they got lucky in the win against Washington. They did. I mean, Washington, I mean, all homerism aside, Washington had the ball and the lead with two minutes to go. And just Jacquard. Jaden Daniels just fumbles. It's a wet ball. And he just like, they got lucky, right? They didn't force a fumble. And then, you know, they go down and they kick a game winning field goal at the very last second. And listen, that's the NFL. Sometimes you just, the ball has to bounce your way. And in that day it did. But my point is everybody's like, oh, Ben Johnson's got them rolling, everything like that. If Jaden Daniels doesn't fumble, maybe the story narrative is a little bit different. They did not look ready for primetime in a game in which they face Tyler Hunter. This is a game that they should have won. I less.
- [31:23]
Jay Croucher
Tej, I'll give Caleb one more week. If he can't do it against the Bengals, then I'm officially done. I think that's fair. It's a great time to play the Bengals.
- [31:29]
Matthew Berry
I think that's fair. Tej, I would like it, Tej, if you could go to the Bears press conference and say, coach Johnson, I would just like to announce that I'm giving Caleb one more week and then I'm done. Then I'm officially out. I will say this, if you had to redraft from an NFL perspective, forget fantasy for a second. So they're at the Bengals. That's a get right right game here, then home to the Giants at Vikings, home to the Steelers at Eagles, which is the Black Friday game after Thanksgiving. This is an important game against the Bengals because it gets tough season on the line.
- [32:01]
Jay Croucher
They lose this, they're not going to make the playoffs.
- [32:02]
Matthew Berry
That's right.
- [32:03]
Jay Croucher
Yeah. The Bengals lose, they're not going to make the playoffs either.
- [32:06]
Matthew Berry
A lot going on.
- [32:06]
Jay Croucher
Yeah. The season on the line.
- [32:09]
Matthew Berry
Joe Flacco versus Caleb Williams. Yeah.
- [32:11]
Jay Croucher
Who else would you want in that spot? If you were redrafting.
- [32:13]
Matthew Berry
If I was redrafting the quarterbacks from last year, this would be my argument. And you tell me if you think I'm crazy.
- [32:19]
Jay Croucher
You're taking regulars over him.
- [32:21]
Matthew Berry
Huh?
- [32:21]
Jay Croucher
You're going to take Knicks over him because that's kind of the pivot point. Because I think, because I, I think.
- [32:26]
Matthew Berry
You can make it. I, I, I'm a homer. Whatever. Screw it. I would still take Daniels 1. I would take Drake May 2.
- [32:31]
Jay Croucher
I might take Drake May 1. I think I've flipped over the past couple weeks. Yeah. Unfortunately, Jaden just keeps getting injured.
- [32:37]
Matthew Berry
I know, I get that. Listen, I again, you know, I love to give you crap. I don't, I don't. I, I get it. I like I Drake May's been awesome, man.
- [32:45]
Jay Croucher
Well, it's Drake May and Jaden Daniels in their own tier and that's a tier drop down to Caleb to Bo Nix. Then it's another teardrop down to Spencer Rattler.
- [32:53]
Matthew Berry
Right. And Pennix and Rattler. My question is. Right. But yeah, would you I think there, I think at least half the NFL teams would take Knicks over Caleb.
- [33:03]
Jay Croucher
I would still take Caleb. That's fair.
- [33:05]
Matthew Berry
But it's a conversation. That's the fact a guy that was a guy that a year, you know, whatever two years ago generation was was Gener the next Andrew Luck the next Trevor, next Peyton Manning. Like not that Andrew Lucker but like those guys were when they were drafted were like this is a generational prospect. Right. And you know, that's what Trevor Lawrence was thought of to be and yeah.
- [33:26]
Jay Croucher
Yeah. All right. Well anyway, a guy looked like Peyton Manning in his rookie season. C.J. stroud.
- [33:30]
Matthew Berry
But Romo Dunes was good and you know there, there's not much else to talk about in this game.
- [33:34]
Jay Croucher
Yep. Nine is Texans Colson Loveland.
