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Danny Hatchet
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Danny Hatchet
Welcome to the Ringer fantasy football show. My name is Danny Hatchet and I'm joined by Danny Kay and Craig Robick. We're going over Sunday of week eight of the NFL season. Honestly, games kind of sucked. I feel like that was the pumpkin patch weekend. That was really. I mean, just. We could get to Sunday football here in a second. But the Texans won by 11. The Ravens won by 14. The Eagles won by 18. The Patriots won by 19. The Broncos and the Bucs won by 20. The Colts by 20. 22 for just 22. I can't even count anymore. Dolphins by 24, Bills by 31. DK, that was fine. Yeah.
Danny Kay
I mean, it was ugly. And then we also didn't get, you know, six teams playing this week, so there's just less. Less teams to watch. Yeah, it was. It was an ugly week. I. I saw somebody, our buddy Joe fan, tweet out, this was the worst game, the worst slate of games we've seen in memory.
Craig Robick
So, I mean, one single score game, there was one game decided by one point. Every other game was decided by multiple touchdowns.
Danny Hatchet
Yeah, it's truly. Yeah, so it was.
Danny Kay
And it was the Jets.
Danny Hatchet
It was the Jets, Bengals, and even that was pretty ugly way to have a close game. It was a pretty ugly version. So I do want to.
Craig Robick
Two hobos fighting in the street. Yeah.
Danny Hatchet
With bum fights. Email us ringer fantasy football gmail.com for trivia. Email us for fantasy court cases. We have our own fantasy court case. We'll get to that either tonight or this week or whatever. Drama in the ringer league. I want to start Sunday football. I don't know what order we want to go with either the uniforms or Micah Parsons or what Steeler Craig your Steelers played. It was close and then it was very not close in this game. The Steelers ended up losing by another multiple touchdown game. But 35, 25. But it was close. It just wasn't though in the second half at all.
Craig Robick
I don't think it was that close. This the Steelers kryptonite is that they can't guard the other team's best players which. Which is a problem. You know that'll come back to bite you throughout the end of the game.
Danny Kay
The anti Belichick.
Craig Robick
Yeah, we're going to take away your worst place inverse. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Tucker Kraft tore them up. I mean they gave up franchise tying record of 20 consecutive completions for Jordan Love. I look, I don't know. I. This just kind of ties into what we've been saying that like this is a 9 and 8, 10 and 7 team that had an easy schedule to start the year. The packers are better. The defense is a problem. The offense is fine. And I think the biggest issue is like when the Steelers get knocked off their rhythm when there's like one negative play drives dead. It's like if it's first and 10 or second and five or third and two, I trust Rogers, I trust the offense. They can move their way forward. But the second, it's like first and six, first and 15, second and long, third and long. They just can't do anything. They don't have the. They don't have the juice.
Danny Kay
It's hard to. It's a hard world to live in too because the. They make a lot of penalties and they have a lot of just like mental errors. It feels like they don't have a ton of. They're definitely not superior in talent to most of the teams that they're playing. So the. This fine line.
Danny Hatchet
I'm going to be delicate about this because obviously the Steelers are a very well coached team. However, they do a lot of things that we would for other coaches say perhaps these are characteristics of a poorly coached team. Like all the drive killing penalties and as I actually now think that's the perfect way to put it, DK the Bill Belichick. We just take away your best player, make you play left handed and we always kind of heard that. We're like what's so hard about that? And then you watch the Steelers play football. It is pretty incredible. Yeah. And also again you see the mix. The Steelers lack of players in their prime. There's a lot of old guys and there's a Lot of really there's a lot of young guys in youth. Craig, you always say like you don't want players in fantasy or real life where it feels like a prayer or a miracle. Third in double digits is just, it just feels like an absolute miracle is required.
Craig Robick
They don't have the blocking to, to let Roger sit back there on a third and long to actually let things develop. That's why it's all super quick. He's also old, so it's like he doesn't want to wait back there for a long time. It just doesn't really work. They have these like big slow tight ends. Like things need to develop. They need these guys moving across the field. When it's like third and 12, it's just really hard for this team to move the ball.
Danny Hatchet
Yeah, they do. Yeah. On third and three they have all the, the big light, the big lineman ass tight ends run crossing rounds and on third and 13 they have all the big ass lineman run crossing routes and.
Danny Kay
Yeah, well if you look, if this is something that I was looking at prior to the game and this, you know, Aaron Rodgers in the last game he actually ended up throwing deep a lot. But he is right now Aaron Rodgers is third to last in intended air yards per attempt. So he like Craig said, it's all quick game stuff, it's all short stuff, hoping the guys can make, you know, hey, after the catch or break tackles or whatever. Um, and it's like, it's like Craig said, it's a hard place to live just because you kind of have to have everything go right.
Danny Hatchet
So with that said, one of the reasons there's no time. Micah Parsons was unbelievable in this game. He kept it. It was funny because it was what Michael Parsons was doing. I don't know how you guys played Madden. That's how I would play Madden. What Michael Parsons is doing, have your best lineman, you kind of pick him up off the left tackle and you just have him run wherever. That was unbelievable the amount of times, you know, we, we joked, I think a couple years ago at this point we said Parsons wasn't playing D end, he was playing free end where he. But tonight I think they really went, they spammed it like he just, I feel like every single passing down he was behind the defensive tackle and he really was. It was almost like a mirror of the quarterback thing. It was like center, a nose guard and then he looked like you could, if you looked for eighth of a second you'd almost think that he was the quarterback. If you were looking like not that close to the screen where he was lining up and he would just like there. That one play where they. He was. He actually was lined up at edge and then they motioned John Smith there and he got around John Smith cut inside the left tackle, then fought through the left guard and then still got to Rogers. Was unbelievable.
Craig Robick
Yeah, he was. It was almost distracting for Rogers. It was like it was. The only thing Rogers eyes could focus on pre snap was what Micah Parsons were doing. And he would almost feel ghost pressure from him even when he wasn't generating it. Yeah, packers are a better team. I think the takeaways are. The Steelers defense is the biggest problem with this team. I think the offense can score a little bit. Like they can still move the ball. The defense can't stop anybody. Like they can't. They can't stop the run, they can't stop the pass. They can't stop the best player on any team. I think we should parlay this right into winners and losers because I think this dovetails nicely to my winner, which was the Ravens. Today the Ravens beat the Bears 30 to 16. It was basically a playoff game for the Ravens. It saved their season or I guess kept it alive. It also kept us alive in Ringer 107 because we bet -6 and a half and somehow won with Scoot Huntley. But Snoop. Oh, Snoop. Sorry, not Scoot Snoop Henderson and Scooters. Scoot Henderson Blazers. Yeah.
Danny Kay
What was that? Sloop High. Fitz, what was the animal word that you said where they lay with their back legs out?
Danny Hatchet
Oh, they sploot.
Danny Kay
Sploot.
Danny Hatchet
Sploot.
Craig Robick
You know what's funny? My friend just said the. The word sploot this weekend and I had. I didn't. I never heard it until you said it. And he said it.
Danny Kay
I saw it like three times.
Danny Hatchet
Split is a thing. You're gonna see it everywhere now. It's all. You know, they split.
Danny Kay
I'm sorry I doubted you. If it's.
Craig Robick
But it's Tyler Huntley, right? That's his actual.
Danny Kay
Yeah.
Craig Robick
Tyler Huntley played great. Or he played good enough. And I actually don't know why the hell Cooper Rush was not. Why the backup quarterback and now Tyler Huntley quarterback.
Danny Kay
Tyler Huntley.
Danny Hatchet
The Tyler Huntley being like the idea that Cooper Rush would be LA backup and that you would have a stylistically non. Lamar Jackson ass quarterback. I understand Lamar has good numbers in the pocket and everything, but obviously the Ravens offense functions better when someone who even remotely resembles Lamar Jackson skill set is.
Craig Robick
Can run an rpo.
Danny Hatchet
Yeah. And so I understand the Bears defense is banged up. It wasn't good. But Jalen Johnson's is the best players after the season. And then they're also Tyreek Stevenson of Hail Mary, Fam has a shoulder in shoe, and then also Kyler Gordon. So the Bears secondary was the strength, and now it's the weakness. So that's the caveat. But I mean, yeah, you watch this game today and you're kind of like, wow, Snoop Huntley was way better than freaking Cooper Rush.
Craig Robick
Yeah, he. He was smart. He. He also, like, ran for 58 yards, which is the second most yards of any Ravens quarterback this year, which is pretty impressive. But basically, if the Ravens lost this game, they go one in six, and then it's like there's. There's basically only one team in history. It was like the 1970s Bengals, I think, made the playoffs after one and six, but they would have needed to go nine if they lost this game. Now they're two games back in the win column from the Steelers, and I. I'll. I'll call it right now. This is kind of what we've been saying. The Ravens play Miami on Thursday night next week. Now, I. I think Lamar is going to play, although we thought he was going to play last week.
Danny Hatchet
I think Lamar's back for that game because he's from Miami, but we can get into that in a second.
Craig Robick
Okay, so the Ravens play the Dolphins, the Vikings, the Browns and the jets are the Ravens next four games. They're going to win all four of those. They will be four and over that stretch. And the Steelers play the Colts, then the Chargers, the Bengals and the Bears. Steelers are going to go two and two over that stretch. Both of these teams are going to be 6 and 5 heading into week 12.
Danny Kay
Craig is just laying out the future right now.
Danny Hatchet
That will happen. They will both be 6 and 5 heading right.
Danny Kay
I love the confidence.
Craig Robick
The Ravens are favored to win the division right now on fandom.
Danny Hatchet
So why. I want. I wish.
Craig Robick
And they should be.
Danny Hatchet
I know, but it just.
Danny Kay
Craig, you said this. You've been.
Danny Hatchet
Of course, you've been saying this for weeks. I will give you this. So I. I do want to. I do think. Lamar plays on Thursday now. The Raven. I want to. Let's take two seconds of going to everything with the Ravens this week just because it was funny. We took them in the ring 107, the contest, and we were, you know, we have to decide that on Thursday afternoon. So it's always tough for the injuries and stuff, but the Ravens had this Crazy thing where they listed Lamar Jackson as full participant in practice on Friday.
Danny Kay
Also John Harbaugh said full participant in practice.
Craig Robick
Honest mistake there. It might have been an honest m. This was.
Danny Hatchet
This was some blatant ass lying. And it was like. It like is harmless to was lying.
Craig Robick
Or do you think it was an honest mistake?
Danny Hatchet
One trillion percent lying. And here's why I learned afterward. I didn't realize how specific the language is the NFL has for what full participants.
Craig Robick
I didn't either until I heard Florio talk about it.
Danny Hatchet
It's so specific. You don't know. We're talking about for. I can't think of any specific examples. But just in case, I don't know, there might be a giant gambling scandal in another sport in which case there's practice participation and the health of players is, you know, super relevant to the line movement. The NFL for decades has had. They. All the sports have mandatory reporting of injury information and it's because of which has happened in the NBA. So they have really specific things. What full participant means limited, etc. Lamar, they said full participant. He was running the scout team. He was pretending to be Caleb Williams in practice.
Craig Robick
Yeah, like he. He literally participated in the practice fully, but not with the first team, which you need to do.
Danny Hatchet
What I considered a full participant. NFL actually defines that as not full participant. They're like, if you're in scout team and usually you're a starter, that doesn't count. So anyway, it's not that big of a deal.
Danny Kay
Quarterback or for all positions.
