Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - FANTASY SHOW: How will the Vikings defense approach the Ravens?

Episode Date: November 8, 2025

Mike Schopp of ADP Chasing and WGR 550 in Buffalo joins for the weekly fantasy show to discuss how the Vikings defense approaches shutting down the Ravens offense. The Purple Insider podcast is brought to you by FanDuel. Also, check out our sponsor HIMS at https://hims.com/purpleinsider Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey, everybody, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider presented by Fanduil, and this is our weekly fantasy show with Mike Schope of WGR 550 in Buffalo and ADP chasing. And we're going to start with breaking curling news, Mike. Well, I'm excited you wanted to start with this, but Jared Allen, Vikings legend. Is that? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Not too strong? No, not too strong at all. Definitely let you. So I'll try to keep this short. Curling. A couple of years ago, a guy, curling fan, business guy, bought what's called the Grand Slam of Curling. And he has done the marketing thing to it. And one of these things is to take, which had pretty much been not in terms of the competitors, but the locations out of Canada. So this week, you can watch this at a site called rock channel.com. You can watch the games all for free.

They're in Tahoe. And one thing he has tried to do to grow the game, if you will, is bring in celebrities, other sports figures. George Kittle is one who's done exhibition stuff with them in Nashville. It's at the tight end home base maybe for tight ends or whatever. Yep. So now they've got Jared Allen competing in this week's Grand Slam tournament. and he has a team of just legends that he's playing with, older guys.

Imagine like if you were playing in a team golf event as, you know, you're a too handicapped, but you're not a professional. You're a good golfer and you're famous and you get invited to play in this, you know, a serious tournament, not just a pro M. And your partner is Ernie Else or somebody like that who used to be great, right? So that's what they've done with Jared Allen and he's huge. and, you know, in curling, that has its place as a sweeper. So the first night, two nights ago, his team played against Ross White, five in the world,

and they lost 10 to 9. Like, it was cool how close they made it. Last night went worse against Nicholas Adenne, an all-time great. But I love it. And I have never really cared about Jared Allen. I'm not in sort of the, apart from our conversations every week in the Viking space. But he seems likable. And, I mean, it's a great effort by the sport and the people who are running.

these slams and these tournaments to branch out like that. That is really cool. I think that there is a backstory there with Jared Allen that he learned curling as kind of a dare or a bet. Like, hey, I'll just give this a shot. And then, of course, football players are freakishly good at everything sometimes. And then he absolutely fell in love with the sport. And so what started out is kind of like maybe I'll just try this, has turned into something really serious for him. That is amazing. It's been quite a year for Jared Allen.

So first, number one on his list is this curling thing and then number two, making the Hall of Fame. When he was put into the Ring of Honor, he rode out on the horse. So he's a great personality and, of course, a worthy Hall of Famer. So the Vikings got a huge win. From a fantasy perspective, though, Mike, it's really kind of funny and almost creepy that J.J. McCarthy would get his two wins and throw for exactly 140, yards and have two passing touchdowns, one rushing touchdown.

But there's a guy that I think from a fantasy perspective that benefits really highly from J.J. McCarthy and where he's going to take this. Because I don't think he's going to throw for 143 yards every single game. And I think that that is Jordan Addison. So going into this game against the Baltimore Ravens, Jordan Addison on Fandul is over under his 47 and a half. And Addison has still been, you know, rolling. and has been pretty good this year since he's come back from the suspension.

But I think that there's upside, big upside on the way for Jordan Addison. And I think it might be a little bit harder on Justin Jefferson than it was with Carson Wentz because Carson Wentz was a veteran quarterback who's kind of doing what Joe Flacco is doing, which is wide receiver one football. And I don't think they want J.J. McCarthy to play so much that way. It's more of, hey, look for the matchups. and they had built up this chemistry and training camp that was really excellent

and you could see it in this game where there's an outbreaking route and he's got the ball out before he's coming out of the break and hits him right on. It just felt like they were a little more in sync than him and Jefferson. And I think this could kind of take off for Addison going forward.

