Starts of the Week + Week 17 Breakdown, RAIN Alert! - Fantasy Football Podcast for 12/26

Summary

Fantasy Footballers Podcast Episode Summary
Episode Title: Starts of the Week + Week 17 Breakdown, RAIN Alert!
Release Date: December 26, 2024

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1. Championship Week and Christmas Day Breakdown

As the hosts—Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright—commence the episode at [01:21], they delve into the high-stakes atmosphere of Championship Week coinciding with Christmas. Jason Moore shares his frustrations from the Texans' performance against the Saints, highlighting issues with their offense and quarterback CJ Stroud’s inaccuracy:

Jason Moore [02:13]: "When they finally did hit easy passes... CJ Stroud was really inaccurate."

Andy and Mike add humor to the discussion, referencing past deceptions and the challenging expectations now placed on Al Borland, their fantasy team manager.

2. Player Performances and Key Highlights

The hosts analyze standout performances from recent games. Jason Moore praises the Chiefs' dominant victory over the Steelers and criticizes Travis Kelsey’s declining performance:

Jason Moore [04:48]: "Travis Kelsie's not a thing anymore. He's washed."

In contrast, Lamar Jackson shines in the Ravens' game, demonstrating effective passing and rushing:

Mike Wright [05:52]: "Lamar Jackson... ended up with 87 rushing yards, a rushing touchdown, and two passing touchdowns."

Andy Holloway highlights Mark Andrews’ impressive touchdown and Jason Moore emphasizes the breakout performances of Xavier Worthy and other key players.

3. Injury Reports and Lineup Decisions

The discussion shifts to injury updates vital for fantasy managers. Jason Moore talks about Ken Walker's recurring ankle issues ([09:33]) and James Conner's potential return:

Jason Moore [10:01]: "There's a chance he goes into the matchup this week without an injury designation."

The trio debates the implications of these injuries on their lineups, considering options like Jaylen McMillan versus James Conner.

4. Starts of the Week: Player Recommendations

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to recommending starters for the upcoming week. The hosts categorize their picks by position:

• Quarterbacks:

  • Jason Moore [13:20]: Recommends Brock Purdy against Detroit, expecting him to surpass the over/under of 202.
  • Mike Wright [13:42]: Favors Baker Mayfield against the Carolina Panthers, citing a favorable matchup against one of the league's weakest defenses.

• Running Backs:

  • Jason Moore [17:03]: Suggests Breece Hall from Buffalo, highlighting his explosive running style and favorable matchup.
  • Mike Wright [18:14]: Chooses Breece Hall over other options, noting Buffalo's defense struggles against running backs.

• Wide Receivers:

  • Jason Moore [19:55]: Picks Tyreek Hill against Cleveland, emphasizing his reliability despite potential weather disruptions.
  • Andy Holloway [22:35]: Recommends T.Y. Hilton, acknowledging his strong performance despite some inconsistency.

• Tight Ends:

  • Andy Holloway [24:00]: Selects Trey McBride, crediting his proficiency in zone defenses and recent performance improvements.

Each recommendation is supported with statistical analysis and matchup evaluations, providing listeners with actionable insights for their fantasy lineups.

5. Weather Impacts and Game Forecasts

A critical theme in the episode is the influence of weather on game outcomes and player performances. The hosts discuss expected rain for key matchups, particularly impacting passing games and favoring running backs and short routes:

Jason Moore [12:23]: "There should be a lot of dump offs for Breece Hall if the rain is heavy."

They explore how adverse weather conditions can level the playing field, potentially benefiting underdog teams and affecting key player statistics.

6. Fantasy Forecast and Betting Insights

Transitioning to the Fantasy Forecast segment ([27:59]), the hosts provide betting lines and over/under predictions for upcoming games. They analyze the Chargers vs. Patriots matchup, expressing surprise at the Chargers being only 4.5-point favorites despite recent performances:

Jason Moore [28:07]: "The Chargers only four and a half point favorites on the road... it’s going to have an almost upset inkling here."

Additionally, they discuss other key games, such as the Broncos vs. Bengals and the Cardinals vs. Rams, offering strategic advice on player starts and considering both fantasy and real-game implications.

7. MVP Discussion and Player Legacies

Towards the end of the episode, the conversation shifts to the MVP race, focusing on Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson. The hosts reflect on the unusual intensity surrounding the MVP discourse this season:

Andy Holloway [50:16]: "People are just so mad at each other. I don't know why it is like, what."

They argue that both quarterbacks are deserving of the title, given their performances and the value they bring to their respective teams.

8. Conclusion and Final Picks

In the closing segment, the hosts recap their final player picks and discuss potential parlays. They emphasize the importance of not overreacting to weather reports unless they drastically impact player availability:

Jason Moore [35:37]: "I just think the worry is overemphasizing the weather."

They conclude with a celebration of their recent successful parlays and encourage listeners to stay engaged for upcoming matchups and analyses.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Jason Moore [02:13]: "When they finally did hit easy passes... CJ Stroud was really inaccurate."
• Mike Wright [05:52]: "Lamar Jackson... ended up with 87 rushing yards, a rushing touchdown, and two passing touchdowns."
• Jason Moore [04:48]: "Travis Kelsie's not a thing anymore. He's washed."
• Andy Holloway [24:00]: "Trey McBride... kills zone defenses. This is his specialty."
• Jason Moore [28:07]: "The Chargers only four and a half point favorites on the road... it’s going to have an almost upset inkling here."
• Andy Holloway [50:16]: "People are just so mad at each other. I don't know why it is like, what."

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This episode of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast provides comprehensive analysis and strategic advice for fantasy football enthusiasts navigating the high-pressure Championship Week. From player performance insights and injury updates to weather considerations and betting forecasts, the hosts equip listeners with the knowledge needed to optimize their fantasy lineups and make informed decisions.

Transcript

[Andy Holloway]

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[Jason Moore]

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[Mike Wright]

Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast with your hosts, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore and Mike Wright.

[Jason Moore]

Welcome in.

[Andy Holloway]

It's still football time.

[Jason Moore]

Always. Forever.

[Mike Wright]

It's football week.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm exhausted.

[Jason Moore]

They wanted Christmas too, huh? They had to have Christmas.

[Mike Wright]

And the day after. Well, after the day after that, they.

[Andy Holloway]

Got it and we all lost.

[Jason Moore]

Well, and you know, we're here. We're here. It's championship week. It's Christmas week. It's gonna be an uphill climb for.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jason Moore]

For Al Borland. Which I am, you know. No, for me. For me. Yeah. It went very poorly for me on Christmas Day because the Texans offense gave the Saints a run for their money on the most inept. Couldn't block, couldn't escape the pocket, couldn't play call, couldn't catch the football. When they finally did hit easy passes. That's what I was going to say. The part that was the most annoying was that when they occasionally put a protection together for She's CJ Stroud that allowed him to step up into the pocket and make a pass. He was really inaccurate. Like he had out routes to Nico Collins. He had plays that he could have easily moved the ball down the field. It was a blowout and there was a chance that it wasn't going to be a blowout till the Baltimore Ravens shut down a first and goal. It was very good for Al Borland. Al Borland already talking crap this morning. He simultaneously doesn't want to Jinx.

