October 8, 2025 • 33 mins
It's Fox Sports Radio's official fantasy football podcast! Dan Beyer and Mike Harmon open this mid-week edition of the show with some final thoughts on Week 5 and the season as a whole as we move into Week 6. Then they get into the intricacies of bye weeks and international games, taking a look at the disproportionate advantage/disadvantage they can provide.
Hosts: Mike Harmon, Dan Beyer
Producer: Ian Roddy
#fsrweekends #jss
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Ladies and gentlemen, you want experience during your football season,
We'll buckle up, sweet cheeks. We've got all the experience
in the world. This is I Want your Flex with
Dan Byer and Mike Harmon. Mike and Dan break down
everything you need to set your lineups, from position rankings
(00:22):
to starts and sits. The guys help you make those
hard decisions. And now let's get your flex.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Onde.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Here's Dan Bayer and Mike Harmon.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
It's our midweek episode off I want your Flex. Find
Mike on EXE Swollen Dome. You can find me at
Dan Byer on Fox. And Ian Roddy is our executive
producer at Ian Roddy Underscore. Just one winless team in
the National Football League. Sorry, Ian, it is your zero
to five Jets. No unbeaten teams as the Eagles and
Bills were handled their first loss of the season, so
(00:56):
we got a lot of the league is just kind
of there. I don't know if we've got extreme greatness.
I don't even know if the Jets are awful. They're
not good, but I don't know if they're awful or not.
But it's kind of the state of the NFL right now.
Mike through five weeks of the season, where yeah, a
little bit as just scratching our heads on what we've
(01:16):
actually got as the product in the National Football League.
Speaker 4 (01:19):
Yeah, generally as we get to week five, week six,
we usually do the I think we know what these
teams are, right, I think we could put them in
this bucket. Them in this bucket we put the elite.
But as we talked about last episode, right, the Eagles
are four and one, do they seem like a great
team to wherevery not just the unrest and finger pointing
(01:43):
or whatever, but just in terms of x's and o's
and what they can put on a field. No, Buffalo
doesn't have a number one wide receiver, so it becomes
more on Josh Allen. We talk about the giant run
of injuries, like in the AFC, as long as you're
not winless, sorry Jets or the Raiders, like you're feeling
(02:04):
like you might still have a puncher's chance. Right, Cleveland's
defense is going to keep them in games, which is
why the loss to the Vikings in week five was
so crushing.
Speaker 5 (02:14):
Like you get a good spot from.
Speaker 4 (02:16):
Dylan Gabriel, one of those guys we talked about last episode,
in terms of you know, waiver wire and potential.
Speaker 5 (02:24):
Growth for him.
Speaker 4 (02:25):
But if he's serviceable and they get the defense, there's
some of these games they're gonna be able to win
in division and maybe steal a couple without So, you know,
do I think they're a great team. No, but they
could be fringe playoffs if things break right. The Ravens
have all these injuries, Now do they suddenly get healthy?
Speaker 5 (02:44):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (02:45):
Pittsburgh, nobody believes in the Colts have been fun, Jacksonville's
been fun. But are they great teams? No, they're all flawed.
All your best, at least on paper teams are all
in the NFC right now, and even those you have
your wartz for the most part. Right Tampa Bay is
four and one. Evans is banged up, missing time, but
(03:07):
that's fine because Godwin comes back.
Speaker 5 (03:09):
Abukah's been all world.
Speaker 4 (03:12):
Bucky Irving's hurt, Rashad White stepped in pretty nicely. Yeah,
so like you're finding the way. The plug's all Detroit.
After that Week one against Green Bay, everybody was ready to,
you know, start the flaming dumpster fire down the river.
All of a sudden, there are four and one and
everything's clicking. So it's been a topsy turvy run. But
we from a fantasy perspective, with those quarterback injuries and
(03:35):
the brothers Harbaugh having, you know, whatever the hell's going
on in their respective locker rooms, like you see the
trickle down effect to where some of our fantasy stalwarts
and draft day heroes were already on the trade block
or trying to find lightning in the bottle elsewhere.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
I always felt that, and this is prior to the
seventeen game schedule, that week two's line so that we
would get from Las Vegas was you might as to
just pick all the underdogs, because I just always felt
that we really had no idea who these teams were
after one game, sure, and we would take something from
that one game. That's just my amateur analysis. Please don't
(04:15):
take it for what it's worth. And then Week four,
what we thought we knew was turned on its head,
and then the rest of the NFL season kind of
took off. So after that first four weeks, you thought
you knew, but you didn't know. After that, things kind
of settle in at this point, and I'm not sure
if that's even the mode of operation anymore, because of
(04:40):
what the extra game is done. I'm going to take
a team like Denver right now. You guys know I
picked them to win the Super Bowl, and I think
if you were to look at Denver, you would say,
all right, maybe not a great start to the season.
They're three and two, tied for the lead in the
AFC West and lost a game because of a personal
(05:01):
foul call on a leverage call.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
On a kick.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
Okay, so that's their one loss would have been And
this isn't a would I could have should have There's
a point I'm going to make, but they would be
four and one right now in the driver's seat in
the AFC West with that one loss to the to
the Chargers in LA. But what was the talk with
the Broncos. I remember heading into the draft was like, man,
look out for R. J.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Harvey.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
This guy's the guy, right and right now they're running JK.
Dobbins like they're running JK Dobbins twenty carries a game
like he had this past weekend against Philadelphia. Do any
of us think that JK. Dobbins is going to hold
up getting twenty carries a game throughout this season? Yeah,
no chance whatsoever. And so That's what messes with me
(05:47):
is I think, like Denver is playing for a bigger
prize and at some point down the stretch, I think
they'll be really good. But now I'm sitting there looking
at you know, at where they are, who they are,
how we actually look at them. Some some people think
Bonix is good, some people don't. Some people question their playmakers.
And that's just with the Denver team. That again, that
I think could be pretty good if you have these
(06:09):
things with a mediocre team, my goodness. But yeah, I
think it's all over the map with a lot of
these teams.
Speaker 4 (06:13):
Yeah, I mean you look at Denver specifically in division
right now, you look at the Kansas City Chiefs sitting
at two and three, Well, they're gonna get healthier. But
we talked about the defense. Is the defense gonna get
better or is it gonna be shootouts? Chargers are banged up,
that's not changing. Those tackles are gone. Yes, eventually Joel
may come back, but is he going to be any
(06:36):
how close to one hundred are we getting out of him?
And is the rest of the line bad enough to
where that doesn't matter even if he comes back and
you lose Hampton for at least four weeks. And now
you're going and scraping a little bit further down the
barrel unless you go and make a bunch of moves
in the trade market and find someone else to come in.
I mean, justin Herbert's is sitting duck and you got
(06:57):
no run game for balance, which is what Harball wanted
to begin with. So you know, you look at and
the Raiders are no good. So division wise, the for
the Broncos, it's all there for the offering. Is it
just We're going to grind with JK. Dobbins for as
long as his body will hold out, right, right, because
we've seen it for years, right of Hey, there's this
(07:19):
big splash he play.
Speaker 5 (07:20):
Ah, he's done.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
And and I look like I look at the Cowboys,
who are firing pretty well offensively, right, you know, like.
Speaker 5 (07:30):
You surmised with Dak Prescott.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
You know, and and and now that they're sitting there
at two two and one, But I didn't expect that
their running game would be what it is, you know.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
And Javonte Williams has been eight the.
Speaker 5 (07:46):
Guy they thought he was going to be in Denver, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
Right, perfect transition, absolutely, and and so like so just
stuff like that of figuring out because this is also
the time of the year where you're trying to figure
out the stretch run. And I'm glad you up with
Marian Hampton because if you would have asked me after
the Giants game in Week four named the top three
players you would like down the stretch, Omari and Hampton
probably would have been one of the top three.