Yeah, it'd be great to see. I think about that game last week and didn't we sort of, or didn't I kind of lay out three possible game script scenarios for this game, and that game was none of them. Yeah. One of them was the Vikings hanging and even maybe winning,

but in that game, you were going to clear all your totals, right? And nobody did. I mean, Jefferson was Jefferson, but nobody else, what, caught more than two passes? And Addison, I think, was two for 48. And, like, oh, it's just sort of a tease, you know? Like, if you're betting overs when it comes to receivers like that, you feel like maybe you were right, how could you have, missed, you know, and some, I don't know how many, if there was another close call or something

with him. You know, going forward so much purple this week with Baltimore. Yeah, I mean, it all makes sense. I think one thing we've talked about too, as opposed to Wentz, was how like, you know, Wentz would be the tight end or running backs because, oh my God, like this and just get rid of it. Whereas, you know, you want McCarthy to evolve as a player that will, you know, take his time, make his reads. And, you know, there are really no numbers. Let me introduce. you to Bryce Young, by the way, who just won at Lambeau with a hundred and two passing yards. Yeah.

And what McCarthy did in Detroit on the same day is kind of crazy. But yeah, if you think it's trending right. And the Ravens as an opponent, I think, are really an enigma defensively. Because there are times, I mean, we saw it when Houston went up there and just did anything they wanted. I mean, they've had all these injuries. And they have at time with the Buffalo games. in week one even, 4140, they seem very soft.

But what they tend to do is come on and then they get healthier and then they become kind of a beast. I don't know exactly where we're at on that timeline when it comes to the Ravens. The Dolphins scored six points in their last game. But the logic behind the Addison play makes sense. I think in terms of fantasy, he's a fringe starter. I mean, if your team is really good, maybe not. but you have buy weeks and injuries and, you know, he's probably going to be in most lineups. Yeah, I guess I'm looking at him as maybe someone who hasn't really taken off this

year fantasy wise. He has 23 catches, just two touchdowns. He's usually kind of known for that. And right off the bat at the beginning of the game, they run a goal ball to him. And it's a diving play. And if he had caught it, it would have been an unbelievable catch. But it was there. It was a really good throw from J.J. McCarthy. And that would have changed the numbers in that. But it was kind of right from the beginning script, here's McCarthy coming out, taking a shot down the field to Jordan Addison. And I also think Addison just shows a lot of flashes

of being really good with the football in his hands. They ran a reverse with him. He got 16 yards. And more of that should be on the way of just get the ball into Addison's hands and he can make plays. Theoretically, it makes sense. But we are also playing in a world today where teams are winning by throwing for 150 or 200 yards.

I mean, you mentioned the Bryce Young game. That had 30, 40 mile an hour wins. I think that impacted it to some extent. But it's not unusual to see Bo Nix, the world's new favorite quarterback to argue over, throw for 180, 175 yards and eke out a win or something against a great Houston Texans defense. It feels like the only team that can throw for big totals and score lots of points for some reason is Joe Flacko's Cincinnati Bank. But aside from that, I mean, the whole league is kind of like this. And even last week with Mahomes, you talk about defenses and how crazy hot or cold they can be.

The, the, the, the, the bill's defense looks lost at times versus the Falcons, whose offense is being torn to shreds by everybody. And then they cause Patrick Mahomes to complete 40% of his passes. You're like, are who's good on defense? The Vikings play against the chargers look completely lost. Justin Herbert could do whatever he wants. Then the next week, an offense that's decidedly better than the Chargers, they completely shut them down.

I think a lot of it just has to do with who's healthy and where the biggest weakness is on a particular team and how you can take advantage of it. But I feel like it's been very weird from this perspective of trying to figure out like what defenses are even good on a weekly basis. Yeah. And yes or no, that's why we love it. It's so unpredictable week to week. and it's injuries, like you said,

and it's just certain matchups. I think the best coaches are, O'Connell would be one of them, where you can find, all right, you want to make a short list of areas and players on a defense, on an opponent you think you can exploit.

And that's, you know, the difference sometimes, because it might not be time, there might not be enough time for your opponent to adjust to that, or they might not be able to find the same weaknesses. Buffalo, Kansas City, it almost here in Buffalo with the fans,

put me in a worse place that win because I think, you know, here are the bills who every year go into these. I'm obviously exaggerating by putting it this way, but they go into these annual regular season showdowns with Kansas City. Like, let's try this. And I think the chiefs kind of go, okay, we'll see you later. Next time we'll do a thing. The AFC championship came down to one play where they showed this exotic blitz

