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

Episode Date: December 26, 2024

Championship Week is underway! Week 17 game previews on today’s fantasy football podcast! Confidence levels, injury updates, and lots of start/sit advice for your fantasy football lineups! Manage your redraft, keeper, and dynasty fantasy football teams with the #1 fantasy football podcast. -- Fantasy Football Podcast for December 26th, 2024. (00:00) - Intro (08:15) - NFL News (11:55) - Starts of the Week (12:05) - Quarterback Starts of the Week (15:45) - Running Back Starts of the Week (18:40) - Wide Receiver Starts of the Week (22:40) - Tight End Starts of the Week (25:15) - Fantasy Forecast (25:30) - Chargers at Patriots (29:45) - Broncos at Bengals (36:25) - Cardinals at Rams (41:15) - Jets at Bills (46:40) - Raiders at Saints (50:05) - Colts at Giants (52:05) - Parlay Partay Connect with the show: Subscribe on YouTube Visit us on the Web Support the Show Follow on X Follow on Instagram Join our Discord Check out today's sponsors: News & Notes presented by USAA. Visit https://www.USAA.com/Insurance  Fantasy Forecast presented by DraftKings Sportsbook Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This episode is brought to you by Mitsubishi. What does ambition look like to you? Suits, awards, money, fame? These are the things that most people think of but that's an incomplete picture because actually ambition is on the inside. It's an invisible grind, a pursuit, and it's yours. No one can take it from you. So that thing you love winning championships in your league, keep doing it. Even if it doesn't look like earning millions going pro or winning a Nobel Prize, Mitsubishi Motors is there to help champion your next goal, adventure, or passion. Mitsubishi, drive your ambition. This episode is brought to you by Sunwing Vacations. Look, we all love football, but what I think you'd love even more right now is a dream

trip with Sunwing. I love a good vacation, and maybe you've not been able to go on your dream vacation before because of a hefty price tag or you found organizing activities complicated. But with Sunwing, you can get the best offers on all-inclusive packages covering flights, transfers, meals, drinks, and activities. Your beach chair is calling. Book your sunny escape at sunwing.ca or with your travel agent, your wallet will thank you. Sunwing Vacations. Save more, do more. Welcome to the fantasy footballers podcast with your host, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore and Mike Wright.

Welcome in. It's still football time! Always! Forever! It's football week! I'm exhausted! They wanted Christmas too, huh? They had to have Christmas. And the day after the day after that. They got it. And we all lost. Well, and you know, we're here. We're here. It's a championship week. It's Christmas week. It's gonna be an uphill climb.

For, yeah, yeah. For Al Borland, which I am, you know, no, for me, for me. Yeah, it's a downhill jaunt. It went very poorly for me on Christmas Day because the Texans offense gave the Saints a run for their money on the most inept. Couldn't block, couldn't skip the pocket,

couldn't play call, couldn't catch the football. When they finally did. Couldn't hit easy passes. That's what I was gonna say. The part that was the most annoying was that when they occasionally put a protection together for CJ Stroud that allowed him to step up into the pocket and make a pass, he was really inaccurate.

Like he had outroutes to Nico Collins, he had plays that he could have easily moved the ball down the field. It was a blowout and there was a chance that it wasn't gonna be a blowout till the Baltimore Ravens shut down a First and goal it was very good for Al Borland Al Borland already talking crap this morning. He does he simultaneously doesn't want to jeep would never he doesn't want to jinx his performance And yet he has slipped in some one-liners

Talking crap which is good because when these two guys deceived me last year, moment of the year, Josh's deception with the sidekick, you know, Batman and Robin, when that happened, it looked like you guys screwed me. And then it ended up with me on top. So I'm just saying like Christmas Day looks like you've got the big advantage. You got a 20 point, you got a 20 point favorite now.

Nothing can go wrong. I'm impressed right now with your storytelling and your bravado, given the fact that you're standing in a hole right now. Oh, I'm standing in a big hole. And it's starting to fill with water. You ever seen a Hallmark movie? Those things suck.

Yeah, you're gonna cry? You're gonna cry? Well, I mean, we'll see. They're always nonsensical. Yeah, I mean, but it all comes together in the end. The script doesn't matter, it just works out. But for who? Because it might just be working out real nice

for the underdog who's never won a championship in the league before. Yeah, I mean, of all the people, it's to make a wish that I'm fine with. Owl. I'm fine with Al Borland getting one. Go Owl. Thank you Mike.

And I don't expect him to act like he's been there before because well. Oh I won't because he hasn't. But the summary of the Christmas games was that the Chiefs just demolished and manhandled the Steelers. Xavier Worthy 8 for 79 and a touchdown, nine more targets, Travis Kelsey a week too late. Had he done this last week, Mike, you would not be in the dynasty title game.

No, I would not, and this was, it's like the Steelers game planned, and they were like, yeah, Travis Kelsey's not a thing anymore. He's washed. But if you leave him wide open he can get over the field That's that's how he got everything done in the past like we for years would scream at the television How is Travis Kelsey left so wide open and then the last what year and a half teams have been like

Maybe we should not do that and he's been been shut down. And then the, then the Steelers like, nah, well, what can he do? 320 and three from a Holmes who did whatever he wanted to do in the Ravens game, 31 to two, the Ravens on top. Lamar Jackson only passed for 168 yards, only completed 10 passes. So if you look at the target share for someone like Zay Flowers,

five targets on 15 attempts, that's a juicy 33% of your targets. However, they didn't need to throw the football. And his touchdowns, play action, 48 yard rushing touchdown. He only had four carries in the whole game. Lamar Jackson, if you said he only threw 10 completions and carried the ball four times, you'd say, well, that was a bad game, except he ended up with 87 rushing yards,

a rushing touchdown, and two passing touchdowns. Great game for Lamar Jackson, and Derrick Henry was a monster. Yeah, and the lack of competitiveness in this game is what slowed Henry down from continuing his assault, because the Texans, they were shut out on offense. They had one safety. That was it. They were shut out otherwise.