[Andy Holloway]

He would never.

[Jason Moore]

He doesn't want to jinx his performance. And yet he has slipped in some one liners, talking crap. Which is good, because when these two guys deceived me last year, moment of the year, Josh's deception with the sidekick. You know, Batman and Robin. When that happened, it looked like you guys screwed me and then it ended up with me on top. So I'm just saying, like, Christmas Day looks like you've got the big advantage. You got a 20 point. You're a 20 point favorite now. Nothing can go wrong.

[Mike Wright]

I'm impressed right now with your storytelling and your bravado, given the fact that you're standing in a hole right now.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, I'm standing in a big hole.

[Mike Wright]

And it's starting to fill with water.

[Andy Holloway]

Have you ever seen a Hallmark movie? Those things suck.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. You're going to cry. You're going to cry.

[Jason Moore]

Well, I mean, we'll see.

[Andy Holloway]

They're always nonsensical.

[Jason Moore]

I mean, but. But it all comes together in the end. The script doesn't matter. It just works out.

[Mike Wright]

But for who? Yeah, because it might just be working out real nice for the underdog who's never won a championship in the league before. Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

I mean, of all the people, it's the make a wish that I'm fine. I'm fine with. I'm fine with Al Borland getting one.

[Andy Holloway]

Go Owl.

[Mike Wright]

Thank you, Mike.

[Jason Moore]

And I don't expect him to act like he's been there before because, well.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, I won't, because he hasn't.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. But the summary of the, of the Christmas games was that the Chiefs just demolished and manhandled the Steelers. Xavier Worthy, eight for 79 and a touchdown. Nine more targets. Travis Kelsey a week too late. Had he done this last week, Mike, you would not be in the Dynasty title game.

[Andy Holloway]

No, no, I would not. And this was like, it's like the Steelers game planned. And they were like, yeah, Travis Kelsey's not a thing anymore.

[Jason Moore]

He's washed, like.

[Andy Holloway]

But if you leave him wide open in the middle of the field, that's how he got everything done in the past. Like, we for years would scream at the television, how is Travis Kelsey left so wide open? And then the last, what year and a half teams have been like, maybe we should not do that. And he's been shut down. And then the Steelers are like, nah, well, what can he do?

[Jason Moore]

320. And three for Mahomes, who did whatever he wanted to do in the Ravens game. 31 to 2, the Ravens on top. Lamar Jackson only passed for 168 yards, only completed 10 passes. So if you look at the target share for someone like zay flowers, five targets on 15 attempts. That's a juicy 33% of your targets, however, they didn't need to throw the football. And his touchdowns play action.

[Andy Holloway]

48 yard rushing touchdown.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I was going to say he only had four carries in the whole game. Lamar Jackson, if you, if you said he only threw the. He only threw 10 completions and carried the ball four times, you'd say, well, that was a bad game. Except he ended up with 87 rushing yards, a rushing touchdown and two passing touchdowns. Great game for Lamar Jackson and Derek Henry was a monster.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. And you know, the lack of competitiveness in this game is what slowed Henry down from continuing his assault. Because the Texans, they were shut out on offense. They had one safety, that was it. They were shut out. Otherwise mixing 9 for 26. Not a lot of opportunity when first downs are not on the board. Dalton Schultzed his way right out of my start of the week because he looked slower. C.J. stroud looked awful.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

And Baltimore made them look dumb. And they clearly needed more receiving options than John Metchie. So that was the game. Mark Andrews got into the end zone.

[Andy Holloway]

Again and had a huge catch and run on top of the touchdown.

[Jason Moore]

His line is great because he's 2 for 68 and a touchdown. He had a long of 67. It wasn't the touchdown. So that was your Christmas Day games. Did you guys have a nice Christmas?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, yeah, I think I had a very, very nice Christmas one to remember. And honestly I liked Christmas football as well. It was a good time.

[Andy Holloway]

You're going to get it forever until the end of eternity.

[Jason Moore]

So they tried to make the football cake thing.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh man, those whoops.

[Jason Moore]

The football cake for both of the Netflix games and then they wouldn't eat it.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, I think Mahomes and Kelsey.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, they did.

[Andy Holloway]

And then Henry and Lamar were both like, no.

[Jason Moore]

They're like, dude, look at us. We don't eat cake. We don't eat cake. I think Al Borland might have had a slice though.

[Andy Holloway]

I did.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, he enjoyed. How are you doing? Is the blood pressure like you. You were getting alerts on your, on your watch and your. In your health devices.

[Mike Wright]

Not a joke.

[Jason Moore]

That's real. That's real life. Did you. Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

I think the vitals have come back.

[Andy Holloway]

To baseline for now.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Maybe slightly elevated still.

[Jason Moore]

I believe the latest projection had it 6733. How do you feel about that do you feel?

[Mike Wright]

Say it's 67%.

[Jason Moore]

67%. 33% for me now that I've. I've got three duds on Christmas Day. Merry Christmas to you.

[Mike Wright]

Thank you. Yeah, I mean, anything could happen. I'm not, I'm not counting any chickens, but I'm happy to be.

[Jason Moore]

And you don't have anybody tonight, right?

[Andy Holloway]

I do not.

[Jason Moore]

Just for the sake of anticipation, Al's got all of his players done on Sunday. I'll have all my players done except for one. So there's a chance we go into Monday Night Football. If there's like, I asked him. Jameer Gibbs is who I have on Monday Night Football.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, man.

[Jason Moore]

So I asked him, how many points? How many points do you need to feel like you can live on Monday night?

[Mike Wright]

I told him 45. I don't blame you because there are very few players. Like, it's like Jamar Chase where you think, or an Alvin Camara. You go, there's a chance for a 45 point game. It's like, it's probably not going to happen, but there's a chance. So until you're up 50, you will be scared. His question was how many points for.

[Andy Holloway]

You to feel safe.

[Mike Wright]

And 45 is the only number that I felt I would say.

[Jason Moore]

So the odds of you going stress free into Monday night are probably kind of low. So that should be, that should be fun. We've got news to talk about. We got all the, all the matchups to get into. Lots going on and let's get right into it.

[Mike Wright]

News and notes from around the league presented by USAA Insurance.

[Jason Moore]

Well, for a running back named Ken Walker, he does a lot of limping. He's been ruled out. Ankle injury. Third injury of the year for Walker, maybe fourth.

[Andy Holloway]

Really soggy neutral.

[Mike Wright]

Do you think they just. It's because he needs one like that.

[Andy Holloway]

Walker?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, like his name.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, I see. Yeah. This is Ken. Brittle bones Walker.

[Andy Holloway]

Get my man some milk and get this dude in the yoga room because he needs to stretch these ligaments out.

[Jason Moore]

James Conner has been limited Tuesday and Wednesday, both days wild. There is a chance he goes into the matchup this week without an injury designation. There's a possibility of that. And if that happens, you should expect him to be out there and pushing towards career highs in rushing yardage. And there you go.

[Mike Wright]

Now you have the decision of Jaylen McMillan versus James Conner. James Conner Saturday. So you will know and you'll have to make that decision. You'll, you'll, you know, you'll know if he's active or not. Are you going to start an injured Connor if he's active?

