Fantasy Football Daily - 2022 Week 14 Matchup Podcast

Episode Date: December 8, 2022

John Hansen (@Fantasy_Guru) and Greg Cosell (@gregcosell) preview Week 14 NFL action. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fantasy-points-podcast/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's time for the Fantasy Points podcast brought to you by FantasyPoint.com. Top level fantasy football and NFL betting analysis from every perspective and angle, from numbers to the film room with a single goal to help you score more fantasy points. It is the week 14 matchup podcast here at FantasyPoint.com. I'm John Hanson. Greg CoSell in the film all week. Got a ton of film he's gone over. already here recording this on Wednesday night, December 7th.

And if you are new to this little podcast here, we have a ton of them on our stream here at FantasyPoints.com, but this is just a little bit of a taste of the stuff we get from Greg CoSell, and we do the live stream every Thursday night with me, Greg and Adam Kaplan, get the inside information injury updates from Mr. C, and we cover all the matchups in-depth. Greg, I see your notes here.

Actually, John, I really didn't watch it. I really didn't watch any of that stuff. I just typed out 25 pages. You know, I made it all up. Yeah, you know, you call it the way you see it. And if you don't see it, you make it up. Right, exactly. I just felt like typing out 25 pages that I just felt like making up, you know?

Yep, yep. You're familiar with that old line. That's an old George Carlin line. He had a, you know, he did the hippie-dippy-dippy weatherman, but he also had... No, no, I'm a big Carlin fan, so, yeah. Yeah. He also had the fake sports guy, Biff Bar. Oh, yeah, yeah, no.

That was his tagline. I call him the way I see them, and if I don't see them, I make them up. I call them anyway, exactly, right, right. Yeah. Well, with that said here, we did actually, you know, see it. We do watch the games, and you watch the tape, so let's get into it here. We'll start with the Patriots because they're playing, you know, just very up and down football right now, and I don't know what to think.

They are playing on Monday night. but what did you see out of the offense? I mean, you saw them the week before where everything seemed to be going swimmingly, you know, against a zone-based D. Another zone-based D last week, and it didn't go as well. No, and I'm sure there's many reasons that we don't know, John, because we're not there. And obviously, there was a lot of talk before the season and through the season about the changing nature of the offense from Josh McDaniels to Matt Patricia and whatever that means.

We can't answer that question. All I can answer is what I see on tape. And it's been very up and down both for the offense as a whole and for Mack Jones. And three weeks ago, we spoke about Jones not playing particularly well. And then he had that game two weeks ago where he played with sort of the refined sense of timing and rhythm that we come to expect from Mac Jones based on the kind of quarterback he is. And then last week, it wasn't there. And in fact, that play that was intentional grounding, that was. was almost a safety. You know, that play was in some ways such a surprise to me because that was

just such a basic play. It was slant flat to the boundary and he had the slant to Parker. That's, that's the play and he didn't throw it. And that was kind of very representative of the game. He just did not play particularly well. So I don't envy you now trying to figure out what this offense and what Mac Jones is going to look like in their next game because it seems so up and down to me. And the run game has been, as you know, both inconsistent in terms of both volume and production. You're not necessarily agreeing with Mack Jones, you know, caught, you know, didn't, you don't need to be an expert lip reader to see what he was saying, basically run or throw the effing ball or running game stinks. Well, we can't confirm that the running

game stinks, but... Right. But the bottom line is, and I don't disagree with that as a general thought, just purely based on tape study. Yeah. But he himself did not play well. He left and throws on the field that he must turn loose. He did not play particularly well. Now, again, that's heat in the moment stuck. We don't need to respond to that. But, you know, I think he has to play better. And look, this is the offense. Whether it's the right one, the wrong one, I can't speak to that. None of us can really speak to that unless we're there, but within the context of this offense, he's not playing at a high level on any kind of consistent basis. Yeah, no question about it. This week, I'd say it's a beatable matchup, but the other problem may be, there's no

staples. And, you know, what do I know? But, you know, it would be nice for a young quarterback to have a guy, you know, a staple. Yeah. They got none of that. So, you know, it's a tough situation. A surprisingly tough situation, given that it's a Bill Belichick team, but that's the reality. That's what the tape states. It is a beautiful matchup for Hunter Henry, though. The Cardinals have been greatly struggling against Tide End, so we're all in on that. But, yeah, Ramandre is at 3.7 yards to carry the last four weeks, and that's been pretty much par for the course. And we'll see about Damien Harris.

