Championship Studs & Duds + Sack Races, #RightBrooks

Summary

Fantasy Footballers Podcast Summary

Title: Championship Studs & Duds + Sack Races, #RightBrooks
Hosts: Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, Mike "The Fantasy Hitman" Wright
Release Date: December 26, 2018

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Introduction and Holiday Cheer

The episode kicks off with the hosts exchanging holiday greetings and celebrating their recent victories in fantasy football. Andy Holloway humorously shares his triumph over a rival, Brooks, exclaiming, “No one else was saying I killed my kindness” (01:27), setting a lighthearted tone for the show.

Foot Clan Title Celebrations

Jason Moore enthusiastically acknowledges the community's success, saying, “Congratulations to everybody who brought home a hashtag Foot Clan title” (01:51). The hosts encourage listeners to showcase their championship shirts from shopballers.com, promising to retweet their photos: “If you have a title shirt, if you have a Foot Clan title shirt and you're wearing pants, I will retweet you” (02:37).

Off-Season Podcast Activities

The trio discusses their commitment to producing content even during the off-season. Jason remarks, “Extended bye week. That's what we call the off-season” (03:07), highlighting the value of their ongoing analysis and game theory discussions for fantasy enthusiasts.

Pump the Brakes: Player Concerns

Baker Mayfield and the Cleveland Browns

Jason Moore initiates the “Pump the Brakes” segment by expressing reservations about Baker Mayfield's performance in Week 17: “He’s playing Baltimore in Baltimore” (06:44). The hosts debate Mayfield's potential impact, considering Baltimore's defensive prowess, with Andy adding, “Baltimore just showed what they can do to their quarterback against Philip Rivers” (07:00).

Gus Edwards and the Ravens

Mike Wright voices concerns about Gus Edwards’ diminishing role: “We are in the fifth consecutive week of his snaps dropping down to 37%” (07:22). Conversely, Andy defends Edwards, stating, “I love Gus Edwards. I'm not worried at all” (08:29), illustrating differing viewpoints within the panel.

Larry Fitzgerald's Future

The discussion turns to veteran wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, with Andy sharing his doubts: “I don't want to play Larry Fitzgerald” (09:12). However, Mike counters, emphasizing Fitzgerald's resilience: “He's like the band Kiss. He just reunion tour after reunion tour” (09:26).

Stud Muffins: Top Performers of the Week

Aaron Rodgers

Aaron Rodgers is spotlighted for his impressive Week 16 performance: “37 for 55” (15:18). Jason praises Rodgers, suggesting his value next season: “He's a much better player than this season showed” (15:46).

Sam Darnold and Josh Allen

The hosts laud rookie quarterbacks Sam Darnold and Josh Allen. Jason notes Darnold’s breakout: “24 for 35, 341 and 3” (19:17), while Andy highlights Allen’s consistency despite occasional inaccuracies: “Josh Allen would sell his soul for the passing catch” (21:25).

Nick Foles

Nick Foles’ stellar performance is celebrated: “35 for 49 for 471 and 4” (17:38), marking a franchise record for the Eagles and solidifying his status as a top QB option.

Rising Stars: Emerging Talent to Watch

Mark Andrews

Andy nominates Mark Andrews as a dynasty rising star, appreciating his athleticism and potential: “Mark Andrews is somebody to keep your eye on” (39:29).

Chris Herndon and Daeshun Hamilton

Jason highlights Chris Herndon’s versatility: “Six ready two and a touchdown” (40:05), while Mike focuses on rookie Daeshun Hamilton’s target volume: “30 targets in the past three weeks” (40:56).

C.J. Anderson

C.J. Anderson is celebrated for his consistent performance, with Andy expressing a personal connection: “C.J. Anderson will be a great future tandem at wide receiver” (41:23).

Duds: Underperforming Players

Quarterbacks

The hosts lament the disappointing performances from quarterbacks Philip Rivers, Derek Carr, and Matt Ryan. Jason summarizes, “Philip Rivers, 23 for 37. No touchdowns, 181 yards interception on the first play and the last play of the game” (44:35).

Running Backs

Running backs such as Tariq Cohen, Josh Adams, and LaShawn McCoy are criticized for their lackluster performances. Mike specifically questions the utilization of LaShawn McCoy: “The usage of LaShawn McCoy is baffling” (47:56).

Wide Receivers and Tight Ends

Robbie Anderson and Rob Gronkowski are highlighted as duds. Mike humorously describes their poor week: “We were doing a three-legged race” (49:52).

Playoff Scenarios and Final Week Analysis

The hosts delve into the remaining playoff scenarios, analyzing various teams' motivations and potential outcomes. Jason discusses the Chiefs' unlikely path to the Wild Card round: “I'm telling you that there's a chance that the Kansas City Chiefs are playing in the wild card round” (53:16). They also touch on the New Orleans Saints' decisions regarding player participation in Week 17, emphasizing the strategic implications for fantasy owners.

Sponsorship Highlights

The episode includes promotions for sponsors like O'Reilly Auto Parts and FantasyChamps.com. Jason encourages listeners to celebrate their championships with quality trophies and rings from FantasyChamps.com, offering a discount code: “Use the promo code Ballers. You can save a little bit of money” (23:03).

Closing Remarks

As the episode wraps up, the hosts reflect on their fantasy teams' performances and upcoming matches. They express optimism for future content and encourage listeners to stay engaged through their community platforms.

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Notable Quotes:

• Andy Holloway: “No one else was saying I killed my kindness.” (01:27)
• Jason Moore: “He’s playing Baltimore in Baltimore.” (06:44)
• Mike Wright: “He’s like the band Kiss. He just reunion tour after reunion tour.” (09:26)
• Jason Moore: “Aaron Rodgers showed up in week 16. 37 for 55. Not normally.” (15:18)
• Andy Holloway: “Mark Andrews is somebody to keep your eye on.” (39:29)

Key Insights:

• Player Performance: The panel provides in-depth analysis of both high-performing and underperforming players, offering valuable insights for fantasy owners.

• Injury Impacts: Discussions on player injuries highlight the importance of monitoring player health and team dynamics in fantasy football strategies.

• Playoff Implications: The hosts emphasize the critical nature of Week 17, analyzing how various teams’ performances can influence playoff standings and fantasy outcomes.

Conclusions:

The episode delivers a comprehensive overview of the current fantasy football landscape, blending statistical analysis with personal anecdotes and community engagement. The hosts' diverse perspectives offer listeners nuanced viewpoints, enhancing their decision-making processes for the championship races.

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For more detailed discussions and expert advice, tune into the Fantasy Footballers Podcast and join their vibrant fantasy football community.

Transcript

[Andy Holloway]

Lowes is my new go to destination where I can explore the latest innovative Craftsman products, including their new V20 power tool battery platform. The Craftsman's V20 cordless power tool lineup features a high capacity lithium battery that's part of Craftsman's interchangeable battery system. It works with all the tools in their V20 lineup, giving you the runtime you need and the power you deserve. For the latest Craftsman products, visit Lowes.com Footballers Lowe's is the new name of Craftsman. Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast, coming to you from Draft.com Studios with your hosts, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore and Mike Wright.

[Jason Moore]

Foot Clan. Hey, I'm a little out of breath.

[Andy Holloway]

Hi.

[Jason Moore]

I'm a little light headed.

[Andy Holloway]

Merry Christmas.

[Mike Wright]

Is that Dick Van Dyke?

[Jason Moore]

Welcome in to the Fantasy footballers podcast. Wednesday, December 26th. Oh, your stockings were hung by the chimney with care in hopes that a Foot Clan title was there. And it was for you, James.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, it was. I mean, they said it couldn't be done. They said, Brooks can't be beaten. But I. I killed the way. You mean yourself, yes, but by me, I mean myself. No one else was saying I killed my kindness.