[Jason Moore]

If he is without an injury Designation, yes. He's 20. He's over 20 fantasy points three straight games and he's also maybe not.

[Mike Wright]

All right, cool. Thank you. The fucklands very you're setting up helped.

[Jason Moore]

You'Re setting up a like a decision I plan to make Saturday on Thursday. I'm not going to make the decision today. We'll see what it looks like on Saturday. I waited and did not play Xavier Worthy in that spot because I wanted the opportunity to see if Connor was going to play. And I wish I had played Worthy, who scored more points than Joe Mixon, Nico Collins and Zay Flowers combined.

[Mike Wright]

Ooh. And it's also, yeah, it's worth pointing out and remembering because a lot of people this is going to be one of those names I think going into next year that the people who didn't make the playoffs or didn't pay attention later on he Xavier Worthy's having a little bit of a breakout here and that's three impactful games in a row.

[Jason Moore]

And he's on the field all the time. Versatile, using him in the screen game and the end of rounds. Every game he gets one of those old school, oh gosh, Percy Harvin style into rounds. It's part of the offense. Jalen Hurst did not practice. Questionable for this weekend. If you survived somehow.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Which most of you didn't. Anthony Richardson dealing with a back and foot injury. Malik Neighbors will talk about those games today. Let's go. Drake London limited on Wednesday with a knee injury. He's Sunday Night Football. Crystal Lava returned to a full practice on Wednesday. Alvin Camara did not practice.

[Andy Holloway]

What are we doing here, Saints?

[Jason Moore]

There's also the. I mean, Darren Rizzi said Rattler will.

[Mike Wright]

Start if Carr can't play, which insinuates that they're still wanting Carr to come back. And I would imagine that when Carr comes back might be when Olave comes back. I mean if it was. If it was me as like a coach or an organization, I don't really need a lobby trying to like lift up Spencer Rattler and be getting a bunch of murder balls. Not that Derek Carr doesn't throw his own.

[Jason Moore]

Aaron Rodgers says he will play Sunday despite dealing with an MCL injury. Both he and Devonte Adams were limited in practice. Okay. That was today's news and notes presented by USAA Insurance. Learn [e-mail] insurance we've got starts of the week. We got weather to Talk about too.

[Mike Wright]

A little bit rain. Lot of it rain.

[Jason Moore]

A lot of bit decisions to be made.

[Mike Wright]

Starts of the week.

[Jason Moore]

Well, quarterback start of the week. I'm going Brock Purdy against Detroit. If for some reason you're not living with one of the best guys at the quarterback position, highest over under of the week. I think Brock Purdy will be able to do enough against the Detroit defense. 202 is the. The kind of the target line there. I think it'll go above that. I'm going to go Purdy.

[Mike Wright]

I'm going to go Baker Mayfield championship week against the Carolina Panthers. Laser. Laser Mayfield has been. I mean he's the quarterback six right now. In the course of the year he had a lull when you know he was dealing with his injuries and Mike Evans injuries. But he's back. He was great last week. Carolina's defense is 30th in schedule. Adjusted fantasy points to quarterbacks. They're dead last in fantasy points per drop back using zone coverage. I think this is a great matchup for Baker and the nice thing is with Bryce Young playing better ball, you might actually need Baker to keep throwing as the game goes on. And that's the hope.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. And if I'm a big underdog on Saturday, this is why McMillan would be attractive because maybe you catch lightning in a bottle and you get the two touchdown game from McMillan. It's not something we haven't seen two weeks ago he did it. That would be the case. The bull case for it.

[Andy Holloway]

My quarterback start of the week, I think it's Bo Nix against Cincinnati because everything.

[Jason Moore]

Maybe not though.

[Andy Holloway]

Everything. Well, here's the thing. Here's the case for him. QB10 must win game. We went over, you know the teams who have to win right now it's a 49 and a half point over. Under right now with like that is juicy. It's one of the highest of the week he's got.

[Jason Moore]

It's still at 49 and a half.

[Andy Holloway]

Kyle, go ahead and check that for me.

[Jason Moore]

I would like to know. This is what just correct. This is one of the weather games. That's why there's.

[Andy Holloway]

That's why it's. I think so I'm making the case for him. Look, Cincinnati's defense, this is a team you want to play against. 28th in schedule. Adjusted points of the quarterback, 26th and passing yards allowed. It's still at 49 and a half. This is like before, before Christmas day. When I checked some weather I was like, I am so excited for this matchup. But this is one that you have to keep an eye on that there are some meteorologists out there who are like, they believe rain is likely potential, a lot of rain for this game. So this is, and more importantly, 20.

[Jason Moore]

To 30 mile an hour wind gusts.

[Andy Holloway]

This is a keep an eye on, obviously. Look, we're Thursday. By the time we get to game time for this, it may be completely different. As one who has been and experienced the weather that is Denver, that crap can come out of nowhere. Like, is that where your concert was? Yeah, yeah, I was at a concert in Denver and all of a sudden they're like, everyone needs to seek shelter right now. You're like, what are you talking about? You look up, it's fine. But then you look over the horizon, you go, oh, no. Like that. That's a storm over there. And then as soon as, as quick as it came, it was just gone. So mountain weather is crazy. I think it's Bo Nix, but like, I would, if weather's good here, would love to play Bo Knicks.

[Jason Moore]

Well, the other side of that matchup is Joe Burrow. So there's a lot of people hanging on the. I mean, Mike is already feeling it, dude. Permeate his anxious pores.

[Mike Wright]

And it's funny here too, because in the Dynasty league where you're trying to go back to Burrow and Chase, you've got Burrow and Chase. However, in Listener league where Andy's in the championship, he's playing against Burrow and Chase. So one of you is going to be happy about the weather.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. And league of record, I have Chase and no Burrow. So I'm right in the middle there where it's like, can I thread the needle? All right. Bucky Irving is my running back. Start of the week against Carolina once again looked unbelievable out there last week. He has surpassed James Conner in the most broken tackles. He is, you know, he's good. His special ingredient is acceleration. After he makes a move, he gets up to speed so fast he's breaking tackles because he's running extremely fast through these holes and the arm tackles are not bringing him down. He's kind of reminding me of, you know, when Thomas Rawls, the Ralls. Royce had a moment in time in Seattle where once he got up to speed, it was just kind of a ferocity to his running game. This is a, an amazing matchup. He was the RB1 overall against these Panthers in week 13. It's a must win game for the Buccaneers to stay alive to try to win the division. They're not the Division winners right now, Carolina dead last. You know, James Conner in two and a half quarters gave you a 25 point game last week against Carolina. Bucky Irving, you know he'd be the reason that Baker doesn't have a good game. If Bucky Irving has such an explosive performance. He's my start of the week going into title game.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I would love to have Bucky in my lineup. I'm going to go with my guy, Breece hall. In Buffalo we have a complicated relationship. Breeze likes to put me out of the playoffs and then, and then it's his time to shine, you know. And so he did that last week. Last week he was back up to 77% of snaps, 20 opportunities including six targets. And the targets are really the key key here because Buffalo, they are, they are the most terrible team at pass catching running backs. They give up the most running back receiving yards of every team's second most running back receptions and receiving touchdowns allowed. They give up the highest explosive run rate. Buffalo, the matchup is good. The weather should be bad there. That should be another one of those kind of watch out for rain games. Which means I think there will be a lot of dump offs for Breeze Hall. If in the games where the rain is heavy and wind is high, running back fantasy usage and value usually goes up. So I will start Breeze this week.

