The Ringer NFL Show - Lombardi's Week 5 Watch List and Last-Second Fantasy Advice | GM Street (Ep. 316)

Episode Date: October 5, 2018

The Ringer's Michael Lombardi and Tate Frazier link up to discuss the Colts' loss to the Patriots (02:00) before highlighting their favorite matchups coming up this weekend (16:45). Then Danny Heifetz and Danny Kelly of 'The Dantasy Football Podcast' distribute some fantasy football advice (47:15). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Get the Yahoo Sports mobile app now, and you are golden. Welcome to GMStreet part of the Ringer Podcast Network. It is Friday. It is October 5th. And on the line right now, I am joined. by Mr. Michael Lombardi. Lombardi, how you doing? Great, Tate Fraser. You know, I'm on this journey across the United States. I had the greatest experience yesterday. So I'm driving, Millie and I are driving out of El Paso, Texas.

And, you know, we're kind of going. I don't know if you've made that drive from El Paso to wherever you're going. And I see a sign that says Beaumont, Texas, 832 miles. And I'm like, holy shit, this state's like forever, right? And so, anyway, I'm driving along, and Millie's like, we've got to get gas. Like this is kind of like it doesn't look very like we're going to be a gas station anytime soon. So we pull into this town. I have no idea really where I am. It says Fort Hancock. Oh my God.

It was like it was meant to be. There I am in Fort Hancock where Red Cross to go see Andy DeFrain in Shawshank. And it just made my day. I was so happy. I mean, it was almost like going to a presidential museum for me. It was, but it was great. I loved it. I took pictures in Fort Hancock.

Although it was a little sketchy there, I got to tell you. I wouldn't vacation in Fort Hancock for anybody who wants to go there. and there was a lot of security down there. There were a lot of guys with rifles. Yeah, the closer you get to Juarez and as someone who stayed in La Quinta in El Paso while driving out to Los Angeles, I can tell you that there's some things down there

you might not want to see, but it's a beautiful part of the state, West Texas. As you drive through, you can go about 100 miles per hour and it'll feel like you're going 40 miles per hour, as you were saying. One quick thing that I want to do a little bit of cleanup duty here. Tuesday, our week four show, Lombardi. A lot of people in the Twitter sphere for people that aren't on Twitter

and just all, you know, I was getting text messages, calls, emails, people were asking about the F-bombs, the many, many F-bombs that you were dropping on Tuesday show. And I just want to say, for the record, Lombardi, I mean, this is who you are. This is how you talk when you're fired up and heated. You were moving out on Tuesday. So, I mean, there's plenty of things going on. But do you want to address this at all? You just want to let people know that that's just what you're up to these days. You're letting people know. You know what? I finally got the attitude on this thing that I'm just going to talk the way I talk. I could give a fuck about anything else, you know, and I'm excited about the talk.

talking about these games and I feel like I've researched them enough that my personality is just starting to come out. So they're going to have to deal with the curse words. And if they don't like it, I apologize, you know, for mature audiences only. But, you know, it is. I mean, football's a passionate game. You get excited about it. And when you do enough research on it and you feel like you know what's going on, and then, you know, what happens half the time, you get pissed off about some of the stupid decisions people make during a game that really cost them the game. So yes, Dave Frazier, this is who I'm going to be from now on, I promise. Absolutely. And, you know, it kind of reminds me like the Ed Reed halftime speech.

He was like, yeah, I'm hurt, but like, no, I put my heart in this. You know, Lombardi puts his heart in this every single week. And speaking of guys that put their heart in the game, we're going to talk about the Patriots last night. So the Patriots, especially Joey Nettelma, was probably the biggest talking point. He comes back in this game, taking on the Colts. And, you know, Guy Fierry is in the building. We got, you know, the Robert Craft has his own Air Force Ones, apparently, for charity. There's many, many, many storylines, but probably the biggest storyline in Lombardi coming out of this game is

the Patriots look like they have gotten everything right at. ship is right, and now they have a nice little break before they take on the Chiefs on Sunday night football next week. What was your main takeaway in this game? Well, you know, look, I thought that the Colts missed, they started the game with eight starters, not on the field. And then by the time the game got going, they lost two more guys. And losing Darius Leonard, to me, who's one of the best young rookie players in the league, hurt them. Because this is his own team, the Colts. They play nothing but Tampa.

They really don't want to get into a man-to-man game very often. They did a little bit last night, but they don't want to do it. and without Leonard and that speed underneath, that really became a problem for him. So, you know, for me, it was really, it was a good win for the Patriots. I think defensively, you could see they still have some warts, but, you know, luck through the ball 59 times, which is never going to be a recipe to win a game. You know, he turns the ball over twice. And I think that the Patriots did exactly what they had to do.

Brady's two interceptions were the results of drop passes. I mean, Hogan has the drop, Gronk has the drop. But I think Edelman, it was a good game for Edelman to get back and going. and get him get back and play it. I think they'll be better. Josh Gordon made a catch. So you could see their offenses improving. Defensively, they still are work in progress.

But defensively, they did have that big interception. I mean, there were a couple times where balls were getting, you know, hit up around and batted up around and the Patriots wouldn't come down. And then in the second half, they eventually do. And you pointed this out on Twitter as we were watching this game. I mean, that Colts team, for all the injuries and, you know, all the other stuff that's going around and surrounding this team, I mean, they didn't go away in this game.

It looked like it was over early. but they were able to chip back away at this lead. I mean, and really the turning point in the game as far as sealing the victory was that pick, the second pick that Andrew Luck through and that pretty much sealed the game for those guys. But, I mean, can you just talk about the Colts and luck? I mean, even though they are, the record is not great, obviously. But it does seem like this team has a little bit of drive and an ability to bounce back and never be, you know, out of the game completely.

Hey, look, they're the best one and four team that I've seen. I mean, they were 47 percent on third down last night. And they were the best third down team in football going into the game. and they didn't have T.Y. Hilton in the game. I mean, if T.I. Hilton's on that field, they're a different offense. And the Patriots have to play differently. I mean, they had some critical drops in the game. I think this cult team's starting to come around.

I think Andrew Luck's starting to get more comfortable with his arm. I think he's willing to drive the ball. Last night, I thought he drove it more than he had in the previous weeks. And defensively, they need their guys back on defense, and they need to be able to use their speed of defense to help them. And they've got to get healthy. And I think that they're going to be a tough out. They're never going to go away.

Of all the five games, this is the first game they really. they really didn't have a chance in the fourth quarter to win the game. And yet, as you said, I mean, until he throws that interception, they got a really good chance. They miss a field goal, which they typically never do. So I like the cold team. I like what Frank Wright's doing. I like their defensive coordinator. I think he's done a good job.

They play a lot of zone. They're smart. They don't give away the game. They force you to beat them. And the Patriots did last night. So all's not lost. I mean, you're one and four, but I think the future is much brighter in Indianapolis. Is there a chance that we're dealing with a, you know, 1996, 1997 Spurs situation where this team has their Andrew Luck.

They have, you know, the pieces there. But if they don't have a great, you know, top tier season this year, they get another high draft pick, you know, something like what they did with Quinn Nelson last year. And, you know, you add another blue chip guy to this team. And now we're looking at a, you know, we're building for the future, right? Because we've, Andrew Luck doesn't have as many, even though the years may have added up, he doesn't have the game time on him. And you can sort of like build it on for this next wave of guys to bring in. I mean, is that possible? Is that the bright side of this whole situation for the Colts,

even though they are one and four at this point? I think there's no doubt, Tate Frazier. I think that they're cleaning up for the Ryan Grigson mess, and it's still going to be a cleanup. It's a cleanup that's going to require more than just six months cleanup. You're going to have to put the leather, the yellow suits on with the mask and go in there. I mean, it's taken some time because there's got to be some cleanup.

