Speaker 1: Welcome to Fantasy Football Weekly, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Time now for Fantasy Football Weekly from I Heart Radio,
Speaker 1: your weekly source for the nation's best fantasy speculation and advice.
Speaker 1: Now along with the guys from fanball dot com. Here's
Speaker 1: the host for Fantasy Football Weekly. It is Fantasy Football Weekly,
Speaker 1: and I am Paul Charchy and my co host today
Speaker 1: is Matt Harrison at Explosive Output h Charch. We're gonna
Speaker 1: explode all over the playoffs, so we're gonna do excuse me, yes,
Speaker 1: very excited to break down the four playoff games fantasy style.
Speaker 1: You know. One of the great things that's really changed
Speaker 1: over the years, Matt, is how many people are playing
Speaker 1: playoff fantasy football, but not just like redrafting and then
Speaker 1: doing the same old, same old. You know. Mostly I
Speaker 1: think people are playing in pools. Now. Yeah, you run
Speaker 1: a pool with a hundred people in it. Yeah, it's
Speaker 1: uh where ours is? Ours is getting really big. It's
Speaker 1: kind of fun. Somebody's gonna win like nine yeah, so no, no, no,
Speaker 1: the I R S limit of the well, there's all
Speaker 1: donations too, Fantasy Cares involved, So that's the important all right,
Speaker 1: That's that's all that matters. We're gonna break down the
Speaker 1: game's fantasy style, as I mentioned, um from this weekend. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we all, we've got all got some of our own
Speaker 1: our own leans here. I've got two upsets happening this weekend.
Speaker 1: I've got one. I think the second one I'm I'm
Speaker 1: sadly not going to get. So all right, we'll find out. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we we'd like to get. We'd like to get one
Speaker 1: end of it for for those of us in the
Speaker 1: Minnesota listening area. But that's the least likely of the
Speaker 1: upsets that happened by a mile. Well, they might cover,
Speaker 1: they might cover. Let's begin with the Saturday morning that morning,
Speaker 1: the Saturday, it's actually mid afternoon game, and that is
Speaker 1: Buffalo takey on Houston. I've got this as an upset, Um,
Speaker 1: tell me, let's let's start it with the passing game
Speaker 1: in Josh Allen, which I think is fascinating. He scored
Speaker 1: a touchdown in every game this year. Yeah, I uh,
Speaker 1: he's the third highest priced quarterback on fan ball. I
Speaker 1: have him as a B grade in this game. Um,
Speaker 1: he's had a down month basically due to facing some
Speaker 1: crazy good defenses all in a row. Denver, Dallas Baltimore Pittsburgh,
Speaker 1: New England from Week twelve the weeks sixteen. I mean
Speaker 1: we were advising people it's time to sabotage drop Josh
Speaker 1: and going into your into your playoff run, and that
Speaker 1: was the right thing to do. I happen to sabotage
Speaker 1: drop him in one of my leaks and uh, but
Speaker 1: now he gets the Texans, and the Texans have allowed
Speaker 1: the fourth most passing yards and the seventh most quarterback
Speaker 1: rushing yards on the season, and in fact, the Texans
Speaker 1: have allowed either three passing yards or multiple passing scores
Speaker 1: to each of the last five quarterbacks they've faced outside
Speaker 1: of Week seventeen. UM. But J. J. Watt is back.
Speaker 1: He's returning from a peck injury. His legs should still
Speaker 1: be decent. I'm wondering if there's a little rust there,
Speaker 1: but that's concerning as the two legs. Yeah, as the
Speaker 1: pass rush will be a little bit better than Houston
Speaker 1: has had in the last couple of weeks. From an
Speaker 1: injury standpoint, though, cornerbacks Bradley Roby and Jonathan Joseph both
Speaker 1: dealing with hamstring injuries. I think they both play, but
Speaker 1: we've seen hamstring injuries can go belly up any time.
Speaker 1: I mean, look at what Adam Feeland had came back
Speaker 1: for a play in that Kansas City game and then
Speaker 1: sat on the shelf for another couple of months. That's right, Um,
Speaker 1: let's stay in the passing game. John Brown, he's another
Speaker 1: guy who had just bad brutal matchups for a long time.
Speaker 1: I'm giving him a B grade and he's six fanball.
Speaker 1: Because the Texans hate facing wide receivers named Brown as
Speaker 1: a j Brown has torched them for over a hundred
Speaker 1: yards in a score twice in the last three weeks. Uh.
Speaker 1: And that other week Brashod Perriman from the perimeter went
Speaker 1: over a hundred yards too. And Brown, John Brown is
Speaker 1: top ten in the league at twenty plus yard completions.
Speaker 1: The Texans are bottom ten defensively in that category. So
Speaker 1: it's a big play kind of a game. It is. Uh,
Speaker 1: this is the Houston has struggled with big plays. John Brown,
Speaker 1: known for the deep speed, Josh Allen, known for the
Speaker 1: big arms. With hamstring injury, it's just it feels like
Speaker 1: might not want to get the long stride going. Uh.
Speaker 1: You know that's a that is a stackable hook up
Speaker 1: right there. You know what. What else is a stackable
Speaker 1: hook up Cole Beasley, who also gets a B grade.