Mixon 9 for 26. Not a lot of opportunity when first downs are not on the board. Dalton Schultz is way right out of my start of the week because CJ Stroud looked awful. And Baltimore made them look dumb. And they clearly needed more receiving options than John Metchi. So that was the game. Mark Andrews got into the end zone again.

And had a huge catch and run on top of the touchdown. His line is great because he's two for 68 and a touchdown. He had a long of 67. It wasn't the touchdown. So that was your Christmas Day games. Did you guys have a nice Christmas? Yeah. Yeah, I think I had a very, very nice Christmas.

One to remember. And honestly, I liked Christmas football as well. It was a good time. Well, you're going to get it. Forever. From here until the end of eternity. So they tried to make the football cake thing Whoops the football cake for both of the Netflix games, and then they wouldn't eat it well

I think my homes and Kelsey yeah, they did but then Henry and Lamar were both like no They're like do you look at us? Yeah, we don't eat cake You know cake I think Al Borland might have had a slice though. I did. Yeah, he enjoyed. How are you doing? Is the blood pressure, like you, you were getting alerts on your watch

and your health devices. Not a joke. That's real life, did you? Yeah, I think the vitals have come back to baseline for now. Yeah. Maybe slightly elevated still. I believe the latest projection had it 67-33.

How do you feel about that? Do you feel? Say it's 67% for him, 33%. 67%, 33% for me now that I've got three duds on Christmas Day. Merry Christmas to you. Thank you. Yeah, I mean, anything could happen.

I'm not counting any chickens, but I'm happy to be sitting here. And you don't have anybody tonight, right? I do not. Just for the sake of anticipation, Al's got all of his players done on Sunday. I'll have all my players done except for one. So there's a chance we go into Monday Night Football.

If there's, like I asked him, Jimmy R. Gibbs is who I have on Monday Night Football. Oh man. So I asked him how many points, how many points do you need to feel like you can live on Monday night? I told him 45 I Don't blame you because there are very few players like it's like Jamar chase where you think or an Alvin Kamara You go there's a chance for a 45-point game. It's like it's probably not gonna happen, but there's a chance

So until you're up 50 you will be scared. His question was how many points for you to feel safe, and 45 is the only number that I felt I would feel safe. So the odds of you going stress-free into Monday night are probably kind of low. So that should be fun. We've got news to talk about. We got all the matchups to get into. Lots going on, and let's get right into it. News and notes from around the league. Presented by USAA Insurance.

Well, for a running back named Ken Walker, he does a lot of limping. He's been ruled out ankle injury, third injury of the year for Walker, maybe fourth really Kim Socky newspaper. Do you think they just they it's because he needs one like that Walker. Yeah, like his name. Oh, I see Yeah, this is Ken brittle bones this water get my man some milk

Mm-hmm and get this dude in the yoga room because he needs to stretch these ligaments out. James Connor has been limited Tuesday and Wednesday, both days. Wild. There is a chance he goes into the matchup this week without an injury designation. There's a possibility of that. And if that happens, you should expect him to be out there and pushing towards career highs in rushing yardage.

There you go. Now you have the decision of Jalen McMillan versus James Connor. James Connor is Saturday. So you will know and you'll have to make that decision. You'll know if he's active or not. Are you going to start an injured Connor if he's active? going to start an injured Connor if he's active? If he is without an injury designation, yes. He's over 20 fantasy points, three straight games, and he's... also maybe not. Alright, cool. Well, thank you. The foot cleanse very helped. You're setting up a decision I plan to make Saturday on Thursday. I'm not going to make the decision today. We'll see what it looks like on Saturday. I waited and did not play Zebra Worthy in

that spot because I wanted the opportunity to see if Connor was going to play. Oops-a-doozles. I wish I had played Worthy, who scored more points than Joe Mix and Nico Collins and Zay Flowers combined. That hurts. more points than Joe Mixon, Nico Collins, and Zay Flowers combined. Ooh. And it's all- That hurts. Yeah, it's worth pointing out and remembering because a lot of people, this is going to

be one of those names I think going into next year that the people who didn't make the playoffs or didn't pay attention later on, Xavier Worthy's having a little bit of a breakout here. I mean, that's three impactful games in a row. And he's on the field all the time, versatile, using him in the screen game and the end of rounds. Every game, he gets one of those old school, oh gosh, Percy Harvin style end of rounds. It's part of the offense.

Jalen Hurst did not practice. Questionable for this weekend weekend if you survived somehow. Yep. Which most of you didn't. Anthony Richardson dealing with a back and foot injury. Malik Nabors will talk about those games today. Let's go Drake London, limited on Wednesday with a knee injury.

He's Sunday night football. Chris Olave returned to a full practice on Wednesday. Alvin Kamara did not practice. What are we doing here, Saints? There's also the, I mean, Darren Rizzi said Rattler will start if Carr can't play. Which insinuates that they're still wanting Carr to come back and I would imagine that when Carr comes back

might be when Olave comes back. I mean, if it was me as like a coach or an organization I don't really need a lobby trying to like lift up Spencer Rattler and be getting a bunch of murder balls not that Derek Carr doesn't throw his own and Roger says he will play Sunday despite the dealing with an mcl injury both he and Devante Adams were limited in practice okay that was today's News and Notes presented by USA Insurance.

Learn more at usaa.com slash insurance. We've got starts of the week. We got weather to talk about too. Oh, a little bit rain. Lot of it rain. Lot of it decisions to be made. ["Starts of the Week"] Starts of the week.