And I think the team's starting to respond. You could see they don't quit. They keep playing hard. You know, they accepted a challenge. they all knew that they were playing with one hand tie behind their back with 10 guys not on the field, but they kept competing. And I think these are the kind of games that you build for the future and you can go further with them. I mean, they come back next week against the, they'll play.

They go on the road against the Jets. They'll give the Jets everything they can handle. And, you know, they're a better team than the Jets right now just because of what they can do. But they got to be healthy. That's the most important thing. And I think that, you know, I think Ballard and another draft will really do well with them. Absolutely. And let's talk about probably the biggest headline.

play of this entire game. And that was Tom Brady tossed his 500th career touchdown. And that is not a misprint or a misstatement at this point. Tom Brady has thrown 500 career touchdowns. And he threw it to a guy who was traded from the Cleveland Browns for a fifth round pick and a guy that, you know, obviously we've talked about quite a bit on this program and we're trying to figure out how he would fit into this Patriots team. And, you know, here's what happens. Tom Brady has no one open downfield. Josh Gordon rolls back out and he goes deep and Brady, you know, gives him a chance to go up for it. He has two guys on him. Josh Gordon comes down with the football

like his 2014 all over again and all of a sudden the Patriots have a real threat deep and people are very excited for Josh Gordon. You can see it on the sideline. All these Patriots players are very excited for him. I mean, obviously this is a big moment just for Brady to get that touchdown and for Gordon obviously to have this big play for the Patriots.

But what kind of ripple effect is that Lombardi down the line for that offense? Because you had this weapon and you know you have to now guard Josh Gordon with Edelman coming back and obviously Grankowski's in the mix and Sony-Michel is now proving to be that number one guy. James White obviously is doing what he does in the passing game. So all in all, this Patriots offense looks, you know, as scary as it's looked in quite some time.

I mean, the roles are starting to get to find much better now. They got an outside receiver. I thought when Brady let that ball go, I thought it was going to get picked. I really did. And Gordon made a great jump ball catch on it. And that's what they need to have. They need to have a guy down there that can do it. And, you know, the next three days, Gordon will keep working on his conditioning, keep working on getting in shape and kind of get integrated into the system. and, you know, they got a challenge next Sunday night when they play the Chiefs at home. So that's going to be something. But I think you're right. I think that they now finally start to have an identity on offense.

And they got to carry this team as they always have with their offense. I mean, that's what they've done. And so you can see it. And Brady, you know, Brady, you can see he's starting to smile a little bit. Edelman back takes a lot of pressure off. And I think Sonny Michelle being able to run the ball more effectively inside, even though I think he's going to get better. You know, right now he's got a lot of big holes to run. run through. I think he's going to get better as he goes forward. And then I think they'll be better.

I still think defensively it's going to be a challenge. They need their team back together. They got to figure out a way to get a little bit more pressure, a little bit more speed on defense. But I agree with you. I think offensively now they've defined their roles and now they can take off and hopefully Gordon can continue to grow as a human and as a player. And we saw after the game, I mean, this was a talking point in the offseason. A lot of people were trying to bring up the idea that maybe Bill Belichick and Tom Brady were not on good terms and got to get a yacht, all the fodder that you hear when you are a dynasty. But after the game last night, Belichick came out and he said,

it's a lot of touchdown passes to a lot of different guys. And then he started a sentence and he goes, Tom's. And then he kind of pauses for a second. He goes, there's no quarterback I'd rather have than Tom Brady. So for all the people out there that were, you know, getting their hopes up that there may be a divorce in the future, a Hollywood divorce, as they would say, between Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.

It does not like that that's going to happen anytime soon because Belichick was very excited last night. And I told you, and I pointed to this out as the game was over, over. It looked like Belichick. I mean, he waved, wave, you said he was waving to his girlfriend. He's waving to the crowd, waving to somebody, but he looked actually happy with the way the team played because this Colts team, I mean, like we talked about, they're a tough team. And that could have been a trap game for this Patriot squad, especially trying to get Edelman and all these guys back into the fold. So it did seem like the Patriots are very excited, especially Belichick

with how they played last night. Yeah, especially on a short week, whenever you can win on a short week, it's hard. I mean, you know, it's hard. Do you have no practice time? You know, Gronko's hurt. Is he going to play? I mean, that's what happened to the poor Colts. I mean, they had so many guys hurt in a short week. It kills you. And I don't think you can truly evaluate your team win or lose on a short week because you just, there's so many moving parts. And so I think, you know, once you get through it, thank God, now we can go on. No more Thursday night for the rest of the goddamn year. We can move forward and we can start focusing on our up opponent. I mean, I'm sure the Patriots will give, you know, the Patriots will have the

players off on Saturday, Sunday, come back in on Monday and the coaches will be back in there 12 o'clock on Sunday night, getting ready to go for the, for the Kansas City game. What was your favorite Troy Eggman quote last night? Because there were, there were plenty of I mean, when Troy, Troy, what Troy had said that we were in Gaskowski's range at 63 yards. I like, like, I had like get my, you know, they have that thing on iPhone now where you can measure shit, you know, like, did you upload the new software on the iPhone? And like, yeah, you can measure it, right? Like, I was going to get my tape measure out from my iPhone to fucking measure because I could, like, how is he going to make this kick? You think Belichick's

going to kick a 63 yard? Are you? kidding me? If the game's not on the line, I love it. And he was bringing up, like, the practice, you know, all those kickers in warmups, you know, you can see guys, you know, hitting from 70 yards out, whatever it is, but just because a lot of them are, you know, not kicking it like they have a line in front of them. So they may, you know, maybe lower kicks that are line drives. I can go that far. My favorite one was forcible blow. He kept saying that. He was like, you know, another forcible blow. It's like, I don't, I don't think that's a term, Torayekman. I don't know. We got to figure that. We got to figure that out. Maybe,

maybe we'll start sending him in some catchphrases from GM Street and see if that that carries over. He needs to listen. I mean, it's got to be tough. I think he should be. I mean, I think he should. I think,

you know, obviously, you know, when you play and you're in a Hall of Fame, nobody's going to teach you anything about football. But reality of it is, is the game he's watching in the game that I watch are two different games oftentimes. Like, I'm wondering some of the things.

I shake my head. I'm like, oh my God, I don't understand that. You know, but that's what, that's why, you know, we have GM Street.

Absolutely. And that's, Maybe he needs some meth bombs. Maybe that's the fix. Maybe we'll call Fox. We'll call Fox and see if they can fix this thing for us. I mean, Troy's a nice guy, but I think what happens to you is the longer you're out, if you don't understand all the protections and all the things,

this is like what was happening last week in the game where, you know, I mean, I heard Jared Goff, somebody sent me a tweet that Jared Goff admitted that they attacked the adjustments in the defense. So I think he was on somebody's podcast. He admitted it. I'm not sure who he said it to, but he was being interviewed. And he said that. I mean, that's the essence of the game.

That's what we is the fan, the consumer. We want to know about how that happens, why it happens, why Brady's doing the things against the Tampa 2 that he was doing last night, why they were attacking, why there were so many misdirection plays. Because when you play a team like the Colts, right, and they're all zoned. You're a basketball guy, right? What do they tell you when you play against a zone in basketball? Move the ball across the court quickly, right?