Speaker 1: He's only fifty seven hundred on Fanball. He leads the
Speaker 1: team in red zone targets and he runs most of
Speaker 1: his routes from the slot, so he matches up with
Speaker 1: Vernon Hargraves, the third who was cut by the Bucks
Speaker 1: earlier in the year and has given up five touchdowns
Speaker 1: in his coverage this season, and four weeks ago, Julian
Speaker 1: Edelman just torched him for six for one oh six
Speaker 1: in a score. Finally, Dawson Knox in the passing game
Speaker 1: of the Saturday tight Ends. I was looking at the
Speaker 1: Saturday slate on Fanball, there's no tight ends. Johnny Smith
Speaker 1: is the highest price tight end, but Dawson Knox is
Speaker 1: my favorite. Uh He's at thirty. Over the last four weeks,
Speaker 1: Knox is third on the team and targets, averaging just
Speaker 1: about four per game. The problem as he's only had
Speaker 1: eight reception since Week twelve. But Houston is a bottom
Speaker 1: ten defense as far as tight end receiving yards this year,
Speaker 1: so Knox is kind of in play. Can I tell
Speaker 1: you how much I love Devin Singletary in this matchup
Speaker 1: n Um Houston. Just Derrick Kenny just put up two
Speaker 1: yards on him, So I mean there's that. But also,
Speaker 1: receiving runners have killed the Texans. They ranked dead last
Speaker 1: in receiving touchdowns allowed to running back, second to last
Speaker 1: in yards allowed to running backs through the air. This
Speaker 1: is and Devin Singletary is a good It's not like
Speaker 1: Dan Tomlins. You missed the league high eight receiving touchdowns.
Speaker 1: They've given up receiving touchdowns allowed eight. That is the eight.
Speaker 1: This is. I love Devin Singletary for fantasy purposes in
Speaker 1: this matchup. So the issue is Singletary hasn't been totally
Speaker 1: utilized in the passing game yet. He did see eight
Speaker 1: targets and six receptions against the Ravens a few weeks back,
Speaker 1: but he's normally getting like three targets a game and
Speaker 1: one catch and that's kind of a bummer. But the
Speaker 1: Texans have allowed almost five yards per carry to opposing
Speaker 1: backs over the last two months, and he had nine
Speaker 1: six percent of the snaps against the Pats in that
Speaker 1: Week six team game. That actually mattered. Frank Gore as
Speaker 1: an afterthought, I gave Devin Singletary in a grade He's
Speaker 1: one of my favorite running backs this week. He's the
Speaker 1: fourth highest priced one on Fanball. Yeah, I like him
Speaker 1: a lot as well. If you flip over to the
Speaker 1: Houston passing game, what I find fascinating is just the
Speaker 1: the wide receiver situation for Houston is not good. You
Speaker 1: got Will Fuller with the growing injury, Kenny Stills to
Speaker 1: the knee injury, their question marks for this game. And
Speaker 1: then if you look at DeAndre Hopkins, He's gonna get
Speaker 1: trade abous White all game. So where does where does
Speaker 1: that leave the passing game? I gave Hopkins only a
Speaker 1: C grade in this and let's just not a respect
Speaker 1: eight thousand, second highest wide receiver on Fanball, behind of course,
Speaker 1: Michael Thomas. UM. Guess get this. Hopkins is completing his
Speaker 1: seventh season in the league. The Texans have made the
Speaker 1: playoffs in four of those seasons. This is DeAndre hopkins
Speaker 1: second playoff game. His first one was last year against
Speaker 1: the Colts, where he had five catches for thirty seven yards.
Speaker 1: He's ring up the end of the year in all
Speaker 1: those years. Um, here are the wide receivers that have
Speaker 1: scored against the Bills in the first sixteen weeks of
Speaker 1: the season. We're not counting week seventeen. They weren't they alright,
Speaker 1: t J. Jones in week two, Okay, Davante Parker in
Speaker 1: week seven, and that was when Preston Williams was still
Speaker 1: the top wide receiver there. Okay, Jarvis Landry and Richard
Speaker 1: Higgins in week ten, Okay, second and third receivers. Ventell
Speaker 1: Bryant in week thirteen. Do you know who he plays for? Nope, Dallas. Okay,
Speaker 1: it's like the fourth wide receiver, and Willie Sneed in
Speaker 1: week fourteen. White wasn't covering any of those guys. That's
Speaker 1: only six touchdowns allowed to wide receivers on the season.
Speaker 1: I don't think I'm gonna put Hopkins in any of
Speaker 1: my DFS lineup. Expensive, too expensive. Even if he was
Speaker 1: much less expensive, it would be hard to be hard
Speaker 1: to validate a DeAndre Hopkins angle. Here's the interesting thing.
Speaker 1: If somehow Kenny Stills doesn't go, and some how and
Speaker 1: it looks like will Fuller's not gonna go, what about
Speaker 1: Kiki Qti? It only all those second wide receivers he scored.
Speaker 1: Maybe that's the only angle here, but it's it's pretty
Speaker 1: bad on the Texans side. I only gave Deshaun Watson
Speaker 1: a C grade as well. Uh, I just don't like
Speaker 1: any of it. Um. The Bills, as we know, pat
Speaker 1: top three past defense. They're also one of the best
Speaker 1: in the league of defending against running quarterbacks. That held
Speaker 1: Lamar Jackson to only eleven uh eleven carries for only
Speaker 1: forty yards, which is pretty good against Lamar Jackson, dak
Speaker 1: Wentzon Mariotta were held in check and the only two
Speaker 1: quarterbacks to score on the ground against them this year
Speaker 1: we're Andy Dalton and Ryan Fitzpatrick. So they were surprised
Speaker 1: at those really were uh. And when Will Fuller's out,
Speaker 1: Deshaun Watson's numbers up really suffer. And then finally the
Speaker 1: running game, I gave both Hide and Duke Johnson C grades.
Speaker 1: Hides still the top runner, even though Duke Johnson has
Speaker 1: looked like the better player for the last handful of weeks.
