Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Let's talk about the playoff picture and Vikings vs. Bears offensive weapons

Episode Date: November 21, 2024

Matthew Coller and Mike Schopp talk about the AFC's interesting playoff picture and then break down the underachieving Bears weapons Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider. Matthew Collar here. It is the Purple Insider Fantasy Show with Mike Shelp, presented to you as always by Underdog Fantasy, the easiest place to play fantasy sports and the fastest growing fantasy app in the industry. We will try again with those pick'ums at the end of the show. That's for sure.

One of these times we'll get it. Mike, also congratulations to you. Not only the Deep End Fantasy Football Podcast, but also ADP Chasing Show as well now. So good for you. And your day job, I imagine, was a little easier this week with a Buffalo Bills victory over the Kansas City Chiefs. And when you first popped on, I said to you, are the Bills winning the Super Bowl?

And your answer is what? Well, first, as you know, it's not as simple as they win, work is better slash easier. It's actually easier when they lose because then everybody wants to talk about why they lost. And this team really, for the most part, apart from the playoffs for four years going on five has been such a dream that there really just isn't that at one point yesterday, I got so bored on a, this is Tuesday that I I just started talking about how Kansas City is so bad. And if Patrick Mahomes were actually good,

wouldn't he have more passing yards right now than Aaron Rodgers does? Oh, but I forgot about their running back, which is so threatening with Kareem Hunt, who was out of the league. They really are bad on offense. And so Bulldog, my co- co-host of course for many years over there was like i don't think they're bad and he sort of danced with me you know like oh what are you talking about i mean they're they're not bad they're the two-time defending super bowl champions they deserve a certain respect here and one guy called in and he's, you guys talking about how bad Kansas City is?

And the guy went off and hung up. And then Bulldog's like, you see, this is why I pushed back. Because I didn't say that. And, you know, at least I got a segment out of it. I got an hour out of it, basically. Are they going to win the Super Bowl? Maybe. Right now they're the third choice behind Detroit and still Kansas City.

I do like the Bills, Matthew, for their chances at the one seed. I mean, they're pretty healthy. And I think the key is like Kansas City has Carolina this week and then the Raiders. And it sort of you look into it and it looks soft. But they end with Houston at Pittsburgh on Christmas Day at Denver. And at least those last two games on the road will be against teams that probably will have a lot to play for. Whereas the Bills, who have the Niners next after a bye and then the Rams and then Detroit,

at the end, they go Patriots, Jets, Patriots, where I think you're playing backups mostly at that point. And that's better. So I think if the Bills can make it, it's such a big difference, such a big advantage if you get the one. If they can make it to Week 15 within a game of the Chiefs where they'll have the tiebreaker because of head-to-head and no one else is there, like Pittsburgh loses a couple, then they're very alive. I don't know. I don't think without the one seed,

they'll make the Super Bowl though. I just don't think they're really that great. I mean, they're not bad at anything, but they're not, except for Allen, they're not great at much either. Somebody will make it though, I'm pretty sure. Every year year someone does the odd thing about football and these teams that have great all-time great quarterbacks which josh allen has put himself in my mind there we are watching greatness is that it's not always the best version of those teams that end up going and winning the super bowl there were better indianapolis colts teams than the one that won the Super Bowl. And maybe they don't even win the Super Bowl if it's not a monsoon and they ran the football as well as they did. I mean, with the Bills, I think maybe the 2019 version is the best version of that team. Offense, defense, just the way that Allen was playing.

I believe that was the best year of his career statistically. And you get 13 seconds away and it doesn't happen. But this year, the landscape is just wonky as heck. The Baltimore, all the statistical people keep telling you, no, no, no, Baltimore is amazing. Don't worry about the losses. And then they can't score against the Pittsburgh Steelers, who are now 8-2, and you go, I don't know, man.

They are not really uh impressing on a weekly basis especially on defense at times so that team is pretty flawed Kansas City as you mentioned I think that they are kind of dragging themselves to these victories by throwing a bunch of short passes and trying to play defense until they could get some receivers back. It's not that impressive. And I think statistical people like you and I would go, that's that usually doesn't work. And I saw it in 2022, the,

Hey, they went all the one score games. I know my homes pushes that needle more than almost any other quarterback ever, but Philadelphia did this last year where didn't they go 10 and oh, it was like, Oh, it was Philadelphia. It's a bunch of close wins, but you know, they year where didn't they go 10 and O it was like, oh, it was Philadelphia.

It's a bunch of close wins, but you know, they're the Eagles. They're good. But in the playoffs, eventually that could come back to get you. It's the Texans were supposed to be this juggernaut team. They added to Neil Hunter. They're going to be so good. They're pretty good, but they're not unbelievable. And if you have the best quarterback and that amari cooper thing is going

to pay dividends eventually making that move i think that they've got the best chance to go they there there's like how it falls the seedings and the matchups will have so much to say like the ravens could end up being the five in which case they they go at Houston, say, at Buffalo, at Kansas City. Forget it. Like, they're not winning all three of those games. So they're in trouble for this already, and they have the Chargers on Monday night, and they have the Steelers again.

