Fantasy Football Podcast 2015 - Week 15 Review, Studs and Duds, MNF Preview, Fantasy News

Summary

Fantasy Football Podcast 2015 - Week 15 Review, Studs and Duds, MNF Preview, Fantasy News Release Date: December 21, 2015

The Fantasy Footballers delve deep into the highs and lows of Week 15, analyze standout and underperforming players, provide a comprehensive preview of Monday Night Football (MNF), and share crucial fantasy news that could impact championship week lineups. Hosted by Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike "The Fantasy Hitman" Wright, the episode is rich with insights, strategic advice, and engaging banter tailored for fantasy football enthusiasts aiming to secure a league title.

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1. Week 15 Playoff Review

The trio kicks off the episode with an enthusiastic celebration of David Johnson's stellar performance, highlighting his game-changing impact on fantasy matchups.

• Mike Wright [00:16]: "Come on. David Johnson. David Johnson. What the. Woo hoo hoo. David Johnson. Wow."
• Andy Holloway [01:22]: "It's week 16, so you're just getting a sneak peek into next year. This is the Monday show. We are fresh off a slate of Week 15 playoff games."

David Johnson's Dominance: David Johnson's exceptional Week 15 performance is a focal point, with multiple listeners sharing their experiences where Johnson's output swung matchups dramatically.

• Andy Holloway [02:30]: "Some of the games were so close, it was like I won by three and David Johnson scored 47 for me."
• Mike Wright [02:54]: "You have to think if you're the other guy, oh, you got this locked up. David Johnson has to go for 46 points."

The hosts discuss the emotional rollercoaster of playoff games, emphasizing how Johnson's performances can make or break championship hopes.

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2. Fantasy Rewind: Studs and Duds

The Fantasy Rewind segment evaluates players who either exceeded expectations (studs) or fell short (duds) during Week 15.

Stud Performers:

• Cam Newton: Celebrated as the best quarterback of the year, Newton's versatility both in passing and rushing has made him indispensable.

  • Andy Holloway [17:48]: "33 touchdowns through the air and rushing the ball. Well, just an incredible season."
  • Mike Wright [18:11]: "He is the MVP this year."

• Teddy Bridgewater: Achieved a career-high with five touchdowns, showcasing his potential as a reliable fantasy asset.

  • Jason Moore [20:06]: "Teddy Bridgewater, man."

• David Johnson: Highlighted as potentially the best rookie running back outside of Marshawn Lynch, Johnson's breakout game reinforces his value.

  • Mike Wright [31:23]: "David Johnson's been the best rookie running back."

Duds:

• Odell Beckham Jr.: His erratic behavior and possible suspension have significantly impacted fantasy owners.

  • Andy Holloway [08:15]: "Odell Beckham Jr. is likely to be suspended one game."

• Adrian Peterson: Limited effectiveness following a sprained ankle, though he is expected to return next week.

  • Jason Moore [10:33]: "He left the game right before the half. He did come back in, but he was not very effective."

• A.J. Green: Injuries and questionable performances have made him a risky start.

  • Andy Holloway [12:14]: "A.J. Green was another guy that really killed people this Week, Twitter."

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3. Injury News Affecting Championship Week

Injury updates are crucial as the fantasy playoffs approach. The hosts provide detailed insights into injuries that could derail championship dreams.

Key Injuries:

• Odell Beckham Jr. (ODJ): Potential one-game suspension due to on-field behavior.

  • Jason Moore [09:14]: "I highly doubt that he's suspended this week. He will appeal and play and be suspended later."

• Adrian Peterson: Sprained ankle expected to heal quickly, possibly returning for the championship game.

  • Mike Wright [10:58]: "I expect both Odell Beckham Jr. and Adrian Peterson to play."

• Marcus Mariota: Likely out for the rest of the season following a sprained ankle.

  • Andy Holloway [10:33]: "Marcus Mariota sprain is the word. Probably out for the rest of the year."

• LaShawn McCoy: Suffering an MCL sprain, with his status for the upcoming week uncertain.

  • Jason Moore [11:51]: "It looked worse than I was walking out with just a sprain."

Impact on Fantasy Lineups: These injuries necessitate strategic adjustments, with owners needing to find reliable replacements to maintain their playoff viability.

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4. Stud Muffins and Pooped Stud Muffins

The segment categorizes players into "stud muffins" (reliable high performers) and "pooped stud muffins" (players who underperformed).

Stud Muffins:

• Cam Newton continues to be a fantasy cornerstone with his dual-threat capability.
• Teddy Bridgewater and Chris Ivory are highlighted for their consistent performances.
• Lamar Miller is noted for his high-ceiling potential despite inconsistent game-to-game outputs.
  • Mike Wright [46:55]: "He's one of the most frustrating guys to own because you have a couple of guys like DeSean Jackson and Aaron Allen Robinson and Lamar Miller with high ceilings."

Pooped Stud Muffins:

• A.J. Green and Ty Hilton are cited as significant underperformers.
  • Andy Holloway [48:24]: "AJ Green, who went out. He went out and killed fantasy owners."

The hosts discuss strategies for leveraging these categories to optimize starting lineups for championship week.

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5. Monday Night Football (MNF) Preview

A comprehensive preview of the upcoming MNF game, focusing on key matchups and player performances that could influence fantasy outcomes.

Key Players to Watch:

• Jordan Reed: Dominant performance with two touchdowns, making him a must-start.

  • Andy Holloway [38:07]: "Jordan Reed, seven for 84 and two touchdowns."

• Delaney Walker: Emerged as a reliable option, especially in PPR formats.

  • Jason Moore [38:33]: "Delaney Walker is the main receiving option for the Titans. I like Delaney Walker for sure."

• JuJu Smith-Schuster: Highlighted for his big-play potential against a vulnerable defense.

  • Jason Moore [36:54]: "Bryce Brown had a productive game against an awful defense."

Defensive Considerations: Defenses like the Kansas City D and Patriots D are discussed for their potential impact on opposing offenses, influencing fantasy decisions on quarterback starts like Aaron Rodgers.

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6. Mailbag Q&A

The hosts address listener questions, providing personalized advice for specific lineup dilemmas.

Listener Queries:

• Jared from Philadelphia: Struggling with choosing between Calvin Johnson and Hightower for his flex position while trailing by 17 points.

  • Mike Wright [52:10]: "I would start Calvin Johnson. Calvin has a better history against a bad defense."
  • Jason Moore [52:32]: "I would still go with Calvin. You need to make up 17 points in a standard league for Hightower."

• Rob from Long Island: Torn between starting Chris Ivory or Bilal Powell against the Patriots.

  • Jason Moore [54:37]: "If Edelman is back, I might go with Powell. Otherwise, Ivory has volume advantage when Powell is injured."
  • Mike Wright [54:57]: "Powell has shown better recent performance and upside."

The advice centers on risk management, player history against specific defenses, and the importance of matchups in making optimal fantasy decisions.

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7. Final Thoughts and Conclusion

Wrapping up, the hosts reiterate the critical nature of strategic lineup decisions heading into championship week. They emphasize the importance of leveraging reliable studs, monitoring injury reports, and making informed decisions based on matchups and player performance trends.

• Andy Holloway [55:24]: "Hopefully you're in that final game. Hopefully you're still alive."
• Jason Moore [55:25]: "It was fantastic."

The episode concludes with well-wishes for listeners' playoff pursuits and a preview of upcoming content, including special episodes and continued support through their website and social media platforms.

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Notable Highlights:

• David Johnson's Week 15 performance revolutionizes fantasy expectations.
• Injury updates on key players like Odell Beckham Jr., Adrian Peterson, and Marcus Mariota are pivotal for championship preparations.
• Strategic insights into studs and duds empower fantasy owners to make informed lineup decisions.
• Personalized listener advice underscores the show's commitment to addressing individual fantasy dilemmas.

For more in-depth analysis, rankings, and updates, listeners are encouraged to visit The Fantasy Footballers website and follow them on Twitter at @the_ffballers.

Transcript

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Oh.

[Mike Wright]

Come on. David Johnson. David Johnson. What the. Woo hoo hoo. David Johnson. Wow.