- [33:36]
Matthew Berry
You're welcome to Dumpsville. How do anything.
- [33:38]
Jay Croucher
How much are we reading into the Texans passing game? Looking pretty confident against the Niners defense. It was frisky against the Falcons but is extremely lacking in manpower at the moment C.J. stroud, that's the best that he's looked in a while. Some of the passes were looking like rookie year C.J. stroud, Xavier Hutchinson, Jaden Higgins, Jalen Noel. They help you out as flex guys mostly, but it was very, to use your favorite word, Matthew, an egalitarian offense. But Stroud was able to distribute the ball very quietly.
- [34:07]
Matthew Berry
He's had at least 18 fantasy points in three of the past four. He's had at least two touchdown passes in each of those three games that I just mentioned as well. And what's weird about Stroud, because I agree with you, he's looked. That's the best he's looked, but he's actually slowly, slowly starting to look better. Doesn't matter who's out there. And quietly, he's getting you a few points with his leg. He's averaging for the year. He's averaging 25 rushing yards per game. This is not something that's been part of his game previously, but he is starting to run a little bit. He's had at least 20 rushing yards in every game this year but one. And so credit to C.J. stroud, who, like, I think they found a couple things. First off, Jaylen Noel and Jaden Higgins, like, they're starting to come along as well. Woody Marks out of the backfield, they feel more comfortable with him, and so they're using him and they were dumping off to Marks and he was running for long plays. So the fact that Stroud threw for over 300 yards, two passing touchdowns, seven for 30 on the ground without Nico Collins, without Christian Kirk, whatever, Dalton Schultz had a quiet day here as well. Shout out to our guy, Dr. Denny Carter, 5 for 63 for Jaylen Noel, who is. Who was his flexual frustration. Also, that was my desperation play on fantasy football pregame here. But, you know, Hutchinson, 5 for 69, a touchdown. Higgins, 4 for 34. I think when Nico comes back. But I think Noel, because he's the slot guy, I think he may keep this role a little bit more. But I'm with you. Stroud is, I think, starting to come much more viable.
- [35:30]
Jay Croucher
Texans a little more interesting now. They looked a couple weeks ago, Niners side. I think it's like Dallas, throw it in the bin, start again. I do think that the Texans are.
- [35:39]
Matthew Berry
A really good defense.
- [35:40]
Jay Croucher
They are a really good defense. I think this speaks to the fact that the Falcons game for McCaffrey was an outlier in terms of his efficiency. Like, he hasn't been efficient on the ground in any game. This year, outside of the Falcons game where he went berserk, Falcons might have the worst run defense in the NFL along with the Bengals. They just don't have big people on the defensive line. They get run on. Now he goes up against an elite defense in Houston. Couldn't get anything. They just have the ball.
- [36:01]
Matthew Berry
The first half, they had the lowest time, 18 minutes. They held the ball for 18 minutes.
- [36:05]
Jay Croucher
Houston had the ball for 24 minutes in the first half, which is insane.
- [36:08]
Matthew Berry
So they just didn't. They couldn't. Couldn't get anything going. Mac Jones was a little bit off as well. I'm not worried about McCaffrey. He plays the Giants next week. He'll be just fine. Good to see George Kittle on national tight end game. Get into the end zone. I thought he should have had to. Jake Tungus like, sort of undercuts the route. It felt like that he, like, intercepted a pass for. For George Kittle.
- [36:27]
Jay Croucher
Okay. Well, speaking of national tight end day, the guy who did it the most justice was in Pittsburgh with you, Matthews. Tucker Crafts Craft Daddy Kraftwerk The Tuckler packers at Steelers. Kraft goes absolutely berserk. 33.3 fantasy points. Jordan Love. That is maybe the best game that I can remember. Jordan Love playing, particularly given the occasion on Sunday Night Football against his former mentor, Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers was fine. He got you your two touchdown passes.