all from one side of the field and the bills couldn't deal with it. And they lost. So the better the bills look in those games, the worse I feel about their chances because they're being toyed with, you know, to a point. But yeah, like we've got this trend in the last couple of years where teams are just not able to throw the ball as successfully. This goes back, you know, the last four years, really, where we've seen that. And you've got to figure out a plan B. A lot of teams are going heavy. Two tight ends, six linemen. I mean, you see them drafting. like this. Pittsburgh's live this year. They have four tight ends that are relevant and one receiver to their offense. So it's pretty wild and in fantasy it makes things really challenging. They already are. But tight end, you kind of have to luck into a touchdown unless you have Bowers or McBride. And a lot of receivers just don't get there on a regular basis. The elite ones tend to that's a couple of guys. I just watched Chicago put up 47 points

and 500 some yards and Roma dunes a airbald, zero. Like, wow. How do you even, how do you sleep at night when you're trying to figure this stuff out? Well, and, you know, Colston Loveland, who, when they drafted him, I was like, I don't know, do you guys need another tight end?

But really good if the Cincinnati Bengals do not want to tackle him at all. And three of them go, are you going to do that? Are you going to make the tackle? That is, that is, That is some of the strangest football with their defense I've ever seen. Strange and some of the most damning video evidence you'll ever see, too. Like this Shamar Stewart, all the drama about him in the summer, first round pick. And he's just getting obliterated by tiny receivers.

And just who knows. It's really weird to see a team look like they're just not competing. Yeah. And that's where you wonder about, like, is this something more beyond just like, is it them, kind of quitting on their coach or like what's happening there because any football team should not play like that when they have professional players and some of those guys have been good players in the past like Gino Stone is he's got he's been around he's made plays for a team and he in that moment is just going no no no no no no no they can have this win it was bizarre uh let's circle back

to Lamar Jackson though 221.5 yards is the over under in passing for Lamar Jackson. Let me take a look at the rushing. 37 and a half rushing for Lamar. I, as we're having this discussion, it sort of leads into, I don't know what to think of the Vikings defense against Lamar Jackson because they had the perfect plan against Jared Goff. They confused the interior of the Lions offensive line. The interior really showed that they were missing their all world center who retired in the off season and they had no adjustment to it. Jamir Gibbs. How crazy is this?

Jamir Gibbs gave up seven quarterback pressures. I've never seen a running back give up seven quarterback pressures before. But if you have the same rush plan against Lamar Jackson, he will see your linebacker and go, whoop, and just escape. And you won't see him again because he's 50 yards down the field. So what do we make of Lamar Jackson versus the NFL's most aggressive blitzing defense? very interesting i think it starts with does he want to run i think every game with him you have to you'd love to know what his attitude is about taking off i watched the ravens over the last few years

and i just watch a team that i think should never lose a single game like how do they not score on every drive i think with jackson he wanted to demonstrate and his team steered him, I think, in this direction, that he was more than just the best running quarterback anybody has ever seen. And at times, I think it's cost them because they limit themselves. He just, whatever, I don't know. It's a very interesting guy to try to figure out, you know, not just in a schematic sense. I thought last week against Miami, he didn't want to run.

And he was coming off a month-long hamstring injury. So I guess I can respect that. Then they got ahead easily and it was going to be a walking, you know, a rioter. chair kind of night. And so who knows after that? The pressure was never on Baltimore. But he didn't want to go. And that makes that sort of feeds into this number for this game because it's such a low number. I mean, the guy ran for a thousand yards. He runs for a thousand yards in a season in his sleep. Right. And 37 and a half, you take some guts to bet the under on that. But, you know, maybe he's not healthy. Maybe they get ahead. It's interesting that they're a four

or five point favorite on the road. I mean, but nobody. loves anything more than the betting markets love the Baltimore Ravens always. So it's still a flawed team. If he wants to go, your point about blitzes and everything is exactly right. I don't think the Vikings would have that kind of success against this player. But they know that and they're going to game plan it differently

because of that. I think he's still got it when he's healthy as long as he is in the mood. I feel like maybe it really comes down to that with Baltimore. You know, as a passer, I've always been on team Lamar Jackson. I thought the criticism he received when he was younger was laughable and sometimes horrible. And, you know, now you just, everybody has sort of settled into, well, he's grown as a, I'm not so sure he ever really grew. I think he was just always great.

And his other talent, he's so good at everything that, you know, I'll just do this today. I'll do that tomorrow. And, you know, it was good enough. And I kind of think with the Ravens, too, not to go on forever about them, but, you know, they've had the playoff failures. You know, he misses time. Sometimes it's weird. Sometimes he's just sick. He's not at practice, you know, is the week where he didn't play when we thought he would against Chicago and he's not on the injury report.