They have Philadelphia coming up. Like, they have it hard. So, yeah, I mean, that has a lot to do with it, but just the Bills are, when it comes down to it, they look pretty good. It's going to be who out of the AFC? Buffalo, Kansas City, can anybody else make it? Is anybody else good enough to enter that conversation?

I mean, maybe it has to be the Steelers next or the Ravens, depending on how the AFC North plays out. So I don't know. It's fun, though. This was supposed to be a team in Buffalo that was in transition. They didn't have cap space this year. They traded Stephon Diggs, and they let Micah Hyde, Jordan Poyer go, Trey White out of their secondary, and they have gotten away with it.

But I agree on the whole one score game point. I was railing against this yesterday. What really, really, what right did the Kansas City Chiefs have to deserve being considered immune to that rule, if you will, in the NFL? And they were very smart to not score on their last garbage time drive in Buffalo so that that game would not count as a one score game. And thus they keep that streak alive. But the Eagles example, you referenced the Vikings when they lost to the Giants in the

play. Sorry, you know, Pittsburgh in the COVID year was 11 and 0, and everybody knew they were bad. And then they lost to Washington, and they lost a bunch of games, and they went right out. So I tend to trust that, and I think in terms of Kansas City, it's still worth doing. I mean, there's probably a couple losses at least coming up for them,

especially when you think about who they're going to play late. Well, and the games that they won and the way that they won it, it was reminiscent to me of the 2022 Vikings, which was a pass interference call against Cincinnati, Isaiah likely his toe out of the back of the end zone and things like that. Those are more random than just because there's different types of one score games. If you out play the other team and they score at the end, well, okay, you're going to get marked for a one score game, but that's not really. And they've had some of those. They outplayed the Raiders for most of that game. It ends up a one score, but there's also, you know, Tampa Bay, not going for two at the goal line. They've just, I think it's also who

they've played their one score games against. And this was similar in 2022 with the Vikings where they played close with new Orleans with Andy Dalton starting in Washington with Taylor Heineke starting and the jets with Mike white, you go, I just don't know if that means you're going to beat the best teams in the NFL and the bills, when the bills have played bad teams, uh, they have often boat raced them. I mean, they destroyed the Tennessee Titans, who the Vikings destroyed in the first downs and somehow gave up a 98-yard touchdown. And that looks closer than it was.

But that's just something that Kansas City hasn't done. And I'm definitely okay with believing that the quarterback is going to make it way more likely that Mahomes could win those one-score games than, say, Cousins over and over and over and over again. But to the point where you could do it through a whole playoff run against the best teams, playing the best football, with all lasers pointed at one team, it's just hard to believe that they're strong enough to actually do that.

Well, this is when you need to win your championship, or championships, is when it sort of sets up right for you. Like the Tennessee game for the bills was rough for a half and then they just sort of flex their muscle and, you know, ran away with it. Indianapolis thought it was brilliant to leave Joe Flacco on the field on short yardage, critical short yardage third and one fourth and one kind of stuff in the second half they forgot the quarterback they had on the sideline that's

almost like what Allen is which is like sort of automatic and wasn't that amazing to see Richardson you know you and I were on the stream last week at this time, and that news broke right at the end of our show that Richardson was going in. It could not have gone more perfectly for him. And I think I would say also the team with that happening. I mean, he's running over guys for touchdowns, including one in the last minute to win the game on the road when they were down five. I mean, they needed that. And we were just talking about last week, two weeks ago,

whether he was tough enough, like he's tapping out. Last year, he got hurt all the time. Is he going to run like that? Is he going to be physical? Are they going to want to protect him? All that, at least for one week, went away with his performance. He made great throws in that game, too. I mean, I don't know.

Maybe the Vikings were lucky to not see Richardson two weeks ago. But, you know, I'm here to talk fantasy football as well. And Richardson has been such a big flag plant for a lot of us with the athletic ability, the way that rushing stats for quarterbacks give you such an advantage over the guys like Flacco or like even a Russell Wilson or a Burrow I mean Burrow's having a great stat season but the the running edge you get from these quarterbacks who can run like Allen of course is uh massive and so Richardson is I think all the way back you know just, just they won the game. Any little thing that went differently there could have changed that. And maybe you have the national media, Colts fans even,

wanting to sort of let's just squeak into the playoffs, let's put Flacco back in. But now, at least I'd like to think, that's not going to happen. You are right about the Vikings and the Bills catching a break with Richardson not playing because the high end of him is so much higher than what they were going to get from Joe Flacco. And I felt the same way with the Colts where they just against the Vikings. Flacco had, I think, no trips into the red zone by the fourth quarter. And Anthony Richardson stand over there holding his pads, looking around like maybe just could you consider that?