Speaker 1: Over hides last four full games, he scored two that's good,
Speaker 1: but he's been held under two yards per carrying two
Speaker 1: of those games, including a ten for seventeen clunker against
Speaker 1: a similarly built defense in New England. And I bring
Speaker 1: that up because Houston won that game against New England,
Speaker 1: and what did they do in that game? They fed
Speaker 1: the ball to Duke Johnson. Duke Johnson had nine rushing attempts,
Speaker 1: which was his season high, and he also had five
Speaker 1: receptions in that game. So we had fourteen touches, two
Speaker 1: hides eleven. He had a hundred combo yards and a
Speaker 1: score in that game. So if they're going to use
Speaker 1: one of these running backs and they're going to be successful,
Speaker 1: I like Duke Johnson, who's cheaper on fan ball over
Speaker 1: Carlos Hide. I'll note, though, Buffalo has only given up
Speaker 1: one running back receiving touchdowns since Week three, so you
Speaker 1: know they're not I don't know that you get a
Speaker 1: touchdown out of Duke Johnson think you know, but he might.
Speaker 1: He might chip in enough PPR help that that's the
Speaker 1: better way to go. I did have Darren Fells on
Speaker 1: my list, but he's only scored one touchdown in the
Speaker 1: last seven weeks, and you're not playing him, I don't
Speaker 1: think so either. Let's go to the Vikings taking on
Speaker 1: the Saints. Oh gosh, I'm really interest did in this one?
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, well, it's it's it's it's home. Um, there
Speaker 1: is a there's there's an opportunity to take Kirk Cousins here. Uh,
Speaker 1: it doesn't know it's a game when nobody feels like
Speaker 1: Kirk Cousins gonna step up and play well in because
Speaker 1: traditionally both Mike Zimmer and Kirk Cousins have not played
Speaker 1: well in big games. And obviously this is a this
Speaker 1: is a for you know, seasons over if this doesn't
Speaker 1: go well. But Kirk through for three sixty yards last
Speaker 1: time these teams met and two touchdowns last year and
Speaker 1: this season, the way that you've been able to beat
Speaker 1: the Saints is through the air. They've given up multiple
Speaker 1: passing touchdowns in six of seven games. In recent weeks,
Speaker 1: they've given up three or four touchdowns to Jimmy Garoppolo,
Speaker 1: Ryan Tannehill, and Kyle Allen since benched. So I think
Speaker 1: there's an opportunity for Kirk to put up a surprising
Speaker 1: game now and and it could be in catchup mode.
Speaker 1: If we're just looking at this from fantasy perspective, the
Speaker 1: Vikings could be down by two or three scores early.
Speaker 1: That's gage could be all garbage time for cotting. You
Speaker 1: may be right about that, and abandoning the run is
Speaker 1: a viable option for the Vikings anyway, because the Saints
Speaker 1: run defense is so good, Stefon Diggs likely draws shadow
Speaker 1: coverage on the outside from Marshawn Lattimore. If he lines
Speaker 1: up in the slot Diggs does, then it'll probably be
Speaker 1: Theeland who gets Lattimore because nobody bothers to double cover
Speaker 1: Lakwan Treadwall or shadow Laquon Twadwall so well. So, um,
Speaker 1: I'm nervous about Diggs. If Diggs is gonna get a
Speaker 1: lot of Marshall Latimore, it's game over. Latimore giving up
Speaker 1: an average of two catches for twenty two yards since
Speaker 1: Week three. You know Diggs has the peacock on Lattimore though,
Speaker 1: and you remember the last time they met in the playoffs,
Speaker 1: something good happen. Um, father, If Kirk gets this win,
Speaker 1: I can tell you the Viking fans. The Viking fans
Speaker 1: are gonna be like, oh yeah, big deal. Case Keenum
Speaker 1: gotta win and gets the Saints in the playoffs too,
Speaker 1: That's what they're gonna say. Adam Feeling gets more work
Speaker 1: out of the slot um that hopefully will allow him
Speaker 1: to avoid Lattimore and then gets get to what he
Speaker 1: was doing through in weeks one through six before the injury,
Speaker 1: when he was averaging almost a touchdown per game. Since
Speaker 1: Week six, he's caught four passes. So the worry for
Speaker 1: me is if they need to feed him because Latimore
Speaker 1: is taking digs out. I just hope he's up for it.
Speaker 1: I hope he's I we I hope they target him
Speaker 1: nine ten times in this game? How many times? That way?
Speaker 1: It's a hold on revenge show. Feeling does not need
Speaker 1: revenge because in the last game, last year's game against
Speaker 1: the Saints, Theveland had over one yards and a touchdown.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, Um. Saints somewhat susceptible to tight ends. Since
Speaker 1: Week eight, they've allowed sizeable games to Charles Clay and
Speaker 1: Cameron Brad and Jade and Graham and George Kittle and
Speaker 1: John hu Smith. By and large, those are not awesome
Speaker 1: tight ends. So maybe maybe cal Rodolph gets back to
Speaker 1: where he was a couple of months ago. Yeah. Uh.
Speaker 1: For d Alvin Cook, it's a really tough game. He
Speaker 1: says he's full strength, which is great. He has not
Speaker 1: had to run of more than nine yards since November tenth.
Speaker 1: He has failed to top three point seven yards per
Speaker 1: carry in any game in the second half of the season,
Speaker 1: so the injuries have really affected him. At one point
Speaker 1: he was in the m v P conversation not anymore. Um,
Speaker 1: this is the Saints team that's good against the screen pass,
Speaker 1: and Cook has been viable as a screen pass guy
Speaker 1: of late, and that's that may not help. He may
Speaker 1: not be helped to pull that way either. And the
Speaker 1: Saints are so good as a run defense, giving up
Speaker 1: just three point six yards per carry. They haven't allowed
Speaker 1: one hundred yard runner since Week eleven of twenty seventeen.