I feel like, you know, they could use Damien Harris. He's got a little bit more burst than Ramandre. Yeah, and, you know, unfortunately, he gets hurt every year, which is a shame because I like the skill set a lot. They do too, obviously, because when he's healthy, he's kind of the number one guy. So they obviously like the skill set, too. So we'll see what happens. I think Patriots traditionally here, vulnerable to running quarterbacks. So Kyler this week, I think, is probably looking pretty good.

Also looking pretty good. last week James Cook of the Buffalo Bills. You started talking about this about a month ago. Yeah. You know, maybe we're seeing a little bit of, you know, an edict maybe or an inclination to get this kid going and it kind of all came to fruition last week. Did you get the sense watching the tape that he was kind of like their lead back? I think it's moving somewhat in that direction.

Look, I think they have an affinity for Singletary because he's been there as they built up to become a really good team. And he's a solid player. But Cook gives you more juice. The thing that stood out to me last week is they had 13 snaps with the pony package, meaning two tailbacks. 12 of those 13 had Cook and Heinz. Only one of them had Singletary and Heinz. So, you know, I think Cook, and again, I just happened to see some of this stuff this week. Normally, I don't hear a lot of this. You probably see more of it than I do. But hearing Ken Dorsey talk and seeing you know, others talk. I'm sensing that they feel Cook now as he's gained a little more experience in his rookie season is, you know, not making the mistakes that he did earlier in the year.

And he just gives you more. Now, keep one thing in mind. I don't know how this will play out, but they're playing a division opponent, okay? A team they lost to four weeks ago at a time when Cook was not playing as much and Heinz was not a factor. So now they've had 10 days, John, 10 days. So it would not surprise me to see them put in more things that involve Cook and Heinz this week. Right. Yeah. Well, that's what they've been looking for. Explosiveness in the backfield. You know, Singletary, a little bit more of a lateral grinder type guy, not necessarily explosive. And James Cook looks really good. But again, you know, long-term, can he be, I guess, the old, you know, designations we go with primary. I guess he can. He can.

be a primary back. Not a foundation, you know, 250 plus carry guy, but, you know, Singletar has been like 220. I mean, can Cook be a 220 guy? I think that's what they see their offense as. In other words, even when Singletary was, quote, unquote, running the ball, where was he getting 13, 14 carries a week, maybe 15? A big number was 17.

I think they feel Cook can be that. Look what he had last week. He had 14 carries. Yeah. Actually, Singletarer has never even hit. 200 calories, which surprised me a little bit. 188 was the high there in 2021. Otherwise, you know, boy, you watch the passing game and look, I was a big Gabe Davis guy this year.

I definitely oversold the guy. I think he's not playing nearly as well as he's capable of. But, I mean, at this point, he's not reliable enough. I mean, you watch the offense. It's just Steph Diggs is the only reliable dude here for Josh Allen. Well, and the other thing, too, about the bills, and we saw this Thanksgiving Day when they had that long drive to go ahead late in the fourth quarter before the Lions tied it up with the field goal, they're becoming a little more methodical in how they want to play. True. Right. Yeah. They had the 15-play 96-yard drive from the third quarter into the fourth quarter that took almost nine minutes off the clock in their last game.

and that featured eight runs and seven called passes. So, you know, look, do they have it in their back pocket whenever they feel they're going to have to throw the ball because of Josh Allen and obviously digs? And yes, but I think they want to move more in this direction because it makes them more complete and ultimately more difficult to defend. That's a great observation because you can really see it, you know, on a week-to-week basis because Gabe Davis has kind of been, obviously, their shot play guy and they're just not taking as many of the. those shots. No, and look, there might be a game that demands that. And, you know, with Josh who can make any throw, yes, you can do that. But, you know, they seem to be moving in this direction, which tells you that they want

to move in this direction. Yeah. And this week, though, other than digs. Tough defense. Yeah, man. Like, what is it about these jets here? They just play their sides. and they're three good corners.