But and you're right. That's why it's been overall kind of just a strange year in the AFC, because there's another world where Anthony Richardson has a click in his second year. And he's playing like that the whole time because we know it's in there. And then we're going, well, maybe he's the guy now and maybe their team's a little bit stronger because top to bottom, they've got a lot of really good players and everything is sort of just lined up

for the AFC not to be as strong as we thought it was going in. Yeah, and think about too how, I love this sort of thought experiment because it's always just one slate. It's always just one simulation. I mean, Cincinnati is a couple of field goals and a two-point play from being seven and four,

and the team you do not want to play, I think. And so the Bengals are interesting. Like, they're four and seven, which is pretty gross. I mean, they're not going to win every game coming home. If they lose their next game after the bye this week, then they're maybe just, like, packing it in. I don't know, but they're not going to win every game coming home. If they lose their next game after the bye this week, then they're maybe just like packing it in. I don't know, but they're dangerous. I mean, Burrow is an interesting discussion for even the MVP award,

but he'll never win it. Like the MVP is never on a team that loses half as many games as Cincinnati will lose this year. But I mean, the numbers are great. So yeah, I mean, teams like Pittsburgh or Denver or even Indianapolis, two or three of those teams are going to be in the playoffs, right? The Chargers, I guess, are in this club too

where they don't seem that dangerous, but these are the teams that are going to have to do it if they're going to sort of upset the apple cart and keep a Kansas city or a Buffalo, uh, or even Baltimore out of it. And the other good break for the bills was Miami and, uh, Tua getting hurt and him being out. Cause if he's in the whole season, maybe that's more of a race. Uh, let's talk about the Vikings and bears through a fantasy lens here, because there's a lot of skill player matchups happening. Sam Darnold just bouncing back from what happened in Jacksonville has really solidified

himself now as having a top, not necessarily fantasy top 10 season, but top 10 to 15 season overall in the NFL. And Caleb Williams is a product of the panicky world of football. Poor Shane Waldron has to take the ax, but then Caleb plays better. You get the coach firing boost from that. And I don't know what I'm supposed to think of it. He definitely played better. He didn't light the world on fire. They still end up coming short in that game because the Packers, you should love what the Packers did, by the way.

Did you see what they did? They broke every possible rule to block the field goal and just said, flag us for it. What difference does it make? It's a very makeable field goal, so we're going to push. We're going to jump over the center, and we're going to do everything you can't do and see if they call it. And they didn't.

Well done, Packers. That's a rule hack hack didn't we talk about that last week with the Chiefs how the Chiefs you know like take go ahead take your chances I mean I'm you're either you're to make the kick so if I get away with a infraction it's worth trying so um yeah I I don't know what to make of that game Green Bay didn't even run 50 plays and they still won and they barely won. It wasn't like Chicago turned the ball over every possession or anything like that. There was progress from Williams that I think you needed to see it because here's this next round of generational prospect quarterback guy. And it was just miserable so I think there's life there I mean as a fantasy player I certainly hope there is because I think I've told you

my biggest vulnerability this year in underdog best ball is the Bears offense. I mean, I was in on everybody and DJ Moore was a third round pick and Keenan Allen might've been rounds four or five and then Odunze in six or seven and then Komet in eight or nine and Swift in there too. Like it was a pretty likable bet. And they play, we talk about how an underdog in the big tournaments, you want to know the playoff matchups. They play Seattle. Their schedule is terrible. They have Minnesota twice here coming up and Detroit twice and San Francisco. But they did have Seattle in 17, which seemed like the kind of game,

if the weather isn't ridiculous, that could be a shootout. Anyway, I think the Bears have a little bit of juice at home in this game. I mean, the total is 39 and a half. It is late November. It's not like anybody's expecting to be a shootout, but I think there was a really good step last week with Willard. Get the ball out. They got a breakaway touchdown from DeAndre Swift.

One change they made last week, by the way, again, in terms of fantasy, but also the real thing is Roshon Johnson got a little bit more of their running back workload, and he is definitely their guy, you know, inside the five. So that might be something to think about. I think Johnson for the first time all season is somebody you can play with six teams on by in a flex position because of what last week's trends were. Minnesota, you tell me, we reverse jinxed Jordan Addison, right? Ready to kick off some extra fun on Football Sundays, grab Catan and keep the action going off the field. While Minnesota's football teams are crushing it, you and your crew can build, trade, and outsmart each other in the ultimate game of strategy. Whether it's during halftime

or between big plays, Catan brings a whole new level of competition and excitement to your game day. Visit Catanshop.com and use the coupon code PURPLE to get a 10% discount off Catan for a limited time. Again, Catanshop.com, coupon code PURPLE to get a 10% discount on Catan for a limited time only. Well, kind of, yeah. He got eight targets, but a couple of them he wasn't able to bring in, and then he had an easy touchdown, but got cramps midway through the route. He was running.