[Jason Moore]

And Brooks killed him with kindness too. He scored about half the points.

[Andy Holloway]

I also beat him a lot with the points, so that was fun. Hashtag FootClan title.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, welcome in. Congratulations to everybody who brought home a hashtag yes. Foot Clan title. Let's get into it.

[Andy Holloway]

A lot of tweets out there. Love, love, love seeing them. The amount of people out there.

[Jason Moore]

I've retweeted very, very, very many tweets from Foot Clan title winners. And if you start getting your Foot Clan title t shirt from shopballers.com which we know, we know many of you have picked up. I want to see pictures on Twitter. I will retweet any picture that I. Oh, that I see.

[Andy Holloway]

I am tagging the heck out of Andy with my new picture lineup.

[Jason Moore]

If you have a title shirt, if you have a Foot client title shirt and you're wearing pants, I will retweet you.

[Andy Holloway]

If not gonna retweet me.

[Mike Wright]

He's a shorts guy.

[Jason Moore]

Shorts or pants? Shorts or pants. If you have clothing on below the waist, you'll get a tweet incoming.

[Mike Wright]

Underpants.

[Jason Moore]

Shirtless for sure. Oh, yeah, yeah. How do you wear a Foot Clan tattle shirt without a shirt, Jason?

[Andy Holloway]

That's. I get. I got the mug.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, yeah, you got the mug.

[Andy Holloway]

Shirtless with a nice cup of coffee.

[Jason Moore]

Shirtless is the mug. And you'll definitely get a. I was.

[Mike Wright]

Imagining A red hot chili pepper situation.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, yeah.

[Jason Moore]

YouTube.com fantasy footballers, you can follow us all extended bye week. That's what we call the off season. Because we keep recording. This doesn't go away whether you want it to or not.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, take that.

[Jason Moore]

Take that podcast app in your pocket.

[Andy Holloway]

We have so much fun.

[Jason Moore]

You can't control us.

[Andy Holloway]

So much fun in the off season. And they are valuable shows as well for fantasy knowledge and, like, growing in game theory and things like that.

[Jason Moore]

It's. They know this. And more importantly, it's all the rage.

[Andy Holloway]

More importantly, the footies. The footies.

[Jason Moore]

Next week, The Monday Show, December 31, the Footy. And the footie award nominations. Thursday, the footie awards. Then we have shows every Tuesday and Thursday from January.

[Mike Wright]

Wait, is the show on Monday through.

[Jason Moore]

Is what show on Monday?

[Mike Wright]

Did you say Monday?

[Andy Holloway]

He did say Monday. It would be Tuesday. Well, next week is this.

[Jason Moore]

Monday's December 31st. Yeah. I don't think we have a show that day, though, Brooks.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

We don't know when we.

[Jason Moore]

I'm almost positive we don't have a show that day.

[Mike Wright]

It'll be another Christmas miracle when the show shows up.

[Andy Holloway]

I know.

[Jason Moore]

We don't have one on Tuesday, right?

[Mike Wright]

New Year's Day?

[Jason Moore]

New Year's Day? No, I don't think we have one New Year's Eve.

[Mike Wright]

Who knows?

[Andy Holloway]

We'll find out.

[Jason Moore]

Check your podcast, check your pocket. You'll find out. We'll. We'll figure it out.

[Mike Wright]

I don't know what's up.

[Jason Moore]

Either way, we'll have footie nominations and awards next week. And look, if you have a question for week 17, if you're playing in a week 17 title game, you have to start every question on Twitter with, sorry, I'm in a stupid Week 17 league. But. And then follow it up with your question.

[Mike Wright]

But.

[Andy Holloway]

But. Andy.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm so sick of you guys bashing us week 17ers. You're gonna lose me as a listener.

[Jason Moore]

Okay. All right, well, look, we're just trying to help. If you're in week 17. That's why we're still here. Otherwise, we would have taken the whole week off.

[Andy Holloway]

That is a really good.

[Jason Moore]

So we care about you. We also realized that you are just one person in your league. You may not have control over the archaic rule set.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I said, I don't like the.

[Jason Moore]

People who say, well, you might as well play week 17 because it's all random before week 17 anyways.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, that's dumb. That's.

[Mike Wright]

Enjoy your Christian McCaffrey. Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, that's not very random. This week he'll be on the band.

[Andy Holloway]

We're here for you.

[Jason Moore]

All right. It is Wednesday. We've got. We've got Pump the brakes. We've got the weekly rewind. We've got studs and does. We got rising stars. We're going to jam pack this show. We got to make up for a weekend of fantasy football action. So let's start with Pump the brakes.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, oh, oh. O'Reilly, O'Reilly Auto Parts.

[Jason Moore]

Pump the brakes with O'Reilly Auto Parts, the final pump the brakes segment of the season. And my Pump the Brakes. This fine gentleman has nothing to do with his talent, ability, or my insane jealousy as a Cardinal fan, knowing that Baker Mayfield is a quarterback for the future of the Cleveland Browns. But I'm going to pump the brakes on. You know, the thing is about Baker, Mike. He is good, very good. And we should have all known this because anybody who is a walk on starter to Oklahoma.

[Mike Wright]

Thank you.

[Jason Moore]

Has something special that lets you play in Cleveland. But we should have known this. But he's got great pieces around him. He really does. He has a good offensive line. He has a great running back in Nick Chubb. He has good wide receivers. He is currently seemingly well coached. I'm pumping the brakes on Baker for Week 17 matchups. He's playing Baltimore in Baltimore.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, is it Baltimore?

[Jason Moore]

And Baltimore cares, too. Baltimore needs to win. Baltimore needs. If Baltimore wins, they're locked up. They're good to go. Because Pittsburgh can only get in, I believe, if Baltimore loses and Pittsburgh wins.

[Andy Holloway]

And much to the chagrin of many fantasy owners, Baltimore just showed what they can do to their quarterback against Philip Rivers. Right, Brooks?

[Mike Wright]

Oh. Oh, come on.

[Jason Moore]

I feel like hashtag right Brooks is going to go through this entire show once we get to a certain section. Oh, okay. The duds. Is that the. Yeah. Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

All right, I'll jump in here. My Pump the Brakes. This one's also a little bit dangerous because the production has been there for running back Gus Edwards from the Baltimore Ravens, but we are in the fifth consecutive week of his snaps dropping down to 37%. I get it then. He was fine if you started in this past week because he started the game with a 40 yard run and then after that was used sparingly, he's.

[Andy Holloway]

They have.

[Mike Wright]

They have no equity in him. And this is not necessarily a Kenneth Dixon support over here. I'm not saying that the complete change is happening with Kenneth Dixon, but you have time Montgomery there as well. It's just. And it was a very positive game script for Gus Edwards. They could have just ran him and ran him, got him back to that 20 total carry mark, but they did not. So I have my concerns for Gus Edwards moving forward.

[Jason Moore]

I mean, you have to look at that backfield as more than a two or three man rotation because of, because Lamar Jackson's a part of it too. So. Yes. Interesting.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. I'll say this because I believe it. I love Gus Edwards. I'm not worried at all. We disagree on this, on this pump, but that's why there's three voices here. My pump the brakes this week is painful to my heart.

[Mike Wright]

You're going to do this on possibly the last game of his career.

[Andy Holloway]

I am on. I am a monster. But I don't want to play Larry Fitzgerald. Larry Fitzgerald had what a lot of people interpret as. We still don't know if he's going to play another year or retire. But he had his final home game of the 2018 season. It was a great game. He performed admirably.

[Mike Wright]

Threw it. Oldest wide receiver in history to throw a touchdown.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes. You're pumping the brakes down to David Johnson. And the reality is that was his last home game. He gets up for home games. We've seen that. I've talked a lot this year about the home road splits for Larry. The crowd fuels the old body.