[Andy Holloway]

And he's got Bucky Irving, but that's not going to scare me off of Rashad White who has actually been fantastic right along with Bucky Irving. It's wild the fact that we are getting such high level play, such high level fantasy production from two running backs in the same backfield.

[Jason Moore]

Since it's a little bit of Montgomery gives life.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes, yes. Very, very much. Since week seven, he's right behind Bucky in fantasy points per game. We're talking Bucky's at just over 15 and Rashad White's at about 14 and a half. And you laid out everything of you can attack this team, but it is simply both of these guys are getting substantial work and both of them are playing extremely well. And the matchup is fabulous and still.

[Jason Moore]

Alive, the Miami Dolphins. I'm going to go Tyree Kill at wide receiver against Cleveland. Don't overthink this play. Tyreek, he is.

[Mike Wright]

Unless there's terrible weather, that's another.

[Jason Moore]

Unless there's terrible. Well, I mean Tyreek, they can get him the ball in short area space too, but you know, he's a great road wide receiver. They're going into Cleveland, they're six and a half point road favorites and Cleveland's defense is 31st against fantasy whiteouts. I think Tyreek is a very safe play this week. If I could take Nico Collins out of my lineup and swap in Tyreek today, I would love to do that, but I can't.

[Andy Holloway]

That's fair.

[Mike Wright]

I'm going to go with the old man who's been on fire. I'm not talking about Adam Thielen, who's a fine start in himself, or Al.

[Jason Moore]

Borland, who's also winning a lot of games.

[Mike Wright]

There you go. I'm going with Keenan Allen against Seattle tonight. Keenan, I mean, he's made a believer out of me. You know, he was looking old and moldy and in reality it was just a Shane Waldron problem. Since the old and moldy old and moldy. Since the offensive coordinator changed week 11, he's the wide receiver 9 in fantasy points with Caleb Williams. 15 1/2 fantasy points per game since that change in that six week span, he has been targeted on 28% of his routes, 32% of his team's first read. He's the matchup against Seattle is good. There should be a little bit of rain, but the thing is, guys like, you know, we're talking about, oh, there's rain for my players. There's rain for your opponents players too. Here are the games right now with at least, you know, some rain. We're on watch. If you have a player from Seattle, Chicago, Denver, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, the Giants to Titans or Jacksonville or the jets or Buffalo or Carolina or Tampa Bay Buccaneers or if Dallas or Philly or if you've got the Dolphins or the Browns or Atlanta or the Commanders, any one of those teams, there should be a little bit of water out there.

[Jason Moore]

I just checked the 10 day for Arizona. We got nothing. No rain. I would like some rain. Yeah, I would like some rain.

[Mike Wright]

Arizona right now. This like Christmas shouldn't be in the 70s and we're, we're a desert here. People shouldn't live here.

[Jason Moore]

It was beautiful yesterday. It was amazing.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, my wide receiver start of the week, I think it's T. Higgins and yeah. And I know this one feels a little sketchy. That's why I'm highlighting his name. He left last week's game. He pulled a full shady McCoy where you're like, well, that was it. That's the season ending injury for T. Higgins who's going into a contract year. And then he came back into the game and so he's the wide receiver eight in fantasy points per game. That's how well T. Higgins has played. In fact, Kyle pulled this one up. T. Higgins and Puka have both played 10 games this year. T. Is five and a half point fewer than Puka. Like, we all look at what Puka is doing. Me, like he's. This dude's balling out. T. Higgins is right there with him.

[Mike Wright]

Five and a half total fantasy points.

[Andy Holloway]

That's. That's the. That's what Kyle has been saying. Like, T. Higgins has been really, really good.

[Jason Moore]

It's just he's really, really missing sometimes.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Jason Moore]

And obviously that's not points. That's like total points. Right. So he has some more explosive games, but. So you're doubling down on the Denver.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, here's the thing. This was all prepared before I was made aware that the storm could be what some are thinking that it could be. But T. Higgins, this was more of a. If everything is good, I think that T. Higgins is going to be in a really good spot. The Denver secondary has actually not been strong against fantasy wide receivers. Like, we look at them as a great defense because they are. But since week nine, Denver is 28th in schedule adjusted points to wide receivers, dead last in passing yards allowed. We saw what Jameis was able to do against that Denver Broncos defense. Just saying in a. In a good climate scenario, I think that this game could really go off.

[Jason Moore]

Mike, give us your tight end as well.

[Andy Holloway]

This one. Look, Trey McBride.

[Mike Wright]

I love it.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, this is Trey McBride who was. Did you guys see the video of Trey McBride leaving. Leaving the field? He had a lot of choice words for his team. He was big time mad. And I think that this is the perfect situation for.

[Jason Moore]

Is it because they didn't use him at all?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I think that that's in a loss while he was wide open all the time.

[Andy Holloway]

I think that this is the squeaky wheel that Trey McBride gets right back on board to being an elite tight end. Rams run a ton of zone look, allowing the third highest fantasy points for Drock Pep. Drop, drop back versus zone. And McBride kills zone. Like this is. This is his specialty. Kind of like how Travis Kelsey just finds a spot. They've been doing that more and more with Trey McBride. So this is not a time where I am scared of what happened last week.

[Jason Moore]

Jason.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, it's you and me together, hand in hand.

[Jason Moore]

Are you letting me in?

[Mike Wright]

Oh, absolutely.

[Jason Moore]

You let me in on your start of the week.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. Chigaconquo baby is the only. Oh, oh, oh. There we go.

[Jason Moore]

Just need about four touchdowns. Jig after last night.

[Mike Wright]

Well, hey, 10 targets in week 15, 11 targets a week 16. So can we get 12 targets this week? Maybe over the last three weeks with Mason Rudolph, he has been targeted on 32% of his routes. That is the same as Jamar chase. He's seen 27% of the Titans first read targets. That is better than Mike Evans. For the Bucks. He is averaging 0.52 fantasy points per route run. That is the same as Drake London and the matchup against Jacksonville is fantastic. Chig should be in a lot of lineups. Like, you know, if you don't have one of the premier studly tight ends, Chig's the best. Next man up.

[Jason Moore]

All right. And I do wonder if some people, because it seemed like something you could do, they're counting on Chig and they benched Kelsey.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, and I would have done it. I suggested. I mean that's what the game was so surprising to have Travis Kelsey go From just the 30 yards that he's been giving you for weeks now. And then he has the explosive game. It's brutal.