You want to get people to move quickly. Right? It's the same thing in football. When you're playing a zone team, you want to be able to shoot their eyes to one side. side and then get back to the other side where you can create a little avenue. Quarterback's head movement. If he turns to the right, the Will linebacker is going to follow his head. So there's going to be a dead spot where the will linebacker left. And when there's a receiver there, you've got to bang the ball to it. Those are the kind of things that fans want

to see and why the game's played that way. And I think they should be played that way. And I think hello, I know. I'm sitting at Waco, Texas, get ready to watch Kansas State Play Baylor. I'm jacked. You should be jacked. That sounds like a great game. Good to see Bill Snyder. I think it will be. Yeah. Good to see the family. Have you ever been to Waco, Tate Fraser? No, I've never. been to Waco. But, you know, from what I heard about Waco five, 10 years ago, I mean, it seems like it has had a complete overhaul. I mean, I don't know how much that translate to the football part. Yeah, Wicke was like Wake Forest on steroids at this point. You know, that school is amazing.

They should put a picture of, they should have statues for Chip and Joanna Gaines in the town. I mean, yesterday I come to the hotel and there was, I'm literally a busload of women, 50 years and older, with more bags and they were all going over to the silos to go shop. It was hilarious. It was like, it was like unbelievable. These people are, I mean, if you build it, they will come and they have come. I mean, it's amazing. Anyway, where this is not a, this is not a home improvement show. We've got to get to football, Tate Fraser. Yeah, we'll see if we can get there. We're going to take a quick break right now, and then we're going to come back, and Lombardi is going to do what we do on all of these Friday sit downs, and that is pick five games to watch out for

this weekend, and quick break, we'll be right back. All right, guys, you've heard me talking about this for weeks, and some of you are still watching football from the sidelines. Whether you're an expert or rookie, you should be betting at MyBooky. Yes, that rhymed. If you're the kind of guy that likes to bet a little and win a lot, My Booky gives you the chance to create a big parlay. Shout out to the Parlay Kid. Pick three teams to win, and if you hit all three, you'll turn $100 into $600. Plus, you can bet on all major sports, not just football, like this weekend's MMA matchup. McGregor is stepping into the Octagon Saturday for his first UFC fight in two years. Will he went straight up, or will Khab, deliver a first round K-O? I have no idea, but

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And now to the week five watch list with Lombardi. All right, and we're back. It is the Friday sit down with Michael Lombardi. Lombardi. You've had a great year with making picks. and we appreciate everyone keeping up with all of Lombardi's picks. I do not do a good enough job with that. Particularly Brian,

I mean, he's done a great job with it. I mean, I like all he updates it at, I like he, because I have no idea. Like, I write for the athletic,

so I do five games for the athletic. And I don't like to do the same five for the athletic that I do on GM Street. So I like to kind of mix it up. But sometimes like the games kind of flow. And then I, like, so I'm half confused all the time. So now I have to get my, my scouting pen.

You know, when you're in scouting, you always have to have a pen that has different colors. So when you watch it, tape. You make notes, like say I write red. That's when watching, say I'm watching Baller play Kansas State. That tape, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, those notes are in red. So, I can differentiate the games. So now I got to get my, my, my scouting pens out to figure out what games I'm, I'm, you know, I'm doing for GM Street and then for the

athletic on Friday. So I'm going through it all. And thank God, Brian. I mean, sometimes I don't have my sheet in front of me and I forget. And he sends the, he sends the half time, you know, after the one o'clock games, see updates it. I mean, the guy's great. I appreciate it. Thank you, Brian. We appreciate that. And if you're a pin company, if you're Bick or, you know, whoever, just right now, you sponsor the podcast, Lombardy needs more, need all the pins. I love them. I just have them, and I got them everywhere. So they're the best pens ever. I can't wait to see all those pins. I think they are. I don't know if they're Bicks or not. I got to look at them up. I order them on Amazon, so I have it saved in there. That was a free plug for Bick, and it was just because

it was sitting right in front of me. All right, first game of the week, we got the Baltimore Ravens, who are three and one. They're going to go take on the, the, the Huey, Huey in the news, Huey headlines, of course, in Cleveland against the Browns. One two and one of the Browns. And right now, the Ravens are actually favored by three in this game.

One thing to look out for here, there's Ravens defense. We've talked about it on this podcast and many times so far, but they're top five in pretty much every major category on defense at this point. Baker Mayfield, four turnovers last week on the road, but now he's back at home and that Ravens team is coming in town. Lombardi, what are we looking for in this game?

Well, I mean, look, I mean, the Ravens are 4-0 on the road against Cleveland. And last year they won, they dominated the game in December. They beat them 27 to 10. But most games are usually close when they go there. But last year against this Greg Williams defense, the Ravens who weren't a very good passing game, threw for 288 and had no turnovers. And they held the ball for almost 37 minutes.

You know, and so I'm not sure how much the Browns, you know, at that point where they are and all that in their season. But I think you're right. I think what you said earlier, you know, this team's very good. Opponent yards per play, they're first in the NFL. A Pernitz yard per down, a yards per down their first. Overall passing their first. You know, they keep you from scoring the ball at the end of the half.

Their two-minute defense is the best in football, which was not the case last year for Baltimore. You know, they didn't really have a very good two-minute defense. Now, what concerns me a little bit is the Ravens are 14 and 22 on the road since 2014. And the last time they've won two games in a row on the road is when they beat Cleveland and Jacksonville. So now they've got to muster up. to me, this is a huge game for Baltimore. This is a statement game. I know it doesn't seem that way,

but this is a statement game for us to say, Baltimore, you're a good team. Yep, you're a good team. I know you're supposed to be Cleveland. I know you're supposed to go into Cleveland Stadium and win, but you've got to do it and you got to show that you can do it. And you can't just talk about it. And all the talk about, you know, Baker Mayfield,

you guys got to be able to handle it. You got to rush. You have a rookie left tackle playing against Terrell Suggs. That's going to create some problems. I think Baltimore is that team this year. I think they'll make the statement in this game. And I think they'll win and I think they'll win by more than three points. And a couple cleanup notes there too.

The Ravens have not lost in Cleveland since 2013 and the Ravens as it stands right now. I mean, if you watch their games, they are the best second half team in football at the moment. So even if the Browns get off to a hot start, which we've seen them do, I mean, we saw them do it to the Raiders. You know, you got to watch out for the Ravens in the second half. This is really something that coaches don't talk enough about when they're playing a team that they're supposed to be. I think oftentimes, and this is a Belichickism, oftentimes when you're playing, a team, whether it's basketball, football, volleyball, it doesn't matter. You're playing a team that you're better than. There's a sense of urgency and a rush to get the game over with Quick.

And I think what you have to teach your team and educate your team about is, look, this game is going to take us from minute 45 to minute 60 is when we win this game. We're not going to win this game in the first five minutes, nor are they going to win this game in the first. So if something starts bad, if something doesn't go well, we have to have enough composure and belief that we're going to turn this thing around and we can't panic. We can't start looking at each other saying like, what's going on? And I think you're right. I think the Browns will probably get off to a good start. But look, the Ravens have been very effective in the third quarter. They haven't allowed many points and they've done a great job of adjusting their defense. So I think that's the key. And I think coaches have to

talk about it. Nobody wants to talk about playing a lesser opponent. But I think in some cases you have to so you don't get into this panic and you don't set. Like the game's not going to be won the first five minutes, fellas. We need to go forward. And we should say, I mean, a perfect example of what you're talking about, right, is what Mike Zimmer said about that Bill's game when the Vikings played them. You know, they came out kind of flat-footed. They had a Thursday night game coming up against the Rams, and the bills hit them in the mouth early. And from their own out, it just seemed like the Vikings were never able to catch their breath. And they were, they wanted the game, they wanted the game to get over quick. They wanted everybody to put their hats on, stand on the

sideline, check out the women in the stands. You know, somebody order a hot dog, you know, like, what's going on? Man, this game's over. The one thing about the NFL, there's no pushovers. There's no pushover pages in the NFL. So you got to play, there's, there's teams have level of minutes that they can play well in. And the Browns are, to me, a 50-minute team. So it's going to take Baltimore's 60 minutes to beat them. You know, so you got to play it. And then once you educate the team that, look, there's no pushovers. Look, we're not playing, you know, Alabama played Louisiana Tech last week. We don't have that game on the schedule. Like, you know, that's a game. You don't have to worry about them getting off to a fast start.