He beat his guy off the line of scrimmage. Darnold puts it up. And when you watch on the film, you're like, oh, that's going to be an easy. And what happened there? And he didn't play the rest of the game. So, I mean, I guess lucky for them, it was only cramps, but he did, he did get involved more often, though,

and I think that they know that that's really important. And here's something to pay attention to for fantasy for these Vikings receivers as we go forward. They cannot run the ball anymore. They will not be able to run the ball anymore. You can forget about that happening. Aaron Jones is still going to touch the football, but they can't run it.

When you substitute the best left tackle in the league at run blocking, not named Trent Williams, for Cam Robinson, who's a good pass protector, and shout out to him for showing up here and playing well over the last three weeks on a trade, but the man can't really run block. And he doesn't really know the assignments. There's a play last week where him and TJ Hawkinson run at the same defensive back

and the edge rusher takes down cam acres. He's like that, that wasn't right. Uh, and then they have substituted their right guard who was a more powerful run blocker for a much better pass protector in Dalton Reisner. And the overall result is they're just not going to get pushed against anybody. The Bears got some big dudes up there and that's going to have to mean, I think the short passing game comes alive for the Vikings, almost similar to what happened with Kirk Cousins in 2022, when Delvin Cook fell off the side of the earth, as far as hitting the age curve midway through that season. And they just had to throw 40 passes a game I feel like that's what's coming here for Darnold it's not going to be game manager Darnold who throws 25 passes and 15 of them are play actions it's going to have to be stand back there and and let it loose and he did last week and did really well but that makes it

it makes it a little more uh-wracking, I think. Yeah, and really, like we've talked about, of course, just how Minnesota has this really interesting present and then perhaps complicated future. And this is the kind of game where now we're getting into the where games, I know the Vikings play indoors, but at Chicago, sort of that you would know better at Chicago, at Green Bay. These are like those games where a quarterback, when the season is live, can really either impress or fall apart.

This is really a big test for him. So if you predict the kind of game where he is going to be challenged like that, I mean, yes, Cam Robinson, but he's got about as good of a setup as you could ask for around him coaching Jefferson, Addison, maybe, uh, Hawkinson Jones never misses a game. I mean, he, he's always in the tent, but he never misses a game. So, um, it's promising for Minnesota. Um, and if he isn't, Darnold isn't somebody that can, because they've gotten away with it, right?

Jacksonville and Tennessee, where it's okay, it'll do. They're winning these games. You still want to see those kind of ceiling games, if you will, that would make you want to invest in him, whether that's Minnesota or some other team next year. And so it's really like all on the line for him. He's made it to almost Thanksgiving where his team is good. His season has been very good.

I think most of the analytics are smiling on Darnold. Now, what can you do from here? And that's what, it's one of those where we're not even going to think about what's happened already when it comes to him at the end of the season. It's really what happens from here. I completely agree because these last three matchups have just been a snooze fest for everybody. AFC South, let me know when it's over and we're on to Chicago. And it really felt that way.

But something did happen in Tennessee for him. And when he's been good at times during his career, good during the season, and then there's dips, but he played really, really well in that game. And I don't think Tennessee's defense is a joke. I think that their offense is a joke, which is the reason that they've given up so many points. They chased them around. He made plays out of structure.

He had a few, uh, what I would call mahomes meme type of you know where people will send a clip and well if mahomes did this the national media would never stop that like there was probably four or five plays that were kind of like that uh for darnold and it was a huge bounce back and what i have been so impressed with and i had no idea about him until he got here is that every time we're all ready to go ah there he is there's samuel darnold there's the guy that played for the jets the next game the next series the next whatever he seems to come back strong and it was his highest graded pff game against tennessee and after watching the film back five drops, uh, dropped a clear touchdown from our guy, Jalen Naylor, who has just, uh, gone off the map. So it's been, it's been a

fascinating thing to watch, but they're set up to play Chicago twice, which won't be easy. And then you have Arizona, you have Atlanta, you have Seattle. These are all real games, uh, against some quarterbacks who can play, um, on Caleb Williams, how much, as far as a production standpoint, would you factor in that he is playing against Brian Flores' defense, which has been really hell on inexperienced quarterbacks? Yeah, that's big, right? I mean, I wouldn't want to have to start Caleb Williams in a one-quarterback league this week in that situation.