There's all kinds of this drama with him that I don't think teams love, but the guy's so good, you're just going to have to deal with it. It is crazy to think about. And that sort of to your point about the drama with him about how at one point the Baltimore Ravens made it possible for other people to trade for Lamar Jackson. And then they didn't, which is honestly the most insane thing ever. I mean, I think it was Atlanta that announced or leaked, I think of the same thing to some insider or whatever. Like, we're not going after Lamar Jackson. Like, I wouldn't be announcing that. I would just stay in the back.

And as much as I respect Michael Pennix, I mean, if that team with their weapons had had Lamar Jackson these last couple years, there's a few coaches who wouldn't have gotten fired. But, you know, it is odd this year, though, because he's only run 26 times and 11 of them go for 10 or more yards. So, I mean, one every other run is going for an explosive play, but to only have 26 carries, even with missing time, is pretty shocking for Lamar Jackson. and the theory I have there is that that Lions game got in his head a little bit, that the Lions came with a really good plan and they beat the tar out of him in that game. And I just, I don't think that they have the offensive line, the size that pushes people around, well, or the talent combined with the size. Because when I think of them, I think of these mammoth humans just creating huge gaps

for Lamar Jackson and him running through them free and then needing to beat one guy. but the Lions really hit him over and over and they had a good spy plan with Alex Anzolone and it just I don't know since then it didn't seem like he really had the same juice and maybe he actually got injured in that game but I think there might be something to that. That's, I thought he got hurt that night.

Yeah. And because it was you just never see a game like that where he's being sacked constantly. Like what's wrong? Right. The next week is Kansas City and he goes out. So something was probably already wrong. But the other, that's the point about the Ravens is that game is 3830.

Like, as horrible as we all thought it looked, it's 3830. The key man, it seems for the Ravens is the fullback, Ricard. And he missed the first chunk of the season. Even in the Bill's game, I mean, they scored 40 points that night in a loss. They didn't have him for that game and they ran almost at will. But then it seemed like his absence was really a problem for Baltimore. He comes back and they start to, they start to click. And so it just seems what they, who they think they are, what they want to do offensively.

He has a lot to do with that. And I don't know how exactly that affects the Vikings approach to this game. But they can throw it to, and the Ravens have never been flush with receivers. Zay Flowers, I think is really good. I mean, I sort of think of Addison and Flowers sometimes in the same way. Yeah. But, you know, is that the same draft too, like right around each other? that clump of receivers who were picked.

Also, JSN, who's right now the best in the league, arguably, having the best season, arguably in the league at that position. So Flowers is good. Tight ends are always interesting with Baltimore. They've got three they use and throw the ball to. Really, I think it's probably a headache for any defensive coordinator, maybe like top of the list, how to defend Baltimore. You can get there sometimes, and if their line has had tons of injuries,

which makes it easier for the, the defense, obviously, but there's just so many things they can do to beat you. It's funny that, you know, we're talking about, well, you know, it's not quite the same. It's not quite what it was last year, you know, his quarterback rating presently is 136.7. It's not quite, not quite. Right. I mean, he's completing 73% of his passes at over nine yards per attempt, 14 touchdowns, one pick. Like, I don't know. That's pretty good. quarterback rating so quarterback rating does not include any rushing element right right this is just your passer you know where he ranks all time i wouldn't be surprised

if it's at the very top number one yeah yeah number one all time in quarterback rating which does not include rushing well some former bills executives wanted him to play wide receiver coming out uh in the draft no what uh yeah i mean we that's part of the entire story of Lamar Jackson is the completely bogus and horrific analysis of him as a passer. But, you know, I mean, we're talking about clearly at this point in his career, one of the best players in the history of the National Football League easily. If he retires today, he walks into the Hall of Fame with no problem. And that's where, you know, can the Vikings even slow him down? I think it's not a matter of can they stop Lamar Jackson. It's really, can you

slow him down. And that starts with the wide receivers because even as much as they beat up Jared Goff, they pressured the heck out of him. They hit him. They knocked him down. They stopped Jamir Gibbs, which we'll talk about Derek Henry. Still, Jameson Williams, 30-some yard touchdown. Sam Laporta, 40-yard touchdown. This Vikings defense is still very vulnerable in the secondary. And I think that that is the thing we're looking for here with such an efficient passing game from Lamar Jackson and the Ravens that if they can get those wide receivers open against the secondary, if he's got time to throw, then it's going to be a problem. And that probably starts for them with Derek Henry.