- [36:55]
Matthew Berry
He did. My bet cash. Your best bet of longest reception for Jordan Love. The over cash right there as well. And part of my football night in America parlay was talking about Tucker Kraft. My shot for shot on pregame was Tucker Kraft was going to be a top five fantasy tight end. He was on the love list this week. Huge game. Obviously, he was part of my parlay as well because we talked about the fact that he's so good after the catch. Steelers top five in terms of most fantasy points allowed at opposing tight ends prior to this game. Kraft just goes nuts. He's now the number one tight end in fantasy football among tight ends. And that's probably right.
- [37:27]
Jay Croucher
Yeah. Also, I think his nickname just needs to be the Tuck Wagon because he looks like a wagon when he gets going. That's fair as a yak.
- [37:33]
Matthew Berry
I like the Tuck wagon.
- [37:34]
Jay Croucher
Yeah, the Tuck wagon is.
- [37:35]
Matthew Berry
I'll sign off on that.
- [37:36]
Jay Croucher
Yep, the Kristen Watson wagon was good for Jordan Love. And he catches the one deep ball. Christian Watson. But again, just further muddies and already very muddy packers wide receiver room.
- [37:47]
Matthew Berry
That's correct. You're starting Josh Jacobs. You're starting Tucker Kraft. Like, could you get away with Romy Dobbs. Sure, maybe. I guess if you have to split and if you're feeling cheeky. But. But otherwise I think it's just that. But I do think that the Christian Watson coming back helps Jordan Love. Right. And so Jordan Love is still. It's kind of like C.J. stroud. He runs a little bit like this is a great game. Richmond, C.J. stroud. But like he's like a, he's like a QB12ish.
- [38:17]
Jay Croucher
Yeah, yeah, he's in that. It's just difficult. He runs a little bit but not that much. So he's stuck in that kind of nether region with the Brock Purdy's when he's healthy, Jared Goff, these type of guys. But Jordan Love, he's. He's kind of turned the corner recently after a couple of years. A really rough out against Cleveland. But since then Jordan Love has been.
- [38:36]
Matthew Berry
Excellent and he was brilliant last night. There's no question.
- [38:38]
Jay Croucher
Yep. All right, let's take a look at Week eight injuries.
- [38:41]
Matthew Berry
I don't think there's anything to take away from the, you know, Steelers either.
- [38:44]
Jay Croucher
No, that's why we didn't mention it.
- [38:46]
Matthew Berry
That's right. Good. All right.
- [38:48]
Jay Croucher
Saquon Barclays groin. That will be the focus of much discussion this week. He said that he wanted to go back in the game. We'll see. Players diagnosing their injuries on the spot can be a little problematic.
- [38:59]
Matthew Berry
And again they assuming Washington loses tonight, they've got a nice cushion this division. There's no reason for them to push Saquon Barkley back.
- [39:06]
Jay Croucher
Yep. We will talk about waivers tomorrow in response to potential pickups for these guys. Camp's got to be redone for the season. Naturally. Quintean Judkins will monitor the shoulder. We're gonna have a first break when we come back. Weekend warriors and Sunday Scaring Looking for.
- [39:25]
Matthew Berry
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- [42:23]
Jonathan Taylor
Yourself and the MVP chants were resounding across Lucas Oil Stadium. What's the reaction when you hear just the excitement, the enthusiasm for the season that you and this team are having?
- [42:32]
Breece Hall
I mean, that's what we need.
- [42:33]
Matthew Berry
We feed off of the fans, especially playing at home. So for us to come out firing on all cylinders, it's really a testament to the work that we put in and we're just glad that the fans.
- [42:43]
Breece Hall (player interview)
Are here for it.
- [42:44]
Matthew Berry
They're engaged.
- [42:45]
Breece Hall (player interview)
It makes it a tough environment for the opposing team.
- [42:49]
Jay Croucher
Jonathan Taylor, MVP candidate minus 250 to an offensive player of the year. He only needed 12 touches Matthew or 12 carries to get to 153 yards on the ground. Two rushing touchdowns, had basically a third rushing touchdown. That was counted it as a pass technically but he catches the pickup line on the 20 and a half rushing attempts from Thursday and he headlines weekend Warriors.