[Jason Moore]

But he's last game, Mike. I think he's back.

[Mike Wright]

You do?

[Jason Moore]

Absolutely.

[Andy Holloway]

I hope you are correct. And that could be true. Certainly. I mean, everybody thought it was his last game last year at one point.

[Jason Moore]

And the year before.

[Andy Holloway]

You're right. He will never retire.

[Mike Wright]

He's like the band Kiss. He just reunion tour after reunion tour.

[Jason Moore]

That's fine with me.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, not the Kiss, not the.

[Jason Moore]

Kiss part, but the Larry part.

[Andy Holloway]

But he's going on the road in Seattle and unfortunately, he does not have Baker Mayfield. He has Josh Rosen. So I'm not, I'm not rolling with Larry Fitzgerald in Seattle in my championship week.

[Jason Moore]

All right, that was pump the brakes with O'Reilly Auto Parts. Better parts, better prices every day.

[Andy Holloway]

Breaking news.

[Mike Wright]

How is that possible?

[Jason Moore]

This just in. Oh, yeah, this just in. We, we do, we do have a show on Monday. We do have a Monday show.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, how could we doubt Brooks?

[Jason Moore]

I mean, Brooks looked so disgusted with me when I, when I questioned it. But then I realized that was just at his own team and I don't hold it against him.

[Andy Holloway]

Hashtag right, Brooks.

[Mike Wright]

So next week. Goodness. Next week. Let's lay out the schedule. Monday and Thursday.

[Jason Moore]

Correct. That's what it is, we got a Monday and a Thursday.

[Mike Wright]

Usually it's Tuesday, Thursday. But next week because of the holiday.

[Jason Moore]

We'Re gonna put it out because of New Year's Day. So Monday, footie nominations, Thursday, footie awards settled.

[Andy Holloway]

Weekly rewind.

[Jason Moore]

That's settled. Hashtag right. Brooks.

[Andy Holloway]

Right.

[Jason Moore]

Good to go. You'll be here. All right. Marcus Mariota didn't finish the game on Saturday due to a stage stinger injury. Stingers are going around. It's like they're contagious. Eckler had a stinger. They got a lot.

[Mike Wright]

Stop letting scorpions on the field.

[Jason Moore]

That's not what a stinger is, Mike. This is why we, this is why we turned to medical professionals like me. That was actually just a bad joke. That's what that was.

[Mike Wright]

It was decent.

[Andy Holloway]

Now news has come out on Marcus Mariota this morning that he talked about how his entire right side is numb. They have signed another quarterback. He's not going to be playing, which is bad news for everyone, I would say, even including your number one player through the fantasy championship weeks, Derek Henry.

[Jason Moore]

Speaking of terrible news for my dynasty team, Ian Rapaport reports that Philip Lindsey, who was injured and left the game on Monday night, who was supposed to.

[Mike Wright]

Be fine and play next week, he.

[Jason Moore]

Has a possible scaphoid fracture and ligament damage. Could, could have to have surgery. He faces a lengthy recovery. They say he could miss the majority of the off season program but be back for training camp. So it's not good though when you're a rookie and you're gonna have coming off of an injury. So it's just, it's really not the way you wanted in the season.

[Mike Wright]

It's not just that he's gonna have an entire new coaching staff.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, you're right. So Matt Burrida, his season's over. He aggravated the sprained ankle that has always. It's aggravated once a week since week five. And then Dante Pettis is done for the year with an MCL sprain. That's, that's good news because when Dante Pettis went down, you were worried about acl. You were worried about something a little bit worse than a strain. What else is going on here? Eric Ebron, concussion.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. We haven't heard any updates on how he's progressing through the protocol, but obviously if you're In a Week 17 championship, you, a lot of people are going to be there with Eric Ebron. We'll keep you posted.

[Jason Moore]

Tevin Coleman left the game with a groin injury. Day to day. Hopefully you're not counting on him. Ryan Kelly left with a neck injury. Again, the Colts center. This is unfortunate.

[Andy Holloway]

And it affects their running game a lot. And then you have the man. How crazy that Emmanuel Sanders.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, this. This is awful.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

And Demarys Thomas now on separate teams. Both went down to season. Possibly.

[Mike Wright]

Possibly career ending.

[Andy Holloway]

I don't want to say it, but yeah, possibly career ending. Achilles tears.

[Jason Moore]

Jermaine Kerr suffered an Achilles injury in Week 16 against the packers, acronym of St. Brown exited with the head injury. And then the Panthers have placed quarterback Taylor Henneke on IR with an elbow. Elbow injury. That sucks, man. I really like that kid.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

So Jags binged Cody Kessler in favor of Blake bortles in the second half of week 16. Oh, the final log in the dumpster fire. That is the Jag season.

[Mike Wright]

What are you doing? I mean, why is it taken till week 16?

[Andy Holloway]

Stream of the week this week, Blake Borhole do it for you. You're in week 17. Do it.

[Jason Moore]

Hold on.

[Andy Holloway]

Just want to watch the world.

[Jason Moore]

Let's see if I still have this in here somewhere.

[Mike Wright]

We never bench that.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, he's back. He's got a great, great matchup against the Texas.

[Jason Moore]

I mean, it's really a matter of.

[Mike Wright]

He does.

[Jason Moore]

You're shaking your head.

[Mike Wright]

That is. No, that's a good matchup.

[Jason Moore]

No, it's not. It's not a good matchup just because their secondary is giving up points. You realize they give up points when the quarterback is competent enough to escape the pressure and chuck it downfield to a good wide receiver. Blake Bortles. Blake Bortles is. I mean, between him and Castler, the reason they waited this long is because both of them suck because they had.

[Andy Holloway]

To go back to Bortles.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. I mean, that's.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

It's not like Kessler's good enough. You're ready for it, Gurley. Lamar Miller, Spencer Ware and Odell Beckham Jr. Didn't play in Week 16. They took your championship weekend off. Do not tweet at them. It's not their fault.

[Mike Wright]

Yep.

[Jason Moore]

What else is going on? Do we want to jump into the stud muffins?

[Andy Holloway]

Yes, sir. This week's fantasy stud muffins.

[Jason Moore]

All right. Well, it took them all season, but Aaron Rodgers showed up in week 16. 37.

[Mike Wright]

Big way.

[Jason Moore]

37 for 55. Not normally. We don't normally hit that drop on the total pass attempts category, but Brooks did highlight it. 442 and two and two rushing touchdowns. That jumped him all the way to QB5 on the season. And ESPN scoring.

[Mike Wright]

Wow.

[Jason Moore]

That's probably, I think that's probably better. I think the overreaction next year would have been on the low side for Aaron Rodgers. He's a much better player than this season showed, but he's not worthy of, you know, second, third round pickup like he was last year.

[Mike Wright]

If the Drew Brees discount comes for Aaron Rodgers next year, I will scoop it up. I will probably be about it.

[Jason Moore]

Let's just. I wanted to have a little bit of today's show bending towards next year anyway.

[Mike Wright]

Sure.

[Jason Moore]

When you look at Aaron Rodgers, if he finishes QB5 and you think about the big high impact quarterbacks this year, which would have been, you know, Patrick Mahomes at the top of that list, he'll be the number one quarterback off the board without question next year. Will Aaron Rodgers go ahead of Andrew Luck next year? Probably not.

[Mike Wright]

Probably.

[Andy Holloway]

I think there's a good chance he does. He's going to get a new coaching staff. It's all going to be the new offense and opening him up and then you'll draft. I mean, I still think Aaron Rodgers is probably the second quarterback taken. Whether he should be.