Like they're just always on the receivers, these guys. Yeah, they're good corners. But again, we're now going into week 14, correct? Yeah. So if you use 13 weeks as a guide, and that's all we have on tape, then Gardner will not match up to Diggs. He lined up O'Grim twice in the first matchup, and that was because Diggs went in motion.

Right. So the people who are saying, I can't wait for the guard. Gardner Diggs matchup, the Jets would have to step outside of everything they've done through 13 weeks in order to do that. Yeah, that's just a little, it's a little lazy, I guess. We're not saying that here. No, no, but I'm just, you know, just heard of the talking point because I see that on social media all the time. Can't wait for the Gardner Diggs matchup.

Look, Greg, I'm always looking for it, though. I will say, look, I hear you. But I am looking for it. A coroner guy, Wes Euber, I did get that right. was it two weeks ago with Christian Kirk and Marlon Humphrey. Apparently Humphrey did travel with him. So I am looking for that. Well, he didn't travel with him.

Just so you're clear. Right. He lined up, he played in the slot, okay? Right. So you know, and that's where Kirk, Kirk has, as you know, Kirk has more slot targets. Oh, for sure, for sure. So Humphrey played in the slot so he didn't travel with him.

Right, right. slot corner, but they played zone probably on 95% of their defensive snaps. I think maybe what it is is when they want him, they have maybe the will at times travel against a top outside guy, which leaves Kirk, you know, which leaves the slot area, whatever. We're splitting hairs here. Yeah, yeah. I mean, no, I'm just telling you what the film shows. Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha.

But, you know, we are as fantasy people, look, we'll, we'll, we'll. explore various possibilities. We're trying to get the answer to the test before, and it's very difficult. Right. You know, sometimes you've got to take some shots, educated guesses. Let's move on here to the Eagles offense, and boy, how that must have been a very demoralizing loss for the Titans above and beyond the AJ Brown stuff because of the, I guess, the domination in the trenches on both sides, Greg.

Well, that's what happened. You know, it's interesting. And I've talked for a number of years only because I learned it from Bill Wall, someone a lot smarter than I am, that to be a great offense, that you're, and I've said this to you over the years, that your offense, excuse me, your run game and your past game need to be able to work independently from one another in any given game plan approach or in any given game as it plays out. Sure.

And we've seen that with the Eagles. Two weeks ago, they ran the ball for 350 yards. Last week, they looked at this defense and said, hey, you know what? the strength of that defense for Tennessee is their front. Right. The weakness is on the back end. So you know what? We're going to come out and throw the football.

And that's what they did. And Hertz threw for 380 one week after they ran for 350. So, but the key to everything they did on the offensive side, and it's just unheard of in the NFL, you watch that tape. And they just stoned that pass rush. Nobody got near Jalen Hertz. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

No question. And they are taking full advantage of this pristine protection as well, right? I mean, are they finding, like, cheat codes to the, you know, the two deep safeties and the split safeties and all that with A.J. Brown and Devante Smith. Well, one of the things that they've done, and they did it early in the year, but they started to do it more and more. and I think it becomes a comfort confidence thing is, and the Bengals have been doing it under Joe Burrow, is when they get one-on-one outside the numbers, okay? Brown Smith, Hertz is taking those throws.

And, you know, you have to feel good about making those throws because normally receivers are not wide open when you make those throws. You know, they have to be really good throws because they're further down the field, and you have to feel good that your receiver will make the catch. but they've been doing that in recent weeks. Look, he hit Kwez Watkins against Green Bay a few weeks ago against Rasul Douglas down the field on a back shoulder vertical.

We've seen him take shots to Brown. They take shots to Smith. This offense is becoming very aggressive when they see one-on-one outside the numbers. Yeah, that's good coaching and it's smart. When you have A.J. Brown, compared to last year, that gives you confidence to play that way, I would imagine, you know. I mean, he makes those. Especially when you have some success, then you really feel like you just want to keep doing that.