Danny Hatchet
I think it's all positions. I think it's all positions.
Craig Robick
Because this is. If you are a starter. If you are a starter and you're not practicing as a starter, then it's limited. Even if you play. If you're a full participant in practice, we would never be limited.
Danny Hatchet
We would never be talking about this this high in the episode if not for it was a thumb in the fucking eye to like the NFL and Roger Goodell to do this on Friday after the NBA just got fucking blown up by this thing where like LeBron's injury information's being relayed to people and Chauncey Billups, I mean he's like arrested. Like, this is all. So for the Ravens to wake up and read the fucking news like, see that On Thursday, Then The Ravens get 24 hours to think about it. You know what? We're gonna lie. And the line moved five points.
Danny Kay
It moved till. Yeah, it moved to minus one and a half, right?
Danny Hatchet
Yes, from six. So anyway, I'm not Trying to defend the Ravens. We can move on. But I just think. I'm not, like, defending. I'm up like, oh, no, the Roger Goodell. But I'm like. It's kind of like flipping off the principle. It's just like, why would you do that? He's having a bad day. I don't know.
Danny Kay
Do you.
Craig Robick
Do you think, though? I'm. I'm. I could be totally naive here, but, like, even if they just said he was limited, I feel like. I mean, the Bears were preparing as if Lamar was playing anyway. Like, calling him full versus limited. I feel like it's not that big of a difference.
Danny Hatchet
No, it's. If you're preparing for Lamar. No, it totally is time on tap. It does matter. But anyway, it doesn't. It's just. It's. It's not worth this.
Craig Robick
By the time that they reported that Lamar was a limited versus full, it's like the Bears were preparing for Lamar all week. Everybody thought Lamar was.
Danny Hatchet
Yeah, but they lied through their teeth. Like, it's just. It was a bad day to do that. That's all. That was a story.
Craig Robick
I get that the timing was bad, but I'm a little bit. I'm a little dubious that it was, like, blatant lying just to screw up. Screw up the Bears. I don't know.
Danny Hatchet
I. I think it was blatant lying to screw up the Bears.
Craig Robick
But, like, it was, like, Friday. I don't know. Why wouldn't they have gotten ahead of that? Or that's just a weird time to do that to me. Why would you do that on a Friday after the week of practice when they've already been preparing for Lamar League.
Danny Kay
Here's how I. Here's how I would say it.
Craig Robick
Ben Johnson even said he was like, we were preparing for Lamar all week.
Danny Kay
I think. Yeah, that's why they lied somewhere in the middle, where. I think it's something closer to where they were trying to, you know, not let the Bears know who was going to start. So they were trying to be sneaky in that way. But the technicality where John Harbaugh said full participant and then didn't realize that that actually meant he. He was playing with the first team and not the scout team. Like, I. I could give him a little bit of a benefit of doubt that he didn't realize, like, that was the specific rules of the language of how they.
Craig Robick
I agree.
Danny Kay
Like, my guess is they were trying to obviously trick the Bears, but I think the technicality of the rule, maybe that wasn't on Purpose.
Danny Hatchet
They were bending the rules. And then it was because they're in this silo, because they know that their whole season's the line for this game. And then some taps on the shoulders, like, hey, this was a bad day.
Danny Kay
To say, oh, illegal.
Craig Robick
I feel like you would want to lie the other way, though. Like, wouldn't you want people to think Tyler Huntley was starting? And then Lamar actually starts and then you're like, holy. We've been preparing for Tyler Huntley this whole week. Rather than.
Danny Hatchet
Yeah, but he wasn't going to play. So that you didn't have. I don't know, man. But this is what happened, so I don't know.
Craig Robick
I don't know.
Danny Hatchet
You didn't play in the game, so I don't know what to tell you. Anyway. I can't believe we're talking about this. More importantly, I have a loser. Me, the Giants fans. That's my loser of the.
Craig Robick
How about, how about Scabo? Not you.
Danny Hatchet
No, me. Because The Giants lost 38 to 20. I don't care about the score, Cam. Scab. His leg is cooked. I'm depressed. Giants are sad. It is. What do you want me to say? It looked like he broke his ankle.
Craig Robick
He dislocated it.
Danny Hatchet
It was horrific.
Danny Kay
It looked, it's, it's, it was the Dak Prescott.
Danny Hatchet
It was the Dak Prescott thing when I. It's so funny. I, I was watching the Dak Prescott thing with a friend and I actually got up for a second. I missed that specific play. And he was like, oh, my God, you're gonna see this. And I look and I'm like, it's fine. His shoe came off. What's the big deal? And like, that was what's. But that's what's gotta. Boo. It looked like the same. It was horrible. I, I, you know it's bad when Philly gives him a standing ovation.
Craig Robick
Yeah, it looked, it looked horrible. Like one of the grosser injuries. It's so weird that any day you can just watch the NFL and see the most grotesque thing you've seen in a month just on CBS or something like that. It's very bizarre.
Danny Hatchet
It was so.
Danny Kay
They show it four or five times.
Craig Robick
Yeah. Like an eight year old could just be sitting and watching that.
Danny Hatchet
Unbelievable. He tried to get up. He was like, get me up. And his center was like, no.
Danny Kay
Adrenaline is a hell of a.
Danny Hatchet
My brother was watching this here. My brother's in D.C. too, and he was watching this in an Eagles bar. And the bartender, My brother noticed this first at this bar like. And he just is sitting there distraught. Bartender gave him a cigarette.
Danny Kay
Jeez.
Danny Hatchet
He just had it. Like he just. I. I just. I don't know. Scatter, man. Malik neighbors towards ACL. Like, I just dabbled down 20 points as having Jackson Dart running third and fourth down keepers like just taking hits. Down 20 points with two minutes left. And I'm like, I just. Yeah, this was pretty depressing.
Danny Kay
The Eagles win was two weeks ago.
Danny Hatchet
Yeah, I. It. It's pretty bad.
Danny Kay
It's crazy how quickly things.
Craig Robick
Yeah. Like two weeks ago calling me from a bar and then two weeks later his brother was getting a cigarette.
Danny Kay
Two weeks ago, hyphas was smoking a cigarette because he just felt like he.
Craig Robick
Are those happy cigarettes or sad cigarettes?
Danny Hatchet
Dude, I. The last. So Bobby Skinner at talking Giants pointed this out. This one. I think I knew this, but it hurt to see it. Last nine seasons, eight of the last nine at the week eight point, the Giants have either been 1 and 7 or 2 and 6. Eight of the last nine seasons, they've had one or two wins halfway through the year.
Danny Kay
So it's just.
Danny Hatchet
You're over eight of the nine seasons. The season's over.
Danny Kay
It does seem like there are more things that you can root for this year. Obviously. Like Jackson Dart is exciting. The young nucleus on defense is exciting. There's. There's at least things to feel positive about, right?
Danny Hatchet
Yeah, there were and then my. I. My baby boy just got. It was awful. So scatter.
Danny Kay
Well, I'm sorry. High Fitz. I am sorry.
Danny Hatchet
That's 101 carries for it. This game also sucked. Like this Giant Seagulls game. The Tush put. There were a lot of bad refereeing calls in this game. The. The number which I won't even get into all that because the Giants got their asses kicked. So I'm not going to. About the refs, even though the refs were horrific. But the specific one that I was the Tush push being whistled dead. Yeah, I know I'm biased. I think that was one of the worst calls of the entire season.
Craig Robick
We just need a new category called like the Tush push complaint of the week. Because it feels like every week there's something new.
Danny Kay
Okay, Craig, this was new. This is a good segue because this is my loser of the week, which is the Tush pushes PR battle. The Tush push. I mean people are turning on the Tush push like they turned on Ryan Reynolds. It's feel. Oh, there was like a whole off season. People. Sorry. Was that like, are they Not.
Craig Robick
No, that just came out of nowhere.
Danny Hatchet
Yeah. Throw.
Danny Kay
Ryan Reynolds. I love Ryan Reynolds. For what it's worth. I mean, I don't know anything about this latest controversy, so whatever. I'm staying out of that. But is there.
Craig Robick
Oh, I didn't know that.
Danny Hatchet
What am I, controversy? I think no, it's like, you know, he saw Barbie. I think controversy. I think he just learned about.
Craig Robick
Oh, you're talking about the it ends with us thing.
Danny Kay
I'm not. I'm not reading that two years ago. I. Look, you know, I'm. I'm late to everything. I just watched Barbie last weekend.
Danny Hatchet
Relitigating everything from last year with DK would be great.
Craig Robick
Last year, tonight.
Danny Kay
Anyway, I. I would say over the off season, the general gist was that people were in favor of the Tush push because they thought it would be really unfair to cancel this one play that works for this one team. Like, you know what I mean?
Danny Hatchet
That was my argument. Like, I was there.
Danny Kay
You're high. Fitz, of all people, should have hated the Tush push. And even he was like, pro Tush.
Danny Hatchet
Push people just mad. Cause it's one team.
Craig Robick
I think.
Danny Kay
I think the Eagles are. And this wasn't really their fault, but the. The. A couple of weeks ago when they ran four straight, people start turning on it, like, okay, this. This needs to go. We don't want this anymore.
Craig Robick
All the false starts.
Danny Kay
This man is ruining golf. And now this play in particular. Jalen Hurts, takes a snap, kind of dives on top of the pile. Someone's pushing him from behind, and rather, like, stupidly reaches the ball out like.
Danny Hatchet
You do at the goal line, not on for a first down.
Danny Kay
And as he's still being push, like, going down the little landslide of people, Kayvon Thibodeau comes and just grabs the football and runs or like, slides around and catches the ball. And they called forward momentum dead. It was probably the worst, most cowardly call I've ever seen.
Danny Hatchet
I think the worst call of the year. And the only reason it won't be remembered that way is because the Giants lost the game by quite a bit. But that was the worst.
Craig Robick
It was wild because if Hertz had not fumbled and instead a second later reached ahead again and got pushed for the first down, they obviously would have given him the first step. Like, they would have kept that play going.
Danny Hatchet
Exactly. And what's also frustrating is the one giant hole in all of instant replay is the concept of forward progress. In part because progress is when the refs blow the whistle, the play is dead. What was annoying about it was I never really had thought about this until today. But it's funny because they're like, well, you know, when they do the instant replay, they can't hear the whistle. But then the broadcast just played it with the sound and the whistle very clearly went off while Kibo is sitting there with the ball. Like he's just sitting the ball and they blow the whistle and he looks and he's like, why did you blow the whistle? I have the ball.
Danny Kay
Also, I, I think just like to simplify this whole thing. Like forward progress doesn't matter on the tushbush. They never call forward progress being stopped. That's the whole reason it works all the time is cuz they just keep pushing him until the fucking landslide goes out and he's like five or six yards down the field. They almost never call forward progress stopped. I can't remember the last time I saw forward progress stopped on the tush push.
Danny Hatchet
This will happen again though too. Not with the whistle and the forward progress. But I've always thought what will happen with the tush push is it's not like, I mean just this, it's quarterback sneaks. It's completely unreviewable. And I just remember thinking there was going to be a thing where did he get it or not? And there's going to be a play of whether a fumble or something or just did he cross the plane. There's going to be one day where they just have to make a call and none of the refs have any idea and like he's going to just be in a scrum and they're going to just have to pretend that they know and the replays won't help and they're going to have to just make a call and you're like, well, the call in the field. And I'm like anyway, I just think.
Danny Kay
That Brian Daval was all of us when he threw a flag to challenge it. Even though you can't challenge it, dude, he was. I'm challenging the idea that you can't challenge.