Speaker 1: That's so well, that's a long time, two and a
Speaker 1: half years. Yes, So I don't like Dalvin Cook. What's
Speaker 1: he What does he cost? On famble? Oh? Let me
Speaker 1: pull that up right, Yeah he is. It's already too much.
Speaker 1: That's already too much. Why why am I looking up
Speaker 1: weird things? I'm still looking looking up Kirk Cousins on this. Uh,
Speaker 1: Dalvin Cook too much? I thank you? Avoid the Viking
Speaker 1: runner's the third highest running back in the week. So
Speaker 1: that's he's out. Uh for let's flip it over to
Speaker 1: the Saints. Uh. Viking shutdown Drew Brees and last year's
Speaker 1: meeting helding holding him to one hundred twenty yards one
Speaker 1: hundred twenty yards, his lowest output in almost two hundred
Speaker 1: games last time they met. Um that said, he's had
Speaker 1: other games against the Vikings have been very good. Average
Speaker 1: passing game against Minnesota since Week eight is two hundred
Speaker 1: fifty yards in one touchdown. Michael Thomas, of course, is
Speaker 1: going to get fed plenty in this game. How many
Speaker 1: targets does Michael Thomas get if you're gonna set an
Speaker 1: over under, I think it actually moves down. And I'll
Speaker 1: tell you why. Vikings are without their number three and
Speaker 1: number four cornerbacks Mike Hughes and in all probability Mackenzie
Speaker 1: Alexander not in. I think that's going to allow them
Speaker 1: to go to their second and third receivers more often,
Speaker 1: Ted Gin tray Kwon Smith more often than they would
Speaker 1: have had the Vikings secondary been healthy. So not that
Speaker 1: Hughes has been good, He's been bad, but um it
Speaker 1: is it's still you know, one less, one less quasi
Speaker 1: starter for the Vikings, So there's there's some concern there.
Speaker 1: But I still think, you know, you figure Hughes is
Speaker 1: going to be targeted at least ten to twelve times
Speaker 1: and dozen every game. By the way, Michael Thomas the
Speaker 1: most expensive player on the slate. I think, Mike, there's
Speaker 1: a real case to be made for Michael Thomas to
Speaker 1: be the most valuable fantasy player throughout the playoffs Saints.
Speaker 1: If the Saints are likely to be favorites every step
Speaker 1: of the way to the super Bowl, I believe they'll
Speaker 1: be favorite. They're already our favorites this week. Next week
Speaker 1: they'll travel to Green Bay, and they'll be favored the
Speaker 1: week after that, presumably San Francisco. In San Francisco, maybe
Speaker 1: favored or pick them or maybe you know, underdogs by
Speaker 1: a close. It was a two point game when they
Speaker 1: met just a few weeks ago, right, so that'll be uh,
Speaker 1: that'll be one worth watching. Michael Thomas is an obvious,
Speaker 1: obvious fine start here. If I were giving letter grades,
Speaker 1: which I didn't do because I'm tired of letter grades,
Speaker 1: so I just didn't do it, maybe you want to
Speaker 1: try a plus their minds. Maybe that freshen it up
Speaker 1: with the plus. What if you just gave a plus
Speaker 1: or a minus grade, no letters, just he's a plus.
Speaker 1: Jared Cook is a plus, A merging as a major threat.
Speaker 1: Since Week eleven, he's averaging twenty one yards per catch,
Speaker 1: twenty one per catch, and one touchdown per game. That's
Speaker 1: crazy like last year's Jared Cook. It is, it's it's
Speaker 1: it's all of a sudden taken off since Week eleven.
Speaker 1: He's a fine start here. Pro Football Focus ranks the
Speaker 1: Saints number two and pass blocking, so I think there's
Speaker 1: gonna be plenty of time here against a good Vikings
Speaker 1: pass rushed UM. As for as for the running game,
Speaker 1: I like Alvin Camara. It's been a bad season, but
Speaker 1: he looked better last week. They're averaging almost five yards
Speaker 1: averaging almost five yards per carry last week. Mostly Minnesota's
Speaker 1: contained pass catching backs this year, UM, but only mostly.
Speaker 1: I still like Camara if I were to give him
Speaker 1: a letter grade, to be a B grade. And the
Speaker 1: Vikings UM have been suffering against runners since their Week
Speaker 1: twelve by. They're giving up almost five yards per carry,
Speaker 1: which is not Viking like at all. So Camara to
Speaker 1: me is a good start. It's nice that Camara seems
Speaker 1: to be heating up from a scoring standpoint. Four of
Speaker 1: his six touchdowns in the last two weeks. And and
Speaker 1: and this was a guy who back when mark Ingram
Speaker 1: was there too, it was he'd get ten to fifteen
Speaker 1: touches a game, but he'd score on three or four
Speaker 1: of them. That's right. So it's nice to see that
Speaker 1: working again. Coming back. Um, if Eric Kendricks, the Vikings
Speaker 1: middle linebacker, can't play, we expect him to go. But
Speaker 1: if he can't go, you can. You could upgrade Kimara
Speaker 1: and even I think at that point I'd start looking
Speaker 1: at Lottavius Murray and my ground grind out a potential
Speaker 1: lopsided victory for the Saints could be. Let's go to
Speaker 1: Buffalo taking on Houston in just a minute, as could
Speaker 1: get a revenge doctor, that's possible. Well, we might have it.
Speaker 1: We might have a little Do I have little revenge
Speaker 1: doctor Latavius Murray? Uh, let's talk about the other two
Speaker 1: games in just a moment. All right, we're back Fantasy
Speaker 1: Football Weekly. I am Paul Charchy and my co host
Speaker 1: is Matt Harrison at Explosive out put for you on Twitter.