Speaker 5 (08:09):
Yeah, the entire league as a runner and receiver, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Yeah, absolutely, And for what the Chargers want to do
now he's injured and you know, completely off of that train.
But it is a it is a mixed bag, and
it's week to week and it's tough to it's tough
to plan ahead in fantasy. But you know, maybe it
got to dig like into the Denver thing where I
think R. J. Harvey at some point is going to
have a you know, have a sort of role in
the fantasy season.
Speaker 5 (08:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (08:34):
I think some of it goes back to the trend
that we've certainly have seen in the leagues that I've
participated in, where to try to promote activity, the benches
have gotten one or two slots shorter, and anytime someone
tries to proposal of a move like in one of
the leagues, you know, the industry leagues, was all right,
can we propose that anybody that's declared out early enough
(08:57):
can go to an IR spot. I'm like, no, it's
the idea of having a bench. Yeah, So I immediately
voted nay. I was the negative guy, and then a
bunch of folks came on my side and we didn't.
Speaker 5 (09:07):
Add the slot.
Speaker 4 (09:08):
But it's just the idea of, you know, where you
can stash. I'd love to see the composition of most
people's benches, because I gotta imagine it's eighty percent running
backs at this point, just down the wing, and a
prayer that you have one or two weeks that a
guy gets fifteen touches in just the right week, or
someone else in the league gets desperate enough that you
can actually swing a trade, because I don't know how
(09:30):
popular those are in a lot of leagues anymore, you know,
because you don't want to be the guy that makes
the move that costs you the league or that all
important matchup in week fourteen. It's like, ah, remember that
guy you traded me, Yeah, he just scored eighty four points.
Speaker 5 (09:43):
Beat it.
Speaker 4 (09:44):
But it's that kind of thing of looking at depth,
and we're really chronicling the target counts a little bit differently.
Speaker 5 (09:54):
I mean some of these I mean.
Speaker 4 (09:55):
Look at let's take your jets for instance, seeing this
week you had ten different guys with at least one target.
I mean that and and that's becoming the norm though,
Like if you go box score to box score, yeah,
you're running out every possible combination of guys and guys
are getting one.
Speaker 6 (10:15):
Look so surprised there's even ten guys that are you.
Speaker 7 (10:18):
Know, yeah the target. That's wow, Mason Taylor and that's it.
But it is Justin Field doesn't mean they have to
be open to a good point. He just throws into
matter what.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
Two of those guys were on the Cowboys. So no,
I'm kidding.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
Well, Justin Fields was great for me in week five.
I have I have zero complaints in in what he
did and he wasn't picked off of that game.
Speaker 4 (10:44):
But but but but the point is well taken, right,
is that you're you're going and putting putting the ball up.
Like I'm looking at just picking box score after box score,
it's like almost to every one of them has at
least eight guys getting it getting a target.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
I'm gonna I'm gonna give you that. I'm gonna give you.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
I feel because my old time league and for those
that may be new to the podcast are just or forgotten.
I've said it enough around Ian and Mike that they
know it's a ten team league. We're in our twenty
eighth season. It's a standard league. We don't have PPR.
You know, the ten team league is funky as it is.
We actually added a starting lineup spot this year because
(11:23):
everybody's team was the same basically, like there's just you
needed some variation. The point being that you're making about
the running backs taking off the guys on IR like
James Connor and Trey Benson and Austin Eckler and Braylan Allen.
These are the top guys available. Brian Robinson Junior who
(11:45):
probably should be picked up. Caleb Johnson, Justice Hill, Jerome Ford,
Tank Bigsby, Dylan Samson, Jaden Blue.
Speaker 4 (11:55):
Ross, Yeah Simpson or Samson Simpson Simpson A No, did
I say I'm right?
Speaker 1 (12:00):
No?
Speaker 5 (12:01):
No, I did, so that's mocking me.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
Samson has at least been in the red zone a
few times where they've looked his way, but not enough
to where it's critical mass, right, Like he's the only
name that stood out as you were.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Yeah, yes, and that's the like, that's the state. And
that's in a league where there's a lot like we
don't have.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
A lot of teams, right, you know, so like to
your point of like who people are stashing on their benches,
they're stashing those running backs and that's that's where we
are right now.
Speaker 4 (12:36):
Yeah, it's just that that curiosity going forward, the attrition,
like I always bemoan the lack of cohesive line play,
and I think every year I'm proven right by my
lamentation of the Yes, let's give up even more work
days for meager gains on the cbas because that'll.
Speaker 5 (12:57):
Help the product.
Speaker 4 (12:58):
Sure, right, Hey, here's another week of practices. We don't
know what's it do? All right, for the first five
weeks of the season, offensive lineman will look like they're
introducing each other.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
It's true.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
I mean, the the the lack of practice, which, by
the way, I thought I would be all for when
I was younger. Right, Yeah, no practice again, awesome, Yeah, No,
it's hurt the it's hurt the league. And then we'll
have to see how things go in the eighteen game
schedule comes around, right, what.
Speaker 4 (13:26):
Are they gonna give up another We'll take another week
off a training camp?
Speaker 3 (13:30):
You know there was yeah, there, you know there was.
There was something interesting that happened a couple of weeks
ago when Colleen Wolfe of the NFL Network, who was
once our our celebrity picker. Yeah, this is way before
you We would have celebrities send in their lineups for
the week, and Colleen Wolfe was on was one of
our lineup guests. One week, she was interviewing the commissioner
(13:53):
and she asked Roger Goodell about the eighteen game schedule.
And the reason that is unique is because it happened
on the NFL Network.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
And.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
You know that Roger Goodell knew all the questions, Like
there was not going to be like a gotcha moment.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
And it's not meant to knock Colleen at all.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
It's just that you knew, like Roger Goodell knew what
he was getting into when he's at the desk, Like
there's a reason why he's at the desk, and there's
certain things that he wants to say, and when they
bring up an eighteen game schedule, while he doesn't answer
the question. He doesn't shoot it down and that says enough.
So it's coming like it is, it is, it is,
It is going to be there. I think it was
(14:33):
about maybe about like you know, the President's Day or
something like that. It may have been last weekend of
the weekend before, but yeah, those the eighteen game schedule
is coming. It's going to be here sooner than you think.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
And then we figure out what the bye weeks are
and maybe that'll be to our benefit.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
M hmm.
Speaker 4 (14:49):
Right to your point about the Lamar Jackson injury, maybe
we get a more finite we know of what he's
going to be. Like, I'm I'm going at the end
of the month, right, that is still the plan for
me to go watch the Bears and the Ravens, and
I sure as hell hope no disrespect to Cooper Rush.
I'm sure he's a wonderful human being. I want to
(15:11):
watch Lamar Jackson against Caleb Williams.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Yeah, yep, I want to.
Speaker 4 (15:16):
See the heavyweight fight, especially if the Bears do anything
coming out of the bye week to show that any
kind of continued growth, good, better, best and all that
fun stuff that Ben Johnson doing that he's a Cub
fan so I'll have to forgive him for that.
Speaker 5 (15:31):
But all of that to say, you know, like we
want our stars.
Speaker 4 (15:35):
It's like why I never bemoaned any of the stuff
in baseball when people were hand ringing over this guy
may have done this, that or the other to get
back on the field. I'm like, I don't care. I
want guys on the field. It's entertainment.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
Yes, yeah, what Lamar went down on week four and
you have a buye in week seven?
Speaker 2 (15:55):
You know he's out weeks five and six.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
Yeah, there's other point even asking John Harball like they're
not they're not going to put him on the field.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Just it's not gonna happen.
Speaker 4 (16:03):
Yeah, he's he's in a bad spot at this point.
He's getting really testy, starting to sound like his brother
a little bit more, whereas Jim sounded like, you know, someone.
Speaker 5 (16:12):
Had just stolen his dog.