Craig Robick
I declare bankruptcy.
Danny Kay
I'm throwing this anyway, even though I know I'm going to lose it, dude.
Danny Hatchet
I also, I want to just shout out Kayvon. Pat Leonard, who covers the Giants, posted that Kayvon Tibo was asked about the tush push fumble problem. The the ref said and Kevon Tibo about the ref explanation said, sounds like some. And then Brian Burns turns to him in the locker room, says, dude, you're gonna get fined. Kevin Tibo. Oh, sorry, that was a Great call. So, you know, okay, dk, Any other winners or losers for you today?
Danny Kay
See here, I think C.J. stroud, we gotta acknowledge, had a good game. We've been hating on CJ Stroud a lot this year. I would say, you can say me.
Craig Robick
I've been hating on him.
Danny Kay
You have, but I've also been very frustrated with it. I mean, I've always believed that C.J. stroud is a very talented quarterback, but the offense just looks like shit for the, for the vast majority of the last year and a half or whatever. But they look great against a admittedly beat up 49ers defense. But if you go back the last few weeks and again, these, they're not playing like the best defenses in the NFL or anything. But over the last four weeks, so last five, four games for Houston, they're fifth in points per game, sixth in points per drive, 10th in success rate, 11th and third down conversion rate, sixth in yards per game. They only have two turnovers. They're one of the best, their second best in turnover margin. This is a team whose offense is, I think, trending in the right direction outside that Seahawks game last week. Seahawks have one of the best defenses in the NFL, but I think overall there's reasons to be a little bit optimistic about the Texans. I think their young core of skill players is starting to really shine. Xavier Hutchinson and Jaden Higgins both had touchdowns today. I thought Jalen Noel or Noel looks good out there. He's making plays for them. He's got a little of explosiveness to him. Woody Marks has been pretty exciting. He kind of reminds me a little bit of Jalen Warren in the fact that he can kind of do a little bit on the ground, but he's really good in the passing game. He breaks tackles. He's got a little juice on the ground for them. So he's been a nice complimentary piece in the run game. And overall, just CJ Stroud is. Is looked a lot better. It didn't get sacked. I don't think he took a sack in this game where if he did it, he didn't take very many sacks. That's been a big problem for them. So, yeah, overall, I just wanted to give a shout out to CJ Stroud and the Texans offense since we've been kind of hating on them a lot.
Craig Robick
I agree. They look better. I will say the last four games that you're mentioning, they played the Titans, they played Snoop Huntley and the Ravens, they played this Niners team. And so those are the three games where they really shined. And then. And then the Seattle. Seattle game. They played Denver next week. And I. I was like, all right.
Danny Hatchet
That'Ll be against the blowouts of all. That's why he's got to get it in. Craig. The blowouts today. I think there's. Texans are among many teams where it's the joke we make about the Cowboys defense, where it's like, a team looks great against Dallas and it's like, did they. Are they better or did they just play Dallas? It's like, is the stripper actually into you or is she just. Is that her job? And it's like, that was just the Texans today. I'm like, are the Texans good or the Niners just missing Fred Warner and Nick Bosa in addition to the eight players that lost in French?
Danny Kay
I agree with what you're saying. I just don't like to dismiss dominant wins out of hand because it's the NFL and weird happens every week.
Craig Robick
And you know, it's a national Football League.
Danny Kay
Yes. This is National Football League. It's hard to blow a team out.
Danny Hatchet
It was the time. They didn't really blow.
Craig Robick
They won by 11.
Danny Kay
No, I'm talking about the. I'm talking about like the Baltimore game and. And going well, that was.
Danny Hatchet
That one. I actually will coldly discount. I. The. This one.
Craig Robick
Cooper Rush. Actually, that was Cooper Rush.
Danny Hatchet
That was.
Danny Kay
Well, he's not playing defense.
Danny Hatchet
That was dumb. Well, yeah, the. Don't want to think everyone. The practice squad guys were.
Danny Kay
Maybe he was actually rushing the passer.
Danny Hatchet
Yeah, you can't.
Craig Robick
Playing safety, I think.
Danny Kay
Yeah.
Danny Hatchet
The dominance in the Texans game was the time of possession was the Texans to the ball for 25 minutes. The Niners hit the ball for under five and a half minutes in the first half, which is the least time of possession in a first half teams had in like 15 years. So that part was dominant.
Danny Kay
Said this, but it's concerning. Fewest plays the 49ers have run in a game under Kyle Shanahan.
Danny Hatchet
Maybe I'm cynical. I. I looked at this as much more concerning for San Francisco than cool for Houston. I was like, oh, so Houston, who just can't move the ball against competent teams is running all over you? And I'm like, yeah, it's a little concerning.
Danny Kay
All right, so never mind. I guess I'll go fuck myself. But I did. I did like C.J. stroud in this game. Yeah, C.J. stroud. Craig.
Danny Hatchet
Give me one.
Danny Kay
Stroud.
Craig Robick
You just said Gruden. Do you want Gruden or do you want do you want Gus?
Danny Kay
Oh, come on.
Craig Robick
Okay, down the sideline. Higgins. I will say this was a great rookie confidence game for all those rookies on Houston. Like no.
Danny Hatchet
Has any team just trotted out three receivers from the same team like Houston did? They're all Iowa State. That's kind of weird. Yeah, it's kind of like what are the odds of that?
Danny Kay
It is weird.
Danny Hatchet
Just there's like 130 D1 football teams and it's just funny to think that three from an NFL team could all.
Danny Kay
I would say not exactly known as like a powerhouse.
Craig Robick
Yeah, right. Not exactly.
Danny Hatchet
They all played together in college. It's not like a 10 year gap or something. It's like they were all basically the same team at the same time, which is bizarre. Anyway, can't believe we talked about NFC south team before the Colts. But first, the Ringer Fantasy Football show is brought to you by fanduel. Fanduel's changing the way you live bet football and it starts with next drive stps. Now you can bet what's happening on the next drive. Will it end at a touchdown, a punt, a field goal? Then stack player props and build your bed exactly how you want it. And every NFL game day comes with a profit boost you can use on your next drive. SGP Washington's playing the Chiefs. I actually would just do the over on rushing yards. I would parlay Mariota and Mahomes over rushing yards just every week I would just do that but I just Mario's gonna run just it's gonna happen like Mariota Mahomes over on the rushing for both if you I but Mariota specifically like Mahomes I think runs in the games that are close. Mariota has no choice so I I would just smash that. Visit fandom.comringer fantasy to download the app today and bet the next drive your way must be 21 + in President select states or 18 + in President DC, Kentucky or Wyoming. Opt in required bonus issue does non withdrawable profit boost tokens restrictions apply including any token expiration and max wager amount. See terms@sportsbook.fanduel.com gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org chat in Connecticut.
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Danny Hatchet
The I Am Become Death Oppenheimer Award for Player who Went Nuclear I just the Colts again. We have to do the Colts again. We probably should have made him a winner, but they just do this every week. And there's the Titans.
Danny Kay
Change this category to the Wagon Award.
Danny Hatchet
Indianapolis Colts who destroyed the game.
Craig Robick
It's like, hard to talk about the Colts because it's just the same thing every week.
Danny Hatchet
It is almost like the same game. It's like I feel like I'm watching a replay. It's Jonathan Taylor scored three touchdowns and I'm like, Everyone's open.
Craig Robick
They win by 20. I'm like, I don't know. They just do this every week.
Danny Hatchet
I so there's a lot going on here, but I think we have to start with Jonathan Taylor. Jonathan.
Craig Robick
I mean, I, I, he's having a good year.
Danny Hatchet
I'm gonna, he's good, he's good. I'm gonna wax, I'm gonna rant about him, but I will just. This is, to me, is the summary. Saquon Barkley last year had one of the best running back seasons we'll ever remember, right? Jonathan Taylor's one touchdown short of what Saquon did all of last season.
Danny Kay
Damn.
Danny Hatchet
That's fucking nuts. It's week eight, so I mean, 12.
Danny Kay
He has 12 rushing touchdowns.
Danny Hatchet
He's 14 total. Jonathan Dale is 14 total, which. So he, he scored that. He has three touchdowns again today. I want to go three. So the first touchdown, they Jonathan Taylor scores. They show this graphic of like most touchdowns in your career through 75 games. And it's like Ladanian Tomlinson, hall of Famer, Emmett Smith, hall of Famer, most rushing yards ever. Adrian Peterson, best running back I ever saw in my life. John Taylor and then like Earl Campbell. Like that's crazy. Then he scores another touchdown. They're like that was the longest touchdown of his career and it was like this 80 yards. Crazy sideline dance. I couldn't believe how many steps he actually got inbounds. And then they should have grabbed. I don't want to get this wrong but I think he basically is up there with sake one for the most like 60, 80 plus share touchdowns. Then he scored the third touchdown and they're like that's his third hat trick in the last four games. He again, he has four different games this season with three touchdowns. And then I, I mean he was the first player with 500 scrimmage yards and touchdowns in a four game span since Jamal Charles in 2013. Like it goes on and on and on. There's so many stats like this but it's, it's crazy how good Jonathan Tiller sees it.
Craig Robick
Kind of a sell high probably.
Danny Kay
Right?
Danny Hatchet
Let's get rid of him.
Danny Kay
Yeah.
Craig Robick
I mean he's got, he's, he's basically averaging three touchdowns every other game. Like he has, he has literally four games this year where he scored three touchdowns. They played eight games every other game he has three touchdowns.
Danny Kay
We should do a poll or figure out. People can email us or whatever. If you have Jonathan Taylor and you're worse than third in your league. Shut up. Let's. Let's find the lowest ranked Jonathan Taylor.
Danny Hatchet
Someone's like one in seven last place.
Danny Kay
Which I'm like what did you do?
Craig Robick
That definitely exists, you know.
Danny Hatchet
Yeah, I guess someone just has him and everyone missed everything else. I.
Danny Kay
He is on pace to win the triple crown in rushing, by the way. So carries, rush yards and rushing touchdowns, which he did in 2021. I saw this from Tony Holtzman, Escarena.
Craig Robick
Should carries be included there? I feel like that doesn't matter.
Danny Kay
I mean it is a. I, I would say there is something to taking the punishment of leading the NFL in carries.
Craig Robick
Yeah.
Danny Kay
You know what I mean?
Craig Robick
But it's. Yeah, I guess so. But it'd be more impressive.
Danny Kay
It'd probably be catches. Maybe would be better.
Craig Robick
Yeah, maybe catches. I mean it would almost be more impressive if you had the yardage.
Danny Kay
He's a running back.
Craig Robick
But.
Danny Hatchet
Yeah, yeah, but yeah, yeah, I know what you're saying, Craig. It's like the guy with nose carry of the most yards.
Danny Kay
Right.
Danny Hatchet
Okay, just say this is actually not impressive.
Craig Robick
I'm kind of like it should just be, should be double crown.
Danny Hatchet
It's way cooler. Yeah, double, exactly. Yeah. They're just trying to like pretend it's baseball. At Shefter had this thing. I also, I. I want to. Jonathan Taylor is now the fifth player since 2000 with at least three scrimmage touchdowns in four games in a season, joining Ladanian Thomas in 2006. Marshall Falk, 2000. Sean Alexander 05 Priest Thompson 2002, 2003. I read that whole thing because for the youngins out there probably don't know all of those guys broke the single season record for touchdowns in his season. Back in my day in the 2000s, this has been memory hold. That was the record that just fell every year. Like a different guy just set the record for touchdowns in a season every year. Like it was like the 90s with home runs and now it's not even get discussed. But that's the coolest record. Who has the most touchdowns in a season? Marshall Falk did it and then five year. And then Priest Holmes did it and then Sean Alexander did it and then Tomlinson did it in 06. The fact that Jonathan Taylor's in a list with the other four guys in the four seasons who set the record is fucking crazy.