[Jason Moore]

Come on. I hope everyone is singing along in the car.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. How many wives are upset right now.

[Mike Wright]

David?

[Andy Holloway]

The answer is none.

[Jason Moore]

Cause they all play David Johnson too.

[Andy Holloway]

They all play David Johnson too.

[Mike Wright]

This week's championship brought to you by David Johnson.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, it is a beautiful thing. Never intro the show that way because it had to. David Johnson's never done that before. That was beautiful. I almost put it back on there. That was a beautiful thing. A beautiful sight. Welcome to the show. This is the Fantasy Footballers Podcast, and if you're joining us for the first.

[Mike Wright]

Time, you have no idea what's going on.

[Andy Holloway]

But that's okay. It's week 16, so you're just getting a sneak peek into next year. This is the Monday show. We are fresh off a slate of Week 15 playoff games. And, man, is that intense. Fantasy football playoffs are intense. You can feel it. You can feel the pulse through Twitter.

[Mike Wright]

So much, so much celebration and so much disappointment that you know it's out of your hands. And this is like that one week you got AJ Green, who goes down, gets pulled out of the game. You get, you got McCoy, those, those players that just, oh, don't get hurt on week 15 or 16.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, it is a tough, tough thing because during the regular season, it's easier to just brush off the loss that you didn't expect. But in the playoffs, it kills you. But there are a lot of people who sent us box scores with the David Johnson line. And some of the games were so close, it was like I won by three and David Johnson scored 47 for me. So it was like, can you imagine being the other owner? There are other people out there right now that not every listener Johnson, not every listener on our show has David Johnson. Somebody else beat him too, in some league.

[Mike Wright]

There was. There was one tweet that came in and the total box score of this tweet, it must have been like a two week playoff matchup because it was like 255 to 256 and the guy beat him by one point with 46 points from David Johnson. So you have to think if you're the other guy, oh, you got this locked up. David Johnson have to go for 46 points.

[Andy Holloway]

It's crazy. We'll go over all of that. By the way, on today's show, we got the fantasy rewind. Our stud muffins are pooped. Which we'll be talking about those guys in the fantasy context for next week. And some there's some big time news that might affect your lineups for the championship week. Some of you are already in that championship matchup as well, so we'd love to hear from you.

[Mike Wright]

Okay, what do you want to know? Oh, sorry about that.

[Andy Holloway]

True. I have my team, which kudos to you. The Cameron Artist Pains is my team name. It was funny because I posted our lineup between us and most people said you have no chance because of Cameron Artist Pain. Which is true.

[Mike Wright]

Well, he had, he had a pretty good game. Best out of all of your options on the waiver. So good job.

[Andy Holloway]

Better than Fozzie. So we've got a Monday night preview today. We've got the mailbag, we've got our congrats. Congratulations to Jason for beating me and heading to the title in our league of records.

[Mike Wright]

Still need one more victory though. It's not over.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, we'll get to it. But you might get some help from the league. The NFL? Yeah, that might punish a certain naughty, naughty boy who's getting a.

[Mike Wright]

Getting coal in his stocking for sure.

[Andy Holloway]

Seriously, from, from Josh Norman. If you want to follow the show, you can do so on twitter @the ffballers. If you want to follow myself, it's at Andy Holloway. You can follow Jason at Jason FFL. You can follow Mike at FF Hitman youn can go to the website the fantasy footballers.com, see our weekly rankings, see the show archive, catch up on everything that we've got going on. You can find links to merchandise, you can find our free app, the Wheel of Water app. I hope some people got watered this weekend after their bets. And we've, we've got a lot of good stuff on there. Check us out on Facebook, on the Fantasy Sports network and on YouTube as well. So I know you guys already know the answer to this, but so let me put it this way. Would you have thought Cam Newton, Kirk Cousins, Teddy Bridgewater and Brock Osweiler would be your playoff championship quarterbacks?

[Mike Wright]

One of those. One of those is not like the other.

[Andy Holloway]

Or yeah, yeah, apparently for Cam, yes.

[Mike Wright]

You needed to start all of the guys who have been not playoff fantasy options this year and you would have been fine. The nice thing though is, I mean, I know we had a couple people be like, oh, no, I didn't start Kirk because you guys didn't like him and of course he exploded. But most leagues you weren't going up against these three guys. You know what I mean? Unless you're in a two quarterback league.

[Andy Holloway]

You might have been making the decision. We had Somebody making the Tyrod Taylor, Kirk Cousins decision. It looked really bad for a while. Tyrod kind of came back.

[Mike Wright]

He finished as the number five.

[Andy Holloway]

We got Kirk wrong. I mean, Kirk for sure came out and played well. And honestly the Bills look like the jets under Rex Ryan. Like a team that just occasionally fell apart. Undisciplined pre snap penalties, can't play defense. Problem with Mario Williams now. I mean, just not what I expected. And the news came out before the game that they're not letting Kirk Cousins walk. He's either getting franchised or a long term deal. And then he went out and he said, you like that?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. Now next, next week in the championship. So let me ask you guys. Kirk Cousins playing the Eagles who have been giving it up through the air.

[Jason Moore]

That's pretty, that's pretty good as far as a streamer.

[Andy Holloway]

When you have DeSean Jackson playing at the level he's playing. Jordan Reed contributing in the ways he's playing.

[Jason Moore]

Rule 86 put a lacking.

[Andy Holloway]

And this is a division, it is a divisional game. And so if the Eagles went out, am I wrong? They are in the playoffs.

[Mike Wright]

Yes. They control their destiny.

[Jason Moore]

This is a division. If you win this game, you win the division. Right.

[Andy Holloway]

No.

[Mike Wright]

Is that how.

[Jason Moore]

That's not how it works.

[Mike Wright]

Because technically the New York Giants can still win.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, I know. If Washington wins, they win the division.

[Andy Holloway]

That makes sense. I know that that makes sense. And as they would win, they'd have the tiebreaker. They're already a game up on everybody but Philadelphia. I guess they must play.

[Mike Wright]

If they win that game and they lose the second game, which would be against the Giants.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. And the Giants win this week then anyways divisional game. So I'm not going to hyperbolically state Cousins values my point, but hey, he's playing good. That team is showing up. The game's in Philadelphia.

[Jason Moore]

So the, the, the most gut wrenching name on that list for me is my man Brock Osweiler. Because I streamed him last week when I was still alive in our playoffs. Because that was, that was the game I was hoping to get.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, he played very good in the first half.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, he played terrible in the second.

[Andy Holloway]

Half, but, well, and shoulder injury to boot.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, that's, that's fair. But the first half he, there was nothing he could do wrong. It was just touchdowns and touchdowns.

[Andy Holloway]

I think that the Chiefs will win the division because The Chiefs have two very, very easy matchups in the next two weeks. So I think the Chiefs will be at 11 wins and the Broncos have to play Cincinnati next Week and I think they lose it. And the tiebreaker goes to the Chiefs. So we'll see what happens there. Let's get into the rewind.

[Mike Wright]

Weekly rewind.

[Andy Holloway]

Now, obviously there's a big game tonight. The Saints and the Lions. A lot of fantasy players are counting on guys from that matchup. It's not a, not a matchup that's absent of, you know, the Cooks and Stafford and Breeze and Hightower and a bunch of big names and Calvin, which we'll see what he does tonight. But here's the big news. The first piece that I alluded to, Schefter is reporting this morning that Odell Beckham Jr. Is likely to be suspended one game.

[Jason Moore]

Likely.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

Wow.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes. So week 15 against Norman, just a mental unraveling. Yeah. Almost like a childlike tantrum. I mean, just he made a huge drop and then it got in his head and Norman got into his head and he acted like a kid. And then he tried to kill Josh Norman, hurt Josh Norman, which was ridiculous.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I think, I think that there's a lot of people who love Odell Beckham Jr. Who kind of lost a lot of respect for him watching him be this self centered, selfish baby that really lost control. And, you know, I'm gonna forgive him because, you know, that happens. He's still, you know, in his sophomore year.

[Andy Holloway]

Fantasy forgiveness.