Speaker 1: I am at Paul Charchy and you'll have to figure
Speaker 1: out the spelling yourself. Buffalo takes on Houston. This is
Speaker 1: my other upset of the day. Buffalo is the better
Speaker 1: team in many ways. Are we talked a Buffalo Houston already. Sorry,
Speaker 1: that's my Other upset of the day is Tennessee at
Speaker 1: New England. Only three quarterbacks have one at Gillette Stadium
Speaker 1: in the last three years, Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes and
Speaker 1: Ryan Fitzpatrick. And people say the Patriots never lose at
Speaker 1: home in a critical game, except for last week when
Speaker 1: they lost to Miami at home in a critical game
Speaker 1: that would have given them a bye. So don't tell
Speaker 1: I don't want to hear this mumbo jumbo about how
Speaker 1: they can't possibly be beaten at home in July. There's
Speaker 1: there's definite mumbo jumbo here. Um. Ryan Tannehill knows the Patriots.
Speaker 1: This is his twelfth time he's faced Bill Belichick. Um,
Speaker 1: he was four and seven in his previous eleven games.
Speaker 1: So he's beaten the Patriots four times. That's that's fun.
Speaker 1: But the problem is two, the number two. The Patriots
Speaker 1: have given up two or more passing touchdowns in a
Speaker 1: game only two times this year. Wow, that's not very
Speaker 1: good for Ryan tan Hills prospects and Ryan Fitzpatrick. Stu
Speaker 1: Beard himself was the only quarterback to top three hundred
Speaker 1: yards against the Patriots this season. That was last week
Speaker 1: basically on the final drive of the game. So Tannehill,
Speaker 1: I gave a a C grade to fan Ball. I'm
Speaker 1: probably avoiding him. I'm also avoiding his top wide receiver,
Speaker 1: A J. Brown. I gave him a a respect C grade.
Speaker 1: Uh seventy fan fan Ball should see Stephan Gilmore shadow
Speaker 1: coverage all day and basically no one did anything against
Speaker 1: Gilmore all year except for DeVante Parker last week seven?
Speaker 1: Did the Patriots want to play an extra game this?
Speaker 1: Who knows? That's that's that's always the thing. Uh. Corey
Speaker 1: Davis on the bench only top sixty yards twice this season. However,
Speaker 1: Taj Sharp, wow C grade, here's your take a chance
Speaker 1: on me. He's playing from the slot in New England
Speaker 1: has shown a weakness to slot wide receivers this year.
Speaker 1: Cole Beasley, Golden Tape, Randall Cobb, and Juju Smith Schuster
Speaker 1: all topped seventy five yards. Beasley did that twice, So
Speaker 1: Taj Sharp, if you run out of money, Unfanball, that's
Speaker 1: a guy. I think that's deep Now. John Nu Smith
Speaker 1: interested me more because half of the passing touchdown to
Speaker 1: New England has allowed has gone to tight ends. The
Speaker 1: problem is is Michael Pruitt is vulturing touchdown grabs from him,
Speaker 1: and Anthony Firkser has had almost as many targets as
Speaker 1: John Nu Smith over the last three weeks. So I'm
Speaker 1: not buying it, I think, John, I'm not buying John
Speaker 1: Hu Smith. No, he's not. He's just a guy. I know.
Speaker 1: I know that you put down your notes that got
Speaker 1: John Nu Smith. Yes, yes, I thought more athletic than
Speaker 1: I thought faster. Only two tight ends have topped forty
Speaker 1: five yards against the Pats since Week five, and you're
Speaker 1: totally reliant on a score if you want to play him.
Speaker 1: All of the six tight ends touchdowns allowed by the
Speaker 1: Patriots happened in Week eight or later, so that's positive.
Speaker 1: So I guess you got that going. Finally, on the
Speaker 1: Titan side, Derrick Henry, I'm giving an a grade too.
Speaker 1: I think if they're gonna win this game, it's on
Speaker 1: the back of the big dog. The Patriots have been
Speaker 1: better against the run as of late, only allowing three
Speaker 1: point five yards per carry over the last five games. However,
Speaker 1: they've bent to the will of the Bell cow backs
Speaker 1: running backs to have fifteen rushing attempts are more in
Speaker 1: a game have had yardage totals of one oh nine, one, one, fifteen,
Speaker 1: seventy eighty six, one thirty six, and forty six. So
Speaker 1: there's one dud in there, and that was Devin Singletary.
Speaker 1: But there's yardage to be had. The problem is the
Speaker 1: Pats have only allowed one rushing touchdown to an opposing
Speaker 1: back all year, and that was Gus Edwards, and one
Speaker 1: receiving touchdown to running back all year, that was Duke Johnson.
Speaker 1: It's funny how you diced up that stat because I've
Speaker 1: almost the exact same staff that I worked my same
Speaker 1: I running back. Since Week four, running backs with seventeen
Speaker 1: or more carries are averaging five and a half yards
Speaker 1: per carry and an average game of one hundred sixteen
Speaker 1: rushing yards. This game very similar to Derrick Henry. It's
Speaker 1: he's gonna get twenty five touches in this game last week.
Speaker 1: He's gonna get seven fewer than the rushes Derrick Henry
Speaker 1: got last week. Um, what a what a monster, He's
Speaker 1: a beast. Um. I do still see the Patriots winning
Speaker 1: this game, however, and uh, one of the reasons why
Speaker 1: is I kind of like the running game matchup for
Speaker 1: the Patriots in this one and your favorite Playerstrian Sony Michelle,
Speaker 1: the Walkman himself, who's fifty undred on Fanball. I'm giving
Speaker 1: him a B grade. He's averaged twenty touches per game
Speaker 1: over the last three games. And you need to remember
Speaker 1: how studely he was in the playoffs last year six
Speaker 1: touchdowns in three games. They ramped him up at the
Speaker 1: end of the season and just handed him the ball
Speaker 1: like crazy in the playoff hit twenty nine carries in
Speaker 1: one of those games. Um, the Titans have allowed eight
Speaker 1: rushing touchdowns to opposing backs over the last six games.