Speaker 4 (16:14):
Sure after that loss on on Sunday, he was also
wearing a hat that was very much not a Jim
Harbaugh hat. Whatever they the team issued that looked like
a cosmic kind of glowy, multi colored thing that that
was the But I mean, he looks sad, whereas John
Harbaugh is now fighting everybody because they're pointing out the
(16:34):
fact that the Ravens roster was declared to be far
and away the best, and well here they are.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
Yeah, not not good.
Speaker 3 (16:43):
And I'm not sure if help is coming quickly, especially
if it is uh not Lamar Jackson.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
That's tough. That defense is having a tough time. All right.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
He's Mike carbon I have Dan Byer, that's Ian Roddy.
I've got a tidbit about the double Buys that you'll
wanna you'll want to hear about. Plus we dive into
more of what's ahead in the twenty twenty five NFL
season and maybe how to help you in this middle
section of your fantasy regular seasons. That's next here and
I Want Your flex Welcome back to I Want Your Flex.
(17:16):
I like these midweek episodes because Mike Harmen, Ian Roddy
and myself Dan Beyer, it doesn't always focus on who
to play and who not to play. That's the type
of podcast that it is. We're going to get to
that stuff. We always give you the hot plays and
the rankings at the end of the week. We always
talk about players and stuff at the beginning of the week.
Our middle week episodes are sometimes a little fun, and
(17:37):
we started talking about the two days that we could
be having in an eighteen week season. And in nineteen
ninety three, Ian was not even close to being born,
and Mike and I remember this time, but I don't
even remember this happening, but I was reminded of it
(17:58):
a few years ago. And in nineteen ninety three they
had a double by teams had two buys that season,
and so I did a did a search, a Reddit
search and some other stuff. And again, this is the
league that only had twenty eight teams, so you only
had fourteen games a week. Anyway, now, there may not
(18:21):
have been the different windows that we've had them in,
but I thought that there at that time there was
a Thursday night window because remember my games were on
TNT for like the first half of the year. And
then I remember I went I went to a Bears
Packers game in nineteen ninety one on a Thursday night
that aired on TNT. I think we've talked about this
(18:43):
game before, but the point being is in nineteen ninety
three and I saw this Reddit post they said, in
one word, it was a disaster because CBS and NBC
had their ratings plummet because there just weren't enough good
teams and good games when teams were playing multiple buyes.
They also tried to do it by division, and sometimes
(19:04):
teams were having two bys in a span of five weeks.
So they did try a two by format in nineteen
ninety three, but they ditched it the next year because
of how awful it was. I don't even remember that
at that point.
Speaker 5 (19:19):
I don't either now.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
I remember when.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
We had an odd number of teams in the NFL
before Houston came in, so there were bys in week
one and week seventeen, and I think you were still
too young to realize that.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Yeah, but I remember.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
I think one year, like Cleveland had a bye in
Week one, which was just like, all right, you don't play.
It was so funky in some of some of the
schedule stuff that the NFL had back in the past.
But to talk about the two bys, the NFL is
going to have to figure out a better way to
do it, at least better than they did it in
nineteen ninety three.
Speaker 5 (19:58):
Yea, it's always the curiosity.
Speaker 4 (20:00):
And look, I complain about the schedule, probably more than
more than most. Just I don't like the division game.
Like the made for TV moments at the start of
the year. We don't need them. You've waited for football
for six months. You're showing up.
Speaker 3 (20:17):
I agree, and Mike, after you're done, I have a
new schedule complaint that I found.
Speaker 5 (20:22):
Oh you got a new one.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Awesome, Okay, right.
Speaker 5 (20:25):
At the end of year.
Speaker 4 (20:26):
Hey, let's have you Like I'll be the Dolphins for
a second, and I'm not looking at their current schedule,
but to say I play the Jets in week fifteen,
then I play I don't know, pick an NFC team
in week sixteen, and then I come right back to
play the Jets in week seventeen.
Speaker 5 (20:43):
That makes no sense to me. And we always have
a bunch of those.
Speaker 4 (20:46):
Or we have just the disbursement of the division games,
two of the teams in the division will play three
of them right off the jump, whereas everybody gets hurt
and now one or two of the teams in the
division have a decided advantage when they go head to
head in division, if division's still gonna have great consequence,
(21:07):
or they're all stacked at the back.
Speaker 5 (21:09):
End again like we do again, we're.
Speaker 4 (21:12):
Watching, Okay, we're watching, we're betting, we're playing fantasy, all
of those things, and either folks are in or they're out. Yeah,
I don't know how many casuals you're dragging in just
because you know that divisional game has great meaning in
week seventeen or eighteen.
Speaker 5 (21:29):
That's just me.
Speaker 4 (21:30):
But you know all of that, to say it's the
two buy would be curious, right, just to see that
algorithm go to work and see what it brings. We
talk about the disparity in travel. You add all these
extra international games, which is the other consideration that comes
into all of this. I know of like Minnesota just
(21:50):
did two games overseas. Okay, now you get your bye week. Yeah,
it's just the oddities of it, all right, the travel
miles right that the Chargers in Week one to Brazil
had already traveled twice as many miles as a couple
of teams will do for a year.
Speaker 5 (22:08):
You know that kind of thing.
Speaker 3 (22:09):
It's the travel. We've talked about, divisions, the whole deal.
We also were at a stretch here where the forty
nine ers were playing, you know, and we've seen this
with other teams playing three games and like a you know,
eighteen day stretch or whatever the case is. Here is
my schedule gripe for a team trivia time.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
Guys.
Speaker 3 (22:35):
Sorry to put you on the spot because I hate
it when people do it to me. But between November
seventh and November twenty ninth, how many games do you
think the Broncos will play.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
During that time?
Speaker 5 (22:46):
Seventh through twenty ninth?
Speaker 3 (22:47):
Yes, November seventh and November twenty ninth, we would think three, right.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
It's twenty two days. Yeah, they play.
Speaker 5 (22:56):
One one game.
Speaker 3 (22:59):
They play on Thursday night, November sixth at home against
the Raiders. They then play home to Kansas City November sixteenth,
Then they have a bye week, and then they play
again Sunday, November thirtieth against Washington. So you're giving them
the extra arrest by playing Thursday, and then they'll get
(23:20):
that extra days to play Kansas City, only to then
have another bye week off. Like, looking at it, I'm like, what,
Like how how does San Francisco play three games in
nineteen days or whatever it is and Denver plays one
in a span of twenty two Like, there's got to
be a better way to figure out.
Speaker 4 (23:38):
Sean Dat's got friends on the competition committee.
Speaker 2 (23:41):
He must, he must.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
I don't even know if i'd want that if I'm Denver, right, like,
I mean, spread it out a little bit, give me
a Thursday game either earlier or later on in the season.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
I don't even think it's good for Denver to have that.
Speaker 6 (23:53):
But it lends itself to your super Bowl picked in
helps that out should be healthy again.
Speaker 3 (23:59):
Again, I'm not even sure if it does. But yeah,
it's just there's I mean, who would want that?
Speaker 2 (24:05):
Right? Well, guess what, we have a short week, so
we got to prepare.
Speaker 3 (24:08):
Then we're gonna have a little bit of a break
to play for Kansas City, and then if we win
that game and have any momentum, we're gonna have another
two week break.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
Yeah. I don't know.
Speaker 4 (24:16):
Yeah, it's it's messy like that, There's no question about it.
And you know, I I as much as people used
to abhor the the Thursday schedule where they were division games,
particularly when we see the teams of the AFC South.
Sorry fans of the AFC South, but you know, those
(24:37):
were always the examples used as to how horrid the
product was. And Eddie al Michaels would just quit at
that point if it went back to it. But you know,
they how everybody's got to play and some of those concessions. Look,
you got TV partners coming in for billions of dollars,
so you got to make those concessions and understand that.
(24:57):
But wondering if that doesn't solve some of it. Right,
see the familiarity, we get some strange, strange bedfellows and
finishes like we did with San Francisco and the Rams.