[Jason Moore]

That's probably true. I agree with that.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

You know, I mean Cam Newton ended the year with a dud.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Nobody's rushing after guys like Matt Ryan, Russell Wilson. Russell Wilson. So I mean you're, you know, you're talking about. And Drew Brees has really cooled off in the second half of the year.

[Jason Moore]

I think Luck will be up there. Yes, Luck will be up there for sure. Deshaun Watson as well. Deshaun Watson, 29 for 43. 39 and 2, 8 for 49 and 2 rushing. He was great. That throw that, you know, he dropped into the bucket now. Foles let him back down the field to win the game, but Watson pretty much brought them back from a deficit and it was really impressive to me. On the throwing side. QB4 on the season and ESPN scoring. Nick Foles. Oh, boy. You, you love the end of the season.

[Andy Holloway]

St. Nick.

[Jason Moore]

Nick. Yeah, exactly. 35 for 49 for 471 and 4.

[Andy Holloway]

471 yards.

[Jason Moore]

Goodness, that's a franchise record.

[Mike Wright]

That's the most passing yards in an Eagle game history.

[Jason Moore]

You said Saint Nick. Did you guys watch Kurt Russell in that Netflix? I did movie with the, with the kids.

[Mike Wright]

Christmas Chronicles.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

I really couldn't get enough of him singing in the jailhouse. I thought that was the best part of the movie. Kurt Russell was, was all about that big Ben Roethlisberger, 33 for 50 for 380 and three. They lost. And now they're on the bubble. I wonder. I just wonder what Love Bell's thinking this year about Money. Yeah, probably. But, I mean, let's. Let's analyze it. Let's take a step back from Lev Bell's perspective, just to our perspective. This team, obviously, James Conner has been out for a few weeks, and James Conner, in my opinion, while great, just like Jayden Samuels, has been great. Right. Not the same thing that your offense has with Lev Bell.

[Mike Wright]

And to be fair to James Conner, Le'Veon Bell was not Le'Veon Bell his rookie season. I mean, the jump that Lev Bell made rookie year to second year was astronomical. I think people forget about it.

[Jason Moore]

I remember he was an absolute plotter. But the thing is, is I'm not making the point of what Connor will be. I'm making the point of what this season was for the Pittsburgh Steelers and the gamble that they took in not locking Love Bell up. Did it cost them a playoff berth?

[Andy Holloway]

I don't believe.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I don't think so. I don't think Le'Veon Bell.

[Jason Moore]

You don't think he makes a difference enough in one or two of these games.

[Mike Wright]

I honestly don't.

[Jason Moore]

Because they win one or two more games and they're in the, you know, they beat Oakland during the playoff.

[Mike Wright]

I do not.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I tend to think that he would have made a big difference. Pat Mahomes, 48 passing touchdowns on the year. Now he was a stud. Sam Darnold, baby.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. Holy crap.

[Jason Moore]

24 for 35, 341 and 3. I talked about it heading into the week, how good he looked on film the week before. It was almost as though he broke through the next level.

[Mike Wright]

Yes, it really did look like that.

[Jason Moore]

It did.

[Andy Holloway]

And really great how all these rookie quarterbacks are breaking through. And by all, I mean minus Josh Rosen. Thanks. Really?

[Mike Wright]

You really think Josh Allen broke through?

[Andy Holloway]

I just wanted to besmirch Josh Frozen. That was the only point of bringing that up. All right.

[Jason Moore]

Apparently I hit the nail on the head with my Darnold preseason prediction. Oh, well, this was pointed out by Kyle. I had him down for five weeks as a QB1 and this was his fifth week as a QB1. So he got it done and he was even hurt. He's a good player. Yeah, everybody but Josh Rosen is a great rookie quarterback. Lamar Jackson, Sam Darnold, Josh Allen.

[Andy Holloway]

I would be so happy.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, you have got to be happy with Josh Allen.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I completely.

[Jason Moore]

I mean, he is. He has kept Them in games. He's won them games. But yes, from a passing side, the jury's going to be out of it.

[Andy Holloway]

Would you be happy with Lamar Jackson right now?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, his passing is terrible.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I mean, I.

[Jason Moore]

Maybe you can't. You have to have the same standard for both those guys.

[Mike Wright]

It's not about the player. It's the situation where the Baltimore Ravens look like they are built to. Like they're built to just be a run team and.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, but that's not fair because Buffalo is built to not be an NFL team on the offensive side of the ball. They're literally built to be like.

[Jason Moore]

Josh Allen would sell his soul for the passing catch, the pass catching weapons in Baltimore.

[Andy Holloway]

Right.

[Jason Moore]

Zay Jones is his number one.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Isn't that enough of a story?

[Mike Wright]

I don't know. I thought I saw enough from Lamar's decision making and accuracy when the throw is there and I'm still seeing Josh Allen making some good throws. But also I was watching Week 16 with Brooks and there was a moment where I screamed, holy crap, Josh Allen. That was the worst throw I've ever seen because it was a wide open player. No one around him for probably 50 yards in the flat and overthrow him by an equal 50 yards. Yeah, I'm not seeing Lamar Jackson do that.

[Jason Moore]

Well, Cam Newton used to do that all the time too. Cam Newton's. Cam Newton's misses. He wanted them to be big. Yeah, big boy misses. Look, the thing is, you've seen flashes from those four guys both for fantasy and for reality.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes, sir.

[Jason Moore]

That you have not seen those flashes from Josh Rosen as of yet. The only saving grace for Josh Rosen is the story of Jared Goff and Mitch Trubisky. If those two tales of redemption didn't exist, I would be beckoning the Cardinals. I almost wore my Cardinals Christmas sweater today to celebrate the impending number one pick. Number one.

[Andy Holloway]

Thank you, Raiders. That was a great victory you had.

[Jason Moore]

Let's pause real quick before we get into running back studs.

[Mike Wright]

We want to thank today's sponsor. You know what time it is, Fantasy champs, Foot Clan. We know you're celebrating those hashtag Foot Clan titles and you gotta get the hardware to match. Fantasy champs is the place to go for the absolute best. Trophies, rings, jerseys, whatever you need.

[Jason Moore]

Let's break it down right now. You can get perennial trophies on there, crystal trophy, gold trophy, and then you can grab the newly engraved on metal, by the way.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

Not some cheap plastic on metal. You can get the newly engraved plaques each and every year for that perennial Gold or crystal trophy. You can also get a ring.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, I got mine.

[Jason Moore]

You can get a ring. You already got your ring.

[Andy Holloway]

I got my ring. I was Footland champ, man.

[Mike Wright]

The order in.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I mean, come on, this was. Yesterday was Christmas. I was a champ. I go to fantasy champs. I mean, this is. This is a no brainer.

[Mike Wright]

So celebrate in style. Fantasychamps.com use the promo code Ballers. You can save a little bit of money.

[Andy Holloway]

10% off.

[Jason Moore]

All right, big winners for the running back position. Jamal Williams had a monster game. Two touchdowns or, I'm sorry, one touchdown. But he had six for 61 through the air on nine targets. Camara McCaffrey, the number one running back on the week. Chris Carson, 27 for 116.

[Mike Wright]

Workhorse and two. And that the final touchdown with Russell Wilson shoving him into the end zone wasn't. It just was such a hilarious play to me.

[Jason Moore]

Jason, I think I will give the floor to you for the next.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. C.J. anderson, you are.

[Mike Wright]

Maybe you've heard of him.

[Andy Holloway]

Maybe you've heard of him. You are my spirit animal. They say you're low to the ground and surprisingly athletic as you're a little bit wider than people want you to be.

[Mike Wright]

He's a sturdy fella, but do you.