Well, quarterback, start of the week. I'm going Brock Purdy against Detroit. If for some reason you're not living with one of the best guys at the quarterback position, highest over-under of the week, I think Brock Purdy will be able to do enough against the Detroit defense. 202 is the kind of the target line there. I think he'll go above that. I'm gonna go Purdy. I'm gonna go Baker Mayfield. Championship week against the Carolina Panthers. Laser, Laser Mayfield has been, I mean he's the quarterback six right now in the course of the year. He had a lull when you know he was dealing with his injuries and Mike Evans injuries, but he's back. He was

great last week. Carolina's defense is 30th in schedule adjusted fantasy points to quarterbacks. They're dead last in fantasy points per drop back using zone coverage. I think this is a great matchup for Baker. And the nice thing is with Bryce Young playing better ball, you might actually need Baker to keep throwing as the game goes on, and that's the hope.

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

it's Bo Nix. Oh. Against Cincinnati, because everything. Maybe not though. Everything, well here's the thing, here's the case for him. QB10, must win game, we went over the teams who have to win right now.

It's a 49 and a half point over under right now, with, like that is juicy, it's one of the highest of the week. He's got the. It's still a 49 and a half? Kyle, go ahead and check that for me. I would like to know, this is what, just so you know. That is correct. This is one of the highest of the week. He's got the- It's still at 49 and a half? Kyle, go ahead and check that for me. I would like to know, this is what, just so you know.

That is correct. This is one of the weather games. That's why there's hesitation. That's why it's, I think, so I'm making the case for him. Look, Cincinnati's defense, this is a team you wanna play against 28th in schedule, just a point to the quarterback, 26th and passing yards allowed. It's still at 49 and a half.

This is, before Christmas day when I checked some weather, I was like, I am so excited for this matchup. But this is one that you have to keep an eye on, that there are some meteorologists out there who are like, they believe rain is likely, potential a lot of rain for this game. So this is a- And more importantly, 20 to 30 mile an hour wind gusts.

This is a, keep an eye on, obviously, we're Thursday. By the time we get to game time for this, it may be completely different. As one who has been and experienced the weather, that is Denver, that crap can come out of nowhere. Like- Was that where your concert was? Yeah, I was at a concert in Denver,

and all of a sudden they're like, everyone needs to seek shelter right now. And you're like, what are you talking about? You look up, it's fine. But then you look over the horizon, you go, oh no. Run! You're like, that's a storm over there. And then as quick as it came, it was just gone.

So mountain weather is crazy. I think it's Bo Nicks, but if weather's good here, would love to play Bo Nicks. Well, the other side of that matchup is Joe Burrow. So there's a lot of people hanging on the, I mean, Mike is already feeling it. Dude, permeate his anxious pores. And it's funny here too, because in the Dynasty League

where you're trying to go back to that championship. Burrow and Chase. You've got Burrow and Chase. However, in Listener League, where Andy's in the championship, he's playing against Burrow and Chase. So one of you is going to be happy about the weather. Yeah, in the League of Record, I have Chase and no Burrow. So I'm right in the middle there, where it's like, ugh.

Can I thread the needle? All right, Bucky Irving is my running back start of the week against Carolina. Once again, looked unbelievable out there last week. He has surpassed James Connor in the most broken tackles. He is, you know, he's good. His special ingredient is acceleration after he makes a move. He gets up to speed so fast, he's breaking tackles because he's running extremely fast through these holes and the arm tackles are not bringing him down.

He's kind of reminding me of, you know, when Thomas Rawls, the Rawls Royce, had a moment in time in Seattle where once he got up to speed, it was just kind of a ferocity to his running game. This is an amazing matchup. He was the RB one overall against these Panthers in week 13. It's a must win game for the Buccaneers to stay alive, to try to win the division. They're not the division winners right now. Carolina, dead last.

James Connery in two and a half quarters gave you a 25 point game last week against Carolina. Bucky Irving, he'd be the reason that Baker doesn't have a good game. If Bucky Irving has such an explosive performance, he's my start of the week going into title game. Yeah, I would love to have Bucky in my lineup. I'm going to go with my guy, Breece Hall, in Buffalo. We have a complicated relationship. Breeze likes to put me out of the playoffs and then it's his time to shine. And so he did that last week. Last week he was back up to 77% of snaps,

20 opportunities including six targets. And the targets are really the key here because Buffalo, they are the most terrible team at pass catching running backs. They give up the most running back receiving yards of every team, second most running back receptions and receiving touchdowns allowed. They give up the highest explosive run rate. Buffalo, the matchup is good. The weather should be bad there. That should be another one of those kind of watch out for rain games which means I think there'll be a lot of dump offs for Breeze Hall if in the games where the rain is heavy and wind is high running back fantasy usage and value usually goes up so I will start Breeze this week. Andy's got Bucky Irving but that's not going to scare me off of Rashad White, who has actually been fantastic right along with Bucky Irving. It's wild. The fact that we are getting such

high level play, such high level fantasy production from two running backs in the same backfield since we- It's a little bit of Montgomery Gibbs life. Yes, yes, very, very much. Since week seven, he's right behind Bucky in fantasy points per game. We're talking Bucky's at just over 15, and Rashad White's at about 14 and 1.5. And you laid out everything of you can attack this team. But it is simply both of these guys are getting substantial work.

And both of them are playing extremely well. And the matchup is fabulous. And still alive, the Miami Dolphins. I'm going to go Tyreek Hill at wide receiver against Cleveland. Don't overthink this, play Tyreek. He is- Unless there's terrible weather. That's another-

Unless there's terrible, well, I mean, Tyreek, they can get him the ball in short area space too. But, you know, he's a great road wide receiver. They're going into Cleveland. They're six and a half point road favorites. And Cleveland's defense is 31st against fantasy wideouts I think Tyreek is a very safe play this week if I could take Nico Collins out of my lineup and swap in Tyreek today I would love to do that, but I can't. That's fair. I'm gonna go with the old man who's been on fire

I'm not talking about Adam Thielen who's a fine start in himself or Al Borland who's also winning a lot of games. There you go I'm going with Keenan Allen. Against Seattle tonight, Keenan, I mean he's made a believer out of me. You know, he was looking old and moldy and in reality it was just a Shane Waldron problem. Since the- Old and moldy. Old and moldy. I like it.