- [43:12]
Matthew Berry
We were doing, we were doing bar trivia on Saturday and on Sunday, on Fridays for pregame and the question was, does Jonathan Taylor score two touchdowns today? And I said no.
- [43:23]
Jay Croucher
I said no as well.
- [43:24]
Matthew Berry
Yes, we were wrong.
- [43:25]
Jay Croucher
Yeah, we were aggressively wrong. He scored three and if the times had kept us closer, he might have scored six. I mean it's unbelievable his 14 touchdowns in eight games he has. He just keeps on scoring three touchdowns every week. I think the record roll time is Ladanian Tomlinson, 31 total. Like that's. He's probably not going to do it because it's extremely hard to do. But Jonathan Taylor could absolutely score 25 touchdowns this year, which only five players have ever done.
- [43:48]
Matthew Berry
Jonathan Taylor this is from Next Gen Stats. Jonathan Taylor forced eight mixed tack missed tackles on his carries against the Titans. Gained 131 extra yards, the most by any rusher in a game since Week 10, 20, 20 this season. Taylor's 366 rushing yards off missed tackles are 124 more than any other player. Tennessee vs. Indy. Hashtag for the shoe. I understand why you are a Colts fan. They're unbelievable. And I need your advice here. I need your advice on something here.
- [44:18]
Jay Croucher
If it's cultural lighted, I'll tell you.
- [44:19]
Matthew Berry
Yeah, yeah, I just. No one else listened to this. Okay, just real quickly just give me a minute here alone with Jay. So in the beginning of the year I did a whole video rant about the Colts and how stupid I were saying that they should be starting Anthony Richardson just to see what they have. Because I said something like I said, look, Daniel Jones is fine. He's actually a good quarterback. I actually think he's a good fit for Dyken's system. But you're not winning a Super bowl with Daniel Jones. Like the best you're doing is maybe you win a wild card. You're probably losing in the wild card. You're going like eight wins and that's what you're doing with Daniel Jones. So anyway, that video's out there yeah, right. And I feel like, Jay, if I'm being honest with you. Shh. No one listened, right? No one's listening. I feel. I'm being honest with you. It feels like a pretty bad take.
- [45:01]
Jay Croucher
Is it a problem that they're the greatest offense in the history of football?
- [45:03]
Matthew Berry
I just, I just, I feel like somebody's going to find that video and unearth it. Do I, Should I delete it? Should I, should I get ahead of it and like, and, and, and quote, tweet it with a new video saying I was just. I was wrong and fall on the sword now? Because it might be the worst take of all time.
- [45:17]
Jay Croucher
But here's the thing. You haven't seen what Anthony Richardson could do with this offense. Maybe Daniel Jones is holding them back.
- [45:23]
Matthew Berry
Maybe. Yeah.
- [45:23]
Jay Croucher
And Anthony Richardson is the guy that they need to vault them to the next level.
- [45:27]
Matthew Berry
Thank you, Stuntman Chuck. You can turn it back on now. I had my private conversation with Jay. Yeah, I mean, just the worst take of all time. I mean, listen, they're favorites for everything. They might be the best team in the afc. If they're not, it's not a long list. Maybe them are the Chiefs, right?
- [45:43]
Jay Croucher
I mean, chips are better, I think, but the Colts have a reasonable argument because they're the second best name in football. I think I'm gonna crazy right at.
- [45:50]
Matthew Berry
Jonathan Taylor, offensive player of the year. Steichen is going to be coach of the year. I think Tyler Warren's got a shot at rookie of the year. Like, like this. They. I mean, they're unbelievable.
- [45:58]
Jay Croucher
I've never seen anything like Taylor's 80 yard touchdown run where it's like he's running on a balance beam the whole time. Like his. The gap between him and the safety was just insane. Like how does he run past him and stay on that? Taylor's doing things I've never seen a running back do before. This team is just two time friend.