What a weird season. So his over under on Fanduil is 79.5 in this game. And it feels like each week Derek Henry is either back or so not back. Like what he looks horrendous or wow, he ripped off an 80 yard run. It's been a strange year for him too. last week was both that dolphin game i tweeted at one point jackson doesn't want to run and henry can't what what yeah what do they do next and he's not scoring from the goal line like he has done so famously i mean he's such a powerhouse but yeah i got to a point two or three weeks ago

where i was like ready to say i think this guy is washed i think it's over for derrick henry but it never is and against the dolphins it looked like that again until it didn't and he ripped off a couple of runs late. They kept him in the game. He got over 100. I mean, the dolphins, I don't know. I don't know how credible anything really is against them these days. But it happened.

I'm not in the mood to bet overs on Derek Henry at this point of my life. I just, Minnesota is respectable, and he doesn't look as good as he did. I just, that's an eye test point. I don't really know that I trust myself on that, but that's kind of how I feel. and 79 and a half is sort of a normal day for him. It's another one of those where if they get ahead, it'll happen. If they have the Dolphin game again, he'll clear it. They have Keaton Mitchell, who is sort of like your favorite analyst's favorite running back.

This guy who almost never gets the ball, but he's got this incredible efficiency and breakaway speed. They just almost never use him. And in that game, they had a chance to save Derek Henry, and they chose to just, you know, not he played all the way through and got his got his volume so I would lean on the under toward the under on him just because of how I feel about sort of where he's at in his career but as my friends and some of my you know colleagues in fantasy football know I'm never wrong just early this is my seventh year of fading Derek Henry in fantasy football one of these years I'm going to be right so your eye test is matching up with the eye test of the folks who grade every single

play at PFF. Last year, Derek Henry had a career high, 94.0 PFF grade, almost went for 2,000, six yards to carry. Well, it's only one yard per carry less. His PFF grade is gone from 94 to 59. So the negative plays, the zero runs, not breaking tackles in the same way that he used to not powering forward and turning zero yard runs into five yard runs. It doesn't look the same. And his yards per carry is kind of a miss. based on a handful of really, really big runs and not inconsistent down-to-down type of performance. And this is where the Vikings, the crazy thing about the Vikings is that Kenneth Gainwell ran over them. And Saquan Barclay and Jemir Gibbs did nothing against them. So, you know, Vidal, went crazy.

And yet, and I think so much of it has to do in this game with just who gets ahead. Because if the Vikings get ahead, Derek Henry is going to be taken out of this game. And Jackson's going to throw and throw and throw and throw. And if the Vikings are behind, then even if Henry is getting two-yard runs and then breaks a 30-yarder, well, that's still going to work for Baltimore. And they're going to continue to keep going back to that and back to that. They won't get frustrated if they're up by 14 points. But I do think that Van Ginkle coming back, cashman at 100%, Harrison Smith, much closer to 100%.

And you know what's been really interesting is that they've used a true 3-4 out there. like old school. You would have remembered this with Bryce Pop hanging over the outside of the line there and the, you know, the three defensive tackles. I mean, that's what they've been using over the last couple weeks to stop some of these big runners. So that, I think they've really dedicated to stopping it. So let me ask you, though, about the line here on Fandul. Four and a half point favorites are the Baltimore Ravens. And you mentioned the betting markets adore the Ravens. They picked the Ravens for every single game, so I'm not surprised to see it. But these two teams on paper, I think actually look really, really close.

It's interesting. It's not a game I'm excited to bet because, well, actually, it's the kind of line where I, even though I sort of make it a rule to never bet against Baltimore, I'm kind of a little bit tempted to do it because, I mean, there are three and five and four and a half points on the road. They've been the division favorite throughout the season. They were one in five, and they were still the betting favorite for most of that stretch in the AFC North. It's very weird. I think the key to the whole thing is McCarthy. I mean, the Ravens offense gets there almost always with Jackson healthy. So one way or another, they probably do it. It's just very rare

to see him have a bad game or the Ravens offense held under 20 points or whatever the threshold needs to be. But I do think McCarthy is still in this phase where it could go really badly. Like we just don't really know how effective he can be. And now you put it to a Ravens defense that, again, has had all kinds of injury, drama and different challenges. But they do ramp up, you know, and this is really why they, one reason why they get so much love always is like as the season goes along, they get better. And maybe it's, you know, close enough to the end to think, to think that of Baltimore. I don't have a great feel for the game. You know, these teams hardly ever play. Wasn't there a great shootout game in Baltimore the last time the Vikings