Since the offensive coordinator change of week 11, he's the wide receiver nine in fantasy points. With Caleb Williams, 15 and a half fantasy points per game since that change in that six week span. He has been targeted on 28% of his routes, 32% of his team's first read. The matchup against Seattle is good. There should be a little bit of rain,

but the thing is guys, like, you know, we're talking about, oh, there's rain for my players. There's rain for your opponent's players too. Here are the games right now with at least, you know, we're talking about, oh, there's rain for my players. There's rain for your opponent's players, too. Here are the games right now with at least, you know, some rain. We're on watch. We're on watch. If you have a player from Seattle, Chicago, Denver, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, the Giants, to the Titans or Jacksonville or the Jets or Buffalo or Carolina or Tampa Bay Buccaneers

or if Dallas or Philly or if you've got the Dolphins or the Browns or Atlanta or Tampa Bay Buccaneers, or if Dallas or Philly, or if you've got the Dolphins or the Browns, or Atlanta or the Commanders, any one of those teams, there should be a little bit of water out there. I just checked the 10 day for Arizona, we got nothing. No rain, I would like some rain. Yeah. I would like some rain.

Arizona right now, like Christmas shouldn't be in the 70s, and we're a desert here, people shouldn't be in the 70s, and we're a desert here. People shouldn't live here. It was beautiful yesterday. It was pretty nice. It was amazing. All right, my wide receiver star of the week, I think it's T. Higgins. And I know, this one feels a little sketchy,

that's why I'm highlighting his name. He left last week's game, he pulled a full Shady McCoy where you're like well that was it that's the season ending injury for T Higgins who's going into a contract year and then he came back into the game and so he's the wide receiver eight in fantasy points per game that's how well T Higgins has played in fact Kyle pulled this one up T Higgins and Puka have both played ten games this year T is five and a half points Fewer than puka like and we all look at what puka is doing me like he's this dudes balling out T Higgins is right there with him five and a half total fantasy points

That's that's the that's what Kyle has been saying like T Higgins has been really really good. It's just he's really really Missing sometimes. Oh, really missing sometimes. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, of course. And obviously that's not points, that's like total points, right? So he has some more explosive games. But, so you're doubling down on the Denver downpour. Well here's the thing, this was all prepared

before I was made aware that the storm could be what some are thinking that it could be but again like but T Higgins this was more of a if everything is good I think that T Higgins is gonna be in a really good spot the Denver Secondary has actually not been strong against fantasy wide receivers like we look at them as a great defense because they are but like we look at them as a great defense because they are but since week nine Denver is 28th in schedule adjusted points to wide receivers dead last and passing yards allowed we saw what Jamis was able to do against that Denver Broncos defense just saying in a in a good climate scenario I think that this

game could really go off. Mike give us your tight end as well. This one look Trey McBride. I love it one, look, Trey McBride. I love it, yeah. This is Trey McBride who was, did you guys see the video of Trey McBride leaving the field? Yeah, yes. He had a lot of choice words for his team. He was big time mad, and I think that this is

the perfect situation for him. Is it because they didn't use him at all? Yeah, I think that that's part of it. In a loss, while he was wide open all the time. In overtime loss? I think that this is the perfect situation for it. Is it because they didn't use him at all? I think that that's part of it. In a loss while he was wide open all the time. So I think that this is the squeaky wheel that Trey McBride gets right back on board to being an elite tight end. Rams run a ton of zone, allowing the third highest fantasy

points per drop back versus zone. And McBride kills zone. Like this is his specialty. Kind of like how Travis Kelsey just finds a spot. They've been doing that more and more with Trey McBride so this is not a time where I am scared of what happened last week Jason oh it's you and me together hand in hand are you letting me in oh absolutely let me in on your start of the week yeah all right check a cock whoa baby is the only oh oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,

oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, Rudolph he has been targeted on 32% of his routes. That is the same as Jamar Chase. He's seen 27% of the Titans first read targets. That is better than Mike Evans for the Bucks.

He is averaging 0.52 fantasy points per route run. That is the same as Drake London. And the matchup against Jacksonville is fantastic. Chig should be in a lot of lineups. If you don't have one of the premier studly tight ends, Chig's the best next man up. All right, and I do wonder if some people, because it seemed like something you could do, they're counting on Chig and they benched Kelsey. Oh, and I would have done it. I suggest, I mean, the game was so surprising to have Travis Kelsey go from

Just the 30 yards that he's been giving you for us for weeks now, and then he has the explosive game It's brutal. All right. Those are our starts of the week. We'll take a break. We'll hit the forecast With uber reserve good things come to those who plan ahead. Family vacay? Reserve your ride as soon as you book your flights. To all the planners, now you can reserve your Uber ride up to 90 days in advance. See Uber app for details. Tired of renting and paying your landlord's mortgage instead of your own?

Start investing in your future with a Questrade Tax-Free First Home Savings Account. The sooner you start, the faster your down payment can grow, tax-free. But remember, the contribution deadline is December 31st. Open your Questrade FHSA online today in just a few minutes. A reminder that tonight's game was previewed on our Tuesday pre-Christmas episode, so you can go back and check that out. Let's jump in. It's time for Fantasy Forecast presented by DraftKings Sportsbook. Well the forecast has a double meaning all the more this week as we get into championship week with some rain, some rain in the forecast. The

Chargers at 9 and 6 go to New England to take on the Patriots who are 3 and 12. The DK Sportsbook line here Chargers minus 4 and a half the over-under is 42 and a half and here we go the Chargers clinch a playoff spot with a win or a Colts loss and a Miami loss. So they're right on the edge, they're right on the cusp and they are favored, but not by as many points. I was blown away at this line. Yeah, I think this is a little bit surprising to me.

