December 1, 2022 • 33 mins
It's Fox Sports Radio's Official Fantasy Football Podcast! Dan Beyer and Mike Harmon preview Week 13 in fantasy football with positional rankings, hot plays, cold sores, fantasy ninjas, start/sits, Survivor picks, and much more! The guys discuss the impact of Deshaun Watson making his Cleveland Browns debut. Plus, the guys identify which games are going to give you the most points for your playoff push!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
You want experience during your football season, Well, buckle love,
sweet cheeks, We've got all the experience in the world.
This is I want your Flex with Dan Buyer and
Mike Harman. Mike and Dan breakdown everything you need to
set your line ups from position rankings, two starts and sits.
(00:24):
The guys help you make those hard decisions and now
let's get your flexad. Here's Dan Buyer and Mike Harman.
Week thirteen is here. Hopefully it's lucky for you, maybe
unlucky for some, but we are hitting the stretch run
of the fantasy football season. Get Mike on Twitter at
Swollen Dome. You can find me on Twitter at Dan Buyer.
(00:46):
On Fox, we have one heck of a matchup coming
up on Sunday with the Chiefs and Bengals playing in Cincinnati,
Cowboys and Colts playing in Big d is an interesting affair,
Aaron Rodgers returning for the Bears. But Mike, we're going
to focus on Brown's Texans because that is really the
story of the week, as Deshaun Watson not only returns
(01:08):
to action, it's the first time we see him in
a Brown's uniform and he's back in Houston facing his
former team. First time we've seen him on a field,
going all the way back to what, uh, early January
of two thousand, I guess twenty one. That would be
the end of that season. Uh, and so a lot
of questions about ye and then yeah, so season, the
(01:38):
COVID season, right versus this is what we're getting, right. Yeah,
it's actually been seven hundred days. It's been seven days
since we've seen Watson. He's a creep. Yeah, that's that's it,
you know, answering football only questions, and you have to
raise your hand if you want to ask one, because
then we can circle you and put a picture of
you up there to never be able to ask a
(01:59):
question again. But I digress. Lots of questions about what
it means for the squad, obviously, Jacoby Brissette, congratulations on
a job done. Still one of the worst teams in
the NFL. And look, and no disrespect to Jacoby Brissette
for fantasy purposes, most weeks he was just a guy.
But you're looking at Cleveland still tied for second worst
(02:21):
in terms of turnover differential games. They they let get
away to help build the Jet season, et cetera. On paper,
solid wide receivers. You got Cooper, you got in Joku,
but you just have a giant question mark of what
the hell do you expect? I guess the only good
thing outside of all the emotions protesters or whatever, is
you're facing the Texans who stink. I'm sorry you when
(02:46):
you casually put in what is it is one of
the greatest insults of all time. And when I whenever
you say congratulations on a job done, it just goes
back to Peterman telling Elaine on Seinfeld, yep, that congratulations
at a job done. I absolutely absolutely love it. I
I'll say this to your point about the Texans, and
(03:08):
this is how I feel about the game. You would
think that there would be a lot of motivation, maybe
on the Texans side of things. Here's a guy that
didn't want to play for that team. But number one,
your point is correct, they are so bad. Number Two,
I'm not sure they really care that it's the return
of Deshaun Watson because he was on the team, just
(03:29):
didn't want to play it and and you don't have
to rehash the whole thing, but he didn't want to play.
Texans didn't want him to play. I don't know if
there's a you know, like, let's take it to like
I was so ready to jump on the Texans and
load up on the Texans, but yeah, they stink And
what really is their motivation? I don't even know the
(03:50):
Browns are going to be motivated to show that Deshaun
Watson is their guy. It's such a weird sort of
return revenge game. And then just the sliminess of Deshaun
Watson covers the whole thing as well. Yeah, that that's
the thing that sits in the background that will come
to the uh, the forefront as we get to game
day on Sunday. Obviously a lot of curiosity an appreciation
(04:11):
of the player Deshaun Watson was certainly there, but trying
to reconcile that with the off the field, the allegations,
the ongoing um still civil things that aren't quite settled. Uh.
It just leaves you uneasy, uh in myriad ways, and
then you try to break it back down into the
football side of it too. You know, to you what
(04:33):
you said about Houston, right, you think there'd be guys
that are fired up, but Lovey Smith is not that guy, right,
He's not a guy that's gonna be all bulletin board.
But this guy didn't want us, This guy didn't like
That's that's just not who love E Smith is. And
on that team, you've got so many guys that I
think are trying to do whatever they can just to
(04:53):
play well enough to get another contract, whether it be
in Houston or somewhere else. There's not a lot of
stats that have been put up. The guy that we
were excited about, and Pierce, he's disappeared the last couple
of weeks. Kyle Allen's now your quarterback. David s Mills,
you've moved off him, whether for good or or whatever
the case. Maybe Brandon Cook's quit on you. Like you've
(05:14):
got so many things wrong inside your own house, you
have no time to look outside to see what the neighbors,
uh including the Cleveland Browns and Deshaun Watson are doing.