[Andy Holloway]

Relate to his athletic profile in every way possible? Yes. Look, he's a good running back. I mean, when he played, even in sparing use for the Panthers, he was fine. He was a thousand yard rusher last year and he's been kicked around because, look, he looks out of shape. You watch him run, he looks out of shape. Except nobody can tackle the guy. He sees the lane, he finds the hole. I don't know what else you'd want from him, but he put on a show and I hope not. I hope I know the amount of tweets I had saying thank you for telling me to come with you on the CJ Anderson ride and showing me screenshots of CJ Anderson in their championship winning lineup. I mean, talk about C.J.

[Jason Moore]

With Standerson.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, yeah, C.J. and I win. Yes, I do.

[Jason Moore]

Brooks, do we not have any Monday punday? Did you not gather any puns? Yeah, I did not. Well, somebody took Christmas off. Somebody took off Christmas this year.

[Andy Holloway]

It was great. C.J. anderson, you are awesome. And it's a lot of fun.

[Jason Moore]

It's incredible. If you. The trajectory of CJ Anderson and he even had fun with it. He put out a tweet talking about, look, if I won you a fantasy title this past week.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, check out My charity.

[Jason Moore]

Check out his charity. Which is cool. And the funny part is just that you go from being cut to being signed by the worst team in football at the time, the Raiders were dead last. To being cut by the Raiders, which mesmerizing. If he is as good as you say, Jason, and then gets picked up and has an opportunity to play in place of Todd Gurley and literally runs with the opportunity he earned himself money.

[Andy Holloway]

He could get a Super bowl ring this year. Yeah, because, I mean, but look at who the Raiders have gotten rid of. Khalil Mack, superstar, Amari Cooper, superstar, and now cj.

[Mike Wright]

He was too good.

[Andy Holloway]

Anderson. He was too good.

[Mike Wright]

He didn't fit the Gruden plan.

[Andy Holloway]

You're darn right. He's like, this guy's great. Get rid of him.

[Jason Moore]

Unbelievable.

[Andy Holloway]

What a world.

[Jason Moore]

Elijah McGuire. Monster week. Damian Williams did it again. Darren Sprouls, Doug Martin. Oh, Doug Martin did have a Krampus 21 for one.

[Mike Wright]

I won't say, yeah, it's Krampus season.

[Jason Moore]

Sonny Michelle.

[Andy Holloway]

Finally the touchdown and a hundo on the ground.

[Jason Moore]

Didn't you play Alfred Blue over Sonny Michelle in some league or something like that? I did, yeah. That was dumb. Saquon Barkley. Barkley's been really held in check. Actually, the end of the year for Saquon Barkley. Now he'll undoubtedly be the number two running back.

[Mike Wright]

Number two. Number two or three. Pick two or three.

[Jason Moore]

I think in some leagues you see him go one. I think in some leagues you see him go three. The end of the year, the last two games were the first kind of glimpse at, oh, no, the off. If that offensive line can't open holes for him. His yards per carry were junk over the last two games. Now he still finds a way to get it done. But it was underwhelming. Fantasy playoff performance by Saquon Barkley. Now, you said he'd go number two because obviously Derek Henry's number one, Right?

[Andy Holloway]

Yep.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, you're number one guy for the fancy playoffs.

[Andy Holloway]

I wanted to bring this up. You just talked about Alfred Blue, about how Mike. Mike played him. And I was. I did you know Alpha Blue only had four carries. Yeah. And, you know, a lot, a lot of tweets. I think Harmon had found a gym that Matt Harmon had found a gym that over the last four years, every December, Alpha Blue had a game with more than 20 carries. So everyone was expecting, oh, this is just crazy. He's going to get more.

[Mike Wright]

And it was all Deontay Foreman.

[Andy Holloway]

It was Foreman. And so I looked Up Foreman's line.

[Jason Moore]

I don't think he had a yard gain, did he?

[Mike Wright]

No. Oh, he was seven.

[Andy Holloway]

He was awful. Seven carries for negative one yard.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, awful. Yeah. Well, I now for blue in every game in his career that he's had more than 10 carries. His average is 3 yards of carry. He's one of the worst running backs in football. Yeah, he is. He is like the. If you were doing create a character and you picked running back on a video game and you didn't put any of the points on it, you just had the base like 60s across the board. That's very disrespectful. But it's true. It's true. Derek Henry, 21 for 84 and 1. People were disappointed.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes, they were disappointed with his great finish.

[Jason Moore]

So what is the truth of Derek Henry? People will want to know. We'll have a whole off season to discuss.

[Mike Wright]

I don't know.

[Jason Moore]

But the truth of Derek Henry is, I mean we watch football all the time. We have got 16 weeks that we have processed and digested and he didn't look the same the last three weeks. He looked different the last three weeks to me. I've watched plenty of Derrick Henry. He was more decisive, more powerful. They opened up some holes for him. They had jet sweeps featuring Derek Henry. So they were being more innovative in their play calling with him. What happened?

[Andy Holloway]

Here's the interesting thing. To me it's not just how he looks, but it's the utilization because even though he was getting, you know, starts the year with 10 carries, 18, 18 carries, it was still always a split with him.

[Jason Moore]

And Dion Lewis is that the real problem is rhythm?

[Andy Holloway]

Well, I would say so. That's entirely it. But I do know it is to me that they now see him as the feature back and that is not. Dion Lewis had been involved all year. In fact, there was a time right after their bye week where you saw no double digit carries for Henry and you know, tons of carries for Lewis. But the last three weeks they've been winning and they've been winning on the back of Derek Henry with a massive amount of carry. So going into next year I'll project him to have that role because they're winning, they're heading towards the playoffs. But I'm still not going to draft him. Like he will be fool's gold to me because I don't want the risk of the floor that could come that we've seen and he'll go around other good backs.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, it's all going to be about the draft Price. Does he end up in the fourth round?

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, no, he'll be. I think he ends up in like the second round. I really do. Derek Henry's name, his athletic profile, the carries at the end of the season, I think people will get. There will be people saying he's a top 12 back.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. And there's more to come, right? I mean they win, they make the playoffs this week and then you see more Derek Henry in the playoff if he ends on a high because they. This is what's amazing to me about the NFL. I am so in love with the NFL. If you didn't know because. Because this year we saw the best high profile offenses we've ever seen, the Chiefs and the Rams and we have seen the ascension and rebirth of defense with the Bears and Ravens. And then you've seen these kind of strange winning teams with the Seahawks and the Titans. And so you have three different, complete different ways to win. Right. Like if I looked at the Titans and Seahawks, I'd say they are run first teams that are sporadic on defense. But then the Bears and the Ravens just shut you down down on defense. And I mean who, who, who does, who wins the Super Bowl? I don't know if it's going to be the offensive Saints because they have enough on defense to shut you down probably. I mean they'd be my favorite too. Somebody asked me the other day at a Christmas party to pick somebody right now and I go, I guess New Orleans, but I don't know. And that's what's great about. See, you asked me who's going to win the NBA championship. I can tell you the answer. It's the Suns. The Phoenix Suns for sure. Antonio Brown. Welcome to further Fantasy Lore. Week 1614 for 185 and 2 on 19 targets.

[Andy Holloway]

Hashtag right. Brooks?

[Jason Moore]

Oh yeah. Well, let me ask you this. Devonte Adams or Antonio Brown who goes higher in next year's draft?

[Andy Holloway]

That's a good one.

[Jason Moore]

I think next week, Brooks, we're going to do a simulated first round. That's what we're going to do.

[Andy Holloway]

I would love that. That'll be fun. That'll be fun.

[Jason Moore]

And I think, I think Devonte Adams.

[Andy Holloway]

Will sneak ahead because when, as soon as juju, you know, people start doing their numbers in the off season, they're going to bump juju up. They're going to bump, you know, Antonio Brown down a little from his history and that'll place him probably behind.

[Mike Wright]

Adams was unbelievably consistent. Off the top of my head, I think he had 14 weeks as a.