Danny Kay
Yeah, I mean the. One of the main points of football is to score touchdowns.
Danny Hatchet
It's like the whole thing.
Danny Kay
It's pretty cool that he's doing that a lot.
Danny Hatchet
And the friends you make along the way. Anyway. Okay, so Colts also. Michael Pittman had like probably the best catch of the year. Yep. Like the bicep. He just kind of like caught a football. Like the guy's arm was in there. I actually didn't get enough replays of that thing. Michael Pittman just grabbed the ball. Like the guy was like trying to hold one arm and usually the guy catches it with the other arm that's not being held. Michael Pittman caught a touchdown with the ball that was being pinned by the defender and he just got grabbed it.
Danny Kay
Anyway, sometimes you catch the ball and sometimes the ball catches you.
Craig Robick
That's right. I really do think that somebody should just start like have an offensive strategy where just like every three plays you just throw it deep to your best receiver one on one.
Danny Kay
Like it'll just like threes.
Craig Robick
Yeah.
Danny Kay
I mean these.
Craig Robick
Michael. If Michael Pittman's out here making catches like this, like you can just. You're either going to get a flag, he's going to catch it, or it's going to be an incomplete.
Danny Kay
I love a lot of meat on the bone.
Craig Robick
Yeah. Drake May is changing the game. You know, he's going deep again.
Danny Hatchet
I Mean, Drake might play Great, right, D.K.
Danny Kay
Yeah, Drake May, he's one of my winners, obviously. He looks like gonna be the fantasy league winner at quarterback this year. I think Mahomes is obviously in that conversation as well, but he was taking a lot higher than Drake May was. Drake May was the quarterback, 16th. A quarterback 16, I should say, in ADP, 119th overall. He's averaging 26 points per game. Or. Sorry, he got 26 points per game today, which was number one on the day. He is on the year now the quarterback 4 in points per game, 22 points per game, behind only Mahomes, Allen and Hertz. And every game, it feels like he's getting a little bit better. And he did it today. He had three touchdowns and he rushed for 50 yards against one of the best defenses in the NFL in Cleveland. It started out a little bit slow, but then once the Pats got going, it was just like a steamroller. And that's in a game where Miles Garrett had five sacks. So.
Craig Robick
Yeah, TK I totally agree with you. Next year in drafts, where do you think Drake May is going to go at the quarterback position? Do you think he's going to be top three or four?
Danny Kay
He's going to be like, how many people you take?
Craig Robick
Is it going to be Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Drake May?
Danny Kay
I think it's Josh Hurts and Hertz and Jaden are going to be in there somewhere.
Danny Hatchet
I think if they ban the tush push, Drake May could get drafted over Hertz next year.
Craig Robick
Yeah, I think he could be three, which is pretty remarkable.
Danny Kay
Yeah, it's legit. And the Pats are six and two, by the way. I will say they have a very easy schedule and it doesn't really get any harder. So wheels up for fantasy at least.
Danny Hatchet
Patriots are just going to end up with a fucking number one seed or whatever with the Colts, which is just.
Danny Kay
Feels kind of that way.
Danny Hatchet
Everything's in the 2000s against Colts, Patriots. I don't know what's going on. It's so over. We're so back.
Craig Robick
Trivia and Henderson, I think, is back. I got to say, we. We criticized him enough. We finally bullied Mike Vrabel. Not even like he had 10 carries, but he had 75 yards on 10 carries, had some big plays, looked explosive. Once again, Ramon Drake Stevenson on the ground didn't look great. Ramon Dre, 14 carries, 34 yards. Travion Henderson, 10 carries, 75 yards. They look completely different. And yet the split was still basically what it's been all year. And then at the end of the game, Trayvon Henderson fumbles the football, unlike.
Danny Kay
The five yard line.
Craig Robick
Yes. Yeah. Five minutes left in the fourth quarter. And I gotta tell you, I better. We better not hear shit from Vrabel about this because Stevenson fumbled a million times. I don't want to hear any. I don't want to hear. He better play more for fumbling. Okay.
Danny Kay
This is the first fumble of his life.
Danny Hatchet
All right?
Danny Kay
Henderson never fumbled once in college, and.
Craig Robick
This was the first week I did not start traversing. I am again. Like I said, I didn't think he was fantastic, but I didn't drop him because we still might turn this thing around. And today was step one, baby steps.
Danny Hatchet
So you missed out on all, what, five and a half of his points after the fumble?
Craig Robick
Yeah.
Danny Hatchet
Wow, that must have been crushing.
Craig Robick
But it was good motivation on my bench. The vibes in the locker room are getting better. It was nice to see him, you know, putting up some numbers. Look good. We're on our way back, TK who.
Danny Hatchet
Else is so back this week?
Danny Kay
The Dolphins offense is so back. One Eyed Tua. I really want Tua to go out there and wear like an eye patch, like One Eyed Willie from the Goonies, because I think it maybe helps a lot that he only had one eye going on.
Danny Hatchet
Can you explain? Can you explain this?
Danny Kay
I don't actually know what happened. He. He's got an. It said he has an illness and that caused his eye to swell up. So maybe like pink eye. Maybe he got a stye. I don't really know. Do you guys have any ideas what was going on there?
Craig Robick
No. Didn't he say he didn't even really know. He was like, I woke up with a swollen eye.
Danny Hatchet
That's the extent of the two things they know that can lead to swollen eyes.
Danny Kay
He got stung by a bee maybe. I don't know.
Danny Hatchet
He did look like those videos of dogs who ate bees.
Danny Kay
But more important to that, I think, than to a having only one eye, was that the Dolphins offense really did kind of shift their strategy in this game. There's a couple tight ends injured coming into this week. Darren Waller's on ir. And so they, for the first time ever, under Mike McDonald, Mike McDaniel decided to use six offensive linemen a whole bunch in this game. Literally, again, that's the first time they've used that formation once. And they dominated. They. They got basically, this is the smallest, frailest, least powerful team that I can imagine in the NFL. They have just a bunch of tiny guys. And this was something I was talking to Carlos about last week. It's just like they're too small and they finally decided to add an extra offensive line. It really worked well. They dominated. 34 to 10, win over the Falcons. Tua was really good. 20 to 26, 204, 205 yards and four touchdowns. And I don't know, he was even making out of structure plays and second reaction plays like you typically haven't really seen this year. So this was by far to his best game this year and you know, obviously by far the best Dolphins offense that we've seen this year. And so maybe this little shift in how they're approaching it. They gave the ball to their, their bigger running backs, a whole bunch more Ollie Gordon, Jalen Wright. So I don't know, it's, you know, I was talking to Carlos. He's very confused. He doesn't know what this means. I'm afraid to like really say it means much yet, but that means the.
Danny Hatchet
Falcons shouldn't have the number one defense. But dvoa, that's what I think.
Danny Kay
Well, they don't anymore, that's for sure. But yeah, the, the Falcons gotta be one of the weirdest teams in the NFL this year. I swear, I don't know what to make of them. But obviously huge game for the Dolphins at the very least.
Craig Robick
There were a couple Dolphins plays today that looked like the old Dolphins, like the waddle touchdown, like just takes a slant and yeah, him coming across the middle. Tua hits him perfectly. He, he, you know, turns the jets on and scores a long touchdown. And then you know what was nice is that maybe the whole eye thing was a lie just so Tua could wear glasses in the post game. That was cool. He looked cool. He had like these black sunglasses on.
Danny Kay
Oh, did he? I didn't see it.
Danny Hatchet
He literally like four days ago was talking about how he can't see receivers over the middle and then had one eye and that's like blood sport.
Danny Kay
You remember bloodsport when he does like all the training where he can't, he can't even see anything. He wish wears a towel over his head.
Craig Robick
Maybe depth perception was, was his. Was to his enemy.
Danny Hatchet
Yeah.
Craig Robick
You know, that's why. Yeah. Didn't work.
Danny Hatchet
I, I think the Falcon should be really embarrassed. I hope they are. This is pretty bad.
Danny Kay
This is redemption for Heitz.
Craig Robick
But if we have to do the opposite of farter shark for the Dolphins here.
Danny Kay
Dk, what would you pick the opposite?
Craig Robick
Yeah, like is this a flash in a pan positive sign or is this the sign of something permanent.
Danny Hatchet
Are the Dolphins good or is. Is it just her job?
Danny Kay
I would say it's probably more like a one week weirdness.
Danny Hatchet
I think this is worse if you're a Dolphins fan. I think this is worse than just continuing to be bad because the flashes of good just prolonged.
Danny Kay
Inevitable. Yeah.
Danny Hatchet
And, yeah, it's. It's. Yeah, it's just you should give up. And it's bad that it's like a. Like a. You know, they're in the death throes of this era, of this team, and it's tough that it's going to continue. So you have that to look forward to also for fantasy. It's really funny that. B. John Rob. The Falcons had the most running yards to running backs this season, like, on offense, and the Dolphins had allowed the most rushing yards. Two running backs on. On defense.
Craig Robick
This is why this shit doesn't make any sense, man.
Danny Kay
That's what I'm saying. The NFL's so weird every. Every week.
Danny Hatchet
43 yards. The. Bijan Robinson got five carries in the first half. He had like four points. Five points.
Danny Kay
He like, kneed the ball out of his own hand at one point.
Danny Hatchet
Well, his body's rejecting it. I don't know. It was horrific.
Danny Kay
What'd you think of Kirk Cousins?
Danny Hatchet
Oh, dude, I, you know, I think Kirk Cousins and Andy Dalton. I had the same reaction today, which was they played so poorly that it reminded me that what Joe Flacco is doing is amazing because old quarterbacks are supposed to look like shit. And it reminded me how it's crazy what Joe Flacco is doing.
Craig Robick
Andy Dalton looked unprofessional today.
Danny Hatchet
Yeah, Eddie Dalton was, like, pathetic.
Craig Robick
Andy Dalton was.
Danny Kay
He needs to go see H.R.
Danny Hatchet
He looked, frankly, he looked like he hurt way more than his thumb in that car accident.
Craig Robick
I think we need to, like, start a class action lawsuit against what we saw from Andy Dalton.
Danny Kay
Every time I looked up, he was getting sacked in the worst situations.
Danny Hatchet
It was, I. I think the worst thing I saw all day. I know AJ Epanessa on the Bills had this, like. It really happened twice today, but this like the whole, like, one, like, got the ball and then the way he hit, the way Eddie Dalton kept falling down, it looked like he was being bullied. Yeah.
Danny Kay
He would go into like a fetal position.
Danny Hatchet
Looks like a movie. Like they're beating an old man. And I was like, oh, my God, this is horrible. It is like that. The Rattler one was the worst play, though. That was the worst. The Spencer Rattler, Anderson and the Bucks, who Just like tipped the ball to himself and then got it and then shoved Rattler down and then just like walked one step in the end zone. That was the most middle school ass looking play I have ever seen.
Craig Robick
I do think we, we need bad quarterbacks. We always need bad quarterbacks to make, to, to allow us to appreciate just how good the great ones are.
Danny Hatchet
It's like we always joke we wish some like the Olympics would let like a normal person.