- [46:12]
Matthew Berry
Of the show, by the way.
- [46:13]
Jay Croucher
Exactly.
- [46:14]
Matthew Berry
Prior to being on the show, he.
- [46:15]
Jay Croucher
Might price himself out. We may not be able to get him back.
- [46:18]
Matthew Berry
He's going to be second in mvp. The other thing that's happening here, we know Warren is great. Daniel Jones has been phenomenal. Just a great fit for that offense. But also, how about Michael Pittman, who throughout his career has always been a very good wide receiver, but much more of a floor guy than a ceiling guy because he just, he never scored touchdowns prior to this year. He was just never a big touchdown guy. And yet this year he scored in six of eight games. This season on the season, he's the 10th best wide receiver in fantasy.
- [46:44]
Jay Croucher
Yep. Had an incredibly sick touchdown on the left side of the end zone. Yeah. Michael Pittman again. This Colts team, they're just toying with people at the moment. It doesn't even really feel like they're playing with their food. Yeah, they're breaking into higher gears. The schedule gets a bit tougher, but they're going to keep on rolling. James Cook was would have been the story out of yesterday if not for Taylor and his performance. James Cook goes 19 for 216 and two touchdowns. A pitiful performance from the Carolina run defense. But James Cooks, you know what they did?
- [47:12]
Matthew Berry
They did not pound.
- [47:13]
Jay Croucher
No.
- [47:14]
Matthew Berry
They're told to keep pounding and yet they stopped pounding.
- [47:16]
Jay Croucher
They never commenced the pound. If you never commenced the pound.
- [47:19]
Matthew Berry
That's right.
- [47:19]
Jay Croucher
Everyone knows this.
- [47:20]
Matthew Berry
Yeah.
- [47:20]
Jay Croucher
James Cook, Cook quietly has been an absolute beast this year. He's on pace for over 1500 rushing hours. The touchdowns have not regressed like we thought they would. So just a locked in top five running back.
- [47:32]
Matthew Berry
20 more fantasy points in five, seven games this season. No qualified running back in terms of quarterback running backs have gotten a certain number of carries. No qualified running back has a higher yards per carry average this year than James Cook, who's getting six yards a clip. Unbelievable. Like. And so a lot of people were worried about the, hey, Panthers have a pretty good run defense. Like, we'll see what happens. James Cook just ran it down their throats. It was nice to see that even in a game in which James Cook was just, you know, just monstrous. Josh Allen, proud fantasy life investor Josh Allen was still able to have, you know, had the two rushing touchdowns through for one. Khalil Shakira has a nice game for the Bills as well.
- [48:08]
Jay Croucher
Yep. Staying in the AFC East. Tuataga Wailoa who I thought there was a chance that this might be. This might be a tour for the last start of the season. Apparently not because he throws for four touchdowns. Hyper efficient against what had been a very good Falcons pass defense. Jalen Waddle, he looked like rookie Jalen Waddle. Like, he looked like he had incredible burst. He goes for 99 yards and a great touchdown catch as well. So the Dolphins, I don't think we get this every week. There seems to be some weird stuff happening with Atlanta. Why are you losing by 24 points.