You know you're going to, Alabama's going to beat La Tech. But in the NFL, you got to coach that. And I think if you don't talk about it, I think the players react and have. a different sentiment. And that's why you've got to really be smart about how you coach the team, especially going in there. And let's talk about being smart coaching team. We have two teams that we're going to talk about right now, and that is the Atlanta Falcons and the Pittsburgh Steelers, two teams that these fans and NFL fans in general have expected both these teams to be contenders, not only in the NFC, but also in the AFC. But right now the Falcons are one and three. The Steelers are one two and one. And there are a lot of question marks coming up this week.

We have Devante Freeman coming back for the Falcons. The Falcons, offense has not been the problem. They're averaging around 29 points per game. a lot of people think that having a Freeman back, maybe it will help with time of possession and something that we've talked about a lot on this program. Then you look at the Steelers. I mean, we can go down the line.

I mean, they lead the league in penalties by seven with 42 on the year. The defense, they just haven't been able to put it together. And obviously, Big Ben's been up and down. But then you look at the Falcons defense. They're 30th in the league in defensive efficiency. So Lombardi, looking at this game, this is obviously, I think Sal mentioned this on his podcast.

This is one of those things where it could be a loser leaves home match at this point. but we have the Falcons and the Steelers and what do we expect to see this game it's in Pittsburgh well look I mean Atlanta sits there they're one and three they won one home game and they've lost three home games

they've lost one road games so you know they just went home and lost two in a row they lost two in a row sitting there at home and that's that's tough to do on a road trip and Pittsburgh's has lost a count the last year's playoff lost to Pittsburgh I mean to Jacksonville they've lost three in a row at home now they've never lost four in a row under Mike Tomlin

Mike Tomlin's 19 and 9 at home since 2015. Okay. And he's, they've never lost, he's overall, he's 70 and 28 at home in his career. And he's never really lost four in a row. So this is a situation, can he, will he lose four in a row? I don't know. But the reality of it is, is what they have to do, one of these teams has got to

control the pace of the game. So whether it's going to be Atlanta or it's going to be the Steelers. I think the Steelers can. I think Atlanta has lost too many guys. Grady Jarrett's not going to play in this game. He's out. with an ankle injury. So there's another starter down for them.

I think what has to happen in this game, Tate Fraser, is they've got to find a way to control the pace of the game and not get behind 14 and nothing like they did with the Ravens. They had 11 rushing attempts against the Ravens last week. That's not what's going to get them done. They've got to be able to control the pace. They've got to control the pace, time of possession, keep this ball away from the Falcons because we know this.

Maddie Ice is not the same quarterback on the road as he is at home. They can pressure this team. I think Pittsburgh can win this game. I think Pittsburgh can win this game decisively because I think Pittsburgh's better on offense. They'll score points. Plus, I think Pittsburgh's defense can rush a little bit against this Atlanta team. And I think Atlanta will have some trouble moving the ball consistently. I think it'll be a good game.

But I think Pittsburgh is the desperate team. They're the rat in the corner. They tell you, never put a rat in a corner. He comes out attacking him. I think Pittsburgh's a rat in a corner. And I think Tomlin will have his team ready to play. And what happens? So let's say the Steelers right this ship.

They get a win against the Falcons. They're feeling good about themselves. I mean, does that translate to the Levion situation or at this point? Or we just basically don't talk about it until we have any further updates because it does seem like he is sort of waiting it out. We've got to ask Jeremy Fallon from ESPN. I mean, he's the only guy talking to Levon Bell, it seems like. And great for Jeremy Fallow. I don't mean that in any negative way at all.

I mean, he's the only guy talking to him. So like whatever he tells us is what Levon's telling us. So we need to figure that out. But for me, look, the Steelers have to fix these problems on defense. They got to stop the penalties. they've got to win this game because next week they go into Cincinnati and they play a divisional opponent and they can't get too far behind.

Cousin Sal is absolutely right. I mean, this is one of those. This is a must win for both teams. I just don't think Atlanta's healthy enough to have a must to be able to compete. If they do, it's a great tribute to their staff and what they've been able to accomplish because they're wounded and wounded on the road isn't always good. And I have one more

note before we move on to the next game with Atlanta. So Julio Jones obviously has not caught a touchdown pass this year. We have Calvin Ridley, who's a rookie that leads the NFL in touchdown passes. If they do lose this game and they get in a position where, you know, we're almost too far removed from being able to make a run in the NFC South with, you know, the Saints and the Panthers and even the Buccaneers having a hot start. But what happens with that Julio situation? Because that was something that was lingering, you know, coming in from the off season to see

what was going to happen with his contract situation. I mean, is there any chance if they lose this game, then we see Atlanta and try to, you know, maybe start making some moves for the future or they just sit on their hands and say, hey, we've had injuries and this is what it is. I mean, Arthur Blank came out and said, hey, we have injuries. he's disappointed with the season, but hey, we've had injuries. And I think when the owner says that, it's true. I mean, what can you possibly do? I mean, look, if you're Julio, you've got to say the reason you're happy Ridley's here

is because, you know, they're taking, Ridley's taking some of the pressure off. All his touchdown catches that he's getting or as a result because Julio's getting doubled. You know, the other thing that drives me crazy, Tate Frasian, I always just mentioned the word double. The other night, Al Michaels, God love him, he said that, you know, the guys get triple team. Let me just explain to people in America. There has never been a defense in the NFL where somebody is triple team. I can promise you that.

There's never a defense. Now, there's never a defense that rarely there's a defense that there's a defense that rotates the coverage to a guy. There's a defense that doubles a guy high and low or inside and out. No question. But in terms of putting three guys on a guy, that defense has yet to be created. I think the only time I've seen three. Just a note.

Yeah, no, you're right. I mean, I'm trying to think about a time. Even in basketball, I'm trying to think about I've seen three. I mean, probably Kobe, right? Because at a certain point, people were just like, this guy's not going to pass the ball. You might as well just put everybody on him. Yeah, probably right. And he still shot it and made it.

Yeah, he still shoot it and made it. I mean, exactly. But I mean, there's no triple team. Like, let's just get that in perspective. Like, there's no triple team. It sounds good. And nobody's triple team in a defensive lineman either. I mean, if the center slides to Aaron Donald,

then Aaron Donald's being blocked half by the center and half by the guard, right? So there's a double team. But it isn't like three offensive linemen are blocking Aaron Donald. Maybe the back chips. Maybe the lineman comes in. maybe there's some times where there's three guys around them, but the scheme doesn't say three guys block Aaron Donald. That leaves eight guys to block the other 10.

No, no, it's not going to work. Speaking of Aaron Donald, we're going to talk about that Seahawks offensive line and the Los Angeles Rams team that's 4 and O undefeated at the moment. They're going to go up to Seattle this weekend. The Seahawks obviously are two and two. Russell had a nice little bounce back. We got a situation here.

The Rams are favored by seven in this game. I just wanted to point out before. I watched the press conferences with McVeigh, and I also saw Wade Phillips. I mean, you can't talk about two guys that were willing and able to praise Russell Wilson. I mean, Wade Phillips, I have a quote here. He said, he can beat you himself. Not many quarterbacks can do that.