Craig Robick
Right.
Danny Hatchet
Go.
Danny Kay
And the control, it's the control of the whole experiment. Yeah.
Craig Robick
Like after watching Andy Dalton today, like I'm going to enjoy Mahomes that much more tomorrow.
Danny Hatchet
Like, do you remember. Yeah. Like two weeks ago when her really.
Danny Kay
Good way of looking at it.
Danny Hatchet
Yeah. Like they went to sack Herbert two weeks ago in the Dolphins play and he didn't get sacked and he just threw the. And then you see Spencer Rattler just get rocked by this guy you like.
Craig Robick
Today was a good example as to why normal people usually just like wait till Sunday Night Football because that's like two good teams playing and they don't sit through the fuck the af, you know, the slop of like nine backups playing in week eight that we just fight through. Yeah, I get it. It's like, oh, I'm just actually going to wait until it's like the Chiefs and the Packers. That sounds nice. That sounds better. That's a better experience.
Danny Hatchet
Any other farts or shirts here, America?
Craig Robick
Yeah. America's favorite segment. Do we have the drop? Which one is it today? Do we know? Spin the wheel.
Danny Hatchet
Damn, son. That's disgusting.
Danny Kay
That one was like strangely like funky. Like the funky funky. Yeah, it's like almost like a sex. I don't like a porn background music.
Danny Hatchet
The noises get me.
Craig Robick
They get you.
Danny Hatchet
I don't like it.
Craig Robick
Wet fart sounds. Yeah, they get me too. Okay, but in that spirit. D.K. daniel. God, Dan.
Danny Kay
What?
Craig Robick
Caleb Williams, the quarterback for the Chicago Bears.
Danny Kay
Oh, yeah.
Craig Robick
Like we said, they lost today, 30 to 16 to the Ravens, to SN, to Snoop Huntley. I don't know why I keep wanting to say scooter to Snoop Huntley.
Danny Hatchet
Scoot. Splutter. Snoop. It's just really tripping you up.
Craig Robick
Caleb today had a. Had a brutal pick in the fourth quarter with nine minutes left out of his own end zone. They were down three, essentially kind of lost the game. If you look at him in fantasy the last two weeks, things have really slowed down. He had 11 points today in fantasy at four the week before that. And yet, you know, he's done some Things I. You know, the last drive of the game, he made a throw to DJ Moore that I think legitimately, like three quarterbacks in the league can make, where he was scrambling through it completely across the field. DJ Moore caught it with one hand. One of the coolest plays I've seen from a quarterback in a while. Then the same drive, the. Like, basically the last play of the game. DJ Moore wide open in the back of the end zone. He sails it like Anthony Richardson basically through the goalpost. So I want to ask you, DK, the Bears are now 4 and 3. They have 168 points through eight weeks. Last year, they had 163 through eight weeks. So they're basically the same team in terms of point score, four and three. Caleb Williams, two bad weeks in a row. Fart or Shark.
Danny Kay
Fart.
Craig Robick
Okay.
Danny Kay
I'm not giving up yet. Not until. Not until Bajan gets out there. That we can. Then we can call that a Shark.
Craig Robick
Oh, you're. Oh, once he gets benched. Yeah, I think that would be.
Danny Hatchet
He's not saying the Bears decay. He's saying Caleb.
Craig Robick
I'm saying Caleb.
Danny Kay
Yeah, I know. I am not quite ready to give up on him in terms of. In his career, especially just like when you look around the NFL and so many guys are, you know, having second chances and doing really well. But, yeah, I mean, it.
Craig Robick
It.
Danny Kay
He's been way more erratic and way, way more inaccurate than anyone would have hoped. Certainly. I mean, he's all over the place. Like you said, Craig, he can make really great throws and then at the same time, just absolutely sail the ball past his receiver. I think that that one on the very end of the Game two was just like a. That the whole process of that play was very weird because he. They tried to sneak it in and they thought they got in. They didn't. The. The refs didn't. They called him down at the one, so then they had to, like, hurry up. Everybody was running around. It was like just a total cluster the whole time. So, you know, I think it's just a. A function of them still trying to figure everything out. He's still trying to figure out how to, like, run an offense. And so obviously it doesn't. Doesn't look great right now, but I still have faith in him longer term.
Danny Hatchet
I think this was a fart for the. For Caleb, too. I still. I agree. It's weird that it's. It's. It feels like Caleb can make threes, but he just misses layups a lot. Like, it's like the Ben, he's Ben Simmons and that's. We can't make the layup, but he actually could shoot from three. The biggest difference I think between how. I mean I know Jaden Daniels has been hurt, but I think Jaden's rookie season, how it felt and Caleb this year. The biggest difference to me is Jaden last year came in and was so. What was so amazing with Jaden in so many ways other than, you know, these deep balls and everything was Jaden Daniels had such a. One of the hardest things and the last thing that comes for quarterbacks is Jaden was so good with situational awareness. It felt like the game moved really slow for Jaden Daniels on third and long, on fourth and short at the goal line. End of games, end of half, two minute drill. I to me, I think when I watch Caleb Williams, I feel like the game really speeds up for him in those big moments. Like I think that when you when he sees the field and everything slows down for him, you're like, oh my God, he is amazing at finding these guys. Like that play you pointed out, like he's amazing and finding like coming out of the pocket doing an escape and finding some downfield is amazing at it. So when he is able the game to slow down for him in all phases, I'm excited. But man, the, the end of stuff, the end of game stuff still just feels like it is just like, like just going a thousand miles an hour in his head when the game is actually on the line. He just feels unprepared is probably not a fair term, but he's just, he just doesn't. He just does not have command in the moments that matter yet.
Craig Robick
I think that's a very good point. I totally agree. I mean Jaden just looks like a professional right when he walked onto the field. He just looks so comfortable out there and Caleb still just doesn't look comfortable, I think.
Danny Kay
And that that's another reason that I think the college experience thing is starting to become a plus rather than a negative. Because we look back a lot of times, you know, we were kind of unsure whether what it meant that he played college football for five years or whatever. And does that mean he should have come out earlier, he was not good enough to come out earlier or is that good that he's just getting more experience? I think at the end of the day it's just clear it was very good that he had more in game experience.
Danny Hatchet
And to be clear, I'm not saying that means it'll never happen for Him. It takes a while. You know who has great command of moments this year? Daniel Jones. Who?
Danny Kay
Just Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield.
Danny Hatchet
Again, it's the way I, the way I think of it is as for lack of a better term, of pocket awareness or whatever, or just seeing the field, I think of it as on a basketball court. LeBron, whoever you want to pick, if they close their eyes, they know where everyone is. Like they, they could tell people behind them. Like they know where everyone is. A quarterback has to be able to do that for all the offensive lineman and defensive line around them while still being able to go through the route progression in 2.3 seconds. Like they have to be able to do all. And then escape. And it's another. Like they have to be able to do all that. And that's hard. Jaden was weirdly good at it, but Darnold just started. Darnold could just do it last year after not being able to do that. Daniel Jones can just do it this year after not being able to do it. Baker, like, for whatever reason, some guys, it just takes five years to actually know where everyone is. And I get. I still think the comp for Caleb is Rogers. And as long as we criticize him, I'm. And they're not playing well, I'm still going to be like, you know what? Rogers didn't fucking play for three years. So I, I'm not going to give up Caleb till for four years.
Danny Kay
Yeah. And we just got done watching Jordan Love too, who also displays a lot of the same, you know, talents that you're talking about in terms of just field vision. That one play he made to Tucker Kraft down the field where he was like getting pressured and almost getting hit and just hucked it down there because he knew Tucker Kraft had single coverage down the field and just, you know, Tucker Kraft made a great play. But just knowing when you can make those types of throws, it just comes with experience. A lot of time.
Craig Robick
I think the only difference for me for Caleb versus a lot of the guys that we've talked about, Baker, Darnold or Daniel Jones, Caleb's in a pretty good situation. Like that's the only thing. Like he's got. He's got the play color. Like he's got a lot of the things that like Darnold didn't have and that, you know, Daniel Jones kind of didn't have. And so I do think that you. I expected, you know, we said in week one, I remember we had that big Caleb conversation. We were like, let's Be honest. The boring take here is let's wait till week eight and then see how he's doing. And he kind of looks the same to me.
Danny Kay
I think he looks better. I mean, it's, it's incremental.
Danny Hatchet
I really quibble with the, with the good situation thing. It's like the coaching. Yeah, it's like Ben Johnson's a way better coaching. That's why you've seen progress with Caleb on, like getting the ball out faster, like immediately.
Danny Kay
He's not taking nine sacks a game.
Danny Hatchet
Yeah, he's not on pace of 60 sacks. The Bears handling of left tackle this year has been bizarre. So Braxton Jones is hurt. The Bears left tackle today was Theo Benedet. Who the fuck is that guy? Like the Bears tackle, this was horrendous. Okay, but like, Braxton Jones is fifth round pick and the backup, Ozzie Trappola was a fourth round rookie. The swing, the. All the other options. The point is, all the other options. The back the Bears had at left tackle had never played left tackle in the NFL. The Bears entered the season with one guy. I. I might be wrong on this, but I'm pretty confident the Bears entered the season with one guy who had like played left tackle in the NFL other than their left tackle. Like, why the fuck did you do that? That's just a weird thing to do. And there's just. So anyway, I don't know. I'm like, it's not perfect. That's all.
Craig Robick
We haven't hit excuse bingo yet, but I feel like we've. We've crossed off two boxes. We still have a few more to go.
Danny Hatchet
There you go. Fair that we should make that excuse bingo. Excuse bingo is really good. Bingo Excuse bingo is awesome.
Craig Robick
Like, Trevor Lawrence is almost at bingo. Kyler Murray is at bingo.
Danny Hatchet
Email us at ringer fantasy football gmail.com for ideas and excuse bingo for quarterbacks. That's awesome. I love excuse bingo. We should make that. Speaking of which, another. The opposite of farter shirt here. Just this is also just the real stripper thing of just that. You know, does she like me or is this just her job? Like, did this guy play well? The New York jets, which honestly probably a travesty that we're getting this far into the show for jets fans. And we're just talking about the jets now. The only entertaining game of the whole day. But you know what? You put us through a lot of shit, so you know what? Sorry. Justin Fields and the jets beat the Bengals 39 to 38. They were down 14 at basically what felt like the entire game. And then frankly Justin Fields they have, I mean 15 point comeback, 500 yards for the jets is the second time the jets had 500 yards in the last six years. All those, the other one weirdly was against the Bengals with the Mike White game. Justin Fields like what an amazing story. Woody Johnson is saying if only we could complete a pass. Woody Johnson's basically citing Justin Fields is Madden rating as the excuse for the team's playing poorly. And then they go and they get the two point conversions, they win in regulation going for two down 15. And then Justin Fields talks after the game about like he was crying in his closet on Saturday and just like on the ground and he was like wondering like, like I don't know. It was.
Danny Kay
This was a lot to unpack here.
Danny Hatchet
A lot. There was a lot to this game. I was happy Jets.
Danny Kay
I saw this tweet from Mike Gollic Jr. The fields got his revenge game this week against his current team which is great just because they he went into the week it felt very well, not certain but like very strongly. Probably going to be Tara Taylor being the starter and then he got a knee injury and it's always awkward when.
Craig Robick
You get benched but then the backup gets hurt.
Danny Hatchet
Is there any more aloof owner than Woody Johnson throwing the quarterback under the bus and then like probably learning later that day that that quarterback will have to keep playing.