played the Ravens with cousins? Does that sound right? 2021 ended up going to overtime. And I believe Anthony Barr had the ball in his hands or maybe even got an interception. Yeah, no, I think he got an interception over time. And then the Vikings went three and out and then they end up losing that game. But yeah, that was a shootout. There's been a bunch of crazy ones over the years. There was one where like 28 points were scored in the last four minutes of the game with kick returns for touchdowns.

That was maybe 2013. It's always a little bit bizarre when the Vikings face the Ravens. And I think part of that is, it's all that purple. And it's also they just, they don't know each other. Like when Detroit and Minnesota go up against each other, it is like high level coach versus coach. I know you, you know me, but I think you could catch the other team off guard a little bit when you have just a couple days to get ready for them and you haven't seen this coaching staff time and time again. Especially when one one Lamar Jackson being unique like he is. I mean,

if you don't have the experience, you might be in a tougher spot. Right, right. So I did want to talk about the wide receivers a little bit, because it has been a bit of an odd year. And Seattle is just, lighting it up with Sam Darnold and Jackson Smith the Jigba. Right now he is running away, even from Jabbar Chase, who seems to be getting a target on every single play for the Bengals, 948 yards

on 58 catches, 16 yards a catch for Seattle. As a regression believer in general, I think that this is one where you would say it's going to be pretty hard to keep up some of the numbers that Sam Darnold has posted throwing to Smith the Jigba. They went

got Rashid Shaheed as another weapon for him. But are you buying Darnold Smith, the Jigba that this is going to continue? And he's just the league's top receiver this year. I am. I think, I mean, he he has the pedigree. He's the right age. You know, this is his third year. And Darnold, I certainly wouldn't have to tell you what he can do when he's on.

And Sunday night was that quintessentially. I mean, he couldn't miss. And Smith and Jigba was a big part of that game plan, but there was also all the type, anything they wanted Seattle in that game in Washington just made it look so easy. So I am, he's not a fluke. His different roles,

he was Pete Carroll in the first place. He got hurt as a rookie in the preseason on a long pass against Dallas. And again, this is also something you know, that can really throw off your entire season. Oh, yeah. And, you know, you don't get, the chance right away. Then there's like this development phase and your season is over and

oh, he's a bust or something. Like I we've definitely with the season he's had already, seen JSN sort of prove that wrong. So yeah, I think I think he can't keep it up. And Shaheed, it seems like the consensus here is he's the perfect complimentary piece. He's never going to be like a high volume target guy. He's just sort of like a compliment. He's a deep ball. He's a home run hitter. And they did not really have that. Like, it's sort of a perfect idea, I think. And I don't think it should cut into Smith and Jigba, who's everything intermediate, short, it's all happening for him. And like we've talked about my concern with Seattle, and I think this was most people's concern, was whether the line would be good enough to help, you know, to protect Donald and allow for

him to have his best season. And that totally has happened so far. Yeah. So I'm a believer. And he's getting the ball out much quicker than he did last year where he held onto it for a long time and took a lot of hits because of it. It seems like they made that a point of emphasis for them to get the ball out. And there's, you know, they really took advantage of his ability to throw with anticipation because there are plays where he just takes the snap and it's, it's in the air. And you're like, where is it headed? And then Smith the Jigbo run, you know, is running to a spot to get the ball. It feels like that was a major thing that they tried to do is just, Sometimes it looks like, I know it's very complicated, but sometimes it looks like one re-plays.

Like, you're just throwing to Smith the Jigba here. Take the snap and throw them the football. And it's been really impressive to see what Clint Kubiak has done with their offense there. It's also like in fantasy, it's, I'm shaking my head, just thinking about it. Like, your perfect draft might have been picking, say, 106, where you could have picked Lamb or Gibbs or even McCaffrey. And then you come back with Jonathan Taylor, who would have been sitting. there in the mid-second and then Smith and Jigba in the mid-third. It's tough to, there are not going to be like a relatively high percentage of teams that