Great competitive game and they're both at the same disadvantage
or advantage as it were by having the long week
till the next I don't know, but it's as we expand,
(25:21):
adding the double, adding the bye, adding you know, the
international flavor to it. Then we continue to they've they've
got more challenges and that formula gets harder and harder
to crack.
Speaker 3 (25:34):
Well, I do want to, uh, I do want to
pay off this tease as we were talking about it.
Here's a sample of the two thousand NFL regular season schedule.
Started out great primetime game, Titans at Buffalo's Sunday Night,
Denver at Saint Louis when Monday night football was the
real show in town, right, So Denver at Saint Louis.
(25:57):
The Bengals had a buye so since the heady didn't
open their season until they faced Cleveland at home in
week two. Now you say Cleveland, Yeah, well Cleveland had
their season end a week early. They didn't play in
week seventeen, so they were done a week before everybody else.
Now their season was practically over, so there was They
(26:20):
were a new expansion team.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
They weren't good. Pittsburgh had a buy in week two.
Speaker 3 (26:24):
Week three, they gave three team s byes because again
you had to have odd numbers because you had an
odd number of teams in the league at thirty one
at that point. Yeah, just a really funky schedule. But
the most amount of teams that we had on buye
each week were three and then they staggered. They had
those basically from weeks three until nine, and then the
(26:46):
rest of the way it was just one team on
buy on the way out.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
Crazy the NFL. Yeah, and think.
Speaker 3 (26:54):
About being Philadelphia, and I can't remember. I think Philadelphia
was good, but they played up until week fifteen, then
had to buy in week sixteen, and then had to
go on play in week seventeen. Like to have like
your week off the one day, you know, the one
week before you could be done with the season.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
Crazy as well. But yeah, that was an NFL world.
We lived in it one time.
Speaker 6 (27:15):
I like the concept of a week one bye is
that that's what you're saying with the Browns getting weak
with that's that's so insane to me because it's like
you've been waiting the entire you know, nine months yes
season to play football and I have to wait another week.
Speaker 4 (27:30):
You don't even get the advantage of the run up
for the teams you're gonna yeah, the run up.
Speaker 6 (27:34):
People always talk about how the preseason there's important, you know,
in playing some of your starters, there's a you know,
there's something to be said about that, and just having
Week one bye and then having to play the rest
of the season without a break is insane.
Speaker 3 (27:46):
I think they did try to make it in a
way where like bad teams were going to be put
on the book ends or you know, on each end
of the of the schedule, because I don't think that
they wanted to get have better teams playoff by or
or if you had to buy in the last week
and let's say you were the number one seed, you
(28:07):
would have two weeks off before playing and if you
had clinched, maybe you weren't playing your starter, you know,
so there could have been a whole whole month, but
I don't think they wanted like the good teams, so
they put like bad teams. That's why you had Cincinnati
and Cleveland kind of bookend, because they weren't They weren't
any good at that point. But yeah, to your point,
you're so excited for Week one and then your team
(28:28):
doesn't play like one an absolute bummer. We had it
for a couple of seasons.
Speaker 4 (28:32):
I want to know who was in who were in
those meetings. It's like, all right, you three, you're a
blue ribbon committee. Who are the four worst teams in
the National foot.
Speaker 2 (28:44):
Oh?
Speaker 5 (28:44):
My goods, tell us right now.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
Then the Texans came into the league in two thousand
and two and that solved the problem with the the
odd number of teams. But that was the way that
we lived for a little while in the National Football League.
Speaker 5 (28:58):
And David Carr just got sacked again.
Speaker 3 (29:03):
But remember they won their first game. They beat the
Cowboys on Sunday night football. As crazy as that was.
Speaker 5 (29:10):
Remember how height that was the Battle of Texas. Yes,
Oh that was awesome.
Speaker 2 (29:14):
Yeah, it was great stuff.
Speaker 3 (29:17):
And then then it was all downhill from there for
for David Carr and the Texans.
Speaker 5 (29:21):
I can taste my spleen.
Speaker 3 (29:25):
I remember when the Browns came back and Drew Carrey
was on the field, and you know, the the hype
of the Browns being back in and they were only
gone for you know, three four years.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
Yeah, oh man, good times.
Speaker 5 (29:40):
And now he's been hey.
Speaker 4 (29:41):
You know today as we record this, the anniversary of
them taking away the ability on Central on game shows.
Speaker 5 (29:49):
The Wheel of Fortune.
Speaker 4 (29:49):
Remember how I used to be able to go on
a shopping spree nineteen eighty seven, the October sixth seventh,
that was the end of that where now you just
got money.
Speaker 3 (30:01):
That was where you had to buy like porcelain dogs, exactly, yes,
and if you couldn't buy anything else, you'd get the
Gucci gift certificate. That's right again. Stuff that happened before
Ian was born. But yeah, there would be a showcase Ian.
They would turn around, you would solve the puzzle. You
would have won twenty four hundred dollars worth of stuff,
and then they had priced tags on like a living
(30:23):
room set with a whole bunch of different things, and
you had to bid on those things or you would
buy those things.
Speaker 5 (30:28):
You would buy those another two bucks.
Speaker 6 (30:30):
I'm learning so much.
Speaker 4 (30:31):
Yeah, the only dog that got adopted was the one
from friends.
Speaker 3 (30:37):
Oh that's what they had though. And those things are
like if you had six hundred bucks, there was a
one item. There was one item that was five point fifty.
You could not say I want the six hundred dollars
in the Gucci gift certificate. You had to buy whatever
piece of crap was.
Speaker 5 (30:52):
On that stage, and it was always priced perfectly.
Speaker 3 (30:56):
Yeah, and then you left with your fifty dollars and
a Gucci gift certificate. It that's the way it was,
and you're gonna like it. Yes, the good times. I oh, Man,
wheel of Fortune so great. I saw the Wheel of
Fortune set. Once there was a there was an NBA.
It was an NBA Players Week, NBA and w NBA
(31:18):
players week, and they sent me over there to get
guests for Fox. So it was on the Sony Lot,
you know, don on Culver City and Carmelo Anthony was there.
Speaker 2 (31:31):
I remember Becky Hammond was.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
One of the w NBA players at this point. Melo
was mellow was the big name though, And and I
asked the person because we were in a in a
stage next door. I said, can I just go and
look and just see what it's like. They're like, yeah, yeah, sure,
go ahead. So, like I went across and the wheel
was just so small. I thought it was like this
enormous wheel. But I walked in and I was able
(31:56):
to like peek around like where the puzzle board was
and just saw where like the set was. But I
was just so astonished at how small the actual wheel was.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
That you spun.
Speaker 5 (32:05):
That is awesome.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
Yeah, yeah, pretty cool.
Speaker 5 (32:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (32:08):
I got to two tapings of the Prices Right one
mob one with Drew Carrey. Oh man, I wanted to
steal part of the wallpaper because it was the seventies
brown with the logo on It's glorious. But I took
my mom to a taping once and like they take
you through and they ask you to say something entertaining,
(32:30):
and my mom just laughs, goes, doesn't they look like
Drew Carrey. I'm like, I don't think that's getting us
up on stage. I don't think they want that question.
I don't think they want that mom.
Speaker 3 (32:39):
Oh man. I love the Prices right, and I just
I could not. I would be so afraid I would
just make a fool of myself.
Speaker 4 (32:48):
And I just yeah, no, we'd all show up to
support you for that one though. We should do a
group outing to a taping man.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
That's well, that's the spot.