I've I looked at a couple of weeks ago. You
know a guy that we talked about earlier than year,
Nico Collins is maybe a guy. But yeah, to your point,
there's there's no one there that you just start sitting
there counting on your only just gonna get disappointed. If
(05:37):
you have any any Houston Texans trust me again is
the guy who loaded up on the Brandon cook shares
in two. So that is it's it's truly is one
of my biggest l again going back to the Rashad
Penny or Brandon Cook's thing, Petty, we kind of knew
was gonna get hurt, but he still produced. Cooks just
hasn't been there at all. And now he's gotta work
his way back into a place where he was a
(05:57):
captain and a leader. It's so so yeah, the Cooks
thing is is just weird on a million levels. Right.
You brought back into a team that you knew wasn't
gonna be very good. Now. I had higher expectations based
on what we saw for Davis Mills a year ago.
And if you just look at Brandon Cooks, what he's done,
wherever he's wherever he's been, What kind of teammate he is?
(06:18):
What kind of guy is the number? I I don't know.
I can't speak to that. They did take the captain
and captain c from him after he whined and pouted
about the trade deadline and didn't get out of town again.
You signed for very large money in Houston, which made
it very impossible to trade you. But that's on him.
That's a hymn problem for us in the fantasy realm.
(06:41):
You thought, all right, he's always had a consistent like
the floor you thought was was high enough that you're like,
all right, as my third I'm fine, this guy is
gonna be in the lineup. I'm getting my ten points right.
The ronco said it, and forget it, move on and
find to you know, pick over the other positions with
a line to comb Instead, you got a guy who
(07:02):
who basically took his ball and went home. Yeah. Yeah,
and there there were targets there. Last year, I thought
that there was some rapport being built between David's Mills
and Brandon Cooks. Um that is not in neither either
uh likely to play a significant role for the Texans.
All right, let's uh, let's move on. Let's get onto
(07:22):
our rankings of the week for week thirteen in the
National Football League season. Ryan Burgner will be here a
little bit later, our executive producer with his Survivor Pick
Survivor getting down to the wire on the television show
as well. I'll give you one reason to start a
guy and one reason to bench a guy. But Mike
Harmon has the floor, your top five quarterbacks Mike for
(07:43):
Week thirteen in the NFL Usual Suspects A top of
the board. It's just one of those weeks. Jalen Hurt's
going up against Tennessee. We've seen the past defense. You've
got the subplot when we talk about all the storyline
soap operas and gamesmanship like Survivor with a J. Brown
against the Titans here and a secondary that while they
(08:03):
want to try to shut them up, too many weapons
for Philly d really be able to do so. Uh.
Justin Herbert going up against Las Vegas. I saw a
stat that was pretty interesting floating around. I thought you'd
enjoy this. One fewest airy yards this season. Uh, You've
got Matt Ryan at five point eight six. Second was
Justin Herbert at six one point one seven. Because of
(08:26):
all the checkdowns and short passes to Austin Ekeler, guys
out of the backfield, guys like Gerald Everett and then
the yak right even some of the big players to
Palmer and company have come on short passes that they've
then worked into the secondary. Uh, and getting a little
bit of help in the blocking scheme. So I thought
that was interesting. Third, well, based on the qualifiers was
(08:49):
Baker Mayfield uh so not exactly the great company for
Justin Herbert uh No. Number three Patrick Mahomes on the
road at Cincinnati. They're a narrow favorite and the over
under in this one Dan fifty two and a half,
which means let's light them up. Uh And Look. The
first positive thing I will ever say about Matt Naggie
(09:11):
is a story that was breaking right as we cracked
our microphones and Patrick Mahomes talking about how Matt Naggie
helped him cheat on all of the play calls and
everything so he would ace his interview with Andy Reid
to get drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs. Hey, I
want to him a fruit bask Yeah, you gotta make it.
(09:35):
And then and then he goes and coaches the Bears
that doesn't know what he's doing. Number four Dak Prescott
against the Indianapolis Colts. Cults are stingy at times, but Dallas,
a ten point favorite, looked for the run game to
take over and then for Dak to pick his spots.
And finally, guy, I don't know that we've had him
in the top five all year, but he's been playing very,
(09:56):
very well. I know one of his component parts to
his offense will be featured a little later here. I'm
going Trevor Lawrence going up against Detroit in a game
once again. I don't know how many Jackson Jaguars games
we've seen were the over under eclipse fifty points currently
at fifty one and a half on the road. It
could be some Jags flavor later on in the podcast. Hint, hint, hint,
(10:18):
and so so when took over in Chicago, was it
after mahomes Is second year? I always know it was
the one year, right. The reason I'm saying is because
if it was just one year, then maybe that could
have been your quarterback in Chicago. If that was the
reason that he loved him so much. Well, you know,
when we go back to the fun and excitement of
(10:39):
Matt Nagy, who's the head coach at Chicago throughen, he
helped Patrick Mahomes end up there and he coached up
Rabinsky who got him to two playoffs. They got two
playoffs together. One guy gets blamed for everything the other
guy because whatever reason in our media business, everybody wants
to kiss the ass of the failed coach who goes
(11:02):
back to Kansas City, and now he's the sixth guy
again again Patrick Mahomes. And and I think you'll agree
with this, would not have been Patrick Mahomes if he
was in Chicago, if he doesn't go to Andy Reid.