Yeah. Well, you got the Giants this week and divisional opponent, new scheme, their new system. But first meeting for the year. What have you seen out of the Giants defense lately? I see some of their younger players like Ojolare and, of course, Tibado, the number one pick, starting to seemingly come on a little bit. Yeah, Tipido, I don't notice very often on tape. Ojolari jumped off the film this week.

The Giants are an interesting defense because it's Wink Martindale. So there's two things we know with Wink Martindale that have played out this year for the Giants. Number one, they play a lot of man coverage. And number two, they blitz a lot. And what they do is they blitz from sub defenses. So just this past week, the Giants played 21 snaps, John, with seven defensive backs on the field. That's unheard of. It's the second time this season they did that, too.

So they like to get speed on the field. Martindale is an absolute master at overload pressure, showing an overload, let's say, from one side, dictating that the protection react to that look and then bringing pressure from the other side. They make it challenging for the offense. So I'm really curious to see this matchup because Martindale is so good at this.

He's one of the masters in the game at that kind of thing. Well, last week you mentioned the approach. Miles Sanders came up small, I would fully expect a lot of Miles Sanders. I mean, basically, Greg, and maybe a little more Kenny Gainwell, right? I mean, Sanders only came up small because they chose to throw the football. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. But this could be like a 24 carry game where he goes for a buck 30.

It could be. I mean, look, obviously Robinson this past week against the Giants had 21 and close to 100. The Eagles may feel this is a week they can run the ball. It's a really good matchup because the commander's D-line is playing at a really high level right now. And obviously the Eagles have one of the better old lines in the league. So it'll be very interesting. I almost wish I could be a fly on the wall in the Eagles offices and in their meeting rooms because I'd love to know how they see the best way to attack this giant's defense.

Well, most teams are running it. They're giving up 29 running back carries a game just the last four weeks. a pretty big number. And part of the reason why we've got, I've got miles with 18 carries here for 88 and keep in mind that's... And it could be the case. You know, the nice thing about the Eagles is they have been effective, you know, moving the ball when they've thrown it and when they've run it.

Well, you mentioned, you know, the Saw the Giant D. How is Brian Robinson look? I feel pretty darn good about how he's looked over the last two or three games here. you know, Gibson, it's a nice little one-two punch, really. But Robinson, again, I think their ascension kind of coincides with Robinson's emergence. Well, this is the way they want to play. Look, you have to give all credit to Taylor Heineke. He's actually played well.

And I said this on the matchup show. I kind of like watching Taylor Heineke. I know what he is, but I kind of like watching him. You know, he's an aggressive thrower. he turns it loose. Every once in a while, he turns loose a head scratcher. But I kind of like watching him because he's aggressive and I like that. But Brian Robinson has started to get into a little bit of a groove. He's a sustaining runner. You know, he's not necessarily going to be a big play back. But, you know, I think he was 21 for 96 this past week. I think that's the way they'd like to play. So I think that's going to continue unless, you know, a game plays out where they're down, you know, three scores in the second quarter. But their defense is playing well enough. now that that's not likely to happen. But no, Robinson is starting to become what I thought he could become when I watched his tape at Alabama, the kind of back that, you know, it always seems like he gets five yards.

I think he's that kind of back. You know, maybe it's the uniform. He's a little more angular, angular than I thought. I mean, are like crazy? No, but he is 227. So it's, yes, he doesn't look. He's built in a very kind of good way because he almost looks angular, but he's, he's, he's, He's big.

Yeah, yeah. Is he upright at all? A little bit at times. A little bit, yes. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's the third round pick. I mean, we're not talking. This guy's not perfect.

But, you know, speaking of a running back picks, you know, Sequin Barkley, you know, I get it. I mean, the guy's flashy as hell. But, you know, I've never been a huge Barkley person. And, you know, I saw your notes. Yep. He is a little big play dependent, right? He sure is. And that's why I've never been a big guy.