- [48:37]
Matthew Berry
At home for the Dolphins of all the games? Like, it was a weird day yesterday. Right. They're all sort of weird in the NFL. But of all the games yesterday that was the most shocking one that not only that Atlanta won, but that they came in there and they spanked him. They spanked Atlanta. Like it's one thing for. Okay, fine, the offense wasn't as good. They didn't have Drake London. They didn't have Michael Pennix. Like Kirk Cousins looked like. But you know, and by the way, as long as we're talking about bad takes, how about me tweeting out like, hey, by the way, Darnell Mooney available in like 15% of leagues. But. And then, you know, and then like 8 million people with the same joke. Well, there's a reason, Barry. Or like, you know, why do you think, you know, about to be available at 100%? Because he goose eggs. He's just Darnold Mooney sucks. And it is. You know what I mean? It's why I dropped him in our league, you know, and like, whatever. George picked him up. I'm like, good luck, have at it. But we did this segment on the football night in America pod where they wanted us to do this Halloween thing, whatever, trying to be cute. And so they asked like, who's the vampire of the NFL? Who's the ghost of the NFL? And I picked teams from. I was just like among the vampires, like rising from the dead sort of thing. Or like the Dolphins. This was supposed to be Mike McDaniel's last game. They were going to get blown out by the Falcons. And then, you know, they looked great. Jalen Waddle against a good secondary was able to get it done as well. He's now since Tyreek Hill went down with an injury, he's had at least 95 yards in three of those four games. He's averaging almost 16 fantasy points per game. He's the 15th best wide receiver in fantasy since Tyreek Hill went down. He's got a 22% target share, especially with no Darren Waller. I think Waddle is certainly legitimate. Hn, of course, did Achan type things here, including the touchdown. But Tua, look, here's what I'll tell you. Great game. He gets the four touchdowns. Fantastic. On the season. His average up to target is still 4. 4. I mean he's had two passes this entire year of 15 or more air yards. Sorry. In the game he only had two passes of more than 15 air yards. I'm like, that doesn't make sense. But, but you know, like he's had only two games this year. This. This being one of them with more than 205 passing. Just waddle and H. And that's what you're doing with the Dolphins, but Mike McDaniel and company keep their job for for longer. It gives them some strength, some length there.
- [50:50]
Jay Croucher
Yep, Drake May, who we're going to start hearing in MVP conversations, he's into +450. He has been on an absolute heater and it keeps it going. In spite of getting sacked by five times by Myles Garrett, he still had a very good game overall. Goes 18 for 24. He's been incredibly efficient. 282 through the air, three touchdowns and also gives you 50 yards on the ground.
- [51:10]
Matthew Berry
First quarterback this season with more than 250 yards against Cleveland just you know, since week two. He's the second best quarterback in fantasy football in terms of how to value that. Fifth straight game, fifth game this year with over 23 fantasy points. Just he is. He's the real deal and he's gotten. He's making k' Sean Boudi become more of a thing. He's just a locked in fantasy starter. He unfortunately spreads it around a little bit too much. We'll talk more about the Patriots and various players as we get closer to week nine. But yeah, I mean May's fantastic and I don't hate the people that say they'd rather May than Jaden Daniels because I get it. I'm sticking by five. Faith in five, but I get it.
- [51:47]
Jay Croucher
Yep, we've got five names for Sunday scaries and fittingly four of them are from the NFC South. Matthew, we started with Bijan Robinson.
- [51:55]
Matthew Berry
What the hell.
- [51:55]
Jay Croucher
Who goes 9 for 25, 3 receptions, 23 yards. Also has a backbreaking fumble which effectively sealed Atlanta's fate. There's no action here. It's Bijan Robinson. He will be fine. Just a very rough day at the office for Bijan.
- [52:08]
Matthew Berry
Viewest points by starting running back against the Dolphins this entire season. Falcons only had the ball for 22 minutes. Kirk was not good again. They didn't have Drake London. And just to add injury to insult, the one touchdown that they get from a running back goes to Tyler Algier who didn't touch the ball much but of course he gets in staying in the NFC south here. Baker. Second bad game in a row for the Bake Show. He did not look good. Look, the Buccaneers gutted one out against the Saints, but season low in completions averaged up to target and passing yards. Only 212 yards of total offense for Tampa Bay in this one. He's now had back to back games with under 12 fantasy points. They're on a buy next week so you're hoping they get healthier and they figure it out.
- [52:44]
Jay Croucher
Yep. Macro Booker rough game for him. Only catches 3 of 9 targets for 35 yards yards. I'll be fine. He's obviously very good. He does have an issue against press man coverage though that they need to figure out a little bit and get him in better spots to succeed Uncle Rico Dowdle.