[Jason Moore]

All right, those are our starts of the week. We'll take a break. We'll hit the forecast. This episode is brought to you by Abbott let's talk about a small thing that can make a big difference if you have diabetes. The Freestyle Libre 3 sensor. It's amazing how the sensor gives you real time glucose readings so that you can see the impact of every meal and activity. To make better choices, the Freestyle Libre 3 sensor can help you live life with diabetes on your terms. This is progress. You can try it for free at FreestyleLibre US. Offer available for people who qualify. Visit MyFreestyle US to see all terms and conditions. Certain exclusions apply for prescription only safety info found @freestylelibre us.

[Mike Wright]

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[Jason Moore]

A reminder that tonight's game was previewed on our Tuesday pre Christmas episode so you can go back and check that out. Let's jump in.

[Mike Wright]

It's time for Fantasy Forecast presented by DraftKings Sportsbook.

[Jason Moore]

Well, the forecast has a double meaning. All the more this week as we get into championship week with some rain, some rain in the forecast, The Chargers at 9 and 6 go to New England to take on the patriots, who are three and 12. The DK sportsbook line here, chargers minus four and a half. The over unders 42 and a half. And here we go. The Chargers clinch a playoff spot with a win or a Colts loss in a Miami loss. So they're right on the edge. They're right on the cusp and they are favored, but not by as many points.

[Mike Wright]

I was blown away at this line.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I think this is a little bit surprising to me. The Chargers only four and a half point favorites on the road. I mean I take them in the points. It's going to be really have a almost upset inkling here.

[Andy Holloway]

They've, it's just, it hasn't been great for them lately.

[Jason Moore]

While they are hoping to get J.K. dobbins back on the field, Greg Roman said quote, I thought he looked really good fresh, thought there was spring in his step.

[Mike Wright]

He's going to be an interesting start sit decision because I think he's fine. You know, he's had the month off. If his knee is healthy and he looks good in practice and he's activated, I expect him to get the work. But it's really hard to put someone straight off the IR into your starting lineup. When you go, is he going to come in and get eight carries?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, well, let me, let me, let me ask you a really tough one there, which is Tony Pollard been banged up, Ben limping off the field at Times or J.K. dobbins.

[Mike Wright]

I would go Dobbins there. The matchup is really good for Dobbins and we've seen Pollard the last couple weeks try to play through these injuries and I expect him to be out there again. But he hasn't really been able to. So Dobbins, I think he should, I think he should be fine.

[Jason Moore]

I think there's a couple hard decisions at running back in this game because Ramon Dre's rushing lines at 42 and a half. He's been much better at home. But his head coach once again came out this morning and said like we might bench him. Like he set a precedent in the locker room of saying, look, we got to protect the football. Ramondre fumbled the football. So he said it's a possibility we're going to bench him in favor of Antonio Gibson. Last time he said this, Gibson got the first carry and then it was back to.

[Andy Holloway]

It was fine.

[Mike Wright]

They benched him.

[Jason Moore]

But I mean, there's a risk, right? Like if Ramon Ray does get an opportunity and he does fumble, then you're going to see just a complete bust of a week, which is still a possibility with Ramondre at any moment in time. He was double digits last week. Gibson is a player that I'm adding as an emergency running back start. If I have. If I'm going kind of into the weekend with injured players that may or may not go. Maybe it's Connor, maybe it's Pollard. I'm going to add Gibson as an emergency play because, you know, some of those guys have already gone. Like Jalen Warren would have been an emergency play for me, but he played already. So do I want to play them? Not really.

[Andy Holloway]

Yep.

[Jason Moore]

I did have a dream that Hunter Henry scored like 45 points.

[Mike Wright]

It's not a great matchup for him.

[Jason Moore]

It's probably just a dream, huh?

[Mike Wright]

Probably just a dream.

[Andy Holloway]

Matchup is bad, but 22% target share. I mean, volumes there.

[Jason Moore]

I mean, lad McConkey sitting at a receiving line of 71 and a half. I mean, this is a player that is kind of automatic at this point. Yeah, I mean, I can't imagine what the line is for like 50 plus on him.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, it's got to be like minus 300, I would say. I mean, this is a player who hasn't had fewer than 50 yards since week seven. So that's just like a layup.

[Jason Moore]

It does feel like.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

An end of the year layup.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. No lattice in everybody's lineup. If you've had him, he's just been too consistent. He is the clear leader of this wide receiver room. The matchup. I expect it to come early and you know, the Patriots don't give up a ton of fantasy points to wide receivers. But it's not because they shut wide receivers down. It's because they're usually at the second half in a game script where they're not needed that much. So maybe it's good that it's a smaller line here of four and a half points for the Chargers and maybe the Patriots can make it a little bit more interesting.

[Jason Moore]

Now it's Thursday, December 26th, so consider that when we talk weather in this game. The Broncos at 9 and 6, the Bengals 7 and 8. We've already alluded to it. The draft king Sportsbook line Cincy -3 and a half. The over under not changing. That's encouraging to me. Still 49 and a half. The report we had earlier was that rains likely washout potential. I saw gusts up to 30. 20 to 30 miles an hour. That's not what I'm seeing now. Right now I'm seeing chance of precipitation at 70%. I barely got that word right. And I'm only seeing six mile an hour winds.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, that would be fantastic for a game that could really have a lot of offensive outpouring. I mean, the, the. This was the game. Going into the words.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, don't say. Don't say outpour.

[Mike Wright]

I thought I matched pretty well.

[Jason Moore]

Remember, it's a rain pour.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Look, if there's not wind, I'm not that. I'm not that freaked out. You might have a downpour during the game that makes it passing prohibitive for a period of time. But again, you don't want to overreact to this, because what are the real choices that you have? Are you benching Joe Burrow based on any weather report? Are you benching Jamar Chase based on any weather report? I cannot fathom that.

[Mike Wright]

No.

[Jason Moore]

You're Jaylen McMillan instead of Chase.

[Mike Wright]

No, you're not going to move off of those guys at all. I will say, like, if Jalen hurts, if you're the Jalen Hertz manager. Bo Nix was a really good pivot that you could have picked up off of the waivers to play in your championship. That might be a name where I, I get a little scared about a rookie.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, I go Kyler or Darnold or Purdy or Golf or any of those guys over Bo Nicks with any weather threat. You're right on that one, though.

[Andy Holloway]

And reminder, the over under is holding at 49 and a half.

[Jason Moore]

So burrow Chase and Chase Brown, who could be the beneficiary of Rain, are all locks in your lineup. Higgins been limited, but then a full practice on Wednesday, he's going to be back out there.

[Mike Wright]

What about Cortland Sutton?

[Jason Moore]

I think he is receiving line 65 and a half. Is it really 65 and a half?

[Andy Holloway]

Sutton's right back in there.

[Jason Moore]

You got to play him, man.

[Mike Wright]

That's the last two weeks he had 32 receiving yards, and then he had 30, 50 receiving yards, but it was.

[Andy Holloway]

32 yards on nine targets.

[Mike Wright]

I mean, is that comforting or.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, for me it is, because wide.

[Jason Moore]

Receiver 15 still on the year, like.

[Andy Holloway]

The volume is far. I mean, he caught 33% of his passes when on the year he's catching 60%.