[Andy Holloway]

Wide receiver one which is that like running backs do that. You know the best running backs. Zeke does that. Where he's very consistent, doesn't have a bunch of dud weeks. Wide receivers don't do that. Antonio Brown, who's the best, the most consistent. He does not do that over his career.

[Jason Moore]

If you believe that Rogers will have some hype with the new coaching staff and whoever they bring in, then that'll probably translate to Adams. Adams will probably go a spot ahead of Brown, but it'll be close.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

And Brown vaulted himself into the Elliot wide receiver two spot.

[Andy Holloway]

It's.

[Mike Wright]

It's fun that at least there's a conversation out because it was just for three straight years. It was, well, Antonio Brown. Antonio Brown.

[Jason Moore]

It was like when Calvin was the one.

[Andy Holloway]

Right.

[Mike Wright]

It's just fun to have some more players in the game.

[Jason Moore]

Robert woods, big game, six for 89 and a touchdown. Had a rushing touchdown as well. He's wide receiver nine on the season. He's great. He's a great player.

[Andy Holloway]

I can't wait to draft him next year. He'll be undervalued.

[Jason Moore]

Yes, he will. Hey, Robbie, what's up? Robbie Anderson, nine for 140 and a touchdown, 13 targets.

[Mike Wright]

I mean that was a roller coaster of a ride with Robbie Anderson from the start of the week getting abs. I mean first week of the season getting absolutely nothing. I think he had the one target. It was the deep touchdown and it was holy crap, you have to bail out for Robbie Anderson. Then he was gone forever and now he's back.

[Jason Moore]

Here's all it's not complicated.

[Mike Wright]

And he's the new hotness.

[Jason Moore]

It's not complicated. And by the way, they'll have a new coaching staff as well.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Here's all that. This is all you need to know about Robbie Anderson over the last three years. Competent quarterback play, massive fantasy production. That's it. That's the whole equation. It's not complicated. When Josh McCown was competent at quarterback. Yep. He dominated. Sam Darnold's been competent the last three weeks. Robbie Anderson has shown up. He. All you have to do is watch the film. He's just like Robert woods in the sense that the film tells the story on those two guys. And Robbie Anderson has elite talent. His ball tracking skills are elite. He's a good player.

[Mike Wright]

Right. And now there was no Quincy Noonwa again.

[Jason Moore]

That helped too.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

I mean, curse dealing with some injuries. It Robbie's next. His 2019 season will be difficult to project. He will be a Jet. We do know that because they can keep him as a restricted free agent. That will probably translate into some nice soap opera off season drama.

[Andy Holloway]

Did, did he officially not receive a suspension or is some of his off the field stuff still possibly pending for next year?

[Mike Wright]

That will be interesting to.

[Jason Moore]

I believe he avoided suspension.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I think I remember that too, but I wasn't sure.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, he'll be interesting. Doug Baldwin, 7 for 126 and 1 on 12 targets. The highest graded receiver in the NFL according to Pro Football Focus this week. Highest graded in the NFL since week 13.

[Andy Holloway]

Thanks. My fantasy MVP who crushed me all season since week 13.

[Mike Wright]

That means he was a playoff superstar.

[Jason Moore]

Well, you did, you did make him your start of the week.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes, he was my start of the.

[Jason Moore]

Week in honor of his fantasy mvp. And he, you know, he's certainly the MVP for some people.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh yeah, he won. I mean he won you titles, championships. The last two weeks he's been.

[Jason Moore]

You know who I don't want to play in the first round. I don't want to play Seattle.

[Mike Wright]

Yep.

[Jason Moore]

Dallas.

[Mike Wright]

That's fair.

[Jason Moore]

Dallas, you don't want to play Seattle. Michael Thomas. Michael Thomas, 11 for 109 and 1. I consider this some nice redemption for fantasy owners that limped their way with him into the title game. He showed up for you. And then some big kind of anomalous games from Nelson Aguilar and Mohammed Sanu. Aguilar can always do this. If he gets loose for an 83 yard touchdown. He generally has a good game after that. Mike Evans, Ty Hilton, some good games. Hilton, he doesn't practice. He just plays my friends.

[Andy Holloway]

Plays hurt.

[Jason Moore]

Just plays big tight end week. Zachary. It's Kyle Rudolph. Hey, Kyle. Oh man, this is going to distort his entire season. He jumps all the way to tight end 7 because of 9 for 1, 22 and 2 including a hail Mary halftime.

[Mike Wright]

Hail Mary. That was almost an identical recreation of the Aaron Rodgers throw to Richard Rodgers a couple of years ago. It was amazing.

[Jason Moore]

You don't draft Kyle Rudolph?

[Andy Holloway]

No.

[Jason Moore]

Any circumstance.

[Mike Wright]

No.

[Jason Moore]

Jason Will is even agreeing.

[Andy Holloway]

Look, I've been the Kyle Rudolph supporter over the years and no, I completely agree. You can't draft Kyle Rudolph to be.

[Jason Moore]

Your guy if you're streaming. We had a couple starts of the week hit this week. Evan Ingram, 6 for 87 on six targets. Chris Herndon, 6 for 82 and a touchdown on seven targets. Also another player I really like. I just like him. Mark Andrews, 2 for 83 and a touchdown. Got loose for a deep ball. I just the profile, the size, the speed, Mark Andrews is somebody to keep your eye on. You haven't seen Hayden Hurst break out. You haven't seen. I mean they have 16 tight ends. But pay attention to Mark Andrews. I think he will be the one to emerge over time. Let's, let's transition perfectly into rising stars.

[Andy Holloway]

Rising stars of the week. So I'm gonna throw a quick like this wasn't my rising star, but I'm gonna say Mark Andrews is a dynasty rising star. On the back of that, while watching this last Ravens game and seeing how they used him, the thing that kept running through my head is the way that there were all these snaps where Mark Andrews was not on the field and they were using Nick Boyle in a way that Mark Andrews can succeed in. But Mark Andrews wasn't on the field. It was Nick Boyle and Mark Andrews is just significantly better than Boyle. But he's still a rookie still. You know he's got ways to improve and in blocking and other, in other ways. But I just checked and Nick Boyle is a, he's basically a free agent. He's not under contract. So the dynasty outlook for Mark Andrews.

[Jason Moore]

Well, I think Lamar likes him. I think Lamar's got higher percentage throws to those tight ends in that read option system. And then it does come down to targets like you said though, I mean you're not going to get by with two targets. It's just the talent is there. My rising star is Chris Herndon. It's the tight end for the New York Jets. Six ready two and a touchdown. Again, competent quarterback play and an athlete that can do everything you need from the tight end position. Herndon looked great and if they trust Darnold more and more right now with what they have on the roster, he's the second best pass catching weapon. So huge.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, possibly my rising star of the week. Rookie Daeshun Hamilton is been an absolute target monster. 30 targets in the past three weeks. Yes, it has not turned into huge success. PPR has been just fine averaging seven receptions a game scored twice in those three games. But it's the usage. This reminds me not necessarily the shorter plays, but Allen Robinson's rookie year, it was, we need to pay attention to this guy. The production is not there, but the targets are absolutely there. And he's going to be a featured player on this team next year along with Cortland Sutton. So the trajectory of Hamilton to me is moving, is moving way, way up.

[Andy Holloway]

And I feel like he could stay steady while Tim Patrick kind of fell off a little bit.

[Jason Moore]

I feel like you could make a similar rising star argument for Sutton, even though nobody on this show wants to hear it anymore. But Sutton finally looked 100% healthy. He had a big touchdown. They need a quarterback.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. I mean, those two guys are certainly going to be a great future tandem at wide receiver. My rising star, of course, is low to the ground. It has to be C.J. anderson.