The Chargers only four and a half point favorites on the road. I mean, I'd take them in the points. It's going to be really have a almost upset inkling here. They've it's just it hasn't been great for them lately. Well, they are hoping to get J.K. Dobbins back on the field. Greg Roman said, quote, I thought he looked really good, fresh, thought

there was spring in his step. So. He's gonna be an interesting start sit decision because I think he's fine. You know, he's had the month off. If his knee is healthy and he looks good in practice and he's activated, I expect him to get the work, but it's really hard to put someone straight off the IR

into your starting lineup when you go, well, is he gonna come in and get eight carries? Yeah. Well, let me ask you a really tough one there, which is Tony Pollard, been banged up, been limping off the field at times, or J.K. Dobbins. I would go Dobbins there. The matchup is really good for Dobbins,

and we've seen Pollard the last couple weeks try to play through these injuries, and I expect him to be out there again, but he hasn't really been able to. So Dobbins, I think he should be fine. I think there's a couple hard decisions at running back in this game, because Ramandre's rushing line's at 42 1 1 2.

He's been much better at home, but his head coach once again came out this morning and said, like, we might bench him. Like, he set a precedent in the locker room of saying, look, we gotta protect the football. Ramandre fumbled the football. So he said it's a possibility we're gonna bench him in favor of Antonio Gibson.

Last time he said this, Gibson got the first carry and then it was back to Ramandre. And then Ramandre, yeah, it was fine. They benched him. But I mean, there's a risk, right? Like if Ramandre does get an opportunity and he does fumble, then you're going to see just a complete bust of a week,

which is still a possibility with Ramondre at any moment in time. He was double digits last week. Gibson is a player that I'm adding as an emergency running back start. If I have, if I'm going kind of into the weekend with injured players that may or may not go, maybe it's Connor, maybe it's Pollard. I'm gonna add Gibson as an emergency play because they're, you know, some of those guys have already gone. Like Jaylen Warren

would have been an emergency play for me, but he played already. So, do I wanna play them? Not really. Yeah. I did have a dream that Hunter Henry scored like 45 points. It's not a great matchup for him. It's probably just a dream, huh? Probably just a dream. A matchup is bad, but 22% target share.

I mean, volumes there. I mean, Lad McConkie sitting at a receiving line of 71 and a half, I mean, this is a player that is kind of automatic at this point. Yeah, I mean. I mean, I can't imagine what the line is for like 50 plus on him. Oh, it's gotta be like minus 300.

I would say, I mean, this is a player who hasn't had fewer than 50 yards since week seven. So that's just like a layup. It does feel like an end of the year layup. Yeah. No, Lad is in everybody's lineup. If you've had him, he's just been too consistent. He is the clear leader of this wide receiver room.

The matchup, I expect it to come early. And the Patriots don't give up a ton of fantasy points to wide receivers, but it's not because they shut wide receivers down It's because they're usually at the second half in a game script where They're not needed that much So maybe it's good that it's a smaller line here of four and a half points for the Chargers Maybe the Patriots can make it a little bit more interesting now It's Thursday December 26 so consider that when we talk weather in this game the Broncos at 9 and 6 the Bengals 7

and 8 we've already alluded to it the DraftKings Sportsbook line since C minus 3 and a half the over-under not changing that's encouraging to me still 49 and a half the report we had earlier was that rains likely washout potential I saw a gusts up to 30 20 or 30 30 miles an hour. That's not what I'm seeing now. Right now I'm seeing chance of precipitation at 70%. I barely got that word right. And I'm only seeing six mile an hour winds. Oh that would be fantastic for a game that could really have a lot of offensive outpouring. I mean the the this was the game going into the week. Yeah don't say outpouring. I mean, this was the game going into the week. Yeah, don't say pour.

Don't say outpour. I thought I matched pretty well with this game. Remember, it's a rain pour. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Look, if there's not wind, I'm not that freaked out. You might have a downpour during the game that makes it passing prohibitive for a period of time. But again, you don't want to overreact to this because what are the

real choices that you have? Are you benching Joe Burrow based on any weather report? Are you benching Jamar Chase based on any weather report? I cannot fathom that. I don't think so. No, you're- Jaylen McMillan instead of Chase? No, you're not going to move off of those guys at all. I will say, like if Jaylen Hurts, if you're the Jalen hurts manager Bo Nicks was a really good pivot that you could have picked up off of the waivers to play in your championship That might be a name where I I get a little scared about a rookie

Oh, I go Kyler or darn yeah, pretty or golf or any of those guys over Bo Nicks with any weather threat You're right on that one, you know, and reminder, the over under is holding at 49 and a half. So Burrow, Chase, and Chase Brown, who could be the beneficiary of rain, are all locks in your lineup. Higgins, Ben limited, but then a full practice on Wednesday, he's gonna be back out there.

What about Corlyn Sutton? I think he is interesting. He's receding line 65 and a half. Is it really? 65 and a half. Yeah, Sutton is right back in there. You gotta play him. Man, that's the last two weeks He had 32 receiving yards and then he had 50 receiving yards. But it's 32 yards on nine targets. I mean, is that comforting? For me it is because the wide receiver 15 is still in the year. The volume is

Because the volume is far, I mean, he caught 33% of his passes when on the year he's catching 60%. No, I get it. I'm just saying if you add in the weather, like we were talking about, you don't pivot off of Jamar Chase. You're not going to pivot off of Borough. But a Cortland Sutton, if it turns out that this is a really, like it's like, hey, this is the crazy downpour high wind game. If that happens, I feel like I would rather start

on McMillan. Corlan Sutton is a guy who you could say kind of got you here, but really, if you're in the championship, he didn't get you here the last two weeks through the playoffs. You had to overcome him. And I think a lot of the managers who have him might be going, I'm looking for another option.