Danny Kay
Fields even said after the game that the Woody Johnson stuff was like, he's like that's all outside noise. I understand he owns the team but it's outside noise.
Danny Hatchet
Definitely inside noise.
Craig Robick
Yeah, it's a great quote. He's like, I get that he is the literal owner of the team but.
Danny Kay
To me that's outside everyone, Everyone not named Justin Fields is outside noise.
Danny Hatchet
Yeah.
Danny Kay
To be honest. But yeah it was, it was a very, I mean obviously Fields played well, ran around through for a bunch of yards, gave his team a chance to win. Breeze hall had a touchdown pass as well, but.
Danny Hatchet
That was the game winning touchdown pass with a double click. That was the best throw of the whole day.
Danny Kay
Hell yeah. Make him the quarterback.
Craig Robick
Who, who?
Danny Kay
Okay, first of all, what's your, who's going to start next game for them? Are they going to stick with Fields or go back to Taylor?
Danny Hatchet
They're going into their buy. I think you have to play fields now.
Craig Robick
You have to keep playing fields.
Danny Hatchet
You have to. You can't bench Fields after you do this. Although it's funny though, after all that Austin, Texas when he threw that Pat Breeze hall through the touchdown pass, which was. It was really good. Like he went. Mason Taylor, the tight end was not open.
Danny Kay
Put it right where no one else could get it.
Danny Hatchet
Yeah. Did the. Josh Allen, like he went right up to the sideline. He really waited till like he was like half a yard out of bat, almost out of bounds, and he just put it right up on Mason Taylor. It was way bigger than the quarterback on him. And Austin's like, would Justin Fields have made that play?
Danny Kay
He would have skipped it to him.
Danny Hatchet
Yeah, like, I don't know. I. I thought that was what it. What a breeze. Hall also unbelievable. I mean, 20 touches, 147 yards, two touchdowns on the ground. The jets had the most rushing yards they've had in four years. And then he threw the game winning touchdown. That was amazing.
Danny Kay
I can't believe the Bengals lost that game.
Danny Hatchet
I think Jamar Chase couldn't either. He was like, you should. They were like, how do you feel about losing? He was like, I don't know. You should ask Zach. I don't.
Danny Kay
It's actually a pretty devastating loss for them. Right.
Danny Hatchet
Because they scored 38 with Joe Flacco and lost.
Danny Kay
Yeah, but I mean, but I mean for their playoff hopes, because they had some like, still pretty dim play or like, I mean, they were still alive in the playoff race. Just this idea that Joe Burrow could come out, come back at the end of the year if they can just, you know, get to 9, 10 wins or whatever.
Craig Robick
Dude, if they would have won that game today, they would have had four wins that would have been tied for the division lead.
Danny Hatchet
Yeah, I mean that. And you're against it. Owen, 17 again. You scored 38 points on a team whose owner is publicly saying we can't complete a pass. And then Trey Hendrickson leaves the hip injury. This. This is what we were joking about.
Danny Kay
Defense could not afford.
Danny Hatchet
Yeah, this is what we were joking about all offseason with the signing of Burrow and Jamar chasing T. Higgins. And we were like, will this financially cripple the Bengals and like, create defensive issues that will never ever be able to be solved? Because the percentage of cap. Do you want to talk about that or do you want to watch Jamar Chase and T. Higgins at some dingers? And we were like, dingers?
Danny Kay
Some dingers.
Danny Hatchet
That's this game. It's like, yeah, you gave up 39 points to Justin Fields. And also, honestly, that's how bad the defenses in the AFC north are. Like the only two teams that Justin Fields has looked like an NFL quarterback this year were the Steelers and the Bengals.
Danny Kay
The Steelers, man, it's a.
Craig Robick
It's a mess.
Danny Kay
It's ugly. Actually, I misspoke earlier I. I said that Drake May was the number one quarterback this week. It was actually Jordan love. Thanks. Steelers.
Craig Robick
20 straight completion.
Danny Kay
That's.
Danny Hatchet
That. That is so bad.
Craig Robick
You want to know an intrusive thought I had while watching the Steelers game?
Danny Kay
Yes.
Craig Robick
I don't think T.J. watts that good anymore.
Danny Kay
Oh, that's a bummer.
Craig Robick
I just don't think he's that good anymore. I don't. When I watch him, I'm like, you're not doing what Michael Parsons is doing. He's on the other side. He looks way better than you. I don't think you're worth $50 million a year. Sorry, I don't. Maybe they shouldn't have paid him. I don't know. He doesn't look that good to me.
Danny Kay
That's tough. That's tough. This is the closest Craig will get to crashing out.
Craig Robick
Well, it's an interesting thought. I was watching, and I'm like, I don't know. This season, TJ Watt has not looked like a top five pass rusher in the NFL.
Danny Kay
Yeah.
Danny Hatchet
It'S pretty good. I mean, the Steelers defense, again, it's just. Schematically. It's just. They're just. They just don't have the horses, man. I. When you're like, oh, it's the most expensive defense, you're like, how the. Is that possible?
Craig Robick
I know. You're like, everyone's over 30 years old.
Danny Hatchet
Why Cam Hayward? How. How is that possible?
Craig Robick
I know. It's like Jalen Ramsey. It's.
Danny Kay
It's.
Craig Robick
It's. It's bad across the board. The corners are bad.
Danny Hatchet
Ramsay also has been amazing as a tackler, as a playmaker, but the coverage.
Craig Robick
As a blitzer, he's been great.
Danny Hatchet
But. But the coverage is. One of the reasons he's around the ball so much is teams are throwing it at him, which is an ideal. Any other intrusive thoughts here?
Craig Robick
I saw that somebody added my own line to this.
Danny Hatchet
You texted this? I put it in. You said I'd let Joe Flacco do anything to me.
Danny Kay
That was earlier in the game.
Craig Robick
It was like. It was like 11:30am I was driving back home from. I was in Northern California this weekend, and I had to start Joe Flacco because Lamar was out, and Flacco, like, ran in a touchdown and threw two before halftime. And I was like, he's just Lamar. Like, it's the same thing. And he did it again last week too when I started him. But I'm like, he's the top five quarterback of the last two weeks. Joe Flacco.
Danny Hatchet
Did you see the target distribution of the Bengals? It is the fakest looking thing. I like you pull up the box.
Danny Kay
You're right.
Danny Hatchet
It is exactly how an 11 year old would play Madden. Joe Flacco, can I read the targets? I'm just going to read them. T. Higgins got two targets. Tanner Hudson got two targets. Samaja Piranha got one. Yoshavos got three. Chase Brown got three. Noah Fant got three. Jamar Chase got 19 targets. Like Joe, 34 passes, 19 of the 34. So like way more than like significantly more than half were just the Jamar Chase.
Danny Kay
And they scored 38 points.
Danny Hatchet
And they scored 38 points.
Craig Robick
It's like a version of what I was saying earlier. I'm like, you just throw it deep every time. I'm like, you could actually just throw it to your best player every time and it might work.
Danny Kay
Craig, this is, this is what I'm talking about for years with like Arthur Smith and stuff. Just let your best players cook.
Danny Hatchet
I don't mean to be glib or disrespectful to, to, to coaches or anything, but I do sometimes. Like again, the jets won this game, but let's be clear, like they gave up 38 fucking points to Joe Flacco who showed up three weeks ago. Just like Mike Tomlin gave up however many points to a guy who showed up two weeks ago. Like at some point what Joe Flacco is doing with his Bengals team challenges what I think about football and I'm not saying about I'm a genius. It's more making me doubt how all these people who spend all this time doing this can be failed by this fucking 40 year old guy who just got here, clearly doesn't know the playbook and is like, I'm just going to throw it to this best player every time. And then one on Thursday football game doing that. Ten days go by and they still no one has figured out how to double Jamar Chase. How is this possible? His only thing.
Craig Robick
Zach Taylor should not give Flacco the playbook. They should just, just keep, just keep going out there and winging it.
Danny Kay
It's like turkey bowl stuff. It's like, okay, it's like go up to the line, look around. Oh, there's Chase.
Danny Hatchet
Okay, I get watching more. Chase is mad. They're like, how'd you lose? He's like, I Don't know. I just, I, I, it's playoffs.
Craig Robick
Any intrusive thoughts from you two?
Danny Hatchet
Yeah, what the is with these? How do these guys coach at the end? Why is it so hard to cover Jabar Chase? I just don't get it. How is what no one else has thought of throwing to the best player anyway? My other checks in college.
Danny Kay
Now no one knows how to do it anyway anymore.
Danny Hatchet
Yeah, he's crushing it. He's the only one who thought of it. My intrusive thought after Cam Scatterbelt got hurt, like, a few minutes went by and I was thinking and I was like, is this my fault? Like, is God mad at me or the Giants? Like, is this, is this something that I've done?
Danny Kay
What'd you just, what did you, what was the conclusion? I'm not sure I'm going to tell you. It's not your fault.
Danny Hatchet
Okay, thanks.
Danny Kay
It's not your fault.
Danny Hatchet
The other intrusive thought I had was how many. If you had to win a game next week, if you died, if you lost and you dropped a quarterback onto an average team, question so much, how many, how many players would you. How many quarterbacks would you pick before Drake May, Mahomes, Josh Allen?
Danny Kay
I'm not there yet. I'm not there with Drake May.
Danny Hatchet
Okay, well, that's what I'm asking you. Next week you die if you don't win this game. Healthy quarterbacks, too. Lamar doesn't count.
Danny Kay
Yeah, he wouldn't be up there.
Danny Hatchet
Okay, but you say that. But I'm so, so. Okay, so. But I'm. Name them is my point. Like, you're not going to pick Jalen Hurts your life on the line. It's like Mahomes. It's Josh Herbert. Lamar's hurt, Burrows hurt. Stafford is probably there for me and I'm like, dak. And I'm like, I kind of think I'd take Drake May over Jaden Daniels.
Danny Kay
Jaden or Jordan Love?
Danny Hatchet
I would absolutely take Drake May to win a game over Jordan Love.
Danny Kay
Oh, I don't, I'm not quite there yet. I, I'm like, in terms of the players I would take, I'm trying to build a franchise from scratch. Drake Bay would be up there, the guy that I want to win a game tonight or I'm dead. I'm not there with Drake. Me. He's looking great, though. He is. I'm not like trying to dismiss. I'm just saying it's early.
Craig Robick
I think I would take him over Jordan Love.
Danny Kay
That's fair. I'm not like 100. Sure. I would take Jordan Love over him.
Craig Robick
But yeah, he's like already in that top 7 to 10 range.
Danny Hatchet
That's what I'm trying to say. It's easy to say you'd build the franchise around him. I'm saying I think he's like sixth in guys I would take right now. Yeah, it's like Mahomes, Stafford, Josh Allen, Herbert. Yeah, Mahomes going. I guess they should go in order. Mahomes and Josh, not Rogers Stafford.
Craig Robick
What about Baker?
Danny Hatchet
Oh, yeah, I would take Baker. That's. Thank you. Yeah. The healthy Baker. Yeah. Baker, Baker, Jackson Dart.
Danny Kay
How dare you.
Craig Robick
This episode is brought to you by Nordstrom.
Danny Hatchet
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Craig Robick
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Danny Hatchet
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Plus explore their amazing gift shop in stores and online. Free gift finding help, free shipping and order pickup. Make it all easy at Nordstrom. Play of the day. I mentioned these two already. Michael Pittman, the touchdown again. I. I don't know if I've seen a player get the one hand touchdown with the arm that was being pinned. Like that was just amazing. And the Bree hall touchdown pass, it looked like AI. It kind of did. It's like, it's like.