[Mike Wright]

No, I get it. I'm just saying, if you add in the weather like we were talking about, you don't pivot off of Jamar Chase. You're not going to pivot off of burrow. But a Cortland Sutton, if it turns out that this is a really like, it's like, hey, this is the crazy downpour, high wind game. If that happens, I feel like I would rather start a McMillan. You know, Cortland Sutton is a guy who you could say kind of got you here, but really, if you're in the championship, he didn't get you here the last two weeks through the playoffs. You had to overcome him. And I think a lot of the managers who have him might be going, I'm looking for another option. Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

I just think the worry is overemphasizing the weather. I think if you got right down to the wire and it looked horrific, then maybe you're right. But otherwise I wouldn't want to lose with my best players on the bench.

[Mike Wright]

So if you are a Sutton manager, are you looking to have other weapons prepared for right down to the wire?

[Jason Moore]

I mean, I would hope that you're in that situation where you've got a flex worthy player on your bench going into Sunday morning, no matter what. I guess it's a Saturday game, right?

[Mike Wright]

Yes, Saturday, 4:30. So that's actually really nice.

[Jason Moore]

So that makes it. You'll have that information, then you can make an adjustment. The Cardinals are 7 and 8 taking on the 9 and 6 Rams.

[Mike Wright]

Now, real quick, before we go, how much of not worrying about Cortland Sutton, Andy, is you wanting Jeremy to play Cortland Sutton against you?

[Jason Moore]

It's tougher because I got Chase in the same game. So it's like, I just feel like they're going to be both equally neutralized where whatever happens, he's got the Chase on the other side. I mean, what are the odds that Cortland Sutton's affected by the weather because it rains when they have the ball and then it's really clear skies for Chase. Can you tell me about that? Because I would like that.

[Mike Wright]

That's unlikely.

[Jason Moore]

Unlikely.

[Mike Wright]

As a, as a meteorologist, is there.

[Jason Moore]

Any chance that Jamar Chase has rainproof hands?

[Andy Holloway]

No.

[Jason Moore]

Okay.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, I mean, yeah. I mean, like the gloves are probably pretty. Like his hands won't be wet.

[Mike Wright]

Both teams have already said they've got to be waterproof.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, both teams have already said that they, you know, they're practicing with wet footballs this week and doing all that jazz. At least Peyton said that.

[Andy Holloway]

Come on, dude.

[Jason Moore]

Mike is, Mike is tilting.

[Mike Wright]

Mike is real. I've never seen him tilt like this.

[Andy Holloway]

No, because it's so tilt. Because it's. I AM A is very well known of my stance on Big Dome, that I am for it and for. If it. If that actually happens and all. Everything we've been doing comes down to that. And you're like, oh, well, it's real rainy. That just. That feels really, really bad.

[Jason Moore]

It's impossible to like unring the fantasy bell because we've been doing it for 15, 16, 17 years. But I would love to know what like the natural thought about those games would be without any fantasy context. Like if you were a football fan, you know what, how would you view these games at this time of the year compared to the way we view them? Because through fantasy we just want to see the players that we got be able to provide for us on those.

[Andy Holloway]

Mine really isn't actually. It's an NFL lens too, because like where. What do they do with the super bowl guys?

[Mike Wright]

Right?

[Andy Holloway]

What do they do with the biggest game of the year? They make sure there's no weather because they want the best performance possible. Yes. I like to watch one snow game every once in a while. You're like, oh, it's, it's fun. But for everything to come down to can your team actually perform when it's raining?

[Jason Moore]

It's just a pretty strong argument.

[Andy Holloway]

It feels. It feels.

[Jason Moore]

It's a pretty strong argument. You guys see the video of the new Buffalo stadium?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Some of the things that they're doing, I thought it was kind of. I mean, because they, they did not want to remove weather from the equation in Buffalo. But they also are doing things like they've got very little exposure to wind and very little exposure, which.

[Andy Holloway]

That's great.

[Jason Moore]

The crowd being soaking wet and the field being warm and de iced and stuff. So they're doing some things there that.

[Andy Holloway]

I think it's way more expensive than just putting a roof on.

[Mike Wright]

It actually is more expensive. What they're doing.

[Jason Moore]

Cardinal 7 and 8, Rams 9 and 6. Rams 7 point home favorites. The over unders 47 and a half. Rams have a high implied point total of 27.3. If they win and Seattle loses, they are the champions of the NFC West. They also play the Seahawks in week 18. So if Seattle wins again, it'll come down to week 18.

[Andy Holloway]

Nice.

[Jason Moore]

I did mention at the beginning of the week, when you think about motivation factors for the Cardinals, they're saying all the right things in the press conferences of their motivation to win this game and to play every down and to finish the season strong. I am more compelled by that argument because it's a divisional matchup. Where you can disrupt your divisional rival. This is a long term rival. So does Connor want to play? I think, yeah. I think it's more motivated by playing the Rams than it would be playing some other team with no consequence on either side of the football. A couple of out of playoff teams, for example. It's a tough and more difficult call because Connor has been on a tear. The RB7 1 and 6. He was the RB6 last week, playing 44% of snaps.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I mean he, he's been awesome. I do think if he's active, I would play him. I'm not quite as concerned. I mean, he's been practicing, so it's one of those where if he was like not practicing at all, not practicing dmp and then, oh, he's a surprise active. That gets you worried. But the fact that he's actually been at practice, been doing this and they're going to need him in this game. I mean, they've lost four of the last five games. The Cardinals have. It's divisional. But this is also like a revenge game for the Rams, if you remember that.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Week two, they got humiliated by the Cardinals 41 to 10. They got just drubbed. And that's got to.

[Andy Holloway]

That was the Marv game.

[Mike Wright]

That was a Marv game. That was the game where they lost like their entire offensive line. And I'm sure they're coming back here to put a stamp on the Cardinals.

[Jason Moore]

Well, let me, let me talk about the hardest decision to make. And I'm, you know, I'm struggling with it because it's four straight wins for the Rams. They scored 21, 44. They want 12 and 19. So not scoring a ton of points. They did against Buffalo. But the last four games they've won in Cooper Cup. Wide receivers, 78, 15, 117 and 73. So completely irrelevant in three or four games. Despite winning, he's not required anymore to win the football game when Kyren and Puka are involved.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

And he's a tough start sitting.

[Mike Wright]

He is. Yeah. I mean you, I mean you just said it through the last four weeks, the yardage, the yardage isn't, is not there. I mean, his second highest yardage is 24 yards. You know, I was not concerned at all after the goose, but looking, you know, deeper at it, I am very concerned. And it's not like this is a great matchup. The Cardinals, over the course of the season, they're number four in fantasy. Points given up to wide receivers, which.

[Andy Holloway]

Is weird because they're allowing the highest Completion rate in the NFL.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Keep in mind they suck.

[Andy Holloway]

Like, it's. It's so strange.

[Jason Moore]

And I hate them.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. I mean, the Cardinals are always an enigma. Sometimes our defense shows up and they look awesome, and other times they let Bryce Young run for 100 yards.

[Jason Moore]

If Connor's inactive, who do you start at? Running back for Arizona. Is it Michael Carter? Is it? We're waiting on Trey Benson, too. He was limited.