[Mike Wright]

Well, here's the deal. This, this news, whether or not he's suspended affects so many people because Odell Beckham Jr. Over the second half of the year has been unbelievably good. Meaning he has a lot of people in the title game and people that are going to the title game who don't have him are facing him a la me.

[Jason Moore]

And the value of one, Eli Manning would take a monster nosedive. So I agree. I don't, I don't know about likely suspended you.

[Mike Wright]

Well, he can appeal the suspension, have that whole process.

[Andy Holloway]

We'll all get sorted out though, quickly.

[Jason Moore]

I highly doubt that he's suspended this week. And let's say this, this is a big, big. All eyes on the NFL. The Giants are the Sunday night prime time game. Will they suspend possibly the biggest star in that game?

[Mike Wright]

Right. As of right now, I think they will suspend him. He will appeal. He will play and be suspended later.

[Jason Moore]

I think he's going to get just a big fine.

[Andy Holloway]

We'll see. It is pins and needles for all the ODB owners and those playing odb. I mean, the guy put together a second half that probably to his mind justified his behavior. I mean, honestly, that's what happens with hyper talented guys. Sometimes he goes out and he, he basically almost wins the game. A humongous comeback. One of the best games I've seen all year. All right, injury news. Adrian Peterson, sprained ankle against the Bears. What do we expect from that injury?

[Jason Moore]

He, he, he. So he left the game right before the half. He did come back in, but he was not very effective. We saw Jerick McKinnon turn into the, the screen master. He was just dominant catching the ball. So that's interesting moving forward regardless. But for Peterson, I would expect him to play. I haven't heard anything about it being a high ankle sprain. So it'll be a. Tape it up.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, he wouldn't have been able to come back in the game if it was too bad of an ankle sprain. And we have to remember he has Wolverine blood. He heals, heals like nobody else. So he. I expect him to be back this, this next week. I expect Both Odell Beckham Jr. And Adrian Peterson to play. I am hoping against both of them as the person they're championship because I'm a selfish, selfish man.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, let's keep the focus on. Yeah. The big context. Marcus Mariota sprain is the word. Probably out for the rest of the year. He said he's probably out for the rest of the year. They'll just keep him out as a precaution. No reason to hurt your franchise quarterback, Lashawn McCoy. Knee injury, they're saying MCL sprain day to day on McCoy. You're going to have to monitor that. We'll keep you in the know about McCoy for this upcoming week. He obviously was one of many candidates for destroyer of your dreams this week and he.

[Jason Moore]

It looked, it looked worse than I was walking out with just a sprain. Then he's. You got to be really happy.

[Andy Holloway]

He seems to be capable of this where he just never suffers the devastating injury. But he's had like five knee injuries this year. It feels like where they're just sprains or strains or any comes back.

[Jason Moore]

It was the hamstring earlier.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, no, but there was a, there was a knee too.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

His legs are just saying he doesn't go down. He hasn't gone down for big injuries.

[Jason Moore]

He has gelatin like legs.

[Andy Holloway]

There was news on Saturday afternoon, I believe about A.J. green and an updated injury report with his back. And then he ended up going out in this game and being held out the rest of this game. And so A.J. green was another guy that really killed people this Week, Twitter.

[Jason Moore]

Twitter kind of tilted when. When all that news was starting to come out of, like, he's questionable to play. And then you have. And then you have some. Some other people jump in once he. Once he's out there, like, man, that report was such crap. I don't know why we're spreading this around. And then he leaves the game with a back injury like Twitter.

[Mike Wright]

Who do I believe?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, it's very scary. And you start. Your head starts spinning when those new. That bits of news comes in and you don't know what to do. And it's hard to make the right decision. Danny Amendola is another guy. If you played him one catch, a fumble hurt, you're gone. Ouch.

[Jason Moore]

But, yeah, that was brutal. That's.

[Mike Wright]

That's.

[Jason Moore]

He got the only thing that can be worse than a zero, and that is negative.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Alshon Jeffrey went down again, this time with a hamstring problem. He caught, I believe, one pass for a touchdown. So if you played him, you weren't destroyed by him.

[Mike Wright]

Wait, it was. It was his hamstring, not his calf.

[Andy Holloway]

Correct.

[Mike Wright]

Dude, that guy's legs are a mess. I mean, because it was the calf keeping him out of practice this week. And now the hamstring, his quad is about whole.

[Andy Holloway]

It's the whole leg. All of it.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Top to bottom. It just moves up and down.

[Mike Wright]

Really hard to trust him this next week in a championship match. We've just seen him actually hampered on the field too many times this year.

[Andy Holloway]

Melvin Gordon injured.

[Jason Moore]

You know who was not injured? Danny Woodhead.

[Mike Wright]

I need to publicly apologize.

[Andy Holloway]

Do you.

[Mike Wright]

Someone. Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

Do you really?

[Mike Wright]

I do. I absolutely need to. Because, you know, we had made the joke last week that Danny Woodhead was retired because even though he was so great, the beginning of the year, they have forgotten to use him. And so someone tweeted asking me, CJ Anderson or Danny Woodhead, and I told. I mean, I'm not.

[Andy Holloway]

Listen to this line, Jason. Danny Woodhead, eight carries for 10 yards.

[Mike Wright]

That's no good. I see I was right to say CJ.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, wait a second. Six for 50 and three touchdowns through the air, and he scored in those eight carries on the ground.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. So he was really good this week.

[Andy Holloway]

Here's.

[Mike Wright]

You played him.

[Andy Holloway]

Here's his last five weeks. 2.7, 8.1, 5.2, 3.1. 34.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, there's. There's no way that you had any confidence playing. I know that somebody had him.

[Andy Holloway]

That's a. That's a painful decision, though. If you went CJ but it's more of a.

[Jason Moore]

Of a Chargers management. What are you doing? What have you been doing for five weeks?

[Mike Wright]

Well, if Gordon is out now, if for any reason he's not able to get back next week, that gives you more confidence to play him. They're playing the Raiders on this championship week coming up, so Raiders have been really good against the run, but Danny Woodhead really makes his value in the air. So I think he'd be an okay play if Gordon's out.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I mean, it was just one of those days for Danny Woodhead. I don't know. Do we know the implications of the injury for Gordon?

[Jason Moore]

No, we don't know yet.

[Andy Holloway]

Right. Because I haven't seen anything other than the fact he was just downgraded out in the second half with a knee injury. So. Left knee.

[Jason Moore]

I will take a look right now.

[Andy Holloway]

And see if we see if you find anything else. Just so people know more. For the Woodhead owner. I don't know if a lot of people are counting on Gordon in the playoffs.

[Jason Moore]

Left knee injury. He went down on a draw play and there's no update yet.

[Andy Holloway]

Another guy. Big start of the week this week. Ted Ginn Jr. Had two more touchdowns. Did go out of the game with an injury for a little while. Came back in later. Monitor him TJ8S Toro's ACL. And also got me watered because I bet him versus McCarran.

[Mike Wright]

I think I'll let you off the hook on that one.

[Andy Holloway]

Because of the injury.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. And McCarron didn't do that.

[Andy Holloway]

Great. Anyways, that's appreciated, but I'm not letting you off the hook on the Lamar Miller carries.

[Mike Wright]

That's bad. No, I deserve water on me. And actually Lamar Miller and the coaching staff deserve water on them more than anyone. So we should take a look at who our fantasy stud muffins are who are pooped in the big boy pants are. But first, we'd like to thank the sponsor of today's show, pokerstars.net if you haven't started playing pokerstars.net you're doing yourself a disservice. It's a fun free game. It's super easy to get started. Go to pokerstars.net, you just click the button, install the software. All you need is an email address. And you can do it on your computer, you can do it on your phone, you can do it on your iPad, you can do it on your Android device. So wherever you go, and it's free, you can win prizes, play for free. As long as you want. You start with 1000 chips and it reloads for free a couple times an hour. So it is really truly the biggest game in town for poker by far margins, the largest poker site in the world. So if you enjoy poker, easy to do everywhere, go and sign [e-mail] get 1,000 play chips for free. To get you started right now, this week's fantasy stud muffins.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, we're gonna go through the big performances of the week and give you the, you know the headlines and let you know whether you can keep playing these guys next week in your title game. Flash in the pan this week or here to stay. Obviously Cam Newton. What can you even say about him? We pretty much need to say nothing other than he's going to be in your lineup next week against Atlanta.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, you can't sit Cam Newton at all. He has been the best quarterback on the year. He might. I'm curious who's got higher between him and Brady on the, on the year. But I think it's got to be Cam at this point.