So that's one way to answer your question. When I think about him, I think of it more in terms of fantasy football, at least again, in more of a long term dynasty asset kind of context. And I mean, you've got Jaden Daniels, who has stopped being as productive as a runner at least lately with a rib injury maybe playing into that you also have Bo Nix who is putting up like you would take Bo Nix's season for Caleb Williams right now if you had it stat wise at least you'd feel really good about you feel like the affirmation that all right this is the guy that was worth drafting at first overall whereas so far you can blame coaching and different things. He's got the receivers too. They're healthy and it hasn't really happened yet. So what their, you know, again, step forward was last week was when,

when it was looking really bad two weeks ago that got the offensive coordinator fired, he was taking the snap and then just getting out of there. Like just, it looked like he didn't know what he was supposed to do. And whether that's necessarily the coach's fault, that can be debated, but you know, it might've been, they ended up making that change. And last year was just a little bit easier. That's what you're going to want to do when you make a coaching change is scale back. Let's just keep it simple and make your first read, get rid of it, you know, if you

can. And they didn't win the game, but it was not as messy. So what happens in this matchup? It's sort of like a contrast where you have that, maybe you have a little bit of growth and the simplification of their offense versus a team that maybe more than any other team in the league right now is kind of known for being able to wreck your offense. It should be good. Yeah, I can expect a lot of the fronts that have seven guys lined up right on the line of scrimmage, and you have to guess which guy is coming, where he's coming from. We saw Tennessee just in hell last week trying to identify that as Will Levis took a bunch of sacks,

even though he played pretty well in the game. Still, the sacks are such drive killers, and that's what Brian Flores relies on, even if he's going to give up a 98-yard touchdown every once in a while. That can happen. The Bears receivers, this has been a little bit of a Vikings Achilles heel is when the other team has good receivers. And, you know, Matthew Stafford, of course, can get it to Puka Nakua, like Caleb Williams probably won't be able to. But this receiving unit going into the season was talked about as a rookie quarterback drafted. Number one has never had a group of receivers like this.

It seems like a dounze has come along. DJ Moore, a big disappointment. And then Keenan Allen has to be one of the more disappointing players in the whole league. That's my order for this week and just sort of overall. It has to be. Odunze has had a couple of playable fantasy weeks. I mean, still not getting.

He had the one game earlier this season in Indianapolis where he had big plays. And that's what you're hoping for, obviously, in fantasy. And that's where, if I were the Bears, I'd want to see if I can't find that somehow with him. He's the guy I would want for that. DJ Moore, the whole narrative on his career has been, has not had the good quarterback. Kind of like McLaurin in Washington, but Moore has had a few different guys and now he's on a second team.

So I think where you'd want, I mean, I'm not an offensive coordinator, but I think where you'd want him is intermediate, you know, maybe a little bit like a Diggs role where he's a great route runner separator. That should be where you get your value out of DJ Moore, which in fantasy, it should be fine. I mean, there should be a pretty high floor there.

There really hasn't been though. And then Keenan Allen, I'm not sure if he's dust at this point, but he's obviously older and been hurt a lot. And he, for me, would just be kind of in like that tertiary possession receiver kind of role. The tight end can play a little bit. The running back can catch the ball a little bit.

Odunze is the one where, whether that's dynasty fantasy or whether that's like high-stakes stuff where you're trying to catch up here in these late weeks, he's the one you kind of just have to, well, you don't have to, but again, with all the bye weeks, you start them and you cross your fingers. In Buffalo, do they still have players that everyone talks about how those players just kill the Bills? Because, of course, that used to happen when the Bills were much worse. You'd have this long running list of guys who would do big things against Buffalo.

There is that list against the Vikings. And DeAndre Swift is on that list. Last year. Yeah. I mean, last year against Philadelphia, he ran over them like crazy. And in previous years, while he was in Detroit,

we would always hear, eh, you know, Detroit's not that high on Deandre Swift. He'd come to us bank stadium and get, you know, 120 yards or something like that, that guy,

they're not that high on that guy. So that's a little concerning just with the fact that he's put up big numbers, but does that still happen? I mean, I, I'm not big into that like sort of what is it the helmet the schemes are different the coaches are different the players are different but it's funny how that falls sometimes in Detroit the story was that his running backs coach didn't like him do Staley I think it was and just didn't trust Swift to hit the holes. You know, just sort of, this is what we need you to do on this play.

And he's bouncing it outside and maybe trying to take it to the house. Then you have Jamal Williams that you're leading the NFL in touchdown rushes. So then he goes to Philadelphia. You can't make it work as a running back one on that offense. That's not great. So then now to Chicago that spent pretty big money on him right away, like the first minute, I think, just about a free agency. I don't know. I don't love the player.