Danny Kay
It's like there's no way that this.
Danny Hatchet
Video was created by someone who doesn't understand physics. Like why is the arm in the guy's arm and like that doesn't. The bar would. The ball would never fit there. The Anthony Nelson batted pass and then trucking Spencer Rattler and then walking to the end zone. But I think that was sadder for Rattler than it was cooler for the guy. I'm not sure.
Danny Kay
I got bench too, by the way. Yeah, shuck shuck came in. Neither of them were very awful. Yeah, so not great.
Craig Robick
My play of the day was the.
Danny Kay
The.
Craig Robick
Did you guys see the Chase Brown pump fake flea flicker? I don't believe this was planned. Yeah, it was supposed to be a flu flicker. He turns, Chase Brown has the ball, turns around, sees Joe Flacco surrounded by like three defenders and then just keeps the ball and then runs forward and it worked.
Danny Hatchet
That was really heads up.
Craig Robick
Yeah, it was cool.
Danny Kay
We should see more fake flea flickers.
Craig Robick
Yeah, every place should be a flea flicker. In some it should be a fake flea flicker, a double flea flicker, or just a regular flea flicker.
Danny Hatchet
We need more flicky it's like.
Craig Robick
It's like the new version.
Danny Kay
Yeah.
Danny Hatchet
Craig's pro flicker.
Danny Kay
Hear me out. This is the Don driver. All flea flickers.
Craig Robick
Hear me out. We build the entire plane out of the black box. Build the entire offense around the fleet flicker.
Danny Hatchet
Just throw it to gmar. Chase Belichick's gonna come back and win a Super Bowl. He's gonna be like, I got an idea. Coverage of our chase. All flea flickers. Worst play of the day.
Craig Robick
Wait, we. There's a category in between that you skipped.
Danny Hatchet
Oh, you want Tom Brady.
Craig Robick
Yeah. Well, I don't want to do Tom Brady. I want to do a different broadcaster. His name is Terry Bradshaw.
Danny Kay
Did you guys.
Danny Hatchet
This was sad.
Craig Robick
I have the clip, and so we're gonna play it right now.
Danny Kay
This is great.
Craig Robick
Upsetting Terry Bradshaw on the Fox. On the Fox Countdown the other day.
Danny Hatchet
I text Andy Reid, and I got a text back, and I thought it.
Craig Robick
Was Andy Reed, but it was some guy selling pigs.
Danny Hatchet
But I sounded good. I shouldn't have told y' all that, so y' all would have thought I actually talked to Andy Reid, but I. I didn't really.
Craig Robick
You know what this t. You know what that taught me? We could be on Fox.
Danny Hatchet
I.
Craig Robick
We could be doing far on Fox Countdown, right?
Danny Kay
Like, he just starts trailing off, and then they just interrupt him.
Danny Hatchet
Terry Bradshaw is the most, like, beloved family member that, like, shouldn't, like. It's. I don't even know.
Danny Kay
Let's get you.
Craig Robick
I, I. I've. I watched it five times. I don't even know what he means. I don't know what that means.
Danny Kay
I shouldn't have told you that it was a pig. Was it a pig seller?
Craig Robick
A guy selling pigs? What are you talking about? What does that mean?
Danny Kay
I need to get to the bottom.
Craig Robick
What does that mean?
Danny Kay
Terry.
Craig Robick
Michael Strahan was confounded. He was like, what the. He was. It was like a combination of incredibly confused and embarrassed.
Danny Hatchet
The wildest thing, too, is obviously Terry Bradshaw's. You know, these had too many concussions and, like, shouldn't be on television, but frankly, seems like such a nice guy. No one wants to fire him. Like, I believe that's the deal.
Danny Kay
He's awesome. The best moment that. It's the best moment that crew's had months.
Craig Robick
We're talking about it.
Danny Kay
We are talking about it. What was the last time we talked about some, like, halftime show? They're gonna give the halftime shows play.
Danny Hatchet
By play still, though, which is, like, wild, because, like, I. You can't unsee it, and you start to realize that even reading for him is just like. It's just like an adventure.
Craig Robick
Now for 77 in the amount of concussions he's probably suffered, I actually think he's doing all right. You gotta give it to him. He's doing still pretty good.
Danny Hatchet
Yeah. Terry, he's a. He's a nice guy.
Craig Robick
Okay. Worst play of the day. I was just sitting there freaking powered down. Just rolling around in it like a pig of.
Danny Kay
All right, let's. Let's just dwell on this for a little bit longer.
Danny Hatchet
No, I just. I just feel bad for Terry, man.
Danny Kay
Yeah, we know. Keep moving. Keep it moving. Let's go.
Danny Hatchet
Hurry up. Back to work. Okay. Oh, stadium pulse of the week. I. I just. There was no stadium pulse this week. I think there was one moment all day, like the eight, like 11 hours of football or whatever the Jets Bengals game, when the jets were trying, like that Breeze hall touchdown. That was the only moment all day that mattered. Like, you could argue the Bears at the goal line when fourth down and Caleb, like threw the ball. We'd be doing that.
Craig Robick
Yeah.
Danny Kay
That was just because we were in danger of losing our bet.
Danny Hatchet
Yeah. That was 14 under the two warning. I think there was one mo. There was one high leverage moment in 11 hours. And I don't think I'm forgetting one.
Danny Kay
No late game ones. Anyway.
Danny Hatchet
Just thought that was notable. I can't remember any day ever beat Lena. Phil makes 20 billion a year because that's not a thing. So I just. I. I think it's the lot. My point being, I think this is the least leveraged week in terms of big moments. That's one games I've ever seen.
Craig Robick
It all came down to Flacco versus Fields. That was it.
Danny Hatchet
Flacco versus Fields is just unbelievable. Arthur Smith Sean Hockey award for coach a ref that pissed you off. We mentioned, I mean, the refs of the Eagles Giants game. It was a travesty. Was there anything else?
Danny Kay
There was a play in the Bucks game that got called. What was it? They recovered a fumble. It would have been a touchdown.
Danny Hatchet
Winfield had two different touchdowns that were like. They were like, oh, sorry, we fucked that up.
Danny Kay
Sorry.
Danny Hatchet
Like he went back and scored and they were like, oh, so. And then it happened again.
Craig Robick
I loved the. I loved Chris Collinsworth tonight on the broadcast. Basically being like, I don't really understand how replay assistant challenges work. Like, I don't get it.
Danny Hatchet
I like that he admitted that. That was great.
Craig Robick
I still get it.
Danny Hatchet
I actually think that system's good. But. So Ron Torber as he's screwing up that Saints bucks thing. Oh, no, it was Land Clark came on. I forget what game. Land Clark.
Danny Kay
Oh, land. Yeah.
Danny Hatchet
And explained to Jackie Land Clark is a land clerk because he, you know, runs municipal buildings in Albuquerque or whatever. So we're like land clerks at land clerk. Jackie's like, these guys have jobs.
Craig Robick
She's like, not an Arrested Development character.
Danny Hatchet
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Danny Kay
That's what people always say to me.
Danny Hatchet
I know, but Jackie was just like, these guys, other careers, it's like, yeah, I was like. They're like. I was like, yeah, the NFL just pays him, like, 130, 140 grand a year. They're all like, lawyers and they do other stuff, and this is like, part time. Jackie was like, what the. So, anyway, Ron Torbert went to Harvard Law. I learned that today.
Danny Kay
Wow.
Craig Robick
Okay.
Danny Kay
Okay.
Danny Hatchet
I was Googling Ron Torbert, trying to figure out what his job was. Just retired. 2019.
Danny Kay
What was it before?
Danny Hatchet
A lawyer.
Danny Kay
Like, what kind of lawyer?
Danny Hatchet
I don't know. I didn't get that far.
Craig Robick
Okay, what was he selling?
Danny Kay
Pigs.
Craig Robick
I just texted a pig seller. What was he selling?
Danny Kay
Pigs.
Craig Robick
Oh, God.
Danny Hatchet
Shouldn't have told you about the pig.
Danny Kay
Seller.
Danny Hatchet
Because then he was like.
Danny Kay
He was, like, worried they weren't going to be impressed because he didn't actually have Andy Reid's number.
Craig Robick
I think it's super relatable.
Danny Hatchet
It's so good. Lucille Bluth. I don't understand the stat line. I won't respond to it.
Danny Kay
Dak Prescott completes 31 passes state separate pass catchers, and zero of them are to Jake Ferguson. The fuck? What's going on with that? This. This is the guy who came into the game 4th in the NFL and catches. Only Chase Puka and CMC had more catches than him.
Craig Robick
Is that personally. Is that personally upsetting to you? Do you have to do shotgun a beer now?
Danny Kay
No, not in that. I don't have him in that league, thankfully. But I do have him in a league where I'm playing one Bill Simmons, and it's not helping my cause.
Danny Hatchet
So my. I don't understand. The Statland won't respond to it. I actually. I actually want to talk about a commercial that I saw on Sunday Night Football, and It was for AT&T, and I don't remember the guy. I mean, he's, like, famous. I don't remember. Who's the pitch man?
Danny Kay
Luke Will.
Danny Hatchet
Yes, Luke Wilson. And he just says in the middle of this commercial, I was like, half paying attention. He says, we invented the telephone. And I was like, what? I Just what are you. What are you talking about? You invented the phone.
Danny Kay
AT&T developed and invented it.
Danny Hatchet
I guess Alexander Graham Bell invented like he co founded Bell Telephone Company and then I guess AT and T kind of is Bell. But I thought that was like a wild thing to claim. Like that was so out of bounds.
Danny Kay
It's like when I invented the question mark, right?
Danny Hatchet
@&T. We invented the phone.
Craig Robick
The jump shot. Yeah.
Danny Kay
I saw some tweet where someone was like, like complaining. It was like such an American thing to do that we took the country code plus one or whatever, you know, and then someone just quote in tweet it and was like, we're the ones who invented the telephone off. And I was like, hell yeah, America.
Craig Robick
I'm surprised it took AT T this long to throw that in an ad.
Danny Hatchet
That was my other thought, Craig. It was like I literally. My first thought was, how have you never brought this up before?
Craig Robick
It should brag about it should be the fucking slogan we invented the phone.
Danny Hatchet
Should be the only thing you talk about. Because you know what? That's why I know you fucking didn't because you never brought it up. I'm 30 years old. I have AT&T. I have no idea. I've never heard you say this before. That's. Imagine if I just told you I was like, all right, guys, I invented the football. Like, you know what I mean? Like, how is this just coming up now that you say you invented the phone?
Danny Kay
That's pretty good. I like that.
Danny Hatchet
That was my. My other one is I want to do the tungsten arm odoyle. The other stat that I couldn't believe. The. This is a tungsten arm.
Danny Kay
You know, the. Can you give people the context of AR doy?
Danny Hatchet
I'm going to read the actual tweet because it's so funny.
Danny Kay
It's one of the alt timers. This is.
Danny Hatchet
This is like one of the best. So it's just the. Every time I. This is like one of my. The best baseball post ever on social media. And someone said every time you see an Angels highlight, it's like Mike Trout hit three home runs and raised his average to 528 while Shahei Otani did something that hasn't been done since. Tungsten Arm O' Doyle of the 1921 Akron Groomsmen as the Tigers defeated the Angels 8 to 3. And I wanted. I wanted to give the tungsten armo Doyle of the week to Miles Garrett, who had five sacks today, the most in franchise history. Also passing Reggie White for the Most career sacks before turning 30 ever. As the Browns lost to New England 32 to 13.