[Jason Moore]

At this point it has to be Cam.

[Andy Holloway]

So I mean, 33 touchdowns through the air on the year, rushing the ball. Well, just an incredible season and really showed me a lot.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, he is the MVP this year. I mean if you, if you put a different quarterback on that team, they couldn't, they couldn't run that same style of offense because not only did he have the five touchdowns through the air, but 100 yards on the ground. And those were important third down pickups where third and long and you see him rushing right up the middle, sliding for that first down marker, keeping the drives alive. That's why their offense is so potent. And Ted Ginn Jr. Who was the, you know, start of the week, did you see his drop again?

[Andy Holloway]

Yep. Oh, I did not.

[Jason Moore]

No.

[Mike Wright]

It was another one where he is burned him a bomb, turns around and like gets to like.

[Andy Holloway]

It's hard to catch when you're running that fast. I know that sounds ridiculous, but if you're running.

[Mike Wright]

That's my point. He had slowed down and turned around and his back was to the end zone and he just gets to.

[Andy Holloway]

Do you think at this point he's saying, and I can do this. Yes, every time, I can do it.

[Jason Moore]

Don't drop it, don't drop it, don't.

[Mike Wright]

Drop it, don't drop it. If he catches 50% of the easy bombs, he's a great play.

[Andy Holloway]

No, no doubt about it. I mean, and I think Newton is a better Discussion for dynasty and keeper leagues too. Because you know this season began with Kelvin Benjamin being lost. You draft Evan Funches who's becoming more and more involved in the game plan moving forward for years to come. I don't see a reason why Cam Newton won't provide this kind of value assuming he can stay healthy. That will always be the risk with him. That being said, he's a very big guy. I trust his. It's like Kaepernick. I trust those two guys to not get hurt running the ball.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. Devin Funches is going to. When Devin.

[Andy Holloway]

Kevin Benjamin.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. When Kelvin Benjamin gets back, Tedkin JR is only going to get more open on those deep plays.

[Andy Holloway]

It's just a lot of. A lot of great. And you know Greg Olson, a one hand catch a week. So Kirk Cousins, Russell Wilson, Teddy Bridgewater, Brock Osweiler.

[Jason Moore]

Teddy Bridgewater.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, Bridgewater. Four touchdowns. That's got to be a career high.

[Mike Wright]

Oh yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean by about three.

[Jason Moore]

It wasn't just four. He ran one in. He had five total touchdowns.

[Mike Wright]

So.

[Jason Moore]

Teddy Bridgewater, man.

[Andy Holloway]

So is this what we could see from him if AP is limited or out?

[Jason Moore]

No.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay. Just making sure. Just making sure.

[Mike Wright]

I would.

[Jason Moore]

Would love it because Teddy was a guy I liked coming into the year. He's been very, very disappointing for fantasy purposes, but I mean for 17 completions, four of those going for touchdowns, that's. It's not very sustainable percentage there.

[Andy Holloway]

No. Tyrod Taylor had a big game as well in the end thanks to Sammy Watkins, some deep balls and then a lot of yards on the ground. Nine for 79 on the ground.

[Mike Wright]

Big Ben, there you go.

[Andy Holloway]

Served to prove the point that if you are good enough, it doesn't really. The matchup's not going to matter as much. They're at home. 40 for 380 and three touchdowns. A comeback win we saw with Antonio Brown. That's not it. That's not a big toot toot for the show. That's just factual. I mean we saw Tom Brady have success against them. How many touchdowns to wide receivers in this game? Three.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, let's. Brown had two and I think Wheaton had one.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay, so three on the year. Denver had given up, I think three on the year.

[Mike Wright]

Two.

[Andy Holloway]

It was two.

[Mike Wright]

I thought they gave up two in the second year.

[Jason Moore]

I'll take a look.

[Andy Holloway]

And so basically I believe Harris, by the way, who got torched by Antonio Brown. If you started Antonio Brown, you're happy. If you benched him because you're afraid of Denver, you're. You're as sad as that's what we would fear.

[Mike Wright]

That's why it's really hard. That's why it's very, very difficult to actually bench your big studs. Because if they do what they do normally in those matchups, you are just going to kick yourself for making such a. I mean, he had 16 catches.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, the questions people were asking were like, okay, Tyler Lockett or Antonio Brown?

[Jason Moore]

No. And you know what I'm going to do next. I was thinking about this on the drive in. What I want to do next year. Is it what. It won't be a very scientific keeping track of stats or anything, but I want to do a kind of like a start your studs tracker and just write down the matchup of what people are scared of and then. And the result and then we'll see how. How often, more than often or not that a stud performs in these matchups and if there's actual evidence of. Should you be kind of worried about this?

[Andy Holloway]

Well, and you saw, I mean, not to throw everybody who, who would have sat him under the bus. You saw Mari Cooper last week get destroyed by the matchup. But there's a difference between Amari Cooper and Antonio Brown. There's a difference between Derek Carr and Big Ben Roethlisberger for on a lot of levels. And there's so many people that are afraid of the numbers. And I understand that because Denver was so dominant. But you couldn't sit him down. I wouldn't. I didn't have the guts to sit him down and then lose my match in that way. So if you did, I am sincerely sorry for you. Genuinely. That's not an I told you so. That's an. That's an I'm sorry because I understand you. You might have had an option that felt better. You know, there might have been an A.J. green or Antonio Brown and you said, you know what? Why wouldn't I just play? And if you did that, I can see it. Yeah, yeah, I can see it happening. Mike wouldn't have done it, but I could see it happening.

[Mike Wright]

Same game. Emmanuel Sanders and for that matter, demarius Thomas had a good game as well. But Emmanuel Sanders went off 10 for 181 and a touchdown. Brock Osweiler went off in that first half. He was throwing for a ton of yards the week before. So what do we make of the wide receiver core? We got a lot of teams that have these two superstar wide receivers who do they play next week?

[Jason Moore]

I hate them for dropping everything last week, but this is, this is more of what you would expect out of a crew of Sanders and demarius Thomas. Who do they play?

[Mike Wright]

They play the Bronco or the Bengals?

[Andy Holloway]

They play themselves. Well, yeah, it's Osweiler versus Manning.

[Jason Moore]

It's a shadow match.

[Andy Holloway]

Who do they play?

[Mike Wright]

They play the.

[Andy Holloway]

Probably win the Bengals. It's tough matchup and we don't know the quarterback situation. It could be Peyton next week.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, if. If Brock is actually hurt, which it was his non throwing shoulder.

[Andy Holloway]

So he came back in and he said he did not. He said he wasn't affected by it.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, that's what they all say.

[Andy Holloway]

But yeah, big comeback for Pittsburgh keeping their playoff hopes alive. Jason mentioned it. Emmanuel Sanders, monster game. I, I think you probably play him unless you have a significantly better option. Amari Cooper, 6 for 120 and 2 against Green Bay. Huge game for him. What do we think about Amari Cooper next week? Ooh, he's got the Thursday night game against the Chargers.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, you gotta, you gotta like that situation. Crabtree was. Did he. I don't know if he come back. Came back in the game. I know he got knocked out for concussion protocol. I can't recall if he got back in the game, but against the Chargers, that's a great matchup. You got to love Cooper next week.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, he left briefly before halftime, but he came back out in the third quarter and he was 6 for 11 for 70. Not a bad matchup. Just didn't get into the end zone. Reminds me a little bit about the game we saw from Michael Floyd last night where he played very well. That one handed catch on the sideline was incredible. But he didn't get into the end zone and that hurt you.

[Mike Wright]

Sammy Watkins, he has been on fire.

[Andy Holloway]

Beat balls to Sammy watkins work.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

5 for 111.