I think, again, we saw last week they moved Johnson into some of his workload. They traded Khalil Herbert, who was kind of an extra part, if you will, in that offense. He went to the Bengals, so it's a little bit cleaner there with Swift and Johnson. I mean, Swift is probably a fantasy start, but I don't think it feels good. Well, and the Vikings have the best run defense in the league,

and that's another part of it. But if anybody's going to take it apart, it's this guy. Throw him in your pick-ems, Matt. Yeah, that's right. Maybe I will. Maybe I will. Not too expensive. So I wanted to ask you about the Detroit Lions, because I feel like we've reached the fever pitch where we've just decided that the Detroit Lions are the Super Bowl and it's who they're playing, not whether they're going to get there. And I do value blowing out bad teams. You can't value it as much as beating good teams, but it does deserve its attention when you, when the Vikings win 12 to seven over the Jags and then the lions beat them

57 to two or whatever it was. How do you describe this, the strength of the lions? Because I guess I look at them as they're one of those juggernaut teams that has to kind of not screw it up and fall apart. But we've seen that team, that type of team that's better than everyone else, have that happen or peak too early, if you will, if you want to throw that type of cliche out there.

Where do you stand on what they're doing well I'm pretty much with the crowd in thinking that they are very good when they're good they pretty much have a season here where they almost never play outdoors and if they get home field and the one and the bye then you're going through there and and that will not be easy. It starts up front for Detroit. I mean, Minnesota had a look at them when they met in Minnesota earlier in the season, but they're so good up front that they have the luxury of being able to run the ball with either guy, Gibbs or Montgomery, kind of at will,

and you end up in these games where who do you start? You start them both. Yes. Like last week, it's just a matter of who they want to have scored the touchdown. And that's pretty lethal stuff. Amon Ross St. Brown had a big game last week, even in a blowout, which is also fantasy-wise, like that's pretty reassuring. You don't assume that with a receiver when a team is that dominant.

Laporta missed the game. Laporta is an interesting one at tight end because he was just about almost the first tight end taken this year in best ball, second or so. I mean, Kelsey was in there too, McBride, but Laporta was an early second round pick in tight end premium. And a lot of fantasy analysts did not like the value there because of the touchdown efficiency that he ran last year like well that's not going to continue so this year injury notwithstanding he's in a great offense but that has been proven correct like there's not so that that upside yet at least with him and I mean that's a tough he's a tough not he's not a

tough start because tight end anybody can give you give a zero, but it hasn't gone as well as we would have hoped. Yeah. I think, you know, we'll see what happens in December. They, again, they only have, what do they have? Two or three games on their entire schedule outdoors. They have Chicago on Thanksgiving day coming up. It's Indianapolis this week where the Colts are going to try an interesting move, Matthew. They're going to try to look like the Lions.

So they have these alternate uniforms that are pretty close to the Lions blue and a blue helmet. I think they've worn them one other time, but they're going to try that move. Gifting is hard, but here's a hint. Give the gift of connection from U.S. Cellular. Not sure what that means? Here's a hint give the gift of connection from us cellular not sure what that means here's a slightly more specific hint you can choose four free phones and get four lines for 90 a month from us cellular your family wants new phones how do we know they told us the good news is that compared to wrapping presents you are great at getting hints So take a hint and get them four free phones

and four lines for $90 a month. U.S. Cellular, built for us. Well, maybe Jared Goff will be confused. He did throw five interceptions. Everyone is too blue in sports. Well, not back here. Too many blue jerseys. Yeah, no, no, that that some of the classics where they actually

used colors but then they bring the texans and titans in and they're like you know what we need is more jerseys that are indiscernible from every other jersey anyway uh not the point uh but i am curious to see how anthony richardson plays against them uh their defense has been better than i thought it was going to be this year. You know what it feels like? It feels like the Lions are on their 98 Vikings kind of season where it all just comes together. Every single thing works. Every trick play works. You throw five interceptions and you win anyway just every single thing comes together for them but as we well know from the 98 Vikings it doesn't necessarily guarantee the playoff results but the offensive line in the playoffs I think every other team should be pretty terrified

of having to play against the other game that I'm very interested in is San Francisco and Green Bay because the dialogue after the 49ers lost to the Seahawks has sort of turned on Kyle Shanahan a little bit, I guess. But just the 49ers, we all expected them to wave the magic wand and turn it around. When you lose a bunch of players to injuries all the time, There isn't a good way to maybe fix that. And I don't think Trent Williams is what he was even last year, which has hurt them. Now Purdy is banged up a little bit.

They're going to Green Bay. It feels like San Francisco's last chance to make something happen here. It's getting close. Five and five at Lambeau and then at Buffalo on Sunday night the following week. So that'll be interesting. A little bit of age, right? Maybe that's a little bit too easy of an analysis, but with Williams, right, and Kittle missing last week and Debo, he's always a little bit hurt.

Ayuk, of course, gone for the season. Fantasy, well, McCaffrey, let's not bury the lead. McCaffrey's missed the first, you know, most of the season, had a couple of games since where I think he's probably fine. But Jawan Jennings in fantasy football has been really productive. It seems like Purdy looks to him. And so not a big name, not a blue chip guy or anything like that, but somebody I think you can trust here in your lineups going forward.