Speaker 1: During that span, they did not allow one receiving touchdown
Speaker 1: to a back, So that kind of downgrades James White,
Speaker 1: who I like better in reality. But the Titans are
Speaker 1: one of four teams in the NFL to allow over
Speaker 1: a hundred receptions to the running backs through the air,
Speaker 1: So James White is getting a B two. They've held
Speaker 1: the yardage down, but they've given up a lot of receptions.
Speaker 1: And on fanball and PPR where James White six, it
Speaker 1: could be a high volume, low yardage game for White.
Speaker 1: I don't look at him getting a lot of touchdowns
Speaker 1: in this but if you're playing like a fifty fifty
Speaker 1: and you just need solid scoring. I think James White's
Speaker 1: in a good spot. Only Christian McCaffrey and Carlos Hide
Speaker 1: hit one hundred rushing yards against the Titans all year.
Speaker 1: They needed twenty four and twenty six carries to get there. Yeah, so,
Speaker 1: and for them there's barely even four yards per care.
Speaker 1: I'm looking at Michelle for simply the scoring aspect of it.
Speaker 1: I think you need you need a touchdown or two
Speaker 1: on the ground you do, and you need the ball
Speaker 1: to end up at like the two yard line before
Speaker 1: I'm gonna trust Sony Michelle to get the ball in
Speaker 1: the end zone. You might be right, I may be crazy,
Speaker 1: but I just might be the lunatic you're looking for.
Speaker 1: Because I'm giving Tom Brady a B grade. He's sixty
Speaker 1: on fan Ball, which makes him the cheapest starting quarterback
Speaker 1: on fan Ball this week. The Titans are ranking near
Speaker 1: last in the league and quarterback hit rate, and that
Speaker 1: means it'll be a clean Tom Brady who should have
Speaker 1: no trouble carving up the Titans if you eliminate weeks
Speaker 1: seventeen for Tennessee, they have allowed multiple scores to three
Speaker 1: straight quarterbacks and have allowed ten multi score games on
Speaker 1: the season. Brady only did that in half of his
Speaker 1: games this season. But this is playoff Brady. Weird things happen,
Speaker 1: Gillette stuff. He ain't got it. He might not, but
Speaker 1: Julian Edelman and I'm giving a B grade two as well.
Speaker 1: He's only fan Ball would be an A if it
Speaker 1: weren't for knee and shoulder injuries. He faced his former
Speaker 1: teammate Logan Ryan in the slot for most of the game.
Speaker 1: Ryan has allowed the most touchdowns in the league in
Speaker 1: slot coverage this year, according to Pro Football Focus. If
Speaker 1: Brady is passing, he's trusting Edelman. That's why I'm not
Speaker 1: giving Mohammed Sanu or Nikkil Harry, who are forty five respectively,
Speaker 1: at all. They're both on the bench. Harry is in
Speaker 1: top thirty yards in any game in his career. Sanu
Speaker 1: has been awful but season snap right. I'm just avoiding
Speaker 1: both due to their consistency or lack thereof. I'll mention
Speaker 1: Tennessee gets cornerback at Doory Jackson back. He's their best
Speaker 1: healthy cornerback who's missed the best better part of the
Speaker 1: last month. He's he's an outside guy though, and so
Speaker 1: I think just just really affects more of the outside
Speaker 1: receivers like Harry and Mohamed Sanu is playing incorrectly outside.
Speaker 1: That was a bad trade for the Patriots. Yeah, by
Speaker 1: the way, the one you know already had a slot receiver.
Speaker 1: Why do they trade for Mohammed Sanu who's only ever
Speaker 1: good as a slot receiver. If they would have traded
Speaker 1: for Emmanuel Sanders, how different would better off? Yeah? Another guy? Yeah,
Speaker 1: you can play. At least you can play both. Um,
Speaker 1: let's go do Seattle taking on Philadelphia. Seattle is is
Speaker 1: the underdog, by the way, as a as a non
Speaker 1: fantasy note for the sixth straight playoff game, which is
Speaker 1: weird that they're an underdog in this game. Yeah, they're
Speaker 1: them quite a bit um there four and one. In
Speaker 1: the five games in which they've been an underdog, this
Speaker 1: will be their six game there four and one. So
Speaker 1: you know, apparently they maybe it's motivation. Maybe we just
Speaker 1: need to give them more respect in Doug Peterson more respect.
Speaker 1: These seems faced each other in Week twelve in Seattle
Speaker 1: and it was seventeen to nine. They may grind it
Speaker 1: out ugly game. Both teams have disaster level injury issues.
Speaker 1: Let's begin with the Seattle problem, and that's their running game.
Speaker 1: Everybody thinks Marshall Lynch is back everything, everything's fixed. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but the problem is Marshall Lynch has been good in
Speaker 1: three years and even last week with the twelfth Man erupting,
Speaker 1: every time he just touched the ball, he averaged two
Speaker 1: point eight yards per carry it. That's pretty bad Seattle's offense.
Speaker 1: Just people just think it's fixed because they put a
Speaker 1: name guy and a beloved figure in it. Running back, well,
Speaker 1: they put they got Robert turban back, good old Dick.