[Mike Wright]

I don't think Trey Benson will be active. So it would be Michael Carter. If Trey Benson is active, it would be Trey Benson ahead of Michael Carter, but it would be nobody. Is the correct answer.

[Jason Moore]

Mike, were you asking a question about somebody else?

[Andy Holloway]

Kyler. What do you possibly do?

[Jason Moore]

He is your pivot option for the Bo Nicks for the on the fence situation, but you're trying not to play him. They have a road matchup against a team that's hungry to make the playoffs.

[Mike Wright]

And he's been so bad.

[Jason Moore]

And he's a stinky bad quarterback.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, he was 20 points last week. When you look at you like, oh, QB 13. But he was 20 plus points, like, took overtime.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. I mean, if you look at the last five weeks for Kyler Murray, 23. This is his fantasy finishes. 23, 18, 11, 22, 13. That is not a recipe for a must start on.

[Mike Wright]

The points are even more indicative. I mean, 10 points, 15 points, 10 points. Again, the floor is not what it should be for a mobile quarterback.

[Jason Moore]

So he's not a. He's not a must play to me. All right, McBride's your start of the week. Puka's in your lineup. Marvin Harrison is a scary start.

[Andy Holloway]

Very.

[Jason Moore]

And McMillan over Harrison, right?

[Andy Holloway]

I think so, yeah.

[Jason Moore]

That's a better situation.

[Andy Holloway]

Game environment.

[Jason Moore]

All right, we'll take a break. We'll hit the Sunday games.

[Andy Holloway]

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[Mike Wright]

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[Jason Moore]

You know we're going to talk Jets 4 and 11, Buffalo 12 and 3 divisional game. Buffalo 8 and a half point home favorites over under 47. But I'm realizing that for a guy like me who had a bad Christmas for fantasy, right. Because my players were bad, the weather is really kind of. I am welcoming the weather because it represents a variable that could accidentally work in my favor. Starting with Devonte Adams and Aaron Rodgers.

[Mike Wright]

In this game, the underdogs of the.

[Andy Holloway]

World, they like the weather.

[Mike Wright]

Really hoping it's a rainy.

[Jason Moore]

We are anti dome baby.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, you want chaos.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Jeremy already looked into the cost of maybe covering some of these stadiums for a one week situation just to be.

[Andy Holloway]

Able to how many people we'll just like hold hands like I'll hold it. I'll hold a tarp over the over the stadium, man.

[Jason Moore]

And then 300 people flew away.

[Andy Holloway]

You know what?

[Jason Moore]

Worth it.

[Andy Holloway]

Worth it.

[Jason Moore]

Worth it.

[Mike Wright]

Did he catch the touchdown?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

With a win the Bills lock up the two seed and you know, here we are. At one point in the off season the jets were favorites to win the division and Aaron Rodgers, MCL injury said he's going to play. Adams missed a practice with a hip injury. You imagine he's Going to be out there. Garrett Wilson, squeaky wheel narrative.

[Andy Holloway]

Hope so.

[Jason Moore]

Buffalo has, you know, they're right on the cusp of locking things in. Defensively, they've been weird at times. Played New England last week, gave up 40, barely won 42 points to Detroit the week before and 44 points to the Rams a week before that. So defensively they've been struggling. That's your argument for Adams, Wilson and Rogers and Breeze.

[Andy Holloway]

Yep.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, this, this is.

[Jason Moore]

I know the rain is.

[Mike Wright]

We've made a big deal about the rain in the Broncos game. Yeah. In the Broncos Bengals game. But this is another one that should potentially be a complete downpour. A huge wet, you know, rain out type of game.

[Jason Moore]

Definite rain is the forecast.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. Buffalo is known for having some of these bad weather games. And so this is why, this is part of why I like Breeze hall, the running game, the dump offs, the short screens, those, those type of things that might be good for, you know, if you're looking at the. Trying to make light of this very confusing wide receiver core for the Bills, that says to me, Khalil Shakir, that's his type of game. Where he thrives is in that short screen games, those dump offs get blockers out in front as opposed to an Amari Cooper, who's going to be more down the field.

[Jason Moore]

He would be the one I'd start if I was forced to start one, but I would not be trying to. Personally, I'm worried about it. I mean, Cooper's been bad, Coleman's been bad. Can keep Adam feeling or Khalil Shapir feeling. Oh, yeah, okay. Shakir was not really involved last week. He's obviously been pretty decent. But they've gotten some pieces back. Right. Like Shakir's, you know, if you look at how he's played, he's been okay. If you're lucky. That's basically what it's come down to. And with Kincaid and Coleman back, I worry a little bit about guaranteed touches. Allen and Cook are in. And then I think that, I mean, Josh Allen, he's now minus 240 on the MVP. He was minus 600 the week before. Lamar is moving up, man. Houston could have made it even easier for Amar to move up if they could have scored some points.

[Andy Holloway]

People on the sports Twitter are really, really fired up talking about the mvp. And I have no idea, like, why are people so big, Matt? Like, who cares?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I mean, there's just like the, it's the disrespect narrative for some reason.

[Andy Holloway]

It's so Weird.

[Jason Moore]

I mean, Buffalo. Look, if there was ever a season where a player's reputation, legacy was on the line, it was this year in Buffalo for Josh Allen. They lost Stefan Diggs. This was a team that some projected. We just said it before the season not to win the division. They go 12 and three with a hodgepodge of injuries and wide receivers that almost nobody has seen production from. It's an impressive performance. Allen and Lamar Jackson, Absolutely the two most valuable players in the game.

[Andy Holloway]

Absolutely. To me, it's more of the.

[Jason Moore]

And one of them on the cusp of the two seed.

[Andy Holloway]

Like the Allen versus Lamar. People are just so mad at each other. I don't know why it is like, what. When have we ever cared who won the mvp?

[Mike Wright]

When they've got Betsy. When they've got some money on the line and they're going, oh, no, no way. He's got Derek Henry. He shouldn't be. He's not even the most valuable player on his own team.

[Andy Holloway]

This. It's the weirdest MVP discourse that I can remember.

[Mike Wright]

Well, I do like that some years I feel like it's just, you know, the best player on the best team or the quarterback on the best team. And this year, it really does feel like those two guys are playing outrageous football and both are extremely deserving of it.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Yeah. The Raiders are 3 and 12 and the Saints are 5 and 10. And there's a football game we're going to.

[Andy Holloway]

They're going to play this game.

[Jason Moore]

They're going to play this game.

[Mike Wright]

The mustache versus the rat tail.

[Andy Holloway]

Like, they're not. They're not canceling this?

[Jason Moore]

No, actually, there was some talk about it.

[Mike Wright]

No, this. This is. This is how you can have these teams be watchable, is you play them against each other. When a JV team plays an NFL team, that's bad football. That's a waste of everybody's time. When a JV team plays a JV team, you can competitive. You can go to a high school football game and have nobody run fast. So I actually, I think this could be a surprisingly good matchup.

[Jason Moore]

The. Yeah. The Raiders are one and a half point road favorites over Unders 38. We expect Spencer Rattler to be the starter. I got a snake, man. Freaked me out. Aiden O'Connell on the other side. Camara's not practicing. Kendra Miller. I have zero confidence in Kendra Miller.