Danny Kay
They were completely uncompetitive.
Danny Hatchet
Miles Garrett is the first NFL player to ever have five sacks at a game and lose by three points or more. They lost by, like 19. He's just like, guys helmet smashing it on the sideline with his $40 million a year hole in his heart.
Danny Kay
This is really good. That is like, so. It's so true to the tungsten arm o' Doyle format. I love it.
Danny Hatchet
It's like, Miles Garrett, greatest pass rusher I've ever seen, lost by 19. Congrats.
Danny Kay
The Browns lost to New England. The New England groomsman, 32 to not 13.
Craig Robick
The Akron groomsman.
Danny Hatchet
Anyway. Oh, I forgot to do the two tight ends who had scored Kyle Pitts in a lot.
Danny Kay
Here's the deal. Kyle Pitts had a good day, guys.
Danny Hatchet
He did.
Craig Robick
Kyle Pitts put together. Putting together a decent season.
Danny Kay
Yeah, he, like, looks like a real tight end, too, now, which is very nice because for a long time we were just, you know, going on the fact that he was drafted very highly. Now he actually looks good.
Danny Hatchet
I will say everyone we make fun of was, like, fine, like, Waddle had a good game. Pitts, even Trayvon Henderson. I was going to do two running backs outscore Trayvon Henderson alive, but I kind of think you guys would be able to do it, so. Oh, actually, no. I do have that really quick.
Danny Kay
What is it?
Danny Hatchet
Two running backs out square. Trayvon Henderson or Lie. You may have heard of these guys. Jonathan Taylor, Christian McCaffrey and Bichon Robinson.
Danny Kay
Not Bijan.
Craig Robick
Yeah, Bijan probably didn't.
Danny Hatchet
I just wanted to. Yeah, point that out. Bijan Robinson. Oh, my God.
Craig Robick
Imagine how angry you'd be if somebody was like, hey, Travion's gonna outscore Bijon.
Danny Hatchet
This week.
Danny Kay
Against the Dolphins.
Danny Hatchet
You play them. Oh, my God. All right, speaking which burn Book Craig, you got anyone? You're the one filled with anger and rage.
Craig Robick
I don't. I don't have a strong feel for anybody. I was gonna nominate Jordan Mason, who I think has been pretty widely disappointing. After Aaron Jones went down week two, he kind of basically said, one good game. You start him every week, and he's been pretty bad. And today he had one point, or on Thursday he had one point.
Danny Hatchet
Well, Jones returned, and I mean, that was just a tough game. I. I kind of think it should be Alvin Kamara. We haven't talked about Alvin Camara a lot. He had, like, a good couple weeks. And then. Have you, like, looked at What Alvin Kamara has done, because I think a key to the Burden book is it's. It's guys that you're playing. You're playing, right? Yes. And we. Camara really has been very similar to Tony Pollard, except you really took him, like, earlier. And also, you probably don't bench Alvin Camara, but, I mean, just to go backward, 5 points, 4 points, 10 points, 7 points, 9 points, 6 points. Like, that's destroying you.
Craig Robick
Yeah, that's a good one. That's not bad.
Danny Hatchet
And you probably took him over like George Pickens.
Craig Robick
Yeah.
Danny Kay
Yeah.
Craig Robick
That's not a bad one. Dk, do you have one?
Danny Kay
Well, I was gonna say Pollard potentially burned it.
Danny Hatchet
We burned Pollard. So the bur. The this point, we burned Jalen Waddle. Week one, week one, Mark Andrews, Week two, Isaiah Pacheco. Week three, Calvin Really. Week four, Trivia Henderson, Week five. Kind of wish we could burn him every week. Tony Pollard, Week six, Justin Fields last week, which really are continuing that. Everyone had a good game.
Craig Robick
It's a hilarious Fields week because nobody started them. Everybody was pissed. And then, of course, he puts up, like, 21 fantasy points. Perfect burn book person. Yeah, perfect. No notes. All right, let's do Camara. I agree with you. That's a good one. You're in the book. I don't really think of him as somebody named Alvin.
Danny Kay
I don't either. When you look at it, like, closely, it doesn't. It doesn't really match.
Danny Hatchet
It's so true.
Craig Robick
Like, if you just met him, he'd walk in, you'd be like, hey, what's up, Alvin?
Danny Hatchet
Wouldn't you be like, al doesn't feel right.
Craig Robick
I'd probably be like, hey, Camara.
Danny Hatchet
Kamara. He's like, hey, it's Alvin Kamara. It seems like it's one name. Yeah, yeah. Imagine you just called him Alvin.
Craig Robick
My buddy Alvin's gonna come. Imagine, in walks in Alvin Camaro.
Danny Kay
That's so true. That's so good. My grandpa's name was Alvin.
Craig Robick
Yeah. Yeah.
Danny Hatchet
If anyone's under 30 and named Alvin, please email us at ringer Fantasy football Gmail.
Danny Kay
I'd like to name Alvin, for what's worth. It's very close to Calvin.
Danny Hatchet
Who are other. Oh, it is like, Calvin.
Danny Kay
Yeah.
Danny Hatchet
Oh, Alvin's like Calvin. Wow.
Danny Kay
Yeah.
Craig Robick
Yeah. Who's more famous? Alvin Camaro or. Or the Chipmunks?
Danny Hatchet
Chipmunks did good at the box office. 300 million.
Danny Kay
This is like our Bambi discussion. I don't even want to weigh into this.
Craig Robick
We should have a segment called Questions that Literally can't be answered. And it's. It's things. It's like just actually it's just. It's called Marshals to Oranges. And it's just like, who's more famous? Chipmunks. How the am.
Danny Hatchet
I didn't. The Chipmunks director didn't. He did good.
Craig Robick
Oh, I don't remember it, but the movie's absolutely crushed.
Danny Hatchet
Alvin.
Danny Kay
I think Alvin and the Chipmunks are more famous. It's just.
Craig Robick
Yeah, you're probably a people like the NFL. No, you're probably right. Alvin and the Chipmunks movie. Who directed these Son of a guns? Tim Hill.
Danny Hatchet
We had a whole conversation about this.
Craig Robick
Tim Hill. I'm not seeing anything about Tim Hill here. Dude, you know what movie that was on this weekend? And the Airbnb I was staying in. It's a good movie. I like it. Mamma Mia. Have you seen Mamma Mia. The movie?
Danny Kay
I have not.
Craig Robick
That movie made $700 million. Damn. That movie made more than like any Mission Impossible. It was cheaper and way cheaper. I kind of forgot how much of a massive hit Mamma Mia was. And that's my beloved abba. So have a great time rewatching Meryl Streep. Well.
Danny Hatchet
Oh, man. I just wonder where he was going with that.
Craig Robick
And have you seen it, dk?
Danny Kay
No. Wow. But maybe I should.
Craig Robick
It's not your type of. It's not your type of Cypher role might not be for you.
Danny Kay
A musical.
Craig Robick
Yeah, I don't think it has any scenes yet.
Danny Kay
Yeah. Yeah. You freak.
Danny Hatchet
Okay, I think that's all we got. Thank you, dk. Thank you, Craig. Thank you, Carlos. Thank you, Kai. Thank you, Ronick. Thank you everyone for emailing Aiden. Email us rigorfancy football gmail.com Email us trivia questions. Email us Fantasy courts. What kind of kind of got one this week. Email us.
Danny Kay
I.
Danny Hatchet
If anyone just named Alvin, I just want to know about that. Other athletes who you don't think about that their name is that it's also a good one.
Danny Kay
I like that.
Danny Hatchet
I want all those things and then.
Craig Robick
I want all I want. If you think you're the youngest Alvin, please email us.
Danny Hatchet
Yeah, yeah. I want to know about Alvin. Alvin. Yeah, my friend Alvin's coming over to Alvin Cavar is pretty good. And then tk, I have a heavy suggestion on the band right now.
Danny Kay
Yeah, I see.
Danny Hatchet
Thank you, Lord.
Craig Robick
Lord.
Danny Kay
Thank you. Good kid.
Danny Hatchet
So I want to shout out good kid because this bit. So we were in Spotify last week in la and we were just like they have this big theater. So we're watching all these games in the theater, and we walk in Monday night, I guess, and this band is just there in Spotify, like, recording. And one of them is a fan of the show and recognized me. And, like, we just started talking and they're, like, in a band, and so, like, infinitely cooler than, like, what we got going on. And so. But anyway, they were very kind and they invited me to, like, just watch them do a session, and they were just, like, making a song, and it was fucking awesome. And it was really cool because they weren't just, like, had the song figured out and just recording it. They were, like, trying to figure out what the song should sound like. And I got to just watch them figure out. And they're like, you know, just like, oh, what do we want the, the BPM to be in the tempo? And then one of them just like, oh, I love, like, fast stuff. And they're like, we know. And they're like, like, all arguing. And then the drummer is, like, in his, like, sequestered quarantine room because it's so loud. And he chimes in with, like, like, very thoughtful. Like, I don't know. It was really cool to just watch them make a song. It was awesome.
Danny Kay
So there's a few things. Few things in this world more impressive than watching musicians do their thing. So fucking cool.
Danny Hatchet
It was really cool.
Danny Kay
So, yeah, shout out to good kid musicians and podcasters.
Craig Robick
That's awesome.
Danny Kay
Yeah.
Craig Robick
Yeah, maybe. Can good kid be our Pearl Jam? Can we have a good kid song as our intro? Yeah, for free. But, yeah, we don't have any money. I don't have any money, but it'd be. We don't have a huge promo.
Danny Hatchet
Rich in spirit, you know, that's what I said. The first match I had in Bumble in LA was when I was, like, right out of college, when someone's like, I'm looking for an SD sugar daddy. I was like, I don't have anybody, but I'm rich in spirit. And then she unmatched me.
Craig Robick
That's tough. Honest, though, up front.
Danny Hatchet
I, I, it's really. Yeah, it was great.
Danny Kay
That's the idea, I think.
Craig Robick
Yeah.
Danny Kay
Cut to the chase.
Danny Hatchet
Should really call it humble.
Craig Robick
Yeah, Rich in spirit's good. Just immediate swipe left.
Danny Hatchet
It was like, I'm an intern done.
Craig Robick
I'm an, I'm an intern cooked. I write articles for free. And I'm like, ah.
Danny Hatchet
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This episode is a lively and irreverent Week 8 recap with Danny Heifetz, Danny Kelly, and Craig Horlbeck. The trio breaks down a lopsided, often bleak Sunday slate punctuated by blowouts, few competitive games, and a parade of both breakout and heartbreaking moments for fantasy managers. They weave in rants, running jokes, deep fantasy analysis, and the unique sadness of losing beloved players (both in fantasy and real life).
Despite a “pumpkin patch” of a Sunday, the show delivers catharsis for fantasy pain, biting wit, and true inside-baseball analysis—plus the ongoing existential interrogation of why any of us keep playing. This episode is must-listen for any manager (tormented or triumphant), highlighting how, even in the bleakest weeks, there’s plenty to love (or laugh at) about fantasy football.
Send fantasy court cases, trivia, Excuse Bingo suggestions, or just Houston-area quarterback tales to ringerfantasyfootball@gmail.com.
Music rec & closing shoutout: Good Kid (band, not a running back).