Speaker 3 (32:59):
Love it Now that they're filming in a different studio,
no longer at Television City, they're looking Glendale. So anyway,
all right, that's gonna do it. Yeah, that's how we'll
end this episode of I Want Your Flex. I love
the midweek episodes, but I digress. We'll get back to
the real football stuff coming up in our next episode,
where we get you set for week six and all
the rankings and the plays that you need. Ian's already
(33:20):
working on the streaming defenses and we'll have a survivor
pick for you as well. So for Ian, Roddy and
Mike Carmen, I am Dan Beyer. Talk to you next
time here and I Want Your Flex
Ladies and gentlemen, you want experience during your football season,
We'll buckle up, sweet cheeks. We've got all the experience
in the world. This is I Want your Flex with
Dan Byer and Mike Harmon. Mike and Dan break down
everything you need to set your lineups, from position rankings
(00:22):
to starts and sits. The guys help you make those
hard decisions. And now let's get your flex.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Onde.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Here's Dan Bayer and Mike Harmon.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
It's our midweek episode off I want your Flex. Find
Mike on EXE Swollen Dome. You can find me at
Dan Byer on Fox. And Ian Roddy is our executive
producer at Ian Roddy Underscore. Just one winless team in
the National Football League. Sorry, Ian, it is your zero
to five Jets. No unbeaten teams as the Eagles and
Bills were handled their first loss of the season, so
(00:56):
we got a lot of the league is just kind
of there. I don't know if we've got extreme greatness.
I don't even know if the Jets are awful. They're
not good, but I don't know if they're awful or not.
But it's kind of the state of the NFL right now.
Mike through five weeks of the season, where yeah, a
little bit as just scratching our heads on what we've
(01:16):
actually got as the product in the National Football League.
Speaker 4 (01:19):
Yeah, generally as we get to week five, week six,
we usually do the I think we know what these
teams are, right, I think we could put them in
this bucket. Them in this bucket we put the elite.
But as we talked about last episode, right, the Eagles
are four and one, do they seem like a great
team to wherevery not just the unrest and finger pointing
(01:43):
or whatever, but just in terms of x's and o's
and what they can put on a field. No, Buffalo
doesn't have a number one wide receiver, so it becomes
more on Josh Allen. We talk about the giant run
of injuries, like in the AFC, as long as you're
not winless, sorry Jets or the Raiders, like you're feeling
(02:04):
like you might still have a puncher's chance. Right, Cleveland's
defense is going to keep them in games, which is
why the loss to the Vikings in week five was
so crushing.
Speaker 5 (02:14):
Like you get a good spot from.
Speaker 4 (02:16):
Dylan Gabriel, one of those guys we talked about last episode,
in terms of you know, waiver wire and potential.
Speaker 5 (02:24):
Growth for him.
Speaker 4 (02:25):
But if he's serviceable and they get the defense, there's
some of these games they're gonna be able to win
in division and maybe steal a couple without So, you know,
do I think they're a great team. No, but they
could be fringe playoffs if things break right. The Ravens
have all these injuries, Now do they suddenly get healthy?
Speaker 5 (02:44):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (02:45):
Pittsburgh, nobody believes in the Colts have been fun, Jacksonville's
been fun. But are they great teams? No, they're all flawed.
All your best, at least on paper teams are all
in the NFC right now, and even those you have
your wartz for the most part. Right Tampa Bay is
four and one. Evans is banged up, missing time, but
(03:07):
that's fine because Godwin comes back.
Speaker 5 (03:09):
Abukah's been all world.
Speaker 4 (03:12):
Bucky Irving's hurt, Rashad White stepped in pretty nicely. Yeah,
so like you're finding the way. The plug's all Detroit.
After that Week one against Green Bay, everybody was ready to,
you know, start the flaming dumpster fire down the river.
All of a sudden, there are four and one and
everything's clicking. So it's been a topsy turvy run. But
we from a fantasy perspective, with those quarterback injuries and
(03:35):
the brothers Harbaugh having, you know, whatever the hell's going
on in their respective locker rooms, like you see the
trickle down effect to where some of our fantasy stalwarts
and draft day heroes were already on the trade block
or trying to find lightning in the bottle elsewhere.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
I always felt that, and this is prior to the
seventeen game schedule, that week two's line so that we
would get from Las Vegas was you might as to
just pick all the underdogs, because I just always felt
that we really had no idea who these teams were
after one game, sure, and we would take something from
that one game. That's just my amateur analysis. Please don't
(04:15):
take it for what it's worth. And then Week four,
what we thought we knew was turned on its head,
and then the rest of the NFL season kind of
took off. So after that first four weeks, you thought
you knew, but you didn't know. After that, things kind
of settle in at this point, and I'm not sure
if that's even the mode of operation anymore, because of
(04:40):
what the extra game is done. I'm going to take
a team like Denver right now. You guys know I
picked them to win the Super Bowl, and I think
if you were to look at Denver, you would say,
all right, maybe not a great start to the season.
They're three and two, tied for the lead in the
AFC West and lost a game because of a personal
(05:01):
foul call on a leverage call.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
On a kick.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
Okay, so that's their one loss would have been And
this isn't a would I could have should have There's
a point I'm going to make, but they would be
four and one right now in the driver's seat in
the AFC West with that one loss to the to
the Chargers in LA. But what was the talk with
the Broncos. I remember heading into the draft was like, man,
look out for R. J.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Harvey.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
This guy's the guy, right and right now they're running JK.
Dobbins like they're running JK Dobbins twenty carries a game
like he had this past weekend against Philadelphia. Do any
of us think that JK. Dobbins is going to hold
up getting twenty carries a game throughout this season? Yeah,
no chance whatsoever. And so That's what messes with me
(05:47):
is I think, like Denver is playing for a bigger
prize and at some point down the stretch, I think
they'll be really good. But now I'm sitting there looking
at you know, at where they are, who they are,
how we actually look at them. Some some people think
Bonix is good, some people don't. Some people question their playmakers.
And that's just with the Denver team. That again, that
I think could be pretty good if you have these
(06:09):
things with a mediocre team, my goodness. But yeah, I
think it's all over the map with a lot of
these teams.
Speaker 4 (06:13):
Yeah, I mean you look at Denver specifically in division
right now, you look at the Kansas City Chiefs sitting
at two and three, Well, they're gonna get healthier. But
we talked about the defense. Is the defense gonna get
better or is it gonna be shootouts? Chargers are banged up,
that's not changing. Those tackles are gone. Yes, eventually Joel
may come back, but is he going to be any
(06:36):
how close to one hundred are we getting out of him?
And is the rest of the line bad enough to
where that doesn't matter even if he comes back and
you lose Hampton for at least four weeks. And now
you're going and scraping a little bit further down the
barrel unless you go and make a bunch of moves
in the trade market and find someone else to come in.
I mean, justin Herbert's is sitting duck and you got
(06:57):
no run game for balance, which is what Harball wanted
to begin with. So you know, you look at and
the Raiders are no good. So division wise, the for
the Broncos, it's all there for the offering. Is it
just We're going to grind with JK. Dobbins for as
long as his body will hold out, right, right, because
we've seen it for years, right of Hey, there's this
(07:19):
big splash he play.
Speaker 5 (07:20):
Ah, he's done.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
And and I look like I look at the Cowboys,
who are firing pretty well offensively, right, you know, like.
Speaker 5 (07:30):
You surmised with Dak Prescott.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
You know, and and and now that they're sitting there
at two two and one, But I didn't expect that
their running game would be what it is, you know.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
And Javonte Williams has been eight the.
Speaker 5 (07:46):
Guy they thought he was going to be in Denver, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
Right, perfect transition, absolutely, and and so like so just
stuff like that of figuring out because this is also
the time of the year where you're trying to figure
out the stretch run. And I'm glad you up with
Marian Hampton because if you would have asked me after
the Giants game in Week four named the top three
players you would like down the stretch, Omari and Hampton
probably would have been one of the top three.
Speaker 5 (08:09):
Yeah, the entire league as a runner and receiver, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Yeah, absolutely, And for what the Chargers want to do
now he's injured and you know, completely off of that train.
But it is a it is a mixed bag, and
it's week to week and it's tough to it's tough
to plan ahead in fantasy. But you know, maybe it
got to dig like into the Denver thing where I
think R. J. Harvey at some point is going to
have a you know, have a sort of role in
the fantasy season.