I thought long and hard about that, and I've thought this way for a while watching him. I mean, just so if somebody's listening to this for the first time, John, just I want to let them know that everything I say stems from tape study. You know, this is not a take. And I watched Barclay on tape, and I've been watching him since Penn State, by the way. So, you know, to me, and this is what I typed in my notes, which you probably saw, I said, despite his size and weight room strength is not an efficient confined space runner. That limits him from being consistent sustaining runner who gets the hard yards. And that's what the tape shows.

You know, he'll make a big special run. And if he does, he'll gain 125 yards or 130 yards. But this was a very odd game for the Giants, John, because they were up by seven late in the third quarter. And they could not put that game away running the football. Yeah, it's not, that's not his deal. I mean, they need to get a bigger guy in tandem with him, basically. You know, like a Michael Turner guy, you know, behind L.T.

And you would think Barclay would be that guy given, like I said, his size and strain, but he doesn't really run like that. Right, right. Well, it's maybe a little like Brian Robinson. He's just so much more efficient with his inside zone carries, let's say. I'll give you a great example. And we could jump to this team if you want because we do this just kind of as, hey, whatever we talk about. I'll give you a great example of a guy that I watched today and have watched all year. And he is the antithesis of Berkeley.

And that's Josh Jacobs. Yeah. Josh Jacobs is so much fun to watch. The way he runs inside is just, it's beautiful to watch. I mean, this guy is such a hard, and I made that point in my notes. He runs with patience. vision he finds running lanes he's naturally powerful he has contact balance he's got finishing traits um he's got sudden lateral quickness and change the direction really does

navigates through traffic and bodies i mean you know that's that's what jacobs is and that's why a lot of runs i watch the tape this week and there are a lot of runs where it looked like oh that's a two-yard gain and he gets 11 yards yeah i feel like that old line doing pretty pretty well too Yeah, well, first of all, you know, the one thing I noticed, so I did some research was they run a lot out of 21 personnel. They play with the fallback a lot because they bought Jacob Johnson. McDaniels brought him from New England to Las Vegas. And Jacobs has far and away the most carries in the NFL out of 21 personnel, 84 rushes with a fullback. And he's averaging six yards a rush.

Think about this. 35% of his runs this year have come out of 21 personnel. I wonder if that was the plan going into the season with Waller and Hunter and Frasbaud. I don't know. Hard to know because they've both been out. Yeah. Well, you know, the Raider passing game, I'm sure you observe that. Boy, it's all about Devante Adams now.

Any anything? Here's what I thought. Sorry to interrupt. You know, even though Carter's numbers weren't, you know, phenomenal, I thought he played one of the better games that I've seen recently. I thought he was really patient in the pocket. I thought that he stayed poised when there were people around him. I thought this was a really good game for him. He made throws with people around him. Yeah. Well, I was into car this year, and unfortunately I had to apologize because my three, I was into Burrow, Hertz and Carr. So

overall was good, but I had to apologize for Carr. And since then, he's like the fifth best quarterback in the NFL. It was like five weeks ago. So he may end, he may end up finishing exactly where I had him, but I guess it's better late than never. And, you know, I don't think he's a volume guy in their offense, but I like, I like Foster Moreau. Yeah. Well, I have to pick my Thursday night special for this game, by the way, on Thursday night. And I'm between Moreau and Matt Collins because, you know, it's always a secondary guy. It's never, oh, Devonte Adams is going to do well tonight. Yeah, I mean, yeah, I know you don't like to pick, you know, the main guy, but, but I kind of like Foster Moreau. Yeah. Well, the Rams all of a sudden have been giving up a lot

of production to tight ends. You know, Bobby Wagner's still there. But I don't know why, but man, they've been, okay, uh, you like Moreau. You know, he's, he's a good player. I don't, I don't, still don't know if he's ideally a tight end one. I feel like he's been improving over the years, but the, the result right now is a, you know that, John. I'm not sure. sure he's a true tight-in one, but I like the player. I think he's a really solid player, and I think he's a little more athletic than people might think, but he does not quite reach that level, I would agree. Yeah, and Matt Collins, you see, you see, I mean, he's a factor.

I mean, do you notice him? Yeah, he shows up. Yeah. You know, that would be the other guy. Well, I still have time to make that decision. I'm going to go watch the tape from last week. When I say tape, I'm going to sit on my couch and stream the game, condensed version. So I'm not watching the all 22 here.