Speaker 1: Maybe that's the answer, Dick turban Um, I frankly might
Speaker 1: be better. I don't know. So Lynch is not, to me,
Speaker 1: not necessarily the answer here. And by way, Travis Homers
Speaker 1: their starter, averaging six yards per carry on his career.
Speaker 1: Travis Homer is the guy who they are riding in
Speaker 1: the playoffs now, So let's talk fanball dollars on this,
Speaker 1: because I gotta believe that Marshawn Lynch is going to
Speaker 1: be more expensive than Travis Homer. You are correct, Lynch
Speaker 1: is Homer is. They're both pretty cheap as far as
Speaker 1: running backs go. I would take Travis homer Um and
Speaker 1: his matchup. It's a bad matchup. So let's talk about
Speaker 1: Eagles run defense. They're very good, seeing the third fewest
Speaker 1: total rushes overall, they're allowing the third fewest rushing yards,
Speaker 1: and they've allowed the eighth fewest rushing yards per tempt.
Speaker 1: So it's a bad matchup for either one of them.
Speaker 1: So you can make a case that just as avoid both,
Speaker 1: or you could just say I'm gonna hope for a
Speaker 1: touchdown opportunity that would be Lynch. Lynch has always been
Speaker 1: built for goal line use. Hmm. Some people still a
Speaker 1: little bitter about the Super Bowl. Darryl Bubble Marshawn Lynch
Speaker 1: built four goal line use. Let's go to the past
Speaker 1: and give for Seattle. Um, Well, the previous game was
Speaker 1: a grinded out win for Seattle with both offenses basically
Speaker 1: very inconsistent here. Um, maybe Russell Wilson, who doesn't have
Speaker 1: a lot of turnovers, is going to be the difference
Speaker 1: here and they're just gonna play play, try to play
Speaker 1: it safe and grind out another wind. But Wilson hasn't
Speaker 1: topped two hundred eighty six yards passing, which is not
Speaker 1: that hive of a milestone these days. Wilson hasn't top
Speaker 1: two eighty six yards since Week nine, getting really inconsistent
Speaker 1: results from Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf of late um,
Speaker 1: I think that whole passing game, to me, it sounds
Speaker 1: very wobbly, but working in their favor. Philadelphia's cornerback situations
Speaker 1: a disaster. Ronald Darby went on I R Sidney Jones
Speaker 1: has a back injury, Avante Maddox has an abdomen and
Speaker 1: Jalen Mills has an ankle. Yeah. I don't the degree
Speaker 1: to which those three will play UM tells me whether
Speaker 1: or not you can trust those guys. But right now,
Speaker 1: I've got to be great on the passing game because
Speaker 1: I don't think they can run. I don't think they're
Speaker 1: gonna try to run much and through sheer volume, I
Speaker 1: think Wilson gets himself, Tyler Locke in DK Metcalf into
Speaker 1: solid territory. Yeah. And I think if you're going from
Speaker 1: a fan ball fantasy perspective for DFS, I think you
Speaker 1: could just go Russell Wilson alone. As as as Brian
Speaker 1: and I call it, we call it the naked quarterback.
Speaker 1: You go naked Russell Wilson. You don't worry about the
Speaker 1: receivers and pairing them up, and you just see what
Speaker 1: you can get out of him, because that entire offense
Speaker 1: is going to go through Russell Wilson's arm or his feet.
Speaker 1: It's very possible. And then you know, lock It and
Speaker 1: DK Metcalf have been alternating basically big games, and you
Speaker 1: don't know which guy might have the bigger games. So
Speaker 1: it's been frustrating. And that way you wouldn't have to
Speaker 1: play the game of which receiver is gonna do well. Now,
Speaker 1: let's go over to the Philadelphia side. Um, from a
Speaker 1: passing standpoint, Nelson Agilar doesn't look like he's gonna go.
Speaker 1: Zach Ertz as of this taping on Friday, has not
Speaker 1: been cleared to play. So that's that. And then um
Speaker 1: so Seattle, I think, just schemes to take away Dallas
Speaker 1: Goddard and then what they'll have to lean on Greg
Speaker 1: Ward to some degree. He's been good, way better than
Speaker 1: anybody would have expected. That's but he's still a backup
Speaker 1: caliber wide receiver against a starting Seattle secondary. No opposing
Speaker 1: quarterbacks top two touchdowns against Seattle all year. No opponent
Speaker 1: has hit three d passing yards in seven games. The
Speaker 1: problem is is Seattle has been brutal against the tight
Speaker 1: end of this year. I mean they're not on Arizona
Speaker 1: Cardinals level of futility, but they were one of three
Speaker 1: teams to give up over a thousand yards to the
Speaker 1: tight end position. Uh. They gave up the third most
Speaker 1: uh tight end receptions on the only six touchdowns. But
Speaker 1: you gotta think with Went's having nobody else, he's gonna
Speaker 1: target down. They almost have to write all the time.
Speaker 1: And god, it's just unbelievably gigantic. Yeah, it's just you
Speaker 1: see him out there in the field. He's like, why
Speaker 1: is that gigantic power forward playing in this in in
Speaker 1: this game? So you know you could still start Gotter.
Speaker 1: I'm sure he's very expensive. Give me his fanball number
Speaker 1: on this. I'm gonna guess he's in the seven thousand
Speaker 1: three a little bit of a discount. He's the second
Speaker 1: highest price tight end behind zach Ertz. Zach Ertz who's
Speaker 1: probably not probably not gonna play. All right, there you go.