[Mike Wright]

He's faster than them. So next week he's going to be facing the Cowboys whose defense has still showed up. And they're. I mean they are a good defense.

[Andy Holloway]

All their losses this year, even with the pitiful play at quarterback have been three, four points. I mean it's just been a tough luck year for them. Their defense has played very, very well. And you know, we didn't talk much about it, but Darren McFadden played very, very well as well.

[Jason Moore]

Well, we haven't gotten to running backs.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh yeah, that's. That's probably why we didn't talk about it. But we. I was still right. We hadn't. Ted Ginn Jr. 6 for 85 and 2. Jordan Matthews with a little bit of. When you're down 37 to 10 or 3717 and you get a bomb over the top on a blown coverage. That's nice.

[Jason Moore]

Absolutely. But he did have about what was like something like 50 yards in that first drive or so.

[Andy Holloway]

No, he played well.

[Mike Wright]

He did play well. He had, I mean that one catch was worth a lot. But he had eight other catches, 159 total yards. So you know, he was playing very well.

[Jason Moore]

Do I have confidence in him moving forward?

[Mike Wright]

No.

[Jason Moore]

No would be the answer. He's not a terrible play, but you can't feel confident in that.

[Andy Holloway]

Another guy that we have to mention yet again in our stud muffins. Yeah, I mean, honestly, Ridiculous. Here's his touchdowns for the last four weeks. Three two, three two.

[Jason Moore]

So three touchdowns next week for Doug Baldwin, everybody.

[Andy Holloway]

Unbelievable. He only had four catches for 45 yards and two of them were once again touchdowns.

[Mike Wright]

Playing the Rams. What, what do we make of the Rams defense? They have been great. They have been good, they have been bad, they have been terrible.

[Andy Holloway]

Who are they in the Flames with Doug Baldwin and you stay in the flames with Russell Wilson. I agree and the Rams are okay. But this game's important for Seattle. They did clinch a playoff spot. Cardinals clinched the division.

[Mike Wright]

That game is in Seattle.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, the Rams, I will say this.

[Andy Holloway]

They like to beat the Seahawks.

[Jason Moore]

The Rams historically show up against the Seahawks. So yeah, we'll see.

[Andy Holloway]

But that's not going to make me fade Baldwin, myself, desean Jackson, Kamar Aiken, Mike Evans and Tavon Austin had big time games this week. Anybody want to talk about from that?

[Jason Moore]

I want to talk about Kamar Aiken now.

[Andy Holloway]

I think that's fair.

[Jason Moore]

Aiken is a guy that we really liked. When Steve Smith Sonor went down and then there was. He had a couple bad matchups. Well, of course he lost his quarterback. So you faded him for that. Then he had some bad matchups and you faded him for that. Is there in this crazy world, is there potential that Kamar Akin is actually just a good wide receiver?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, apparently he's shown it with different quarterbacks.

[Andy Holloway]

Hail Mary.

[Mike Wright]

That was a great play to the way he streaked across, caught the Hail Mary in traffic and then said see ya because he wasn't in the end zone when he caught.

[Andy Holloway]

This was one of those games where, okay, Kamar Akin was 8 for 1, 28 in a touchdown. Kansas City's defense scored twice, kind of dominated the game, but Jimmy Claassen was fairly capable. So if he's the starter for Baltimore, he seems like he can rely on Aiken. Aiken might be an okay play. I think he might be right.

[Jason Moore]

Who do they play next?

[Mike Wright]

Next week they play Pittsburgh at home.

[Jason Moore]

You can throw on Pittsburgh.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, yeah, exactly. We saw that Brock Oswald had a very good half against Pittsburgh, plus third likely to be down. There's no reason why he can't get some targets there. So Tavon Austin was the Thursday game along with Mike Evans, who had a big monster game. Mike Evans, owners without Vincent Jackson, you can expect a lot of targets.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, target vacuum for sure.

[Andy Holloway]

So, running backs, I think you got.

[Jason Moore]

To put the music on again.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, do you have a closed. I did. I closed it down. I don't think we. That takes a long time to get to the crescendo.

[Jason Moore]

No, it would. You wouldn't go all the way in. You would just start the music.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, let's just let the audience say it. Okay. Ready, set, go.

[Mike Wright]

David Johnson. You said let the audience say it and then you pointed to me, so.

[Andy Holloway]

No, that was more like to the side.

[Jason Moore]

He was pointing to the audience.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, all right.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I apologize.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. David Johnson. 20. The numbers bear repeating. 29 for 187, three touchdowns on the ground, 4 for 42 through the air and a beast Mode esque run. That was just. It just kept going and going. First. Oh, how do you get out of that? Oh, how do you stiff arm that guy? Oh, how do you get down the sideline?

[Mike Wright]

If you didn't watch the game, you. This is one, just as a football fan, you got to look up. You got to watch that play. It was unbelievable. And if you are not a math wizard and you wonder, that would be 33 touches that David Johnson got a full bell cow.

[Andy Holloway]

Two things I want to say about David Johnson. One, you should check our Twitter @ the FF Ballers because I, I posted that play along with the Bette Midler song you're my hero and a wind beneath my wings win beneath my wing. Sorry. And two, that game last night changed my dynasty keeper thought process on David Johnson. It showed me he can be a bell cow type back and they can lean on him and that makes him a difference maker for the Cardinals and for fantasy owners.

[Mike Wright]

Arian said after the game in an interview that he said, I don't consider him a rookie anymore. That's what he said. And that's a big deal for Arians because he treats rookies like rookies. He said earlier in the year when it's like, oh, you got three great guys. Who are you going to sit? He's like, oh, that's easy. We got a rookie. And he said after the game he's like, I don't consider him a rookie anymore. And he's picked up blitz coverage. So I mean that's just great.

[Andy Holloway]

And total touchdowns on the year. You could really argue that David Johnson's been outside of, I guess, Gurley and his performances, you could say David Johnson's been the best rookie running back.

[Mike Wright]

The Arizona Cardinals are a high powered, high scoring offense and David Johnson before this game was leading them in touchdowns. I mean, that's not who you would have probably guessed. You know, you'd have been like, oh, it's Fitz or it's Michael Floyd or someone like that. And so now he's getting the opportunity that he didn't even have in the beginning of the year. Definitely a must.

[Jason Moore]

The last thing I'll say for David Johnson because clearly we love him so much. But that was the, that was the highest scoring running back fantasy performance of the year according to fantasy data. So.

[Andy Holloway]

Wow.

[Mike Wright]

Breaking news. The move that we expected to happen last week. The New England Patriots have signed three time Pro bowl running back Stephen Johnson to the team. Johnson, you just ruined Stephen Johnson.

[Jason Moore]

You're literally reading, wow, you're Stephen Jackson.

[Andy Holloway]

Can we do that again? I got it.

[Mike Wright]

Breaking news.

[Andy Holloway]

I pointed at him, I said, you take it. Stephen Jackson has been signed by the New England Patriots.

[Mike Wright]

He is reading it.

[Andy Holloway]

He's reading it right off of the news.

[Mike Wright]

It's a tiny watch. Tiny watch.

[Jason Moore]

Is that David Johnson?

[Andy Holloway]

Dyslexic people convert Jackson to Johnson. Is that what happens?

[Mike Wright]

Yep.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, that is.

[Andy Holloway]

Anyways, I think you get the gist there. Is their fantasy significance?

[Jason Moore]

I don't know. I mean Bolden got the carries, but.

[Andy Holloway]

He wasn't, he didn't do anything special.

[Jason Moore]

Wasn't just Bold, it was the. Then that guy. I don't even remember his name because we got Belichicked again.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, I expected that.

[Mike Wright]

I think.

[Andy Holloway]

I didn't expect Bolden to do much this past week.

[Mike Wright]

I think Stephen Jackson would have been a good play. A lot of people lost running backs now. I don't think it's that important because.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, 14 carries for. I didn't even know how to pronounce that.

[Jason Moore]

Oh yeah, I think that's something. That's close enough. But he scored, right?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, he has.