You have to cover him for a long time, and that makes it hard. This game is pretty interesting, Lombardi. I like the Seahawks team. I mean, we've talked about the 12th man and whether that's still a thing up there. But I do think they're going to be heated and ready to go for this game. This Rams team is obviously a hot topic, a hot button issue across the league. What are you really looking out for in this game? and obviously without Earl Thomas,

we're going to see if this Seahawks defense can bounce back. I think it's going to be a challenge without Earl Thomas. I mean, last year, Seattle went up, Seattle beat them in Los Angeles last year, and then the Rams went up there and just kicked their butt and ran the ball down their throat. They ran for over 200 yards in the game. And I think that without Earl Thomas,

I think it's going to be a challenge for this Seattle defense to get organized and constructed and play plays that can create the turnovers. I mean, what Earl was able to do is he knew the offense. He understood what they were trying to do, and he understood the defense and how it affected. I just don't see that happening here. And I think when you look at this game,

the Rams have scored 30 points in almost every game. And we saw Denver opening days score a ton of points against Seattle. Seattle's going to give you some points if you don't turn it over and if you don't make the mistakes. And I don't think the Rams will make the mistake. I think Seattle is vulnerable here, even though they're playing at home. I think they're vulnerable. I think the Rams will run the ball. I think the Rams will move the ball.

And I also think the Rams will be able to attack Russell Wilson in this game with their defensive pressure. And that's why I like the Rams here. a lot. I think the Rams are just the better team. I think Seattle's wounded, and I also think Seattle, because of the Earl Thomas injury, is going to be a problem. I think it's going to be hard for him to bounce back, for the team to bounce back and handle it.

I think that's going to be a true challenge. And they're also missing KJ. Wright, too, which is, a pro-bo-linebacker that we should bring up. And I did want to point this out. I mean, Jared Goff was the NFC offensive player of the month. Right, Lombardi? I mean, I don't think, I don't think if you told many people that going into the season

that they would have really thought that would have been the case. So I do want to give golf his due a little bit here because, I mean, he leads, he's most completions of 20 plus yards of any quarterback in the league with 23. And then you look at the Rams offense. I mean, it's like eight yards per play almost at this point. And that's way above anyone else in the league. So, I mean, they've just been incredible so far. So you're Pete Carroll, right?

You're sitting there. You know they ran the ball down your throat last year. You know your defense is built on being able to stop the run. And you haven't really been able to do that this year, particularly because your defensive front isn't as good as it's been in the past. So you can't really handle that. They allow four, six, a rush. That's not typical Seattle defensive football.

And so the Rams come in there. So you've got the real problem. If we don't stop this run, they're going to run it down our throats for another 200 yards. And then it opens up the passing game and they can attack. So I think this is one of those where whatever Seattle tries to take away, the Rams can go to them. And there's too much balance. And then it gets to the point where I'm asking myself, where can Seattle score 30 points? Seattle, the Rams average 30 points a game.

How does Seattle get to 30? You know, I think Seattle will get the 20. I think the Rams will get to 30. I think it's a 30-20 game. We'll see what happens. I mean, that's something to keep an eye on. I want to just see if this Rams offense can really keep it up. I mean, it's sort of the same things with the Chiefs, right?

We're all just sort of waiting to see if there is a chance where they can stumble. But for now, they're going to keep it rolling. It looks like, especially if all things play out, like you said. Next game we have up, we have the Oakland Raiders going down to Los Angeles to take on the Chargers. This is one of those games where the chargers are favored by five. a lot of people view this as maybe a potential trap game. We saw the Chargers last week with the 49ers have some struggles, which you pointed out

on this program. John Gruden said after their first win in almost 10 years, his first win in almost 10 years, this was no time to celebrate. We know that Philip Rivers has done some good things against the Raiders just overall in his history against this team. I think 16 and 8 career against the Raiders. Lombardi, what are you looking for in this game? Well, I think this is, first of all, this is a home game

for the Raiders. Look, I walk Bella and Lana on the beach every day when I lived in Los Angeles and I saw more Raider hats than I ever saw Charger hats. I'm not even sure I saw a freaking Charger hat. Like, I don't think I saw one. I don't know about you, T-Frasor. Do you ever see Charger hats out there? No, not really. I mean, when I went down to San Diego a couple years ago, I saw a lot of charges stuff. That's San Diego. Yeah, I know. It hurts. I'm sorry. San Diego. We're not, this is Los Angeles, you know. And so this will be, this will be a, first of all, there better be a lot of security at this game. Because these games, I've been involved with these games, these Charger Raider fans,

They take this shit seriously now. I mean, and this is not like, you don't make a comment. Like, Millie took the kids one time down there to a Charger game, Raider game. We won. I mean, and she came to me and like, I felt like my life was in danger. Like, it was like scary down there, you know, because these are heated, passionate fans, right? And so, you know, your concerns, but this is going to be a Raider home game. All those Charger fans are in San Diego.

They ain't coming north, right? And so this is going to be a Raider home game. And for me, I have yet to prove that how the Chargers are favored by anybody. Like, I haven't seen the Chargers play really good yet this year. And then here's the fucking question of all time. And these deserves F-bombs, Tate Fraser. Yes. Like, how in the fuck could the Chargers kept Caleb Sturges on their fucking team

after would he missed two extra points and a field goal last week? Like, how can they do that? How do you sit in your office and say, I'm going to go with Caleb Sturges again this week? Like, your margin for error is so fucking small that if you let this guy kick, again, you're just going to lost, lose you. At the NFL is, everybody knows it's only seven, you know, most games are decided by seven points you're last or four points or less, right? And you got a kicker who can't make a fucking extra point and you're keeping them on the team. You change punters.

Like, are you kidding me? Are you kidding me? I just don't understand how the chargers can continue to sign these kickers. You know, it's almost, it doesn't even make sense that it's possible that they can continue to sign people that continue to miss big field goals for their team and and, and fulfill. Rivers. I mean, it's almost like the NFL has decided that Philip Rivers does not deserve special teams and that he has to win on his own every single week for however long it's been happening. It is amazing. It almost doesn't even believe, it doesn't even seem like it could be real at this point. Is there anything else to watch out for, though, with this Chargers team? Because when they're

trying to keep pace, obviously with the Chiefs, and they need to win these games in the AFC West, especially divisional games. And, you know, a lot of people like them to have a chance to win the AFC West, even though the Chiefs have looked, you know, unstoppable at this point. I mean, Is that a far-fetched dream or is there a chance this Chargers team can kind of lock it in and get it together and maybe sign a real kicker at some point? You know, they don't recognize they need a real kicker. I mean, here's the reality. Duren James is a great player, right? We know this.

He's really been very effective all year. He leads their team in sacks. I mean, he leads their team in sacks. How about Gruden coming out and saying that he wanted to draft Erwin, James? I know. It's the greatest. I wanted to draft him. You know, I mean, that's the best.

I'm telling you something, Tate Fraser. I would be the greatest personnel man two years after every draft. I would be the best. I would kill every fucking draft. I would own it. If you give me drafts after two years after the drafts over, I could do it in any sport. I would go into baseball.

I'd be great. I'd do it in basketball. I'd be great at it. I mean, it's like unbelievable, right? So, I mean, he leads their team in sacks, right? And so, like, I just think to me, I think the Raiders, all do respect. I think they're really well coached.

Okay. I think that they're sound. I think if Carr didn't make some stupid mistakes, they would have more than one win. and I think Marshaun Lynch has found the fountain of youth. I think this son of a bitch is fucking running hard. I think he's powerful. I don't think the Chargers are going to be able to last for four quarters dealing with this guy.

And I think the Chargers are vulnerable. I don't think the Chargers have had a good win in two years where they beat a really good team. Even if they win this game, which they might, I think I'm taking the Raiders and the points in this game, Tate Frazier. You know, to me, it just seems like this Chargers team, I mean, I'm not saying, I mean, they just have all the pieces to be similar to the Rams. I mean, Melvin Gordon may be like, you know, the B-plers. plus to what girlie is the A. But all the pieces are there and you see Alan, you see all these guys.