have Taylor and J-S-N because Taylor was more mid-to-late second and then J-S-N was mid-to-late third on the other side, but I shake my head because if you drafted top three or four picks in your draft, all the guys you got instead, I mean, a lot of them just are big disappointments, whether that's because of an injury. Omerian Hampton was going in that. that range. I mean, Travion Henderson would go in that range in the third. T. Higgins, okay, it came to life. Josh Jacobs doesn't look good, hurt, still producing. Just, you know, a lot of iffy choices there. There's JSN sitting like five, six picks later, just sort of

waving his hand. And we didn't see him open. It's really funny with how it works sometimes with those draft picks because a player like Trayvion Henderson, when you watch a playing college, There's no way that he won't be on the field. Like even if he turns into, remember Reggie Bush's role where, yeah, he wasn't like RB1 all the time, but he would catch 50, 60 passes or something and run for 700 yards. Like that's a, that felt like a worst case scenario with Trayvion Henderson. And they just refuse to even play him, which means something's happening there. People assume sometimes that the coaching staffs are wrong with this.

I promise you Vrable's not wrong. Like there's something that they don't believe in there with him. It's kind of happened with Lequan Treadwell here, whereas, like, they're not ever playing him. What is happening? And usually it's that the guy doesn't know the offense. And that ends up being the issue or they can't trust them in past protection. Blocking, right?

We make fun of the coaches. Oh, he used to give him the football, right? And then Jemir Gibbs gives up seven pressures. And you know, okay, I guess I understand why they want those guys to, to block. Henderson trending up just quickly, like with Stevens and out last week. he was starting to get some more work and he did well with it, his best game yet. How about the playoff race and the NFC

and the Green Bay Packers where they stand here? They're now plus 1,100 on Fanduil to win the Super Bowl, which dropped quite a bit last week after Tucker Kraft went out. How do we view what they have weapons-wise? And, you know, you've been dealing with this conversation in Buffalo for a long time of like trading for receivers and drafting receivers and so forth.

And Matt LaFleur went off on the media last week and was saying, had like you guys, you want to talk about this, you know, number one receiver stuff and where the targets are going all the time. But this, this, this, this and this. And then Tucker Craft goes out.

George Love is terrible in the game. And you go, oh, yeah, yeah, it might be a big deal. But what do they, what do they do now? I mean,

what is on their radar now? How do they keep their offense going without the guy who was really driving it. Good question. I still like love. I think it is similar to Buffalo, but without as much success in they just want to play slow and their defense is good and they sort of get by.

And that's probably how a coach gets to that point. And we've seen it before from LaFleur. It's like Brian Kelly. It's a version of Brian Kelly at LSU, like lecturing the media on how you should talk about look at his team after wins, but they can't, you know, move the ball. And so I don't know. I mean, I think the Packers are probably fine weapons-wise.

Kraft was having an all-time great season. Luke Musgrave, another tight end there, was drafted in front of them. This is very Baltimore, where they draft two tight ends right together, and the second one is the better one. That's what happened with Andrews. And there's another example, Isaiah likely maybe. Oh, yeah, yeah. You know, Green Bay with Musgrave, he was a big bet of mine last night on waivers.

A lot of the tournaments I play in give you a point and a half per catch at tight end. And I kind of think that he can just sort of take over for Kraft. It probably won't be as good. But, you know, they're not bereft now with Kraft out. And Romeo Dobbs has become a pretty consistent producer at wide receiver for them. Christian Watson is back. Matthew Golden is fast and young. Sure.

And, you know, maybe eventually. Yeah. No, it's not great. maybe eventually Jaden Reed. Jacobs is a concern because he doesn't really, it's kind of like Henry a little bit, like not as much is looking good there, and he's had an injury.

They used Emmanuel Wilson, saw him at running back last week and also Chris Brooks to catch a ball every now and then. But I'm still, I'm mostly where I started the season when it comes to Green Bay, which is like, well, probably a playoff team. The thing they haven't done yet is win there,

you know, well enough. and I feel the same way about them now. For me, the difference with a team like Seattle or even the Vikings with Justin Jefferson, when you have that guy that is the centerpiece of the offense versus the everybody snacks offense, which you coined, is I think consistency. I think that you always have this cheat code of it's third down and seven and they're not going to be able to stop our best guy. He's better than whoever is covering him or even two guys who are trying to cover him.