[Jason Moore]

He had a long run to score.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. Last. Last week we had a ton of. A ton of players lose running backs who are still in the playoffs. If you lost too many running backs and you need a guy off of waivers to Start, you know, lower chances that you're in the championship now. And they played the jets in this Week 16 matchup so that he did not score.

[Andy Holloway]

You were thinking of the James White screen. He did not.

[Jason Moore]

Was it?

[Mike Wright]

Oh, yeah, that, that running D. I wouldn't feel comfortable starting Stephen Jackson against the jets in the championship week.

[Andy Holloway]

No. But that's interesting for their long term kind of needs as the Patriots head into the playoffs. And it's also nice for the lore of botched breaking news. So Devonte Freeman, Matt Forte, Rashad Jennings had big games. Char west, who I everybody who asked me about Char west at the end of the week, I was just rising on the guy because Spencer Ware, it looked like limited to emergency to out. And Char west had a good matchup. It just seemed like he had the potential in this game. He didn't blow the COVID off of, you know, that's more of a baseball reference. Whoops. Char west for 76 and a touchdown. Two for nine through the air. Okay. Game for him for sure. He helped you out. Blah. Powell had a huge game.

[Mike Wright]

That's worth talking about because Chris Ivory owners were very upset this week. You think, yeah, you can probably speak to this better than anybody, you know, watching the game. The one thing you saw was that Chris Ivory wasn't on the field as often as, you know, he was the first half of the year at all. And it wasn't just when they were down. Now, obviously, when once they get down and they're passing, then yeah, Blal Powell's in. But even before that, when they were up or tied or it was, you know, a three point game, Bilal Powell was in there because I think they see their offense as better passing the ball than running the ball, which it is right now. Fitzpatrick has been great. And if they're passing the ball below, Powell's in.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, the offensive snaps were 37 snaps went to Ivory and then Powell was on the field for 23 snaps. But he made more of those, right? He was targeted five times. Compared to Ivory's two targets, he was more efficient and made that touchdown run when he got it near the goal line. So, you know, this is one of those things people, they might say, oh my goodness, I can't believe I started Ivory. Oh, I should have started.

[Jason Moore]

It was the right play.

[Andy Holloway]

He had a goal line carry. I mean, he got stuffed. He gets in the end zone there. It's not the worst. He scores 1112 points. I mean, it's what he's been all year. But it's worth mentioning Because I think you can start Bilal Powell in ppr half PPR leagues, which is what you're talking about.

[Jason Moore]

We're very early, but next week, the jets take on the Patriots. What's your. Give me your thermostat level on Chris Ivory in a game against the Patriots.

[Mike Wright]

I'm at about 70 degrees. It's a.

[Andy Holloway]

What's the right temperature?

[Mike Wright]

Well, I mean, if I'm. If I'm really loving a guy, I'm gonna be. I'm gonna be up triple digits.

[Andy Holloway]

I got you. I'm 70.

[Mike Wright]

70. It's. It's a little chilly. I'm not, you know, I'm not saying it's snowing outside, so it's nice.

[Andy Holloway]

You're not saying it's snowing at 70. Thank you.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, you're welcome.

[Andy Holloway]

Steven Ridley got 13 too many snaps.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. He does not look good.

[Andy Holloway]

And that was. That was troublesome. So basically, I think I would play Ivory.

[Jason Moore]

All right.

[Andy Holloway]

That's. That's the gist. So, Christine Michael. Yeah. Somehow, some way, I snuck him on the list.

[Jason Moore]

I snuck him on the list.

[Andy Holloway]

What is there to say? I like him. Next week.

[Jason Moore]

You. At this point, you have to at least think about it. I'll put it that way. Bryce Brown actually was productive as well. We cannot overreact to a game against the Browns, because if you were watching that game, the Browns defensive scheme was that of a schoolyard football team and was just. Just horrific.

[Mike Wright]

The reason he deserves to be on this list is because of what happened. Game flow wise. Game flow wise. Kristen Michael was not the first guy to get the ball. You know, they had Coleman get the ball first, which was weird. And then he didn't touch it again, you know, after that first drive. But Bryce Brown had the first opportunity. He played okay. But in the second half, in the second half, the majority of carries went to Christine Michael. And what they said after the game about his maturity and he seems, you know, he's acting different from the last time he was on the roster. Those are things you say when you're saying, I like this guy. He's going to be important for our team. I'm going to try to build his confidence. Confidence up. So if I had to start one of these two guys, it would definitely be Kristen Michael to me.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Oh, you're saying of Michael versus Brown.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Hands down. Hands down. You saw exactly what took place in the game. By the second half, Michael had all the carries, and he.

[Jason Moore]

He looked good. I mean, he was gashing him for five yards.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. And by the way, that is. I believe I read the wrong snap counts on the Ivory. Oh, yeah.

[Jason Moore]

All right.

[Andy Holloway]

I don't have. I don't have this week's. I couldn't find this weeks. I think I was. Somebody wrote it as week 15 in the article and it was not week 15. So I just want to throw that out there because it didn't look that way.

[Mike Wright]

No, it looked like field like snap count wise that Bilal Powell was out there at least as much, if not possibly more.

[Jason Moore]

Anyone who has not made it this far in the podcast, now it's gonna think you're an idiot.

[Andy Holloway]

Me for giving the wrong stuff. Okay, tight ends. Jordan Reed, seven for 84 and two touchdowns. Delaney. Delaney Walker, two for 64, two touchdowns.

[Mike Wright]

And one of those touchdowns was amazing. Was that a touchdown where he just.

[Jason Moore]

Yes, yes.

[Mike Wright]

Just bulldozed the guys. Get out of here. You're smaller than me.

[Andy Holloway]

That's what he said.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, that's what he said. And then he. And then he.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay, so fantasy implications moving forward on these guys. Jordan Reed, Delaney Walker. Jordan Reed is Greg Olson.

[Jason Moore]

Well, Jordan reed is Rule 86. If he's healthy, you start him. He is a. He is dominant. He is dominant from the tight end position. Delaney Walker, he was a weekly start, but let's. Without Mariota, what do you think we got the Mettenberger.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm fine with him.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I am too. Mettenberger used him a lot last year. I think Mettenberger could be just as good for Delaney Walker. He is the main receiving option for the Titans. So I like Delaney Walker for sure. I would have no problem starting him.

[Andy Holloway]

What about Zach Ertz? He had a big game.

[Mike Wright]

Now he. He got hurt that game, right? Or was there any long term effect of.

[Andy Holloway]

No, I think he's all right. He got knocked out for a couple plays, but he got up. So assuming hell, and you can monitor that, but what are your thoughts on Zach Ertz in general? Because Bradford seems to be finding himself a little bit in that offense.

[Mike Wright]

Well, Ertz before the year was one of my favorite guys. And the reason why was because he was only in on about half of the snaps last year and he showed such a great ability to catch the ball this year. He's been getting more and more involved lately. Eight catches for 78 yards and a touchdown. I mean, that's. That's the best tight end week you can hope for. And over the last couple weeks, he's been involved more and more. So I think you can. I think you can trust him against Washington this last week, if he's healthy.

[Andy Holloway]

42 snaps for Bilal, pounds 28 for Chris Ivory. Whoa.

[Mike Wright]

That's what I saw with my eyeballs.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. So sorry about. Sorry about the wrong stat a minute ago, but that is the correct stat. 50% of snaps to Bilal Powell. Again, I still. A big part of that is game flow. They were playing from behind. Close game and two minute drills. They had a couple two minute drills.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, but against the Patriots, is it going to be any different?

[Andy Holloway]

Probably not.

[Mike Wright]

So what's your.

[Andy Holloway]

But we don't know. So, okay, half point ppr, Bilal Pala.

[Mike Wright]

Chris Ivory below Powell.

[Jason Moore]

At this point, I don't know. But you would because.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, just because the snap counts were the way they were. The carry counts weren't that way.

[Mike Wright]

Well, but the reason the snap counts were that way was because they were passing the ball. How many didn't blow Powell catch seven balls.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay, but I'm still making the point that in a standard league you've got 13 carries for the Jets.

[Mike Wright]

Well, then just worry about touches because touches. Bilal Powell out touched him and Bilal.