There's no doubt. There's no doubt. It just seems like. They make mistakes and they give away points. I've never seen a franchise shoot themselves in the foot like this franchise does every single year. I mean, you know, it just feels. Do they not watch the extra points in field goal to do all the front office people from

the Chargers not like, do they go to the bathroom when the special teams units come on the field? I hope so. I mean, they must do this. That would make a lot more sense. How could you go? Like there's not another kicker out there. than Caleb Sturges.

He's the best of the best. You know, I mean, plus on defense, here's the thing I think people don't understand on defense. They run Gus Bradley, I know he's been a head coach in the NFL before, but they run Seattle's defense, but they run Seattle's defense without not a lot of diversity in it. And Gruden will eat this shit up. Now, Gruden will know how to attack this. The Raiders will move the ball unless Carr throws it down himself. The graders will move the ball, just like the 49ers with CJ Bethard move the ball.

I mean, they didn't even cover the tight end on one play last week. The tight end, I mean, Kyle Shanahan, I knew he was going to move the ball. I didn't think he win the game because I didn't think the 49ers stink on defense, but I thought he would be able to. And I think this is why I think the Raiders are a little better than the 49ers on defense, not much, but I think they'll move the ball and be more consistent in Lynch. That's why I like the Raiders here. Plus, it's a home game for the Raiders.

And I will say this. I think we should keep an eye on and we've brought up the car thing with Gruden. And we've seen, you know, Gruden made some comments before. but I mean, if we see C.J. Bethard willing to throw the ball down the field and, you know, get the offense rolling for the 49ers and then you watch the Raiders this week and they don't do that. And Darekarr is checking the ball down and, you know, settling for three and owls and throwing the ball away, you know, then we may have, you know, a larger conversation about what's going to go on. Then we may Gruden and that whole offense, right? Because Gruden, it seems like Gruden, like what you're saying. I mean, Carr's got to play better. He's got to quit making dumb mistakes on third down in the red zone. He's got to quit doing it. Now, here's the thing why miss field goals are turnovers. Okay, Tay Fraser? So right now the Chargers have created six turnovers, okay? And plus they've had one miss field goal against them for a net of seven, okay? The Chargers have five turnovers plus two miss kicks. So the net they're even in turnover takeaway. You see what I'm saying? So they're getting no

advantage, right? And all their sacks occurred in that Buffalo game. Most of their sacks occurred in that Buffalo game. So, you know, it's like where the Chargers margin for air is so small. It's not there. And when you're giving away points like they're doing, it makes it harder. I feel bad for Philip Rivers. I feel like his career has been everyone else giving away his points. Absolutely. We all do here at this program on G&3. Final game of the week, we have the Arizona Cardinals going out to the San Francisco 49ers. The Cardinals, of course, 0 and 4. The 49ers 1 in 3 on the year. The 49ers are favored by 4 and a half in this game. We're going to see rookie Josh Rosen on the road. As we've seen before, rookies on the road can always struggle.

So that's something to keep an eye on as well. Lombardi, who do you like in this game? think the 49ers will win, but I think it'll be a close game. Last year, look, last year, the 49ers lost both times to the Cardinals, okay? And so I think that was an issue. I think there's no doubt that's going to be a problem. I think the Cardinals defense can put some pressure on C.J. Bethard. I think they'll create some problems.

I think they match up to him. And I think Josh Rosen will move the ball. I think they can run the ball on the 49ers. I think he's much better than Bradford. He'll throw the ball. You know, last year they lost at Arizona in overtime by three. points. And then last year, Arizona won and beat them by 10 points. Now, I know Arizona was a little different last year in terms of their structure, but they weren't great. They didn't have David Johnson.

I don't think the 49ers are very good on defense. I think their defensive talent is, is not very good. They don't have Richard Sherman in the back end. I think this Cardinal team has some good players on offense. And I think once Rosen gets comfortable, and I think he will in this game, I think he'll start to make some throws. I mean, he's already proven he's better than Bradford in just one game. I mean, when you just look at it, I mean, he threw the ball down the field. He was better. I mean, Bradford was at five yards, yards per attempt and just one in his time. And all of a sudden, last week he was six, five. I mean, look, they could have won that game last week or at least sent it to overtime if

Dawson makes both kicks. So he missed two field goals last week, which killed him. And I think that's going to be the difference. I think this will be a really close game. I think the Cardinals can get their first win here. And we should say, I mean, Josh Rosen is a guy. Call me crazy, take freight. You can call me crazy.

It's okay. I'm not calling you crazy. I will say this. I've always liked the fact that Josh Rosen, you know, whether it's back. fight or not. I like that he does believe in himself. And he's not afraid to make the throws. I mean, whichever way it goes, he's not afraid to make the throws. So I've always enjoyed that about Rosen.

And I think that obviously helps that Cardinals' offense a lot. And then you got, you know, David Johnson. You know, they have pieces to really challenge them out there and we'll see what happens. So those are the five games of the week that Lombardi has picked. But, you know, we'll keep an eye on that. Obviously, you know, this will all get updated as we get to Sunday. Is there any other games, Lombardi? I wanted to bring up one game to keep an eye.

I mean, I didn't touch the two. Jacksonville. I didn't touch the Jacksonville, Kansas City game. I wrote about it in the athletic, and I think this game is an important game. I think this is what we call in the NFL. This is one of those learning about the game. I mean, this is a game where we size the opponent up because I think this could be the AFC championship game at some point. Now, Andy Reid, you know, the chiefs are really good at home, but Andy's lost two straight road playoff home games. And so that's a concern. And we know Blake Bortles is not great on the road. He's seven and 12 since 2016. However, that being said, he's only thrown one interception in his last three road games. And I think

this is going to be an interesting game. I think this game will be about the Chiefs offense versus the Jags defense. But I really think the essence of this game is going to come down to the Jags offense. And I think the Jags offense is better than the Chief's defense. And I think unless Bortles becomes Bordles-like, and he goes bad Blake Bordles on me, I think they'll move the ball. and the key to this game is going to be who plays from in front. Because if the Chiefs have to play catch up against the Jags, it's not going to be like it was in Denver.

It's not going to be that way. They're going to be able to rush and control the quarterback in the pocket. But if Kansas City plays from in front and forces Blake to have to throw it more than I think it becomes a problem. I think this will be a great game. I like Jacksonville at times. I'm back and forth on this game

quite a bit. I think Kansas City playing at home gives them a favorite. But look, Kansas City is off a short week. Monday, it's going to be hard, it's going to get emotional. I think Jacksonville has that slight edge, and that's why I favor them. And Chiefs are favored by three in this game. We should say the Jaguars have not allowed more than 20 points this season so far. Mahomes is one of those guys.