And it just can be a wheel that keeps turning for an offense where when you're trying to say, well, we just go to, you know, whoever is open, well, some of those guys are not as good at getting open. And sometimes you are in just situations where there's nowhere to go with the ball. And Jordan Love, he just has these brain stops working types of moments. And I think when you combine those two things, it's hard to find the Packers being a great offense. It feels like they're going to be much more of a decent offense that has its extremely frustrating times. One of those teams, it's kind of just hard to tell a coach why we think he's wrong. Right. You know, they've won enough where you kind of have to sort of live with it.

And there's something to be said for that. It is like Buffalo. Okay. One more just totally random to finish the show. Question about Daniel Jones. So Daniel Jones has six interceptions, but he has 11 turnover worthy plays. this year, which is the sixth most turnover worthy plays. He also leads the league in passing yards.

So I want you to tell me, is it more likely that Daniel Jones finishes the season with 15 interceptions or that he finishes the season leading the league in passing yards? Which one of those things is more likely? The former for me. I mean, leading the league is pretty great. I just think Taylor's too good. And it's the AFC South. I can't imagine he ends up leading the league.

15 interceptions is also a lot. Yeah. And if it's good, you know, positive game scripts through Taylor, then maybe that number won't get there either. But, yeah, I think Indianapolis is going to be about last week, there was a lesson learned maybe. They're going to be a little fluky, but still, I mean, they're going to win through Taylor if they're going to win.

I'm just not buying it. I'm just not buying that they are a Super Bowl contender or that they're great. I think they had about as easy of a schedule as you could possibly have. And Daniel Jones looked wonderful. in doing it and they look amazing, but you go through these games, 33 to 8 win against the dolphins, block a field goal against the Broncos, Titans, they lose to the good Rams, they blow out the Raiders, congrats. They beat the Cardinals, congrats, good win against the Chargers who were playing with

half their team that day and then beat the Titans and lose to the Steelers. There's nothing impressive on that list. There's not a single impressive win except for the Broncos, which was a game that they should have lost. So you know who I think is a Super Bowl contender, actually? Who's that? Since we're talking about this, the team that the Colts were once traded for. Traded for?

Yes. You mean like Baltimore Colts or? Yes. They were traded for the, the Colts were traded for the Rams. Oh, for the Rams. Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah.

The owners traded teams. I did not know that. In 1970, Rosenblum and Ursay traded teams. I did not know this. Yes. and so I just love every chance I can I forced it in on you because I love to you know no that's a great bit of trivia and I I completely agree with you I think the Rams are in terms of complete teams and quarterback who can do it and weapons who can do it they would be in my first tier of Super Bowl teams but I'm yet yesterday we're looking no I understand yesterday we're talking about this on WGR and looked at the Fanduil Super Bowl odds and the Rams are like fourth fourth fourth or fifth right there with Detroit and ahead of Indianapolis, shorter Super Bowl odds than the Colts.

Some of that is the Bill's existence and the Chiefs existence, mostly the Chiefs. Like there's a, it's tougher for people to see them getting through the AFC because the NFC is more evenly, you know, it's more spread out. But the Rams look great. Both sides. I would pick them right now for the NFC. I would. Well, I mean, look, if they get, we saw this from the lions. I, and this is way overreactionary, I don't care.

That's how we have to work sometimes. times. After watching the interior of the line of the lions, I just decided on Sunday you can't win the Super Bowl that way. You just can't. Like if you're, if you are a great regular season team and you smoke the Bengals and you smoke the Browns, congratulations, but they played a team with nasty defensive linemen and blitzers up the middle and they melted. And if they play the Rams of the playoffs, they're probably going to melt too. And the Rams, I think, have a quarterback who can deal with some of that stuff. They have the elite number one receiver. They've got a guy who's won the Super Bowl before, and I feel like that matchup, if it were to happen, like lions and

Rams, the Rams would destroy them because of that issue. So I would probably still pick the bills on the, uh, the AFC side. But I've been doing that for three years and they keep getting like, yeah, as you well know. So that's one that I know. Uh, anyway, well, uh, we'll do this again next week. Oh, yeah. I hope I wasn't distracting. I had my wife bring my bag over because I thought a visor that a listener, sent me that says everybody snacks. I would just throw it on to Oh, sure, yeah. Well, go ahead.

I don't have it. It's not in, I thought it was in my bank. Okay. But I do have, maybe next week. I love that though. I think of that every time I see or hear people talking about how like, well, they've got, you know, a lot of number one players. Like, no, they don't. No, they don't. No, they don't. But great stuff. As always, tremendous breakdown. And we will talk again next week. Thanks, Matt.

Football.