Yeah, it's been a trying season, I think, for them so far at the Packers. I think it's been a trying season for the Packers too, but their record is much better and they have home field here. So that's one of the more interesting games of the weekend for sure. As the Vikings and Vikings fans over these last couple weeks have been annoyed that they haven't won by more, I mean, the Packers barely survived the Bears, and then they kind of barely survived the Jaguars just a few weeks before that.

They've had some close games that they've had to pull off. They do not have a very impressive point differential. I think it's plus 37 to be 7-3. And it just feels like if San Francisco wins this, they can find a way to hang around in a race of teams that are all mediocre in their division. Whereas if the Packers don't win this game, it might, it might be a little bit tougher for them to have a good playoff seat.

I don't think that they can get knocked out of the playoffs, but it is possible. It starts to become possible if they don't win this game and they go to seven and four at Amazon for having a Thursday night football game in its truest form, which is just something that no one actually wants to watch with one team that's really down and miserable. And the nation does not care

about how hysterical Jameis Winston is to watch football. And so that's what we've got. So why don't we take a look at uh our pickums for the week on underdog fantasy reminder the easiest place to play fantasy sports and also the fastest growing app which i have right here in front of me and very easy to use app and if you use the code purple you can help the show and also play along with us each week or fail along with us each week as it has gone with the pickums uh so you get a special pick and first time deposit offer up to a thousand

dollars in bonus cash so even if you do have the same luck as us you can have the bonus cash to uh maybe lighten the lighten the pain there uh must be 18 or older. Terms apply. Concerned with your play, call 1-800-GAMBLER or ncpgambling.org. This is the week for us on Thursday night, wouldn't you say, Mike? This is the week. I'm feeling it. This is our week. Who doesn't love some bonus cash? Wow, what a hype job you did on this game.

The Steelers, what do they have to do? What do they have to do? It's unwatchable. Also, by the way, Thursday in Cleveland, high of 40 and wet. So get ready. You and your domes. We haven't had one snowflake in Buffalo. It's November 20th.

Literally, it's 55 degrees again today. It's been crazy, just winter. Will it actually occur? But Cleveland, you could get some weather there, which might be something to consider when putting your pick-ems in. And it's also something I did not consider when placing mine earlier today. I went with a sort of straightforward four bagger here, Matt. I think George Pickens has really become the clear number one. He's one of the best receiver starts in fantasy football.

We'll see what Thursday night is. Cleveland, that's not an easy matchup, but I'll take the higher on 58.5 on Pickens, who, again, that's been their guy offensively, totally so far, George Pickens. He's really taken a step here. They're clear number one. So I'll go higher on Pickens.

Then in terms of the Browns, I'm going to try to play off of last week a little bit. Jerry Judy had the 89-yard touchdown against New Orleans. His number here is 44.5. They have Cedric Tillman. They have Njoku. They have Elijah Moore. They also have Nick Chubb back here. He's been for a couple weeks against the Steelers,

where he was injured in primetime last year. I could see them trying to force that a little bit more. Not that it will necessarily work, but I'm going lower on Judy. Too many options there and just too erratic of a player. 44.5 is the number on him. I think the number I like in terms of the higher on Cleveland's in terms of their passing game is Elijah Moore at 33 and a half. I've always liked the player.

It seems like maybe he's finally getting to a point where he's become more of a reliable option. You know, Jameis Winston will want to throw the ball, you know, a lot like as he did in new Orleans. So I'll go higher on Elijah Moore and then back lower on Njoku's longest completion at 18 and a half. I could see a higher volume game for him, but I'm just going to pick against a big play.

Okay, I like that. And the way that Pittsburgh's defense is playing, it just feels like it could be a nightmare for Jameis Winston, which is my random pick, is Cameron Hayward more than or higher than.5 sacks. Cameron Hayward's playing great football. This guy, you know, they put out the Hall of Fame list today of the final, I think, 25. And I don't know, every single one of them you can make a case at this point. So when I hear broadcasts say, well, this guy's a Hall of Famer, and then you're like, well, you never know because it's a hard thing to get in.

Cameron Hayward to me is a hall of fame player that year in and year out. He's the scariest guy up there. He's sacking people. He's getting TFLs and it's just like, ah, you know, he does what he does and they've got a more exciting player that comes off the edge but this to me is a lick your chops Cameron Hayward you could send Jameis Winston to the hospital type of game I mean he holds on to the football for so long he gets strip sacked all the time he throws interceptions constantly and I think finally the internet has let it go that he's not a good quarterback but you know year after year we heard oh well they should just have Jame, that he's not a good quarterback. But, you know, year after year we heard, well, the team should just have Jameis because he's so good. He is a fantasy dream, though.