Yeah, I just think the worry is over emphasizing the weather. I think if you got right down to the wire and it looked horrific, then maybe you're right. But otherwise, I wouldn't want to lose with my best players on the bench. So if you are a Sutton manager, are you looking to have other weapons prepared for right down to the wire?

I mean, I would hope that you're in that situation where you've got a flex-worthy player on your bench going into Sunday morning no matter what. I guess it's a Saturday game, right? Yeah, this one is a Saturday game. Saturday 430. That's actually really nice. So that makes it, you'll have that information

then you can make an adjustment. The Cardinals are seven and eight taking on the nine and six Rams. Now real quick before we go, how much of not worrying about Courtland Sutton, Andy, is you wanting Jeremy to play Courtland Sutton against you? It's tougher because I got chased in the same game. So it's like I just feel like they're gonna be

both equally neutralized where whatever happens, he's got the chase on the other side. I mean, what are the odds that Cortland-Sutton's affected by the weather, because it rains when they have the ball, and then it's really clear skies for Chase. Can you tell me about that, because I would like that. That's unlikely.

Unlikely. As a meteorologist. Is there any chance that Jamar Chase has rainproof hands? No. Okay. Well, I mean, yeah, I mean, like the gloves are probably pretty, like his hands won't be wet. Both teams have already said that they've got to be waterproof. Yeah. Both teams have already said that they're practicing with wet footballs this week and

doing all that jazz. At least Peyton said that. Come on, dude. Mike is til is still like is real I've never seen him tilt like this no because it's so till because it's I am a is very well known of my stance on big dome that I am for it and for if it if that actually happens and all everything we've been doing comes down to that and you're like, oh, well, it's real rainy. That just, that feels really, really bad. It's impossible to like unring the fantasy bell because we've been doing it for 15, 16, 17 years. But I would love to know what like the natural thought

about those games would be without any fantasy context. Like if you were a football fan, how would you view these games at this time of the year compared to the way we view them? Because through fantasy, we just wanna see the players that we got be able to provide for us on those weeks. Mine really isn't actual, it's an NFL lens too,

because what do they do with the Super Bowl, guys? Right. What do they do with the Super Bowl, guys? Right. What do they do with the biggest game of the year? They make sure there's no weather because they want the best performance possible. Yes, I like to watch one snow game every once in a while. You're like, oh, it's fun. But for everything to come down to,

can your team actually perform when it's raining? It's just a pretty strong argument. It feels rough. It's a pretty strong argument. You guys see the video of the new Buffalo Stadium? Yeah. Some of the things that they're doing. I thought it was kind of, I mean, because they did not want to remove weather from the

equation in Buffalo, but they also are doing things like they've got very little exposure to wind and very little exposure to the crowd being soaking wet and the field being warm and de-iced and stuff so they're doing some things there that I think. Way more expensive than just putting a roof on. It actually is more expensive what they're doing. Cardinal seven and eight, Rams nine and six, Rams seven point home favorites, the overrunners 47 and a half.

Rams have a high implied point total of 27.3. If they win and Seattle loses, they are the champions of the NFC West. They also played the Seahawks in week 18. So if Seattle wins again, it'll come down to week 18 Nice. I did mention at the beginning of the week when you think about motivation factors for the Cardinals They're they're saying all the right things in the press conferences of their motivation to win this game and to play every down and to finish the season strong I

Am more compelled by that argument because it's a divisional matchup where you can disrupt your divisional rival. This is a long-term rival. So does Connor wanna play? I think, yeah, I think it's more motivated by playing the Rams than it would be playing some other team with no consequence on either side of the football, a couple of out of playoff teams, for example.

It's a tough and more difficult call because Connor has been on a tear. The RB 7, 1, and 6. He was the RB 6 last week playing 44% of snaps. Yeah I mean he he's been awesome. I do think if he's active I would play him. I'm not quite as concerned. I mean he's been practicing so it's one of those where if he was like not practicing at all, not practicing, DMP I mean, he's been practicing, so it's one of those where if he was not practicing at all, not practicing, DMP, and then, oh, he's a surprise active, that gets you worried. But the fact that he's actually been at practice, been doing this, and they're going to need

him in this game. I mean, they've lost four of the last five games the Cardinals have. It's divisional, but this is also a revenge game for the Rams. If you remember, week two, they got humiliated by the Cardinals, 41 to 10. They got just drubbed, and that's got to. That was the Marv game. That was a Marv game, that was the game where they lost their entire offensive line, and I'm sure they're coming back here

to put a stamp on the Cardinals. Well, let me talk about the hardest decision to make, and I'm struggling with it because it's four straight wins for the Rams. They scored 21-44 they won 12 and 19 so not scoring a ton of points they did it against Buffalo but the last four games they've won in Cooper Cup wide receivers 78-15 won 17 and 73 so completely irrelevant in three of four games despite winning he's not required anymore to win the football game when Kyron and Puka are involved

yeah and he's a tough start city is yeah I mean you I mean you just said it three of the last four weeks the yardage the yardage isn is not there. I mean, his second highest yardage is 24 yards. You know, I was not concerned at all after the goose, but looking deeper at it, I am very concerned. And it's not like this is a great matchup. The Cardinals, over the course of the season, they're number four in fantasy points given up to wide receivers. Which is weird, because they're allowing the highest completion rate in the NFL. Yeah, keep in mind, they suck.