Speaker 5 (08:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (08:34):
I think some of it goes back to the trend
that we've certainly have seen in the leagues that I've
participated in, where to try to promote activity, the benches
have gotten one or two slots shorter, and anytime someone
tries to proposal of a move like in one of
the leagues, you know, the industry leagues, was all right,
can we propose that anybody that's declared out early enough
(08:57):
can go to an IR spot. I'm like, no, it's
the idea of having a bench. Yeah, So I immediately
voted nay. I was the negative guy, and then a
bunch of folks came on my side and we didn't.
Speaker 5 (09:07):
Add the slot.
Speaker 4 (09:08):
But it's just the idea of, you know, where you
can stash. I'd love to see the composition of most
people's benches, because I gotta imagine it's eighty percent running
backs at this point, just down the wing, and a
prayer that you have one or two weeks that a
guy gets fifteen touches in just the right week, or
someone else in the league gets desperate enough that you
can actually swing a trade, because I don't know how
(09:30):
popular those are in a lot of leagues anymore, you know,
because you don't want to be the guy that makes
the move that costs you the league or that all
important matchup in week fourteen. It's like, ah, remember that
guy you traded me, Yeah, he just scored eighty four points.
Speaker 5 (09:43):
Beat it.
Speaker 4 (09:44):
But it's that kind of thing of looking at depth,
and we're really chronicling the target counts a little bit differently.
Speaker 5 (09:54):
I mean some of these I mean.
Speaker 4 (09:55):
Look at let's take your jets for instance, seeing this
week you had ten different guys with at least one target.
I mean that and and that's becoming the norm though,
Like if you go box score to box score, yeah,
you're running out every possible combination of guys and guys
are getting one.
Speaker 6 (10:15):
Look so surprised there's even ten guys that are you.
Speaker 7 (10:18):
Know, yeah the target. That's wow, Mason Taylor and that's it.
But it is Justin Field doesn't mean they have to
be open to a good point. He just throws into
matter what.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
Two of those guys were on the Cowboys. So no,
I'm kidding.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
Well, Justin Fields was great for me in week five.
I have I have zero complaints in in what he
did and he wasn't picked off of that game.
Speaker 4 (10:44):
But but but but the point is well taken, right,
is that you're you're going and putting putting the ball up.
Like I'm looking at just picking box score after box score,
it's like almost to every one of them has at
least eight guys getting it getting a target.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
I'm gonna I'm gonna give you that. I'm gonna give you.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
I feel because my old time league and for those
that may be new to the podcast are just or forgotten.
I've said it enough around Ian and Mike that they
know it's a ten team league. We're in our twenty
eighth season. It's a standard league. We don't have PPR.
You know, the ten team league is funky as it is.
We actually added a starting lineup spot this year because
(11:23):
everybody's team was the same basically, like there's just you
needed some variation. The point being that you're making about
the running backs taking off the guys on IR like
James Connor and Trey Benson and Austin Eckler and Braylan Allen.
These are the top guys available. Brian Robinson Junior who
(11:45):
probably should be picked up. Caleb Johnson, Justice Hill, Jerome Ford,
Tank Bigsby, Dylan Samson, Jaden Blue.
Speaker 4 (11:55):
Ross, Yeah Simpson or Samson Simpson Simpson A No, did
I say I'm right?
Speaker 1 (12:00):
No?
Speaker 5 (12:01):
No, I did, so that's mocking me.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
Samson has at least been in the red zone a
few times where they've looked his way, but not enough
to where it's critical mass, right, Like he's the only
name that stood out as you were.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Yeah, yes, and that's the like, that's the state. And
that's in a league where there's a lot like we
don't have.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
A lot of teams, right, you know, so like to
your point of like who people are stashing on their benches,
they're stashing those running backs and that's that's where we
are right now.
Speaker 4 (12:36):
Yeah, it's just that that curiosity going forward, the attrition,
like I always bemoan the lack of cohesive line play,
and I think every year I'm proven right by my
lamentation of the Yes, let's give up even more work
days for meager gains on the cbas because that'll.
Speaker 5 (12:57):
Help the product.
Speaker 4 (12:58):
Sure, right, Hey, here's another week of practices. We don't
know what's it do? All right, for the first five
weeks of the season, offensive lineman will look like they're
introducing each other.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
It's true.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
I mean, the the the lack of practice, which, by
the way, I thought I would be all for when
I was younger. Right, Yeah, no practice again, awesome, Yeah, No,
it's hurt the it's hurt the league. And then we'll
have to see how things go in the eighteen game
schedule comes around, right, what.
Speaker 4 (13:26):
Are they gonna give up another We'll take another week
off a training camp?
Speaker 3 (13:30):
You know there was yeah, there, you know there was.
There was something interesting that happened a couple of weeks
ago when Colleen Wolfe of the NFL Network, who was
once our our celebrity picker. Yeah, this is way before
you We would have celebrities send in their lineups for
the week, and Colleen Wolfe was on was one of
our lineup guests. One week, she was interviewing the commissioner
(13:53):
and she asked Roger Goodell about the eighteen game schedule.
And the reason that is unique is because it happened
on the NFL Network.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
And.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
You know that Roger Goodell knew all the questions, Like
there was not going to be like a gotcha moment.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
And it's not meant to knock Colleen at all.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
It's just that you knew, like Roger Goodell knew what
he was getting into when he's at the desk, Like
there's a reason why he's at the desk, and there's
certain things that he wants to say, and when they
bring up an eighteen game schedule, while he doesn't answer
the question. He doesn't shoot it down and that says enough.
So it's coming like it is, it is, it is,
It is going to be there. I think it was
(14:33):
about maybe about like you know, the President's Day or
something like that. It may have been last weekend of
the weekend before, but yeah, those the eighteen game schedule
is coming. It's going to be here sooner than you think.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
And then we figure out what the bye weeks are
and maybe that'll be to our benefit.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
M hmm.
Speaker 4 (14:49):
Right to your point about the Lamar Jackson injury, maybe
we get a more finite we know of what he's
going to be. Like, I'm I'm going at the end
of the month, right, that is still the plan for
me to go watch the Bears and the Ravens, and
I sure as hell hope no disrespect to Cooper Rush.
I'm sure he's a wonderful human being. I want to
(15:11):
watch Lamar Jackson against Caleb Williams.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Yeah, yep, I want to.
Speaker 4 (15:16):
See the heavyweight fight, especially if the Bears do anything
coming out of the bye week to show that any
kind of continued growth, good, better, best and all that
fun stuff that Ben Johnson doing that he's a Cub
fan so I'll have to forgive him for that.
Speaker 5 (15:31):
But all of that to say, you know, like we
want our stars.
Speaker 4 (15:35):
It's like why I never bemoaned any of the stuff
in baseball when people were hand ringing over this guy
may have done this, that or the other to get
back on the field. I'm like, I don't care. I
want guys on the field. It's entertainment.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
Yes, yeah, what Lamar went down on week four and
you have a buye in week seven?
Speaker 2 (15:55):
You know he's out weeks five and six.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
Yeah, there's other point even asking John Harball like they're
not they're not going to put him on the field.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Just it's not gonna happen.
Speaker 4 (16:03):
Yeah, he's he's in a bad spot at this point.
He's getting really testy, starting to sound like his brother
a little bit more, whereas Jim sounded like, you know, someone.
Speaker 5 (16:12):
Had just stolen his dog.
Speaker 4 (16:14):
Sure after that loss on on Sunday, he was also
wearing a hat that was very much not a Jim
Harbaugh hat. Whatever they the team issued that looked like
a cosmic kind of glowy, multi colored thing that that
was the But I mean, he looks sad, whereas John
Harbaugh is now fighting everybody because they're pointing out the
(16:34):
fact that the Ravens roster was declared to be far
and away the best, and well here they are.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
Yeah, not not good.