[Jason Moore]

Low to the ground.

[Andy Holloway]

C.J.

[Jason Moore]

Did you mean like low hanging fruit?

[Andy Holloway]

No, I meant.

[Jason Moore]

You mean he's physically just like a small little tank on the field.

[Andy Holloway]

That is what I mean.

[Jason Moore]

He did look so little.

[Andy Holloway]

He looked so little in height. Yes, yes. But look, I love CJ Anderson. Proud of him. And we don't know what's proud of us. Yes. I was genuinely like, I feel connected to this man. Yeah. C.J. anderson. I don't know if Todd Gurley is going to get another week of rest. I would doubt it. But if.

[Mike Wright]

I think he will, I think he might.

[Andy Holloway]

If he does, I mean, C.J. anderson will. I mean, there's no doubt he's going to continue in that role. Other Just throwing these out there since we didn't have a waiver wire show. You know, sometimes you're rising not because of what you do, but because of what happens around you. Royce freeman, Jeff Wilson Jr. Those guys are going to be rising stars here in week 17 because the presumptive starters ahead of them are going to miss the week.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. No Philip Lindsey, no Matt Burrida. We'll see what Roy streaming can do with this opportunity.

[Mike Wright]

Yes. It'll be very.

[Jason Moore]

I want to see some efficiency out of him. Or maybe I don't. Being a Philip Lindsay, dynasty owner. I want to see if he solidifies his backup role or not. Again, the rising star is brought to you by fantasychamps.com we're going to. We're going to. You know, not everybody won this week. Hashtag. Right. Brooks.

[Andy Holloway]

Pooped in his big boy pants.

[Jason Moore]

Jason's title in our Dynasty league was very improbable.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, what are you talking about? It was unbelievably dominant.

[Jason Moore]

No, no, Mike, you understand this, this. He was an insufferable man this last few weeks. And it wasn't because he thought. It wasn't the grand confidence he went into the season with that made him insufferable. It was the exact opposite. It was the constant, I'm not going to make the playoffs constant fear and, you know, doubting and like, he had 100. He had like an 80 point lead. But he didn't want us to say that he was the title because it's not 100 point lead, like that's what made it so difficult. And he barely made the playoffs the last several weeks.

[Andy Holloway]

I was very negative about my team. I kept winning and I won every. Every one of those games, but I would be very negative about it, and I stuck with it. I kept winning and I stuck with it.

[Jason Moore]

You became a very superstitious man. You bought pizza for Brooks and he ate his way to a defeat.

[Andy Holloway]

All I know is my team is set up for the future and I'm going to go back to back.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, so now you're not afraid anymore?

[Andy Holloway]

No. I've always thought my team was good. I was just worried about my quarterback. But Matt Ryan did enough these last.

[Jason Moore]

Well, back to back is not so easy, I can tell you from experience.

[Andy Holloway]

I remember when you were champ.

[Jason Moore]

I remember when I thought I was going to be champ again.

[Andy Holloway]

Mm.

[Jason Moore]

And, well, it didn't happen anymore. What are you laughing at, Mike?

[Mike Wright]

Just how quickly it turned for you.

[Jason Moore]

It did. I had some injuries. Oh, and by the way, I also have Josh Gordon. Yes. All right, duds, it's time for us to share in your pain. It's time for us to. Well, it's time for Brooks to share in your pain, that's for sure.

[Andy Holloway]

Great.

[Jason Moore]

Listen to your fantasy football duds for Week 16, championship week. Brooks is dynasty quarterbacks. He has three of them. Philip Rivers, 23 for 37. No touchdowns, 181 yards interception on the first play and the last play of the game. Derek Carr Night for 19 for 26.

[Mike Wright]

Matthew, these are your quarterbacks.

[Jason Moore]

18 for 32.

[Andy Holloway]

Yep. Those are his three options.

[Mike Wright]

At least you can take solace in.

[Jason Moore]

Knowing you didn't make a mistake.

[Mike Wright]

There was nothing you could have done.

[Andy Holloway]

No. No.

[Jason Moore]

So you could have literally played all of your players twice this week and you would have lost. Jason, I calculate you would have beat me without C.J. anderson and Antonio Brown.

[Andy Holloway]

That's how crazy my team was a woman. Honestly, my team also was excellent.

[Jason Moore]

I mean, you did like Tom Brady this week.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes, Tom. Well, no, I. I did. I like Tom Brady. Yes, you did.

[Jason Moore]

Yes, you did.

[Andy Holloway]

I don't remember that, but I hope you listen to Mike because Mike hated Tom Brady this week.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, it was a. It was a hotly debated topic on the show. 13 for 24 for 126 and one. I guess I'm going to give you credit. There's a. There's a look. There's a look to the Patriots this year, and it's looks like the beginning of the end. It looks like there's some problems with the armor now.

[Mike Wright]

It's the problem with Gronk.

[Andy Holloway]

Gronk's done.

[Jason Moore]

You're talking about Rob Champs Goose Kowski.

[Andy Holloway]

Gordon is gone. Brady's getting older. I mean, that there's. Possibly.

[Jason Moore]

There'll be an exodus of coaches, too. I can almost guarantee you that Josh McDaniels will be a head coach for some other team this offseason.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, Browns.

[Andy Holloway]

No.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. Think.

[Jason Moore]

Do you like Josh McDaniel?

[Mike Wright]

I think Mcdaniels is a good offensive coach. Yes.

[Jason Moore]

That doesn't mean he's an offensive coordinator.

[Andy Holloway]

I think he's going to be a terrible head coach wherever he goes. And I think whatever franchise signs him is going to make a mistake. And. And you should know when you sign. I mean, coming off of what he did in Indianapolis, like I.

[Jason Moore]

You mean when he didn't sign with.

[Andy Holloway]

Them, when he said, yeah, I'll be your head coach, and then went backing out.

[Jason Moore]

That probably hurts him.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. I wouldn't. If I'm a franchise, I'm going to go there. I'm going to. There's other fish in the line.

[Jason Moore]

He struggled in Denver, obviously. I don't know if I want him at the top of my list, but I think he's gone. I think he's gone from New England and that he obviously works as an offensive coordinator in a big way. And there are. There are coaches that do that. Ken Wizen Hunt.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

He's an offensive coordinator that. Gus Bradley's the D coordinator in Los Angeles with the Chargers. Ken Wisenhunt's offensive coordinator. Both of them were bad head coaches.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

And both of them make great offensive coordinators on one of the best. No team in football has a better record than the Los Angeles chargers. Since week 11 of last season. They're the best team in football by a margin. All right, Running backs that laid an egg. Hey, some more of Brooks's guys. Tariq Cohen. Six for 12. Josh Adams. LaShawn McCoy. Calen Belage. Kenyon Drake.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, Mr. B Hole. He got us.

[Jason Moore]

B Hole.

[Mike Wright]

He got us with both of them.

[Jason Moore]

B Hole allows all running backs to struggle. And then Alfred Blue 4 for 14. Hopefully he didn't have those guys. Lashan McCoy, 3 for 10. That's not good.

[Mike Wright]

No, the. The usage of Lashawn McCoy is baffling, especially with the way they're talking about him saying that he is part of this team, he's part of their future for next year. But is he you're going to have to pay him a lot of money and you're just not using him. I. I don't know if this is a kind of like putting him in the bubble wrap situation. It's going to be really hard to decipher Shady for next year.

[Jason Moore]

I just pulled up my. My Dynasty team on accident. Literally just clicked my little. My bookmark and I'm looking at it and I'm going. If I was playing in a Week 16 championship game, right now I've got Todd gurley with an O17. Week 17. Todd Gurley, Philip Lindsay and Lamar Miller were my three starting running. Whoa, oh, oh, oh.

[Andy Holloway]

O'Reilly, pump the brakes on Andy's team.