- [52:58]
Matthew Berry
He was fueled by touchdowns as well. Three straight games with single digit fantasy points for a Booker. Of course again two of those Baker's been brutal so again give them the buy to figure it out. They're home to New England in week 10. I think things will be better for Tampa.
- [53:11]
Jay Croucher
Yep. Rico Dowdle just 8 for 54. This game is just the fast like Eddie Dalton does not belong as a starting quarterback in the NFL in 2025 and he just submari reign the whole Carolina offense outside of Ted Royal McMillan who had a nice day he was.
- [53:24]
Matthew Berry
Once again they once again split carries the Chuba Hubbard Chuba Hubbard gets a late touchdown. But oh by the way Rico Dowdle once again much better, much more efficient. Higher yards per carry. You're going to hang tough with Rico Dowdle. They're at the packers next week finally in that same game. Dalton Kincaid. We love Dalton Kincaid. Just not this week. One reception for 23 yards on just three targets. The problem is the Bills rushed for 245 yards. They didn't need to do anything in the air because they just they were running the ball down their throats. James Cook was so good. Just 19 pass attempts for Josh Allen. That's a season low again. Duncan Kincaid is still fine, you know, is still a, you know, low end tight end when I'm not worried about him. Just a tough day at the because of the way game script went.
- [54:06]
Jay Croucher
They'll throw more next week against the Chiefs. Okay. It's officially spooky season at the happy hour and we want to see your costumes. Post your fits using the hashtag. Hashtag ffhhalloween.
- [54:18]
Matthew Berry
I like that.
- [54:19]
Jay Croucher
Hashtag ffhhalloween. And we'll post them on Friday. And yes, every Todd Zeal costume is guaranteed to make the show. We're gonna hit our last break.
- [54:28]
Matthew Berry
Yeah. And I will say this as well, by the way. We're gonna do we're gonna dress up Friday for Halloween. So if you want to be in the top 10 regulars this week, send us photos prior to that because that's, that's a way to guarantee your name on the list right there. You got a good costume.
- [54:48]
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- [55:18]
Home Depot Announcer
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- [55:47]
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- [56:19]
Jay Croucher
DraftKings sportsbook is an official sports betting partner of the NFL and new customers can bet $5 and get $300 in bonus bets. If your bet wins, download the app and use promo code ffhh when you sign up. DraftKingsportsbook on the Crown is yours. Okay, it's last call. Take a look at the most bet. Props on DraftKings. Patrick Mahomes leads the way. Ultimate passing touchdowns two plus at minus.
- [56:39]
Matthew Berry
303 minus 303 unbelievable.
- [56:42]
Jay Croucher
My best bet tonight Jakory Crosby Merritt over 12 and a half yards. Longest rush. It was only a week ago that everyone loved this guy, including me. I think it's gone a little bit too far. The Chiefs are only mid pack at preventing explosives. I don't think the Commanders want Marcus Marriott dropping back 45 times. I think they will try and establish it early and JCS gets at least one 13 yard rush.
- [57:00]
Matthew Berry
Patrick Mahomes is the hottest quarterback in the NFL right now. My defense is decidedly not the Commanders. So I'm taking the Chiefs -10 and a half. They are with my heart. I'm rooting for the commanders. But with my wallet, I think the chiefs cover the ten and a half. This is going to get ugly tonight, so. And by the way. And if I'm wrong, that's fine. I'll be happy because it means we'll have at least made a decent. You know. Anyway, whatever it is. Hey, I hope you Monday night miracles come through. It's closing time. You don't have to go, but you can stay here for Jay. I'm Matthew. We'll be back tomorrow. Peace out.
- [57:38]
Jonathan Taylor
You're pretty smart. When people talk about you. Too smart comes up a lot. So why are you trying to prove them wrong? Why aren't you pushing the limits of science and powering the nuclear engines of the world's most powerful Navy? If you were born for it, isn't it time to make a smart choice? You can be smart or you can be nuke smart. Become a nuclear engineer@navy.com nukesmart America's Navy forged by the sea Whatever your vision.
- [58:08]
Home Depot Announcer
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