So all right. Well, you saw a little Mike White sample size Mike. Well, the sample size increased this past week. I thought he would do very well. He actually did. I mean, he was the seventh best fantasy quarterback last week. But I felt like he regressed maybe. What did you see there?

You know, I like what I saw for Mike White. And I like what I've seen for two games. And again, I'm not ready to sit here and say, wow, man, this Mike White's the guy, you know. Yeah, he's just calm. But I will say this. And I thought he got off to a little bit of his slow start, a little bit. Yeah.

And he made a great throw on an outcut to Wilson late in the first half. That was a big time throw. And I thought that kind of got him going for the second half. But I will say this. To me, what consistently shows up with White is he knows where to go with the ball. He doesn't get stuck in. the pocket. You know, you rarely see him drop back and get stuck. Right. No, where to throw the ball. Not hopeless if he has to use his legs either. No. So, as I said, based on route concept versus

coverage, he knows where to turn it loose. The ball comes out within the structure of the play concept. He's been pretty accurate. You know, he plays comfortably, you know. Yeah. So it's two games. Obviously, he's not a gun, but he made some throws this week. He's been. that were really good throws. You know, gun is a relative time. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And, you know, you don't need a gun. So I've kind of liked what I've seen.

And obviously, he's going to be the guy. They're not making any changes here because he's playing a pretty high level. But I, you know, in some ways, Mike White is making me think about when I go to my quarterback evaluation after the season because he's not a guy you would look at and say, wow, man, Mike White, he's a top 60 pick and a draft. because obviously he wasn't. But he was, he's kind of an interesting guy to watch. I mean, it's, I feel like it's an intangible quality because nobody's going to rave about

this guy's skill set, obviously, but everything you mentioned there is good stuff, you know, like really good. And it gets down to the definition of quarterback traits, which again, I started thinking about that when I saw that Anthony Richardson from the University of Florida, whose tape I studied in detail this past summer, obviously not this year yet, announced he was coming out. And everything that was immediately said was this guy has super high-level traits. And again, no knock on Anthony Richardson. But it just made me think when people say that, what do they mean?

Obviously, the kid's 64-240 and can throw it really hard and far and he can run really fast. Are those the traits they mean? or do we want to talk about quarterbacks with a sense of timing, anticipation, pace, touch, what kind of throw to make in what situation? Are those the traits that really determine whether a quarterback can play well in the league? And of course, precise ball location. So it just made me start to think again about, you know, quarterback traits and the value that is ascribed to different traits.

Well, if you exclude physical traits for a moment, I would look at accuracy, processing, pace touch timing anticipation, as you mentioned there, not throwing fast balls, you know, in the flat, you know. Great point. If I said to you, and I love these conversations, why is Joe Burrow a really good quarterback? What would you say?

I would say there's no weakness in his game and he's got an elite brain. I mean, that's a hard one because there's so much to like. Right, but the elite brain leads to what? I mean, to say he has an elite brain. So what does that mean? So that means if you wanted to go further, you'd say probably this referring to his brain.

You'd say that he has a great feel for understanding the defense before the snap of the ball, okay, because that's what you're trying to do. You're trying to know what you're saying. seeing before the snap, and then he has a great feel for validating after the snap. And then you would say, okay, he has a great sense of timing, anticipation, what kind of throw to make. He's extremely accurate.

You'd start talking about traits. Yeah. Wouldn't you not? Can be aggressive, will be aggressive when it's called for. When it's called for. Probably the last thing you'd say is, man, he has a gun because he doesn't. Right. Yeah. he's a big guy who moves pretty well with a damn good arm yeah so right he has a good arm but he doesn't

have a gun right yeah right right right yeah exactly so well how many times have we seen it when when we start with the cannon like jamaurcus russell i know he was very accurate uh but when we start there and we focus on that it doesn't it tends to not work out seemingly like it's a lot more going on there right uh no doubt about it um that's how a guy like kirk Cousins has had a brilliant career, really, when you think about it. I mean, he's not special in any one trait, physical. But if you would go through his traits, you'd probably come up with more positive traits than you would think you would.