Like, it's so strange. And I hate them. Yeah, I mean, the Cardinals are always an enigma. Sometimes their defense shows up, and they look awesome. And other times, they let Bryce Young run for 100 yards. If Conor's inactive, who do you start running back for Arizona? Is it Michael Carter?

We're waiting on Trey Benson too, he was limited. I don't think Trey Benson will be active, so it would be Michael Carter. If Trey Benson is active, it would be Trey Benson ahead of Michael Carter, but it would be nobody, is the correct answer. Mike, were you asking a question about somebody else? Kyler.

What do you possibly do? He is your pivot option for the Bo Nicks, for the on the fence situation, but you're trying not to play him. They have a road matchup against a team that's hungry to make the playoffs. And he's been so bad. And he's a stinky bad quarterback.

Yeah, he was 20 points last week. Like when you look at it, you're like, oh, QB 13. But he was 20 plus points, like took overtime. Yeah, I mean, if you look at the're like oh QB 13 but it was he was 20 plus points like took over time yeah I mean if you look if you look at the last five weeks for Kyler Murray 23 this is his fantasy finishes 23 18 11 22 13 that is not a recipe for a must start on the points are even more indicative I mean 10 points 15 points 10 points again that the floor is not what it should be for a mobile quarterback So he's not he's not a must play to me all right McBride your start of the week

Pookas in your lineup Marvin Harrison is a scary start Very and I'd be McMillan over Harrison right I think so yeah, that's a better situation game environment All right, we'll take a break. We'll hit the Sunday games. Get groceries delivered across the GTA from real Canadian Superstore with PC Express. Shop online for super prices and super savings. Try it today and get up to $75 in PC Optimum Points. Visit superstore.ca to get started. This holiday season, the Center for Addiction and Mental Health is, visit superstore.ca to get started. breakthroughs. But now is the time to aim even higher. You can help create a world where no one is left behind. Donate at CAMH.CA slash donate now from December 23rd to the 31st

and your gift will be tripled for three times the impact. You know, we're going to talk jets, four and 11, Buffalo, 12 and three divisional game, Buffalo eight and a half point home favorites, over unders 47. But I'm realizing that for a guy like me, who had a bad Christmas for fantasy, because my players were bad, the weather is really kind of,

I am welcoming the weather because it represents a variable that could accidentally work in my favor, starting with Devante Adams and Aaron Rodgers in this game. The underdogs of the world are really hoping it's a rainy, windy. We are anti-Dome, baby. You want chaos. Yeah, Jeremy already looked into the cost of maybe

covering some of these stadiums for a one week situation just to be able to... How many people will just like hold hands? Like I'll hold it to I'll hold a tarp over the over the stadium. Man and then 300 people flew away. You know what? Worth it. Worth it. Did he catch the touchdown? Yeah. With a win, the Bills lock up the two seed. And you know, here we are.

At one point in the offseason, the Jets were favorites to win the division. And Aaron Rodgers, MCL injury, said he's going to play. Adams missed a practice with a hip injury You imagine he's gonna be out there Garrett Wilson squeaky wheel narrative. Oh, so Buffalo has You know the right on the cusp of locking things in Defensively, they've been weird at times Played New England last week, gave up 42 points

to Detroit the week before and 44 points to the Rams the week before that. So defensively they've been struggling. That's your argument for Adams, Wilson, and Rodgers and Brees. Yep. Yeah, this is, I know we've- But the rain is-

We've made a big deal about the rain in the- Broncos game? Yeah, in the Broncos the... Broncos game? Yeah, in the Broncos-Bangles game, but this is another one that should potentially be a complete downpour, a huge, wet, rain-out type of game. Definite rain is the forecast. Yeah, Buffalo is known for having some of these bad weather games, and so this is part of why I like Breeze Hall.

The running game, the dump offs, the short screens, those, those types of things that might be good for, you know, if you're looking at the trying to make light of this very confusing wide receiver core for the bills, that says to me Khalil Shakir, that's his type of game, where he thrives is in that short screen games, those dump offs, get blockers out in front as opposed to an Amari Cooper who's going to be more down the field.

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

they could have scored some points. People on the sports Twitter are really really fired up talking about the MVP and I have no idea like why are people so big mad? Who cares? Yeah I mean there's just like the if the disrespect narrative for some reason. It's so weird. I mean, Buffalo, look, if there was ever a season where a player's reputation legacy was on the line, it was this year in Buffalo for Josh Allen. They lost to Fundigs. This was a team that some projected, we just said it,

before the season, not to win the division. They go 12 and three with a hodgepodge of injuries and wide receivers that almost nobody has seen production from. It's an impressive performance. Allen and Lamar Jackson are the two most valuable players in the game. Absolutely. To me it's more of the... And one of them is on the cusp of the two seed. Like the Allen versus Lamar people are just so mad at each other. I don't know why.

It is like, what? When have we ever cared who won the MVP? When they've got bets. When they've got some money on the line, and they're going, oh, no, no way. He's got Derrick Henry. He's not even the most valuable player on his own team. It's the weirdest MVP discourse that I can remember.

I do like that. Some years I feel like it's just, you know, the best player on the best team or the quarterback on the best team. And this year it really does feel like those two guys are playing outrageous football and both are extremely deserving of it. Yeah, yeah. The Raiders are three and 12.

And the Saints are 5-10. And there's a football game we're gonna do. They're gonna play this game. The mustache versus the rat tail. Like they're not canceling this. No, actually... There was some talk about it. No, this is how you can have these teams be watchable.

Is you play them against each other. When a JV team plays an NFL team, that's bad football. That's a waste of everybody's time. When a JV team plays a JV team, you can go to a high school football game and have a good time. So I actually, I think this could be a surprisingly good matchup. The, yeah, the Raiders are one and a half point road favorites, the Overrunners 38. We expect Spencer Rattler to be the starter.