[Andy Holloway]

Powell did not touch them. They were the same on touches. Actually, that's not true. Chris Ivory out touched him by one. So it's still a debate to me. It's not just because Blop out has this good game. Chris Ivey's number six running back in fantasy football. It's going to be another one of those situations where he could come out if they score a little bit, he could have success against New England.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, it's game flow. So what do you believe is going to happen with the game?

[Andy Holloway]

I don't know. I really don't. I don't know what's going to happen in that game. I think it's going to be a close game. I do think that.

[Mike Wright]

I agree with that. The jets played New England very well the first time they played.

[Andy Holloway]

Divisional game, close game. The recipe for victory for the jets all year has been when they run Chris Ivory. And so I would play Chris Ivory in a full ppr, I would switch over to Powell. I'll say that based on how he's been playing. Looks good. He looks fast. It's a very difficult decision. I'll be honest with you. It's close. All right, so defenses. Kansas City's D scored a couple times. Big week for them. Love them. Next week against the Browns at home.

[Jason Moore]

Again, the Cardinals D was also fantastic.

[Mike Wright]

And the Patriots D as well.

[Andy Holloway]

Yep. Absolutely. Let's move on.

[Mike Wright]

Hooped in his Big boy pants.

[Andy Holloway]

Is this even a merciful section of the show? I mean, is it worth mentioning these guys because this is bringing back playoff memory problems for people, myself included. I mean, Aaron Rodgers did not have a fantasy playoff worthy day.

[Mike Wright]

No way.

[Jason Moore]

That's brutal.

[Mike Wright]

And next week he plays against the Cardinals. So the Cardinals high scoring offense, you're going to have to throw the ball. But good defense, what do you expect? I mean you're going to start Aaron Rodgers, right?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. But 22 for 204 yards and one touchdown, that's, that's not going to get it done.

[Andy Holloway]

So what about the guy who's started Rogers and had that game and then Kirk Cousins sat there on his bench and had a monster game going into next week, scared because they play the Eagles who have given up a lot of yards through the air. Yeah, they are on Saturday night.

[Jason Moore]

Oh man. Maybe. Maybe. And that's a big switch for me because normally for an Aaron Rodgers it's. You start him every week because it's, it's a, it's probability.

[Andy Holloway]

You guys remember last year in the playoffs, what took place?

[Jason Moore]

Who killed people?

[Andy Holloway]

Who killed people in the playoffs last year at the quarterback position.

[Jason Moore]

Andrew Luck.

[Andy Holloway]

Andrew Luckton, he dominated the regular season and he killed people in the playoffs.

[Jason Moore]

And Peyton Manigan as well.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. So I doesn't mean again, we saw Big Ben this week. The justification could have been there for Big Ben yet the week before. I think he had no touchdown passes.

[Jason Moore]

Right. He started. Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

So I mean the argument. This is that same argument. I think you start Aaron Rodgers.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

The Cardinals got gassed a little bit by Bradford at times last night. I think, I think, you know, the packers are playing for the division still. I probably start Aaron Rodgers at this point.

[Jason Moore]

I would still start Rogers.

[Andy Holloway]

And you obviously got fantasy kicked in the, kicked in the pants by Marcus Mariota this week.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Injury. So running back wise Buck Allen, terrible.

[Mike Wright]

Worst got pulled after.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, he fumbled and he got benched.

[Andy Holloway]

Second week in a row though. Yeah, but I would absolutely have pulled him. They can't keep doing that. He destroyed the entire game.

[Jason Moore]

Yes, I completely disagree with that logic.

[Andy Holloway]

You always do. DeMarco Murray, two for three.

[Mike Wright]

Whoo. Whoo. He was not, not a member of the Eagles last night.

[Jason Moore]

No. It took him a very, very long time to even get in and get those, get those two carries. The. I believe the, the reading in the tea leaves are. Demarco Murray is not long for the Philadelphia Eagles despite them owing him a lot of money.

[Andy Holloway]

Chris Polk, terrible game. If you Started him thinking he was the guy in Houston. As soon as the news Alfred Blue is going to be in the mix. Those guys went off my list. Chris Polk and Jonathan Grimes, Fozzie Whitaker. A lot of talk about him getting.

[Jason Moore]

A start and he didn't even start.

[Andy Holloway]

Didn't do much. Cameron Artist Payne was the guy there. What do you think about Artist Payne moving forward? We didn't mention him because he wasn't like a fantasy stud. But he needs to be talked about and he will be tomorrow for sure.

[Mike Wright]

But yeah, he was the. He was the guy there. That is to me if Jonathan Stewart's out next week. Cameron Artist Payne was the guy that got the most involved, the most used. And while he didn't start the game because they gave that start to the veteran in Tolbert, I would expect next week him to get more usage than he did this week. But that's all dependent on Jonathan Stewart's health and J Stu could be back.

[Andy Holloway]

The Barbershop quartet of sadness Eddie Lacy, Lamar Miller, LaShawn McCoy and Chris Ivory.

[Jason Moore]

We stink.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

I thought you guys were coming in.

[Andy Holloway]

Mr. Sadman We. Steve, I was depressed if you were. If I was a McCoy, McCoy killed me in one league Lamar Miller was terrible, terrible.

[Mike Wright]

Such a great matchup against an awful run d and he gets nine carries which I wanted. I made a bet that he would get more than 15. I believe they would have given them the ball more but you know you can't because his nine carries, he got 12 yards. He is one of the most frustrating guys to own because you, you know there's a couple of guys out there DeSean Jackson and Aaron Rob Allen Robinson and Lamar Miller where if you want these guys big blow up game, you kind of. You have to start them. You just can't predict when they're going to blow up. But they have the potential to have a super high ceiling game. I mean We've seen two 40 point games out of Lamar Miller this year and so this next week I think.

[Andy Holloway]

Lamar Miller at the Colts you play him? Yeah, I mean at home against the Colts.

[Mike Wright]

I play him against the Colts and I don't feel good about it.

[Andy Holloway]

Let's go through those other guys then Eddie Lacey gets the Cardinals. Do you play him?

[Mike Wright]

No way. He ran poorly. He got 11 carries and ran poor with them and now is going up against the Cardinals. I don't see it.

[Andy Holloway]

What about. We already talked about ivory. What about McCoy?

[Jason Moore]

That's more of a just injury.

[Andy Holloway]

Monitor the injury.

[Jason Moore]

If he plays I will play him. And for Lamar Miller.

[Andy Holloway]

What if he's out?

[Jason Moore]

By the way, if Shady McCoy is.

[Andy Holloway]

Out, who do you start?

[Mike Wright]

I still think it's Carlos Williams.

[Andy Holloway]

You saw another 60 yard run from Gillisley.

[Jason Moore]

Gillisley, Is that it?

[Andy Holloway]

I believe so. We're not good at names.

[Jason Moore]

We'll call him the G Man. How about that? Yeah, I would. You have to assume that it's still Carlos Williams, that Carlos Williams will be back to full health next week. And if he's healthy, I think he's the guy who gets. Gets the carries.

[Mike Wright]

But what we've seen when guys like Gillis Lee comes, come on strong, is that now they are going to split those reps with the backup guys. You've seen that with Chuck Hendrick, west and Ware. Once Ware showed like, oh, we have a really legit option behind him. I don't have to put everything on West. And you could see that happen, I don't think. You know, early in the year when Carlos Williams was healthy and Lashawn McCoy went down, it was like, oh, Carlos is a great play. I'm not quite as happy about Carlos because of what's happened with the other.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, Gillesley was 4 for 81 and, well, he had a huge.

[Jason Moore]

He had that huge run.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. But two weeks in a row, he's had a huge run.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

And definitely contributed, and that's very fair.

[Jason Moore]

It's. It's a matter to me of what are the Bills playing for? Are they trying. Do they want to see what they have in Carlos Williams, like. And I know that they, they. They know he's a good player, but it's okay. Let's give him a couple games of him being the feature back. Let's see what he can do.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, wide receivers, we talked about AJ Green, who went. He went out. He killed fantasy owners. One for 37. Danny Mendola did as well. Ty Hilton had a very bad game. 3 for 29. Larry Fitzgerald, 3 for 43. Alan Hearns, 2 for 44. Ouch.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, that's. That's rough, man. That's some bad beats on guys. Larry Fitzgerald, especially. 3 for 43 was not what I was expecting.