Speaker 3 (16:43):
And I'm not sure if help is coming quickly, especially
if it is uh not Lamar Jackson.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
That's tough. That defense is having a tough time. All right.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
He's Mike carbon I have Dan Byer, that's Ian Roddy.
I've got a tidbit about the double Buys that you'll
wanna you'll want to hear about. Plus we dive into
more of what's ahead in the twenty twenty five NFL
season and maybe how to help you in this middle
section of your fantasy regular seasons. That's next here and
I Want Your flex Welcome back to I Want Your Flex.
(17:16):
I like these midweek episodes because Mike Harmen, Ian Roddy
and myself Dan Beyer, it doesn't always focus on who
to play and who not to play. That's the type
of podcast that it is. We're going to get to
that stuff. We always give you the hot plays and
the rankings at the end of the week. We always
talk about players and stuff at the beginning of the week.
Our middle week episodes are sometimes a little fun, and
(17:37):
we started talking about the two days that we could
be having in an eighteen week season. And in nineteen
ninety three, Ian was not even close to being born,
and Mike and I remember this time, but I don't
even remember this happening, but I was reminded of it
(17:58):
a few years ago. And in nineteen ninety three they
had a double by teams had two buys that season,
and so I did a did a search, a Reddit
search and some other stuff. And again, this is the
league that only had twenty eight teams, so you only
had fourteen games a week. Anyway, now, there may not
(18:21):
have been the different windows that we've had them in,
but I thought that there at that time there was
a Thursday night window because remember my games were on
TNT for like the first half of the year. And
then I remember I went I went to a Bears
Packers game in nineteen ninety one on a Thursday night
that aired on TNT. I think we've talked about this
(18:43):
game before, but the point being is in nineteen ninety
three and I saw this Reddit post they said, in
one word, it was a disaster because CBS and NBC
had their ratings plummet because there just weren't enough good
teams and good games when teams were playing multiple buyes.
They also tried to do it by division, and sometimes
(19:04):
teams were having two bys in a span of five weeks.
So they did try a two by format in nineteen
ninety three, but they ditched it the next year because
of how awful it was. I don't even remember that
at that point.
Speaker 5 (19:19):
I don't either now.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
I remember when.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
We had an odd number of teams in the NFL
before Houston came in, so there were bys in week
one and week seventeen, and I think you were still
too young to realize that.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Yeah, but I remember.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
I think one year, like Cleveland had a bye in
Week one, which was just like, all right, you don't play.
It was so funky in some of some of the
schedule stuff that the NFL had back in the past.
But to talk about the two bys, the NFL is
going to have to figure out a better way to
do it, at least better than they did it in
nineteen ninety three.
Speaker 5 (19:58):
Yea, it's always the curiosity.
Speaker 4 (20:00):
And look, I complain about the schedule, probably more than
more than most. Just I don't like the division game.
Like the made for TV moments at the start of
the year. We don't need them. You've waited for football
for six months. You're showing up.
Speaker 3 (20:17):
I agree, and Mike, after you're done, I have a
new schedule complaint that I found.
Speaker 5 (20:22):
Oh you got a new one.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Awesome, Okay, right.
Speaker 5 (20:25):
At the end of year.
Speaker 4 (20:26):
Hey, let's have you Like I'll be the Dolphins for
a second, and I'm not looking at their current schedule,
but to say I play the Jets in week fifteen,
then I play I don't know, pick an NFC team
in week sixteen, and then I come right back to
play the Jets in week seventeen.
Speaker 5 (20:43):
That makes no sense to me. And we always have
a bunch of those.
Speaker 4 (20:46):
Or we have just the disbursement of the division games,
two of the teams in the division will play three
of them right off the jump, whereas everybody gets hurt
and now one or two of the teams in the
division have a decided advantage when they go head to
head in division, if division's still gonna have great consequence,
(21:07):
or they're all stacked at the back.
Speaker 5 (21:09):
End again like we do again, we're.
Speaker 4 (21:12):
Watching, Okay, we're watching, we're betting, we're playing fantasy, all
of those things, and either folks are in or they're out. Yeah,
I don't know how many casuals you're dragging in just
because you know that divisional game has great meaning in
week seventeen or eighteen.
Speaker 5 (21:29):
That's just me.
Speaker 4 (21:30):
But you know all of that, to say it's the
two buy would be curious, right, just to see that
algorithm go to work and see what it brings. We
talk about the disparity in travel. You add all these
extra international games, which is the other consideration that comes
into all of this. I know of like Minnesota just
(21:50):
did two games overseas. Okay, now you get your bye week. Yeah,
it's just the oddities of it, all right, the travel
miles right that the Chargers in Week one to Brazil
had already traveled twice as many miles as a couple
of teams will do for a year.
Speaker 5 (22:08):
You know that kind of thing.
Speaker 3 (22:09):
It's the travel. We've talked about, divisions, the whole deal.
We also were at a stretch here where the forty
nine ers were playing, you know, and we've seen this
with other teams playing three games and like a you know,
eighteen day stretch or whatever the case is. Here is
my schedule gripe for a team trivia time.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
Guys.
Speaker 3 (22:35):
Sorry to put you on the spot because I hate
it when people do it to me. But between November
seventh and November twenty ninth, how many games do you
think the Broncos will play.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
During that time?
Speaker 5 (22:46):
Seventh through twenty ninth?
Speaker 3 (22:47):
Yes, November seventh and November twenty ninth, we would think three, right.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
It's twenty two days. Yeah, they play.
Speaker 5 (22:56):
One one game.
Speaker 3 (22:59):
They play on Thursday night, November sixth at home against
the Raiders. They then play home to Kansas City November sixteenth,
Then they have a bye week, and then they play
again Sunday, November thirtieth against Washington. So you're giving them
the extra arrest by playing Thursday, and then they'll get
(23:20):
that extra days to play Kansas City, only to then
have another bye week off. Like, looking at it, I'm like, what,
Like how how does San Francisco play three games in
nineteen days or whatever it is and Denver plays one
in a span of twenty two Like, there's got to
be a better way to figure out.
Speaker 4 (23:38):
Sean Dat's got friends on the competition committee.
Speaker 2 (23:41):
He must, he must.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
I don't even know if i'd want that if I'm Denver, right, like,
I mean, spread it out a little bit, give me
a Thursday game either earlier or later on in the season.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
I don't even think it's good for Denver to have that.
Speaker 6 (23:53):
But it lends itself to your super Bowl picked in
helps that out should be healthy again.
Speaker 3 (23:59):
Again, I'm not even sure if it does. But yeah,
it's just there's I mean, who would want that?
Speaker 2 (24:05):
Right? Well, guess what, we have a short week, so
we got to prepare.
Speaker 3 (24:08):
Then we're gonna have a little bit of a break
to play for Kansas City, and then if we win
that game and have any momentum, we're gonna have another
two week break.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
Yeah. I don't know.
Speaker 4 (24:16):
Yeah, it's it's messy like that, There's no question about it.
And you know, I I as much as people used
to abhor the the Thursday schedule where they were division games,
particularly when we see the teams of the AFC South.
Sorry fans of the AFC South, but you know, those
(24:37):
were always the examples used as to how horrid the
product was. And Eddie al Michaels would just quit at
that point if it went back to it. But you know,
they how everybody's got to play and some of those concessions. Look,
you got TV partners coming in for billions of dollars,
so you got to make those concessions and understand that.
(24:57):
But wondering if that doesn't solve some of it. Right,
see the familiarity, we get some strange, strange bedfellows and
finishes like we did with San Francisco and the Rams.
Great competitive game and they're both at the same disadvantage
or advantage as it were by having the long week
till the next I don't know, but it's as we expand,
(25:21):
adding the double, adding the bye, adding you know, the
international flavor to it. Then we continue to they've they've
got more challenges and that formula gets harder and harder
to crack.