I got a snake, man. That freaked me out. Aidan O'Connell on the other side. Camaro's not practicing. Kendre Miller, I have zero confidence in Kendre Miller. You'd go Madison over Camaro, or I'm sorry, over Miller, right? Yes, because I think that his snap counts are more secure and they're favored and both of them stink.

The utilization of Kindred Miller was the biggest problem because Kindred Miller is, I still think, he's a much more talented running back, I believe, than Alexander Madison. But Alexander Madison's getting the work and Kindred Miller was in a full committee even with Alvin Kamara out of the way. That was what was really upsetting because I do think if they gave the whole work to Kendre Miller in a matchup like this against a bad

team he could succeed, but not if he's getting, you know, half of it or a third of it. You guys realize that Brock Bowers is five catches from Puka's rookie record? Wow. Really? So he is. He will do that. Going to break the rookie record for reception. He has two more games to do that, that's crazy. He's been outrageously good.

And he's 10 yards from Dicka's rookie tight end record. So he's gonna do both of those things. He said he tries not to think about it because it stresses him out, He just wants to win. He hasn't got to do a lot of that this year. Jacobi Myers, it started nice and he didn't touch the ball the rest of the game last week. He actually ended up with only five fantasy points,

two catches for 41 yards. He's a scary, risky play because he's been outside the top 24 in four straight. This is where if you've got that connection to a quarterback you have no confidence in it gives you no confidence that's the problem yep I'm I'm still okay with Jacobi Myers obviously bad bad game last week but he the all the weeks prior nine targets 10 targets 11 targets 15 targets he's he is involved and this is a you

know this is another Matchup where I think you can play him hard to off of a disappointing week last week But you just can't be that recency biased with a wide receiver because you're you're always gonna have inconsistency The problem with him is that you're not getting you're not buying ceiling Correct. Yeah, that's the that if you were looking for ceiling, you gotta look somewhere else. Right, that's where McMillan has a chance to score two touchdowns, and with Jacoby,

you're praying for a touchdown, but he's not getting a touchdown. You think Al will let me play Connor and McMillan in one slot? You can ask him, he's right there. Al? Nah. Okay, officially ruled.

He's already buying all his championship gear. Colts are seven and eight, the Giants are two and 13. Giants have the number one pick right now. Giants are seven and a half point underdogs at home, and they have an implied point total of 16 points. The over-under is 40 here, but the Colts have a nice 24 point implied point total. So, Colts desperately need the game to stay in the mix

Giants desperately need the game to be an L so they can keep the number one spot so it makes Richardson a you know he's always yeah he's streamable he's always in the mix could always get it done last four weeks one finish at number 10 at the quarterback position. You're probably not getting a big ceiling game here because the way I would see this game working out is more so Jonathan Taylor and the defense and then you're just salting the game away. It's kind of what we saw last week. Josh Downs. I don't really have confidence in pass catchers despite the matchup. No, it's funny when you can say that the quarterback

is a pretty good start, but don't start any of his receivers because it's really a matter of the groundwork. Jonathan Taylor and Anthony Richardson should both have a ton of rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. That's pretty much it. On the other side, I mean this is a pretty easy game because I, Tyrone Tracy didn't practice on Wednesday

with the ankle, but I think that's just probably rest. He had- Neighbors didn't either, toe injuring. Yeah, and he had work last week. So I think I'm okay with Tracy and neighbors, and I'm okay with Anthony Richardson and Jonathan Taylor. And the Colts D. Yeah, oh for sure, the Colts D, heck yeah.

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

Yeah, if you're playing for Sealing, I think Sealing would be here. Just looking for a Pittman or a Josh Downs than it is for Jacoby. Yeah, if you're playing for ceiling, I think ceiling would be here. Parlay-partay time. Jason. I'll kick it off, baby. No, no, no, Jason. You gotta hand things out, man. Yeah, we do.

We give you a responsibility and you're not bragging. Where's the crown wigs? We don't have them this week. We did it, everybody. Triple crown. Well, I mean, I do it on every week, but. Yeah. We did it. What are you doing over here, Jay?

You OK? I'm good, man. All right. I like this crown. Yeah. You look real good. Yeah. I love that you're afraid.

Neither of you took your hat off. I never do. Why? So we all hit our parlays hat off. I never do. Why? So we all hit our parlays last week. I was 50 plus yards for flowers. Jason was 25 plus yards for Gibbs in the receiving game. And Mike had over 5 and 1 half receptions for neighbors. It only took 14 targets to barely get there.

He had a couple called back, but we got there. This week, I am going opposite of my start of the week. I think Higgins has a re-injury factor. He got banged up last week. He's got a rain factor, and he's got a line of 71 and a half receiving yards. I said, I think my start of the week is to Higgins. Yeah, well, when it rains,

it pours and Higgins under 71 and a half is my pick. Okay, I'm going, as we talked about earlier, Lad McConkey over 50 receiving yards. He does it every single week. Should be a gimme. Yeah, yeah. Since week eight he's averaging 87 yards. He's hit this in eight straight games. Oh yeah, yeah, it is a gimme.

Bold. Do you want me to take something that he can't hit? Mike. Mike. Trey McBride, my star of the week. I'm going 60 plus for receiving yards. He's averaging 68 yards per game. He went six for 67 against the Rams earlier.

And I do believe this is a squeaky wheel. No, I am not going to guarantee the Trey McBride touchdown. No one can do that. As we all foolishly continue to do. But I think the receptions and the yardage, it's a bounce back. Now, as fantasy forecast presented by DraftKings Pick 6, download the new DraftKings Pick 6 app now

and use the code ballers. That's code ballers for new customers to play $5 and get $50 in Pick 6 credits. That'll do it for today. We got more matchups in the fantasy face-off tomorrow. Enjoy the rest of the holiday week. Al Borland, glad I could lower your blood pressure rain rain go away go away goodbye

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