Because initially you think, okay, well, he doesn't have a gun. He's not overly big. He's not fast. He's not a true second reaction player. You'd say all those things. But then you'd get to the fact that. he knows where to go with the ball. He knows what kind of throw to make.

He knows who the right receiver is versus a particular coverage. His accuracy is pretty consistent. You know, he's an accurate thrower of the football. I mean, you'd start to get into those things. Those are traits, too. Jared Gough, he's got some traits playing well. We've been on this, for sure. Another good matchup here against Minnesota.

I saw somebody else talking about him on Ra. and they went with a cop and they went Steph Diggs and I'm like, you know what? I can see it and he's lining up outside more these days. Yeah, about half. He's been half and half this year. I don't think he's quite as good as Diggs, but I understand that. Right, right. You know, Gough has been outstanding with the play action past game this year.

And I'm talking about conventional play action where he's under center. Right. He's had 130 play action dropbacks this year. A hundred have been under center. So they do that a lot. They max pro with six or seven man protection. They'll play with six offensive linemen at times. And Goff has been outstanding.

And that's one of the, you know, that's another rabbit hole that we can go into because, you know, Jared Goff is not seen as the new breed quarterback, obviously. However, when you have a good old line and running game and you're working under center and you're, you know, a veteran, pretty savvy, you can do a, a lot more stuff than, you know, these other guys in the gun out there running all the time, right? Well, you know what? Look, I think

one of the things we'd agree on, and, you know, the reason I love our Wednesday night talks like this is they're fantasy-based, but we talk ball, is coaches like consistency. They like to know what they're going to get from a player, no matter what position, right? I mean, they don't want a major variance. Yeah, does everybody like the spectacular play?

But most coaches would rather have a guy that, hey, snap after snap after snap, I know what I'm going to get. Then I can coach that way because I know it's going to be executed. You know, Gough is kind of one of those guys. Gough is a good thrower of the football. He's not spectacular. He's not a secondary action player. He's not going to give you the wow play.

But if you protect him and you run a good offensive scheme, which, by the way, this Ben Johnson, the O.C. for the Lions does a really good job. Yeah, man. Guys are open. Yeah. Guys are open. Then Goff becomes a very efficient ball distributor. I mean, he's a little bit of a robot, but in this case,

quarterbacks being robots is kind of good, you know, in some ways. You know, I've had this conversation with people. There's nothing wrong with dropping back and executing the offense. You know, if that makes you look like a robot, coaches will take that. Oh, I mean, Peyton Manning probably love to be called a robot out there. You know, oh, you're doing the same thing every single time? Great. You know, I'm a robot.

Trevor Lawrence, he's not to the point where he's a robot, though, because he does seem to be changing a lot. But he got hurt, all that. This was an odd game for them. They got down. Their offense had no feel to it. I watched that tape, and I came away going, God, there was no rhythm to that at all. It was a weird game. It was just one of those, and they played well in recent weeks, so the expectation was higher.

But it was just a game that kind of got away from them early, and they could never quite get into their group. Yeah, well, I did love Christian Kirk, and he did go over 100, so we'll take that. I was happy about that one. Brock Purdy, any thoughts on what you saw out of him and going forward, the offense, with Purdy at the helm? We'll discuss Purdy after they win the Super Bowl. Right, right, sure. I'm wondering if they, you know, if Josh Johnson might be someone to help them, but I guess Purdy's... I think they would rather have Purdy play.

Okay. you know, Purdy, look, in some ways, he's stylistically similar to Garapolo in some ways. Now, I'm not comparing him to him and I don't want people to go, you're crazy. I'm talking about the style of quarterback. The difference is Purdy has much more movement. Purdy is a better athlete. Pretty can make plays outside of structure. But I will tell you this, watching the tape, and of course I saw a large part of the game on TV as well, as I know you did, it certainly wasn't too big for it.