[Jason Moore]

Wide receivers Keenan Allen. Look, it was going to be a tough matchup. You were kind of backed into a corner. Yes. I don't blame anybody.

[Andy Holloway]

Nope.

[Jason Moore]

Starting. I would have played him eight targets. Five. Brooks. Brooks would have. He did.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes, he did.

[Jason Moore]

And he might have been his best player on the week. Brandon Cooks. Disappointing against Arizona. Josh. Josh Reynolds as well. Amari Pooper.

[Mike Wright]

This one was shocking.

[Jason Moore]

Four for 20 at home on five.

[Mike Wright]

Targets because his numbers, all of his splits, his production was coming at home. His production was coming in games they are favored to win.

[Jason Moore]

I think he was trying to help. I think help give us good perspective heading into next year's draft to not overemphasize the.

[Mike Wright]

Appreciate that, Amari. Thank you.

[Jason Moore]

Gone. Gronkowski with the goose on three targets. So he had one good game and then goose you in 15 and 16. Basically this was the. Mike, this is not good.

[Mike Wright]

This was the fitting end to my. My Gronk season of Grunk with my.

[Jason Moore]

Unfortunately, the real truth is you. You and Gronk were. You were in the same potato sack.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Oh, yeah.

[Mike Wright]

We were doing a three legged race.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

I mean we did not win very different heights.

[Jason Moore]

It makes it difficult. I combined the potato sack race with the three legged race and I put two people in one potato sack. That is not a race.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, I want to see it.

[Mike Wright]

I want to see it.

[Jason Moore]

You with Gronk inside of a potato sack. Maybe that's the best actual visualization of the season.

[Mike Wright]

We would certainly follow or I would follow and then I would be trampled by Rob Gronkowski, which he to my team.

[Jason Moore]

Well, instead of getting out of the potato sack with him early, you believed and we believed that he would bounce back to be what he was and he is another player. We don't know if he'll be.

[Andy Holloway]

He'll be back there if it Gronks like a goose. Oh, this is a goose.

[Mike Wright]

I think he's. I think it's over.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, you know, reading the reports early in the off season about how, you know Bill Belichick, if the, if the investigative journalism is to be believed that Belichick wanted to get rid of Brady and go with Garoppolo and trade Gronk for value. I mean, are you telling me the Patriots wouldn't have been better off?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, he's a pretty good evaluator of when to get rid of players. Generally.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, not.

[Mike Wright]

Not 100%, but generally.

[Jason Moore]

Well, you could always tolerate injuries when the recuperated. Gronk was better than everybody in football by a wide margin. It's less exciting now, so we'll see. You got a cooked goose because Jared Cook was 2 for 20. Not good. I think that covers the poopers. That about does it. We'll get into so many more. We'll be bending it towards next year, giving the awards away. We'll do a little mock draft for the first round and see where we have guys slotted in way, way in advance of next season. Some quick notes on the playoff scenarios for this week. If you're In a week, 17 games, if you want to know whether teams are motivated to play, because that's really what matters and who they start, decisions that they're going to make. Look, you have a lot of situations like Dallas where Jerry Jones is coming out and saying, we're going to give it our all, we're going to go all out. I don't believe you, sir. I do not believe you at all. I do not believe that you're going to play Ezekiel Elliott for four quarters in this game this week because there's nothing on the line for them. Significance. So they can say that. But then you read between the lines with the playoff picture. The Chiefs, Patriots, Texans, Ravens, Steelers, Chargers.

[Mike Wright]

They all need to win.

[Jason Moore]

They all got something to play for. Texans can win the AFC south with a win. The Ravens can clinch with with a win. The north. The Steelers desperately need to win and then hope for some help. And the Chargers need to win the west with a Kansas City loss versus Oakland. Not likely, but Oakland has been playing better. We need to give credit to that team. They beat Denver this week pretty easily and they are playing better to in the season. They also beat Pittsburgh two weeks ago. So I.

[Andy Holloway]

So you're. So you're telling me there's a chance.

[Jason Moore]

I'm telling you that there's a chance that the, the Kansas City Chiefs are Playing in the wild card round is what I'm saying, madness.

[Andy Holloway]

We've got also a chance that Pat Mahomes throws eight touchdowns.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, that is very true. That's a good point, Jason. The Colts, Titans, they really need wins this week. The Colts saved their season by coming back and beating the Giants last week. A win gets them a playoff spot. Is that true? They can actually win the title, the AFC south title, with a Texans loss. But you miss the playoffs if you lose. Titans, you win, you make the playoffs. So they've got a lot on the line, too, to hand the ball to Derek Henry for six to 8,000 times in the NFC, the Rams lock up the number two seed with a win against San Francisco. Another team playing pretty well, but you'd imagine the Rams could take care of business. And then the Bears lock up the number two seed with a win as well. And Minnesota's playing for their lives. Yep, as are the Eagles. So the Vikings, Eagles expect all their players to play. And the Seahawks, they're on a roll right now as well. So any other thoughts on playoff scenarios you want to bring up?

[Andy Holloway]

The only other thing I would bring up is there's going to be a lot of questions about the Saints. You know, are they going to play their players? Because they've got everything locked up. A lot of. A lot of people near the team does not believe what is being said. But according to Sean Payton, if you read kind of his press conferences, reports, sounds like they're going to. They're going to play everything. They're going to play it like a normal game. It's just one of those questions like Andy's belief in Dallas. Do you believe?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Does it happen? Well, and there's so many different thoughts about whether it's beneficial. Sit guys or not. Sit guys. Here's the truth. I think every coach would love to play all their guys through the entire week 17 game every time, as long as there was no situation where they were the dumb coach that played a guy who got hurt.

[Andy Holloway]

Right.

[Jason Moore]

Because it's better to have the reps.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes, 100%. It's just you.

[Jason Moore]

It's risky.

[Andy Holloway]

You risk injury.

[Jason Moore]

So, yeah, if I were one of the teams that were playing with the buy, I would really want to play my guys so that they don't have two full weeks off before you come back and play. You know that that would be my take. If I ever get a head coaching job, guys, that's what I'm gonna do. And you'll know it and I'll come out And I think if you get.

[Andy Holloway]

A head coaching job, you won't be in that situation.

[Mike Wright]

Isn't that how.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, stop it. If I'm a head coach, I will be fantasy friendly. I won't be Mr. B hole. I believe that I will keep a separate. I'll have my Twitter and then I'll have a fantasy Twitter as a head coach.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I love it. If I'm a head coach, I will carry one running back on the roster each week a different one of course.

[Jason Moore]

But you want the rest won't be active Bell bell.

[Andy Holloway]

Cow situation. And every the next week I bring.

[Jason Moore]

The quarterback just runs at that point. Oh.

[Mike Wright]

Every goal line play I called would always be a tap pass. It doesn't matter to it might be to the running back but you want.

[Jason Moore]

To get the quarterback.

[Mike Wright]

But it will always be a tap pass.

[Jason Moore]

I want to hear more. If I were a coach, what you would do for fantasy.

[Mike Wright]

That could be our New Year's resolution.

[Jason Moore]

Can we get that on Twitter?

[Mike Wright]

If I were a head coach.

[Jason Moore]

If I were a head coach in the NFL, I would do this for fantasy football. That's what I want to hear. So congratulations.

[Mike Wright]

Yes. Cheers.

[Jason Moore]

On a great season. And if you're in week 17, good luck.

[Mike Wright]

Good luck to you.

[Andy Holloway]

We'll be here with the matchups tomorrow.

[Jason Moore]

Goodbye. Goodbye.

[Andy Holloway]

Thank you for listening to another episode of the Fantasy Footballers podcast. Join our fantasy football community on jointhefoot.com and follow us on TwitterFFballers.