I mean, we saw when he gets outside of the pocket. I think he threw for almost 200 yards when he got outside the pocket last week. I saw Ramsey and a bunch of these guys as they were getting interviewed before the game. They basically said we're not letting him get outside the pocket. We are making sure to contain him at all costs because we think that he hurts us the most when he gets outside the pocket. Granted, I've heard plenty of people said that about Russell Wilson,

Cam Newton, all these guys, and they continue to do it anyway. But it would be interesting to watch that game. Another game that I want to bring up in the NFC was the NFC championship game last year, and that's the Minnesota Vikings and the Eagles. These are two teams that a lot of people bought a lot of stock game before the season

and thought that they would have a real chance to run it back and make a run at the NFC. But both teams are struggling right now, two and two, one, two and one for the Vikings. This is one of those games, just like what we were talking about with the Steelers and the Falcons a little bit, where this is a big game early

in the season, right, to see where these two teams stand and we're going to go for the rest of the year. Yeah, no doubt. And I mean, here's the thing about this game that's really important is that both teams need to win with their defensive fronts. Both teams rely on their defensive front to pressure the passer and to make mistakes and create and turnovers. I think both teams will struggle to cover one another's receivers. I think there's no doubt about it. I think whatever offensive line plays the best tier wins the game. And I favor the Eagles on that in that case. And I think the Eagles can, I think the Vikings Mick Everson Griffin badly, although Daniel Hunter's a great rusher

and they've got other good defensive players to rush the passer, but I think that favors, it really favors Philadelphia, but to me, if you're an Eagle fan, I think the concerns are you have way too many penalties, that's number one. And number two is when you break down Carson Wentz from last year to this year. Now, I said

last year many times on GM Street that the Eagles' third down offense was almost like Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme. It just couldn't exist. It couldn't keep going at the sustainable 22% increase level. However, it did. But this year it's come back to Earth. Last year, Wence averaged 9.5 yards per attempt on third down.

Remarkable. Remarkable. This year he's down to 5'4. He's almost 4 yards less. And I think that's because the Eagles lack speed at receiver. I think Jeffrey being back helps them. But I think teams are able to lock them down a little bit more and control them. And their offensive line isn't playing well.

This is a game where both teams aren't playing to the level they played last year. But I just think Philly wins because they're playing home. And that's the only reason. I think the Vikings offensive line, bad lines don't travel well. I think it'll show up here in this game. I think that's the maximum of GM Street this season. Bad lines do not travel well. This has been another edition of the Friday sit down on GM Street here, part of the Ringer podcast Network.

Really enjoyed it, Lombardi, and I'm excited for the games on Sunday. I will talk to you Tuesday, Tate Fraser. I can't wait. Well, I can't wait to get fucking back. How's that? That's perfect. Right on brand. We will take one more quick break here, and then we'll be back with some fantasy football talk.

One more break to get aware from our sponsor G Suite. G Suite is a suite of cloud-based productivity tools that includes Gmail, docks, slides, sheets, and drive. These tools improve your work life, both in terms of your experience and the outputs you create. Hence their new campaign, make it with G Suite. You know when you have 20 identical versions of a document labeled final and no clue, which is the latest. So you make another version and name that one final final, right? Well, with G Suite by Google Cloud, a range of work apps like Gmail, docs, and slides,

let you make real-time updates to the same document without having to keep track of version after version of the project. And since all the tools for cloud-based, your old team can access the same document and work on the same page at the same time. Myself and producer Jim, this is our life. All we do is work in Google Docs. To find out more about G Suite's productivity tools, visit g-sweet.com. That's g-sweet.com. Make it with G-suite by Google Cloud. And coming up now, we have the Dantasy Football Podcast for all you fantasy football heads out there. Let's go. Dasty, let's do it.

Everyone, my name is Danny Hifitz. I'm joined by Danny Kelly. What's going on? We are the host of the Danesie Football Podcast, and we're going to dish out some last-second fantasy advice heading to the weekend. Want to do a lightning round, DK? Yeah, let's do it.

All right, so we're just going to run through a lightning round of players that you might have on your bench, but you're not sure if you should throw under your starting lineup or not. You know, we don't know your lineups quite as well as you guys do, but we're going to go roughly whether we're in or out on them this week. So, Dika, who's your first inner-out guy this week? All right, running back, carry-on Johnson, some of the lions going up against Green Bay this week.

Obviously, right now there's a committee backfield in Detroit, but Johnson has really kind of separated himself out of that whole group. And I think, you know, obviously there's still the worry that they're going to give Ligaribb blunt too many carries. You know, they're trying to limit his revs so they don't really like wear him down all season. But right now, this is per J.J. Zacharyon Johnson, 47.4 success rate, eighth among 46 receivers with 26 running backs with 25 or more carries. Ligarra Blunt right now, 22% success rate.

So Johnson has just looked way better. I'm in on him this week. I think that kind of the cream is going to rise to the top on that one. I just think he's going to go with the hot hand approach a little bit more this week because everyone's just kind of on him about it. And so it's kind of a gut move, but I'm going with Carry on Johnson this week against Green Bay. I love his talent. I think he's definitely the best back in that backfield.

But until he gets more of a consistent workload, it's kind of scary. but I totally understand throwing him in, especially in a game like this, where Ligar Blunds just sucked. My first guy, Nelson Agilur, Eagles receiver, he's going against the Vikings this week, so it's a rematch the NFC championship game. He was way better in the first two weeks when they had Nick Foles, actually. He had, like, a combined 22 targets for like 16 catches.

He had over 100 yards. Then Wenz comes back in, and then suddenly he's been doing a little worse. He had 12 targets last week, but only brought in five of them. He had four drops, which is actually concerning, because it's like he had a lot of drops in when everyone... and kind of wrote him off the last couple years, and then he really, or 2016, and then he picked it up last year,

but he led the Eagles in air yards last week. So on one hand, you're like, oh, things are looking up, he's getting more opportunity. On the other hand, it's a little concerning. So I'm kind of straggling the fence, to be honest. You could play him. I don't have much confidence in him,

so I'm kind of straddling the fence there, but I'm leaning toward out on him. I'm in on him this week just because I think the volume is going to be there. I mean, he's moved back into the slot. He's running most of his routes in the slot now without Sean Jeffrey back in the action. Like he said, he led the team in air yards. He had 12 targets. I think that volume is going to pay off.

And I'm sticking with him for now. Minnesota's past defense just hasn't been that good. And Wences looked pretty solid the last couple of weeks, so I'm sticking with him. I'm in on him. Who's your next guy? Mari Cooper, our favorite freaking fantasy player in the whole NFL. I'm with him this week. I'm going with him.

I think, you know, there's the concern that he's going to draw one-on-one-one coverage versus Casey Hayward. He's done that. Last couple of games, they faced each other, and Hayward's basically shut him down. But I think the way that they, the way that Derek Carr is passing the football right now, I think is really promising. They're, you know, they've been really efficient. Cooper is every week, it's like hit or miss with him. It's just impossible to tell. But I think with the way that they feed him in that offense, he had 12 targets last week, eight touchdowns, 128 yards, sorry, eight catches, 128 yards and a touchdown.

I just think, you know, with the way that the Chargers defense is playing right now, which is not well, I think you can kind of bet on him. It's a little bit of a gamble, but I'm in. I think that he's in the rare club of people who have taken just an elite amount of emotional toll from their owners just on whether to play him each week. It's a very exclusive club, and he's maybe the king of it. I'm out on Amaric Cooper. I'm always out on Omar Cooper. Fair enough. I'm in each week on Jameson Crowder. Redskins receiver, they're going against the Saints this week on Monday Night Football.

You're going to hear a lot about Drew Brees and the passing yardage, blah, blah, blah. But I like Crowder. I like Washington. They're coming out of the buy. I like Washington's passing tech this year as a whole. We haven't totally seen them really dominate yet. But I love Crowder. New Orleans has not been great on defense as they were last year,

but they've been really bad against receivers, especially against slot. Recevers, Jameson's going to be in the slot. So I really like him getting a score this week. I really like just him kind of shredding them over the middle. Moving on to a running back who had a great week last week. Nick Chub of the Browns had, 105 yards and two touchdowns on three carries.

He's going against Baltimore this week. Hugh Jackson says they need to get him on the field more. Yeah, no shit. So I love him for the rest of the season. I like his odds of overtaking Carlos Hyde, especially since he was basically free if you have him. I don't like him this week simply because it's not about talent. It's just I don't trust Hugh Jackson.