Well, you know, it reminded me of Bailey Zappy coming in for the Patriots. That's an interesting comparison, but, you know, I thought Purdy made some really good throws and good mental plays against a difficult defense to play against because the dolphins give you a ton of pressure front looks and do a lot of things from those pressure front looks. And I thought Purdy had a pretty darn good sense of what he was seen. Yeah. Okay.

I do worry a little bit about the old sample size and maybe a lot of. of arm strength. John, obviously, I'm not sitting here saying, oh, yeah, hey, this guy is going to be special and the 49ers are just going to roll. I'm just saying what the tape showed this week, hey, how many times have we seen a guy come in, play well, and the next week he's terrible, you know, a young guy. So I'm not sitting here saying all's well in the Bay Area. I'm just saying this week's tape showed a quarterback.

It wasn't too big for him. He wasn't playing fast. He did see things well. He executed well on some critical third down situations. that's what happened this past week 100%. No, I totally saw that myself. I made the comparison on television during the action that you reminded me again, a Bailey Zappy coming out of nowhere and like it not being too big.

Kids showing a lot of scrappiness and all that good stuff. On the other side, did we see anything of note here with Tua? I mean, it was not the greatest day here for Tua. No, for whatever reason, and I can't answer this question, for whatever reason, Tua seemed, obviously they had the 75-yard touchdown on the first play, which was a bust by the defense of the 49ers. But for whatever reason, Tua just seemed to me watching the tape, you know, he's normally a quick twitch guy in the way he plays, but this game, he kind of went over the line a little. He played fast, almost right from the start of the game. He just looked a little hurry.

And I can't tell you why, but he missed some throws he normally makes. and that's why the numbers weren't quite there. I know he threw for a lot of yards, relatively speaking, and he did throw the two touchdowns, but he just didn't look like a comfortable, rhythmic quarterback in this game. There were exceptions, of course. He did make some very good throws,

but overall, it just did not happen for him in this game, and he just missed some throws he's been making seemingly with ease that were there. He just missed them. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, not to be overly simplistic, but it feels like their offense has been just dictating and ahead of defenses. Right.

This week, that wasn't really the case. And it was just another week to continue my bromance with Fred Warner. Yeah, that guy, he had a big play, didn't he? Was it a pick? Well, he had a pick late in the game, but he made a play early in the game where he was in zone coverage and knocked away a pass. That was absolutely phenomenal. Oh, there you go. Oh, and left a little bit of meat on the bone here because we normally go about 35 minutes,

but how brilliant. I didn't even see the notes because you sent so much I didn't get down to it, but how brilliant was Joe Burrow last week? Yeah, Joe Burrow is pretty good. You know, I think we know what to expect from Burrow on a pretty regular basis. Oh, yeah, for sure. We have a bad game here and there. Every quarterback does.

You know, they're not great every week. But I just like watching Burrow because I like quarterbacks that are aggressive. He is not low risk or cautious. And by the way, is he keeps gaining more experience. He's only in his third year. He'll throw less interceptions. You know, he hasn't thrown that many this year after that. He's completely in control, completely.

He's totally in control, totally in control. Guys are stuck. And you know what I liked about this game? This was a little different. They didn't push it down the field in this game. This was a patient methodical game for Burrow. He continually got sustaining completions. There were a lot of quick rhythm throws that minimized and eliminated the Chief's pass rush.

So, you know, this was a little bit. of a different game, but he can execute any kind of game. Yeah, and this is with Hayden Hurst getting hurt, too. So even better. So good stuff. We'll end there. Great addition here, 39 minutes worth. And you want to get all the good stuff here.

You can still go to FantasyPoint.com if you're not already. And subscribe for the rest of the year. Get the discount, Hanson 22. And Thursday, we'll go over tomorrow night. We'll go over all the matchups in-depth with Greg and Adam Kaplan and yours truly and hopefully everyone will win and every single line-up decision will be correct. Until then, for Greg CoSell, I'm John Hansen.

Thanks for listening. Thanks for subscribing to the pod and the feed. Give us some good feedback as well. Good luck in week 14. We'll talk to you next week. Thanks for tuning in to this edition of the Fantasy Points podcast. Remember to subscribe, rate, and review on your favorite platform and come join the roster at FantasyPoint.

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