Speaker 1: Um the uh, this is the first playoff game we
Speaker 1: should mention for Carson Wentz, which is hard to remember,
Speaker 1: but this is he's never played a playoff game before
Speaker 1: we got a bunch of first didn't Didn't he play
Speaker 1: last year against the Bears? Double doink? I don't know't
Speaker 1: won that game? Yeah, I know, but I think falls
Speaker 1: was a quarterback double check out again, double check for
Speaker 1: me because I heard I heard in passing on some
Speaker 1: other you know, some rady or something this week that
Speaker 1: this is his first playoff game. And I just took
Speaker 1: that to be right. I suspect that it is um.
Speaker 1: And in the meantime, while you're looking at that, let's
Speaker 1: talk about the running game. It looks like Miles Sanders
Speaker 1: is gonna go here. You're right, this is his first one.
Speaker 1: It looks like Miles Sanders is gonna go. But Jordan
Speaker 1: Howard's back and he's got fresh legs. I think they're
Speaker 1: gonna unleash Jordan Howard in this game. Yeah, I do. Uh.
Speaker 1: And you know, so you have a gimpie Miles Sanders
Speaker 1: on an ankle sprain or the fresh legs of of
Speaker 1: Jordan's Howard. Let's be honest, here, has Jordan Howard ever
Speaker 1: had fresh legs? Well? Yeah, man, remember what he did
Speaker 1: to the Packers this year, like Week four, the three
Speaker 1: touchdown game against the Packers that was awesome. Problem is,
Speaker 1: Miles Sanders has been good, well, he's been good lately.
Speaker 1: The last month of the season has been great with
Speaker 1: Howard out, but Howard comes back, so I and Boston
Speaker 1: for both of them, it does. And Boston Scott has
Speaker 1: been really good. So you know, now they all three
Speaker 1: deserved time. And we know that Doug Peter person at
Speaker 1: his core, wants to have a relatively even rotation of backs. Um,
Speaker 1: give us the prices on those three, because I want
Speaker 1: the cheap guy in all probability. Yeah, hold on, I
Speaker 1: just I just moved it down. Here we go, Jordan Howard,
Speaker 1: Boston Scott, Miles Sanders, Boston Scott. He's cheap. Um, Boston
Speaker 1: Scott is, Miles Sanders is hundred. But here's your discount.
Speaker 1: Play at Jordan Howard A bang. Jordan Howard averaging a
Speaker 1: healthy four and a half yards per carry. I think
Speaker 1: he's gonna be the guy who's gonna get the most
Speaker 1: touches out of that group. That's interesting. I still think
Speaker 1: it's gonna be Sanders getting the most touches. But with
Speaker 1: Howard coming back in the price tag of Sanders at
Speaker 1: sixty seven, I don't think I will end up with
Speaker 1: him in many of my lineups out. Uh, Seattle has
Speaker 1: been gouged by Runners of Light. They've allowed nine rushing
Speaker 1: touchdowns in the past five games, so I'm obviously almost
Speaker 1: two a game. If I've just talking about rushing touchdowns.
Speaker 1: Matt who's more likely to get goal line carries out
Speaker 1: of that group? What's running back for Philadelphia. He's still
Speaker 1: on the team. He's been fine. It's it's Howard nine
Speaker 1: rushing touchdowns. Nine, that's a nine. It's a revenge touchdown.
Speaker 1: We're learning it. We're learning a new button bar. But
Speaker 1: you'd just be glad I haven't fired off the trombone
Speaker 1: solo with the thirty second trombones. Just go with it.
Speaker 1: I'm not doing all right. There we go, four games up,
Speaker 1: broken down fantasy. So your predictions for the games. I've
Speaker 1: got Saints over Vikings, I've got Bills in an upset,
Speaker 1: I've got Titans in an upset, and then I've got
Speaker 1: Seattle over Philadelphia. I think Philadelphia just at some point
Speaker 1: you just succumbed to the just you know, just the
Speaker 1: sheer onslaught of injuries. Yeah, I'm with you on everything,
Speaker 1: but I think New England beats Tennessee. Well, that's extremely plausible.
Speaker 1: And you know, because the entire casinos have been built
Speaker 1: on fools money like me that have bet against the
Speaker 1: Patriots throughout the years. And you know, especially at home
Speaker 1: Belichick Brady right, and you could just but here's the thing, Matt.
Speaker 1: You want some lazy analysis, the laziest possible playoff analysis
Speaker 1: at home though, that's lazy. I I can't. I can't
Speaker 1: subscribe to that. So and I'm not going to and
Speaker 1: the team that's better. Who was the better quarterback right now?
Speaker 1: Tom Brady or December's offensive Player of the year or
Speaker 1: player of the month. Ryan Tannis just hurts my feelings
Speaker 1: saying Ryan Tannehill because I hate Ryan Tannans. Why hate
Speaker 1: Ryan Tannehill? Why what are you gonna get to? Ryan
Speaker 1: Tannehills never good in Miami, I always, But that's Miami's
Speaker 1: fault obviously, Now look at whose fault that was. I
Speaker 1: think he'll come back to Earth again to for the
Speaker 1: Titans after they signed him to Kirk Cousins like money
Speaker 1: and uh yeah, I don't think. I think they're in
Speaker 1: a franchise tagging you'll make even more money than kirk Point,
Speaker 1: but only only one year, right, see a test drive,
Speaker 1: your test drive Tanny Hill for one more season and
Speaker 1: see what you got. Thank you for listening, everybody. We'll
Speaker 1: be back next week, will break down the divisional slate
Speaker 1: of games. Already looking forward to that one week. Those
Speaker 1: games are That's my favorite weekend of the year. It
Speaker 1: is so fun. Remember all our old league safe trips
Speaker 1: Vegas that was over this weekend. Why why aren't we
Speaker 1: going charge? Let's go. We really should go jump on
Speaker 1: a plane. We'll see all in Vegas. Bye bye. Fantasy
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