I mean, just he'll throw the ball all the time. You get picks. Who cares? You know, you get plays like you got all day in New Orleans. They lost 35-14, and it was still awesome. So I don't know if he can overcome Thursday night in the, you know, wet snow or whatever that's going to be. Look, this is one of those games.

We had a jet game against Houston on a Thursday night earlier this year where it stood out for, I think it was 6-2 versus 2-6, but the Jets were favored. And all the betting people I know were like, yep, trust that. And they did win that game. Nothing is a sure thing, but Pittsburgh is 8-2. Cleveland is 2-8, and the line is 3-1. I'm on the Browns.

I mean, low-scoring game. Pittsburgh has had these seasons where they sort of fizzle. I guess it's a few years ago now, like we mentioned, when they were, I think, 11-0 and fell apart. Nobody, listen to yourself. Nobody is that impressed with the Steelers. Nobody wants to watch. I'll play the pick-em like I laid out already, but I'll be playing the Browns Thursday night.

Oh, okay. Yeah, well, and coming off a big win. Sometimes that's something that I keep an eye on. You come off a big win, physical game, and then real plays. Short week on the road. Yeah, yeah. Real quick, have you looked at the uh the coaches representing the american football conference if the playoff started today

well i could probably name them uh go on coaching is a pretty big deal right i mean mike mike tomlin sean payton sean mcdermott andy reed it's just all both harbaugh it's just all the same guys who are always there in in the the chargers with brandon staley they couldn't line up and run a football play and now and i don't know if jim harbaugh's he must be a great coach right i don't know but their team hasugh's a – he must be a great coach, right? I don't know. But their team has a system, and they are organized, and the quarterback is playing the right way, and it's just like, there it is. And Bo Nix, who every draft analyst thought should be a fifth-round draft pick and loves Spencer Rattler for some freaking reason.

And there he is. Sean Payton drafts him, and now he's playing – It looks good. I talked to Sean McDermott on Monday, and I also saw him on Saturday, just to name drop a little bit. But we talked on Monday, and our show got a lot of feedback about it because he just seemed so relaxed. When we had McDermott on when he was new here, I don't know.

I'm not saying that I, as the questioner, couldn't be at fault, but he seemed more defensive, and that would make logical sense because he had not really, if you will, arrived in the league yet. Now, what he seemed like on Saturday, how he sounded on Monday, just, of course, they're coming off that win over Kansas City, but just sort of very easygoing about it. I went and looked up his career, and is 16th all time, according to pro football reference in win percentage with a minimum of 50 games. He's well past that. The three active

coaches above him are interesting. It's not Reed. It's not Tomlin. It's not John Harbaugh. It's Jim Harbaugh, who is fifth all time period in win percentage as a head coach. Then you have Sirianni in Philadelphia and LeFleur in Green Bay. So McDermott has done an excellent job here, and there should be some really interesting, there always are, playoff matchups. I like the NFC a little bit more because I think in the AFC, you have a top tier, and then you could have some eight or nine point spreads in the wildcard round, whereas in the NFC, it could just be pretty random looking. Is Arizona going to win their division?

Is Atlanta? And you could have road teams like the Packers or the Vikings. It's pretty close to likely, even at this point, that one or two of those NFC North teams goes on the road in the first round and could even be favored. How'd you like Minnesota at Kirk in the first round? Yes. We take that right now. Oh, I was having a conversation with the wife last night about that. I was, so was I really, we had the same conversation. No, I was like, it just feels inevitable that we're going to Atlanta for Vikings and Kirk. Doesn't it? I mean, you take it right.

And, and especially I was thinking about it because i had a huge rant on the show this week where i yelled it could have been you about atlanta i mean minus 30 point differential six and five record the quarterback has good stats the defense doesn't have any players because it couldn't afford any where have i seen this before and And I was like, I was like, you know what Atlanta needs is Andrew van Ginkle, Blake Cashman, Jonathan Grenard and Stefan Gilmore. Oh wait, they can't afford them. They can only sort of try to trade for an angry Matthew Judon. But anyway, at least for now, that's somebody else's problem.

But it just feels like a collision course because the Vikings probably aren't going to move from their spot. Atlanta can win that division. Tampa Bay has a really easy schedule, though. I think they have Carolina twice the rest of the way. Look at Evans back. Yep. And NFC West, I think if I'm the Vikings, I just want to see the 49ers scuffle on home.

That's a team that you know they have the pedigree that that's the proverbial team you don't want to play probably, but Arizona, wouldn't you rather do that? Arizona or Seattle, definitely way over the Rams or San Francisco. You don't want to face quarterbacks who've gone to the

Super Bowl, for sure. Right, right. Oh, football. So much, so much fun to go anyway. It is. And we'll be doing it each week here as we always have on the Purple Insider Fantasy Show. So thank you for your time and we will talk again soon. Okay. Thanks.