[Andy Holloway]

You'd go Madison over Camaro or I'm sorry, over Miller?

[Mike Wright]

Right?

[Jason Moore]

Yes. Because I think that his snap counts are more secure and they're favored and both of them stink.

[Mike Wright]

The utilization of Kendra Miller was the biggest problem because Kendra Miller is. I still think he's a much more talented running back, I believe, than Alexander Madison. But Alexander Madison's getting the work and Kendra Miller was in a full committee. Even with Alvin Camara out of the way, that was what was really upsetting because I do think if they gave the whole work to Kendra Miller in a matchup like this against a bad team, he could succeed. But not if he's getting, you know, a half of it or a third of it.

[Jason Moore]

You guys realize that Brock Bowers is five catches from Puka's rookie record.

[Mike Wright]

Wow, really?

[Jason Moore]

So he is going to break the rookie record for reception.

[Mike Wright]

He has two more games to do that. That's crazy. He's been outrageously good and he's 10.

[Jason Moore]

Yards from Dick as rookie tight end record. So he's going to do both of those things. He said he tries not to think about it because it stresses him out. He just wants to win. He hasn't got to do a lot of that this year. Jacoby Myers, it started nice and he didn't touch the ball the rest of the game last week he actually ended up with only five fantasy points, two catches for 41 yards. He's a scary, risky play because he's been outside the top 24 and four straight. This is where if you've got that connection to a quarterback you have no confidence in, it gives you no confidence. That's the problem.

[Andy Holloway]

Yep.

[Mike Wright]

I'm still okay with Jacoby Myers. Obviously. Bad, bad game last week. But he all the weeks prior, nine targets, 10 targets, 11 targets, 15 targets. He's, he is involved and this is a, you know, this is another matchup where I think you can play him hard to off of a disappointing week last week. But you just can't be that recency biased with a wide receiver because you're, you're always going to have inconsistency.

[Jason Moore]

The problem with him is that you're not, you're not buying ceiling, correct? Yeah, that's the. That if you were looking for ceiling, you got to look somewhere else.

[Mike Wright]

Right. That's where McMillan has a chance to score two touchdowns. And with Jacoby, you're praying for a touch up, but he's not getting a touch.

[Jason Moore]

You think Al will let me play Connor and McMillan in one slot?

[Mike Wright]

You can ask him. He's right there.

[Jason Moore]

Al.

[Andy Holloway]

Nah.

[Mike Wright]

Okay. Officially ruled.

[Jason Moore]

He's already buying all his championship gear. Colts are 7 and 8, the Giants are 2 and 13. Giants have the number one pick right now. Giants are 7 and a half point underdogs at home and they have an implied point total of 16 points. The over under is 40 here, but the Colts have a nice 24 point implied point total. So Colts desperately need the game to stay in the mix. Giants desperately need the game to be an L so they can keep the number one spot. So. So it makes Richardson a. You know, he's always.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, he's streamable.

[Jason Moore]

He's always in the mix. Could always get it done. Last four weeks, one finish at number 10 at the quarterback position. You're probably not getting a big ceiling game here because the way I would see this game working out is more so Jonathan Taylor and the defense and then you're just salting the game away. It's kind of what we saw last week. Josh Downs. I don't really have confidence in pass catchers despite the matchup.

[Mike Wright]

No, it's. It's funny when you can say that the quarterback is a pretty good start, but don't start any of his receivers because it's really a matter of the groundwork. Jonathan Taylor and Anthony Richardson should all both have a ton of rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. That's. That's pretty much it. On the other side, I mean, this is a pretty easy game because I. Tyrone Tracy didn't practice on Wednesday with the ankle, but I think that's just probably rest. He had neighbors.

[Jason Moore]

Didn't either.

[Mike Wright]

Toe injury. Yeah. And he had. He had work last week. So I think I'm okay with Tracy and neighbors, and I'm okay with Anthony Richardson and Jonathan Taylor and the Colts D. Yeah. Oh, for sure. The Colts D. Heck, yeah. And that's it.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

I mean, I guess. I guess you could if you're. If you're comparing some of these wide receivers we've talked about, you know, Jacoby Myers. Would you. The touchdown upside is higher in this game for a Pittman or a Josh Downs than it is for Jacoby. Yeah. If you're playing for ceiling.

[Jason Moore]

Just looking for parlay parte time, Jason.

[Mike Wright]

I'll kick it off, baby.

[Jason Moore]

No, no. Oh, yeah. You got to hand things out, man.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

We give you a responsibility and you're not bragging. We got.

[Andy Holloway]

We don't have them this week. We did it, everybody.

[Jason Moore]

Triple crown.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, I mean, I do it on every week, but. Yeah, but we did it. What are you doing over here? Jake? You okay?

[Mike Wright]

I'm good, man.

[Andy Holloway]

All right.

[Mike Wright]

Congratulations. Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

You look real good.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

I love that you're afraid. Neither of you took your Hat off.

[Andy Holloway]

I never do.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, why?

[Jason Moore]

So we all. We all hit our parlays last week. I was 50 plus yards for flowers. Jason was 25 plus yards for Gibbs in the receiving game. And Mike had over five and a half receptions for neighbors which it only took 14 targets. Yeah, he had a couple called back, but we got there. This week I am going opposite of my start of the week. I think Higgins has a re injury factor. He got banged up last week. He's got a rain factor and he's got a line of 71 and a half receiveing yards.

[Andy Holloway]

I said I think my start of the week is T. Higgins.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, well, when it rains, it pours. And Higgins under 71 and a half is my pick.

[Mike Wright]

Okay, I'm going. As we Talked about earlier, lad. McConkey over 50 receiving yards. He does it every single week. Should be a gimme.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Since one minute is.

[Mike Wright]

He's averaging 87 yards. He's hit this in eight straight games.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, yeah, yeah. I mean it is a gimme both.

[Mike Wright]

Do you want me to take something.

[Jason Moore]

That you can't hit, Mike?

[Andy Holloway]

Trey McBride. My start of the week, I'm going 60 plus receiving yards. He's averaging 68 yards per game. He went 6 for 67 against the Rams earlier. And I do believe this is a squeaky wheel. No, I am not going to guarantee the Trey McBride touchdown.

[Jason Moore]

No one can do that, as we.

[Andy Holloway]

All foolishly continue to do. But I think the receptions and the yardage, it's a bounce back that was.

[Jason Moore]

Fantasy forecast presented by DraftKings Pick Six. Download the new DraftKings Pick Six app now and use the Code Ballers. That's Code Ballers for new customers to play $5 and get $50 in pick six credits. That'll do it for today. We got more matchups in the fantasy Face off tomorrow. Enjoy the rest of the holiday week. Al Borland. Glad I could lower your blood pressure. Rain, rain, go away, go away.

[Andy Holloway]

Goodbye gambling problem.

[Jason Moore]

Call-1800- gambler must be 18 and over. Age and eligibility restrictions vary by jurisdiction. Void where prohibited. One per new customer. Non withdrawable Pick Six credits expire in six months. Limited time offer. See [e-mail] promos.