[Mike Wright]

One of the things we didn't talk about in all of our David Johnson talk was how much David Johnson hurt the value.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Of the wide receiver, Palmer, because Carson Palmer. Michael Floyd. Michael Floyd, you know, he led the Cardinals in receiving yards, but he didn't really have a great game because you.

[Andy Holloway]

Know who should have led them in receiving?

[Jason Moore]

John freaking Brown.

[Mike Wright]

John Brown, catch the ball.

[Andy Holloway]

If you're a John Brown owner. You about pulled your hair all the way out of your head because three bald, three drops, one. One certain touchdown.

[Mike Wright]

The first play of the game was a super long slant where he had everybody beat and it's a guaranteed touchdown. And I've never seen a better place ball. The ball went through the arms like he didn't close his arms. It was absurd.

[Andy Holloway]

Perfect, perfect pose.

[Mike Wright]

At least he got a touchdown later. So, you know, you're, you're unhappy, but you're not. I think the, the Larry Fitzgerald owner is probably more upset than the John Brown owner.

[Jason Moore]

It was. And it's just, it was a matter of David Johnson destroying them.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, so Alan Hearns next week, do you start him against the Saints?

[Mike Wright]

I would, Yeah, I would.

[Andy Holloway]

What about Ty Hilton next week against the Dolphins?

[Jason Moore]

Who's the quarterback?

[Andy Holloway]

Assume Hasselback.

[Jason Moore]

What are they.

[Mike Wright]

It goes back and forth. I mean, we've seen it for weeks now where you can't really trust it between Ty Hilton and Moncrief. Moncrief got the touchdown this last game and Moncrief's had a couple good games with Hasselback and he's had terrible games and Ty Hilton's had a couple of really good games and he's had terrible games. So you, you can't trust which one of those guys are going to start. But Hasselback is not going to do enough to get both of those guys good games. So you're.

[Jason Moore]

Is there any chance that Andrew Luck is back?

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

Next week.

[Andy Holloway]

I believe there is. But if he's back, does that raise Hilton for you then?

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. If he's back, I have to assume that he is fully healthy because I don't think the Colts are going to screw around with their franchise quarterback with a lacerated kidney and internal body organ injury. You got to have him be ready to go. So if he's ready to go, even though Luck was not the Andrew Luck of last year, we still saw him have some bigger games.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, let's go and answer a couple mailbag questions.

[Mike Wright]

Mailbag. Mailbag.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. If you have a question for us this upcoming championship week, we certainly want to hear that question. Go to the website the fantasy footballers. Click on the Submit a question button. You can also check us out on Twitter at the ffballers or call our voicemail question line 302464. TFFB will be answering them all week trying to get you ready for your fantasy playoffs or your third place matchups. Yeah, there's Money on the line. So in many of your leagues. So send us your questions. Jared. And Philly wants to know. He says he's down 17 going into tonight's game. Monday Night Football game. He's got Calvin or Hightower for his flex. Doesn't know who to play for. Upside as Calvin was awful last week and Hightower was huge with the 28 carries. So thanks for the show. What do you do if you are Jared in Philadelphia?

[Mike Wright]

I would start Calvin Johnson. I think Calvin Johnson has a better history. You've got one guy here who's a Hall of Fame guy going up against a bad defense or at least a defense that can be scored on multiple times. That's who I would go with. But I see that. I see the difficulty of the question. It sounds ridiculous. You know, if we were talking about this five weeks ago, that'd be absurd. But it's a legit question. What do you guys think?

[Jason Moore]

I would still go with Calvin. You if you have, you have to make up 17 points in a standard league for Hightower. I mean, you need 100. You need 100 yards and a score at the very least for Hightower to come close to that. So I would go with Calvin.

[Andy Holloway]

I tend to agree, especially, you know, depending on for Hightower to get that the game flow has to go perfectly right for him. For Calvin to get that, it might take a couple big plays and that can happen later in the game even if things aren't going right. So very tough decision. And if you're just asking me who's the safer play in terms of total points, it's probably Hightower right now with the carry count, but that doesn't mean he hits 17. So I think Calvin's your better upside. I agree with these guys. All right. Rob in Long island has the same question we discussed earlier. Should I start Chris Ivory or Bilal Powell against the Patriots next week? He's in a half point PPR league. I'd love to hear Mike's opinion on this because Mike, Jason and I kind of debated that Ivory gets the volume. We said they about. About the same in touches this past week, but Powell was much better. I mean just your eyeballs told you Powell was much better. So what do you. What would you do if you were in his situation? He's in trying to get to the title.

[Jason Moore]

So I'm pulling up the win, the title. So this is what Ivory did last time against the patriots. He was 17 for 41, which are. That's not great rushing stats. He was 2 through 12 with a 2 for 12 with a touchdown through the air. But I believe that was in the midst of the Bilal power in Powell injury. So Ivory was getting all those, the passing down snaps. At this point, Edelman could be back. That's a situation to monitor because that's a big bump for the, the Patriots offense. If the Patriots are down Edelman and Amendola, I might be inclined to go with Ivory because I think that's for how great Tom Brady and Gronk are when he's that limited on weapons. The Patriots offense doesn't move nearly as well. And the jets, the jets are still a pretty solid defense. If he gets Edelman back, I would go with Powell. At this point, you got to. You got to stay in the flames with a guy who is producing at a high level.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, Powell was out that game, the last game against New England. So that, that's why Chris Ivory got, you know, 17 carries. I will say this. The last three weeks in a half point scoring the way he has, Powell has 21.4, 17 and 18. And I don't expect them to be up. So that would be my argument for Powell.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I can see that for sure. And I think if you ask me, who's got the biggest upside in terms of total points, it's actually Powell. So if you need that, I agree with you on that. That is the end of today's show. We'll be back tomorrow. Waiver wire chatter. Some offense and defense plays you can do in terms of keeping guys away from your. Your championship opponent. Hopefully you're in that final game. Hopefully you're still alive. David Johnson. My goodness, the Twitter feed blew up.

[Jason Moore]

It was fantastic.

[Andy Holloway]

It was absolutely outstanding.

[Jason Moore]

And for just an update of. What are the footballers doing?

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

This week, what are they doing? This.

[Jason Moore]

So we will not be having a show on Thursday or Friday because it is Christmas Eve and Christmas and we want to celebrate those days with our family. However, we have not forgotten the Foot Clan. So Wednesday, Return of the Megalodon.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes, the episode you've been waiting for since a few weeks ago when you got the last one.

[Jason Moore]

This time it's personal, right?

[Andy Holloway]

This is playoff time. Playoff Megalodon. This is not a normal version.

[Jason Moore]

More.

[Andy Holloway]

More spines.

[Jason Moore]

So Tuesday night I will be going to sleep at 7pm and waking up.

[Andy Holloway]

You know what? For the show, we have to record the, the Patreon mailbag show that day as well.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I know.

[Andy Holloway]

So we've got, we've got the Megalodon show and we've got the Patreon mailbag show on jointhefoot.com I remember because I'm.

[Jason Moore]

Still exhausted the last time we did it.

[Andy Holloway]

Eat your Wheaties and not the big Cinnabuns you ate when you came in into this.

[Jason Moore]

Don't tell me how to live, Andy.

[Mike Wright]

I blame your wife.

[Andy Holloway]

Any of the When Jason said that Stevie Johnson signed with the Patriots, I blame the Cinnabon.

[Mike Wright]

Yep, well, blamed.

[Andy Holloway]

So. All right, that's it for today. Congratulations to everybody who got through, and if not, you're with me. You lost your matchup, but you can hang with us. Keeper leagues, dynasty leagues and get ready for next season. We'll be here all year long.

[Jason Moore]

Goodbye.

[Mike Wright]

Thank you for listening to another edition of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast. Don't forget to visit us on the web at www.thefantasyfootballers.com and follow us on Twitter the FFballers.