Speaker 3 (25:34):
Well, I do want to, uh, I do want to
pay off this tease as we were talking about it.
Here's a sample of the two thousand NFL regular season schedule.
Started out great primetime game, Titans at Buffalo's Sunday Night,
Denver at Saint Louis when Monday night football was the
real show in town, right, So Denver at Saint Louis.
(25:57):
The Bengals had a buye so since the heady didn't
open their season until they faced Cleveland at home in
week two. Now you say Cleveland, Yeah, well Cleveland had
their season end a week early. They didn't play in
week seventeen, so they were done a week before everybody else.
Now their season was practically over, so there was They
(26:20):
were a new expansion team.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
They weren't good. Pittsburgh had a buy in week two.
Speaker 3 (26:24):
Week three, they gave three team s byes because again
you had to have odd numbers because you had an
odd number of teams in the league at thirty one
at that point. Yeah, just a really funky schedule. But
the most amount of teams that we had on buye
each week were three and then they staggered. They had
those basically from weeks three until nine, and then the
(26:46):
rest of the way it was just one team on
buy on the way out.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
Crazy the NFL. Yeah, and think.
Speaker 3 (26:54):
About being Philadelphia, and I can't remember. I think Philadelphia
was good, but they played up until week fifteen, then
had to buy in week sixteen, and then had to
go on play in week seventeen. Like to have like
your week off the one day, you know, the one
week before you could be done with the season.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
Crazy as well. But yeah, that was an NFL world.
We lived in it one time.
Speaker 6 (27:15):
I like the concept of a week one bye is
that that's what you're saying with the Browns getting weak
with that's that's so insane to me because it's like
you've been waiting the entire you know, nine months yes
season to play football and I have to wait another week.
Speaker 4 (27:30):
You don't even get the advantage of the run up
for the teams you're gonna yeah, the run up.
Speaker 6 (27:34):
People always talk about how the preseason there's important, you know,
in playing some of your starters, there's a you know,
there's something to be said about that, and just having
Week one bye and then having to play the rest
of the season without a break is insane.
Speaker 3 (27:46):
I think they did try to make it in a
way where like bad teams were going to be put
on the book ends or you know, on each end
of the of the schedule, because I don't think that
they wanted to get have better teams playoff by or
or if you had to buy in the last week
and let's say you were the number one seed, you
(28:07):
would have two weeks off before playing and if you
had clinched, maybe you weren't playing your starter, you know,
so there could have been a whole whole month, but
I don't think they wanted like the good teams, so
they put like bad teams. That's why you had Cincinnati
and Cleveland kind of bookend, because they weren't They weren't
any good at that point. But yeah, to your point,
you're so excited for Week one and then your team
(28:28):
doesn't play like one an absolute bummer. We had it
for a couple of seasons.
Speaker 4 (28:32):
I want to know who was in who were in
those meetings. It's like, all right, you three, you're a
blue ribbon committee. Who are the four worst teams in
the National foot.
Speaker 2 (28:44):
Oh?
Speaker 5 (28:44):
My goods, tell us right now.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
Then the Texans came into the league in two thousand
and two and that solved the problem with the the
odd number of teams. But that was the way that
we lived for a little while in the National Football League.
Speaker 5 (28:58):
And David Carr just got sacked again.
Speaker 3 (29:03):
But remember they won their first game. They beat the
Cowboys on Sunday night football. As crazy as that was.
Speaker 5 (29:10):
Remember how height that was the Battle of Texas. Yes,
Oh that was awesome.
Speaker 2 (29:14):
Yeah, it was great stuff.
Speaker 3 (29:17):
And then then it was all downhill from there for
for David Carr and the Texans.
Speaker 5 (29:21):
I can taste my spleen.
Speaker 3 (29:25):
I remember when the Browns came back and Drew Carrey
was on the field, and you know, the the hype
of the Browns being back in and they were only
gone for you know, three four years.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
Yeah, oh man, good times.
Speaker 5 (29:40):
And now he's been hey.
Speaker 4 (29:41):
You know today as we record this, the anniversary of
them taking away the ability on Central on game shows.
Speaker 5 (29:49):
The Wheel of Fortune.
Speaker 4 (29:49):
Remember how I used to be able to go on
a shopping spree nineteen eighty seven, the October sixth seventh,
that was the end of that where now you just
got money.
Speaker 3 (30:01):
That was where you had to buy like porcelain dogs, exactly, yes,
and if you couldn't buy anything else, you'd get the
Gucci gift certificate. That's right again. Stuff that happened before
Ian was born. But yeah, there would be a showcase Ian.
They would turn around, you would solve the puzzle. You
would have won twenty four hundred dollars worth of stuff,
and then they had priced tags on like a living
(30:23):
room set with a whole bunch of different things, and
you had to bid on those things or you would
buy those things.
Speaker 5 (30:28):
You would buy those another two bucks.
Speaker 6 (30:30):
I'm learning so much.
Speaker 4 (30:31):
Yeah, the only dog that got adopted was the one
from friends.
Speaker 3 (30:37):
Oh that's what they had though. And those things are
like if you had six hundred bucks, there was a
one item. There was one item that was five point fifty.
You could not say I want the six hundred dollars
in the Gucci gift certificate. You had to buy whatever
piece of crap was.
Speaker 5 (30:52):
On that stage, and it was always priced perfectly.
Speaker 3 (30:56):
Yeah, and then you left with your fifty dollars and
a Gucci gift certificate. It that's the way it was,
and you're gonna like it. Yes, the good times. I oh, Man,
wheel of Fortune so great. I saw the Wheel of
Fortune set. Once there was a there was an NBA.
It was an NBA Players Week, NBA and w NBA
(31:18):
players week, and they sent me over there to get
guests for Fox. So it was on the Sony Lot,
you know, don on Culver City and Carmelo Anthony was there.
Speaker 2 (31:31):
I remember Becky Hammond was.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
One of the w NBA players at this point. Melo
was mellow was the big name though, And and I
asked the person because we were in a in a
stage next door. I said, can I just go and
look and just see what it's like. They're like, yeah, yeah, sure,
go ahead. So, like I went across and the wheel
was just so small. I thought it was like this
enormous wheel. But I walked in and I was able
(31:56):
to like peek around like where the puzzle board was
and just saw where like the set was. But I
was just so astonished at how small the actual wheel was.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
That you spun.
Speaker 5 (32:05):
That is awesome.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
Yeah, yeah, pretty cool.
Speaker 5 (32:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (32:08):
I got to two tapings of the Prices Right one
mob one with Drew Carrey. Oh man, I wanted to
steal part of the wallpaper because it was the seventies
brown with the logo on It's glorious. But I took
my mom to a taping once and like they take
you through and they ask you to say something entertaining,
(32:30):
and my mom just laughs, goes, doesn't they look like
Drew Carrey. I'm like, I don't think that's getting us
up on stage. I don't think they want that question.
I don't think they want that mom.
Speaker 3 (32:39):
Oh man. I love the Prices right, and I just
I could not. I would be so afraid I would
just make a fool of myself.
Speaker 4 (32:48):
And I just yeah, no, we'd all show up to
support you for that one though. We should do a
group outing to a taping man.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
That's well, that's the spot.
Speaker 3 (32:59):
Love it Now that they're filming in a different studio,
no longer at Television City, they're looking Glendale. So anyway,
all right, that's gonna do it. Yeah, that's how we'll
end this episode of I Want Your Flex. I love
the midweek episodes, but I digress. We'll get back to
the real football stuff coming up in our next episode,
where we get you set for week six and all
the rankings and the plays that you need. Ian's already
(33:20):
working on the streaming defenses and we'll have a survivor
pick for you as well. So for Ian, Roddy and
Mike Carmen, I am Dan Beyer. Talk to you next
time here and I Want Your Flex
Hosts And Creators
Jason Smith
Mike Harmon
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