I don't know anyone who does trust Hugh Jackson. It's too much risk. I'd rather him go off for three touchdowns on my bench and then know I can play him going forward, then throw him in and he gets three carries for like no yards. So it's just the risk. So I'm out on Chubb. Yeah, I mean, to me, he's definitely a handcuff option for Hyde right now.

I've got Hyde in one league. I just picked Chub up because it just feels like it's going in that direction. They're going to turn to Chub eventually. But right now, like you said, three carries, that's not a repeatable type of thing, 105 yards, two touchdowns. We got to see him get like 15 carries, 15 touches in a game before you can really trust him to start. So yeah, I'm out this week too. But going forward, hopefully they kind of.

I figure out the time share there a little bit better. My next guy, C.J. Uzoma from the Bengals, taken over for Tyler Eiffert. Last year, it was Tyler Croft, who kind of took over for Eifford. He ended up having seven touchdowns on the year. So I think there's a little bit of a mystery as to who is going to take over for the Eiffurt role. Based on the usage this year so far, to me, it looks like Uzoma, who has, he outsnapped Croft, 51 to 20 on Sunday. He ran 25 more routes.

He's been used out in the slot more often. then Croft, and he's got more production so far. He's one of those guys. He's athletic after the catch. He's not as dynamic as Eiffert, but I think he has similar type of skill set and his ability in the open field. Right now, Andy Dalton's passerating

when targeting Uzoma is 144, and Croft right now is just 57. I think if you just look at all the numbers from previous games, you have to go with Uzoma. Obviously, Croft is in there and has the potential to kind of steal snaps and steal targets,

but I like him a little bit better. He's kind of a flex option. Obviously, the tight end situation is really kind of bare right now. But I'm in on him this week. Wow, okay. Out there. All right. I've made enough fun of you on the Bengals,

so I'm not going to make fun of you on the Bengals anymore because I'm afraid of your Cincinnati prowess. Now let's go to Stargazing. These are your star players whose matchups are keeping you up at night. There's a really fun this one this week. The Jaguars are playing the Chiefs on Sunday. Yeah. Which is awesome.

That's one of the better games of the year so far. And it also features you have all the Chiefs, players who you're usually playing against the Jaguar's defense. So those are basically the top options at every position. So we can kind of just run through them. If you have Travis Kelsey, I mean, you're not benching him. I don't really care who, I don't really care. You're not benching Travis Kelsey if you have them, no matter what the matchup is.

Yeah, the tight end situation is dire right now. So yeah. Exactly. Tyree Kill, I kind of, of the same mindset that you really have to have some really good receivers on regardless of the matchup because he's not a traditional receiver. They use him in so many different ways. They get him the ball in the backfield. to get him on these jet sweeps that he's not like other receivers and that, oh, he's going to get shut down by Jalen Ramsey.

He's not like other players. I wouldn't bench him. Kareem Hunt, you probably don't have a better option than Kareem Hunt. Just being practical. Honestly, ironically, the two things I think about benching the most are Mahomes and the Jaguars defense because Mahomes has been incredible so far, but you probably are most likely to have another decent option at quarterback because you probably picked them up or have him as a second. So I would think about him if you're going to swap out one of those dudes, even though I don't know if I would actually have the fortitude to do it.

The Gumpion. The Jaguars defense is the real freaky one. I actually think I'd stream another defense just because they're probably the most likely team to pick off my homes for the first time this year, but I also don't want to bank on them doing it. If they get a respectable game against the Chiefs or shut them down, great. But there's a decent chance they just get two or three points, and you can probably stream a decent thing.

You just stream another decent replacement. So those are my thoughts. What do you think, D.K.? So you're out on the Jags defense. You're on the fence with Mahomes. If you got a better option, go with it with Mahomes, right? Precisely. Yeah, exactly.

I think if your guts telling you you have a better option than Mahomes, like it's not crazy to trust it, I wouldn't bench the other chiefs. But Jaguars, I would stream something. Yeah, I'm with you, man. Let's move on to the streamer starting a lineup. But this is guys who this week are probably available out on the waiver wire. if you have some issues with your roster this week,

you have some buys or some bad matchups. These are guys you can turn to. Speaking of the benching Patrick Mahomes, if you want to go with Alex Smith, a quarterback of the Redskins going up against New Orleans. Right now, he's owned in 55% of Yahoo League, 63% ESPN, going up against the Saints who have given up the third most points

to quarterbacks this year. He's not passing deep this season like he was last year, but he's been really efficient, 250 yards or two touchdowns every game this year. So I think he is a solid option against the New Orleans defense that really hasn't shown up yet this year. I like that. It's the same thing with Crowder. I like Washington this week. If they can't beat New Orleans and they can't dunk on them,

then I'll have different thoughts about their passing game. But until then, moving on to running back, we have two opposite recommendations for, if you have to stream, God forbid. One is just a conservative safe one, Frank Gore. They're going against the Bengals this week. I mean, the dolphins running game sucks. Their options have sucked. If you have Kenyon Drake, you probably know how frustrating this is.

Gore actually led to it. He had 11 carries last week for a meager like 41 yards. It's not sexy or anything, but it's like if you have four net and you basically have between buys and injuries, you don't have anyone to play. You know that Gore will get carries and you can just pray for a touchdown or something. So that's on the safe side if you literally just want points and you have no other option. If you're trying to like really go out there and be risky, I actually like Corey Grant this week.

He's the Jaguars running back. This is a total shot in the dark, but basically Fournette is out. It might be a shootout, at least in terms of the Jaguars standards, against the Chiefs. And then he's just a great passing back. He's like the ultimate way better in real life

than fantasy guy. And I love his odds of getting like, you know, what Naheim Hines did last week with like two carries, but like six catches for 80 yards and two touchdowns. I think he's really capable of something like that. So there's your shot in the dark. passing game guy. Yeah, I like him. He's super explosive. Moving to receiver,

Tewan Taylor, Titans against Buffalo this week. He's owned 8% of Yahoo! League's 5% ESPN. His targets have gone up. His snaps have gone up every week. We saw the Titans' offense kind of take off a little bit last week, and I think they're kind of trending up at this point. Buffalo, you know, their defense has kind of hit or miss, but I think Taylor, if you're looking to stream a receiver this week, he could be a good option for you because I think, you know, he's still sort of on the cusp of breaking out. Who's your receiver, streamer? Yeah, Muhammad Sanoe and Dedy Westbrook and then also Dantey Moncrief to an extent.

Jaguars and Falcons both look like great matchups. Sunu basically, I think he's going to get some of the volume that Calvin Ridley's been getting in the red zone. I think he has a really great shot at scoring touchdowns. We talked about this. The over under on Falcon Steelers this week is 57. Love that. Yeah. Yeah, I just, it's going to be.

Sunu's a really great pickup. I'm surprised he's still so unowned. And then at tight end, I don't try. I'll be really. you. I don't love the CJ Udozima. I can't do last names. But I still love Austin Hooper. Same thing with the Falcons sticking there. If you need somebody and you're scrambling at tight end because there's so many injuries, Hooper is still out there. He is going against the worst team against fantasy tight ends so far this week in Steelers. Next week, I get the Bucks,

which are the second worst team. So I still love Hooper as a great short-term streamer, as a great short-term streamer, especially if you have O.J. Howard, who's like out for the next two weeks between buying injury. Yeah, man. Go with the hot hand. I like the, I love the Falcons offense right now, so I'm in with that.

Yeah, and I think a lot of the touchdowns Ridley's been getting his six in his last three games. Julio has six in his last 30, so that's going to get distributed out. But I think that's all the time we have, DK.

Thanks to everybody for listening. We appreciate it. God bless your teams, Godspeed, and we'll see you guys next week. The big and big wireless stands for big contracts, big bills and big fees. What big wireless doesn't want you to know is that with Mint Mobile, you can cut your wireless bill down to just 15 bucks a month.

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