That's It's one of the things that I was glad
they finally won that Super Bowl because I don't think
Andy Reid ever got the credit he deserved for how
(11:24):
good a coach and how good a system he ran,
right Donovan McNabb in that run, Not to make it
a big NFL segment, uh, in terms of the regular
NFL speaking points, especially for guys that have no relevancy
to your fantasy team twenty years later. Uh, is Donovan
McNabb and those guys that were running around his wide receivers.
Who did you have outside of that one t o year.
(11:44):
You had Brian Westbrook in the backfield and a bunch
of guys and yet they still ran rough shot over
the NFC for years. So appreciation moment there it is.
Let's jump back to the rankings. Top five running backs
four week thirteen in the NFL, currently the number two
running back in all of fantasy football after twelve weeks
(12:06):
based on some monster performances, including last week's You got
Josh Jacobs, Remember they didn't pick up his option running angry?
Uh Jacob's going up against the Charges, Charges still giving
up about five point seven yards per carry. Big opportunity here.
Nick Chubb going up against Houston. Houston giving up a
hundred eighty yards per game on the ground. It's a
(12:26):
nice way to ease Deshaun Watson back in, don't you think. Uh.
Number three Austin Ekeler on the other side of that
game against the Raiders. He is currently RB one in
all of Fantasy football. Number four Derrick Henry going up
against Philly. We have seen while you might not be
able to break that secondary, you can impose some will
on that front seven. And this is a strength on
(12:48):
strength as Philly. Uh Beef's up right, because now we're
talking about recency and what they've done adding a lot
of bodies and beef to that defensive line. So we'll
see what what comes out in the wash. But I
like King Henry for another big effort here. And then
your guy, our man, Mr. Walker going up against the Rams.
No Aaron Donald. What the hell's that defense gonna look like?
(13:10):
With no Aeron I am still very cautious. Um, the
uniforms are the same, the names and faces that you'll
see in those helmets different. But you know, the Rams
and the Seahawks. Rams have always kind of the Seahawks
number as of late. If if it happens with this
cast of characters, uh, then something's definitely wrong. But yeah,
(13:32):
to your point, Kenneth Walker has been saved by touchdowns lately,
hopefully at least as a Seahawks fan. He bounces back
against it. Now, you'll be on air on Fox Sports
Radio when that game goes live, will you not? Yes? Correct.
I was debating, going if I can get in cheap enough, Yeah,
well I'm sure you can. You know for sure, Maybe
I can get someone to give me some tickets now,
(13:52):
and then I was reminded that I'm supposed to volunteer
to help out my daughter's play's probably a better option,
and I usually have the game streaming in the lobby
all the play is going on. I heard they're they're
they're freaking out over the Christmas game because of the
with the Broncos and Rams playing in l A and
how many people aren't going to show up to that thing,
how poorly bal teams are playing no stars that effect.
(14:13):
This is where you find a local sponsor and you
print up as many cheap T shirts, chat skeys, whatever
as you can, get some gift certificates to local businesses, whatever, whatever.
Incentivize the hell out of it and try to make
it a Christmas miracle. Absolutely, let's get to the wide receivers.
Four week thirteen in the NFL Top five, Mike, when
(14:35):
you got looking for that score fest between the Chargers
and the Raiders, I got Davante Adams up at the
top of the board. A J. Brown and his return
against the Titans. Uh, look for him to put up numbers.
I don't know if the yardage is there, but red zone.
I gotta feel like they're gonna do what they can
to feed him. Ceedee Lamb going up against Indianapolis, all
(14:57):
the talk of the Odell Beckham Jr. Free agency tour,
all the targets are there, and the connection he's got
with Dak right now has been fantastic. You know, I
love me some Aman Ross st. Brown going up on
the other side of that game against Jacksonville again high
high over under total, and when we look at what
the Lions offense is on a weekly basis. That's a
(15:18):
heavy dose of st brown targets like I can't promise
your performance, but I can promise you he's gonna get
his opportunities. And finally one that I have an asterisk
asterisk on again to ask you about Dan Uh Tyreek
Hill going against San Francisco. To this point, nobody's been
able to crack the code and really erase him. Even
in his worst days, he's still giving you a pretty
(15:41):
solid effort. San Francisco's defense been really stingy of late,
especially in the second half. What's that four straight shutouts? Yes? Yes,
and Uh saved me. If I didn't have a shout
out from the forty nins last week, I would have
taken the big old l um. Obviously, he's still a play.
I actually think there's gonna be something there for him
because I've changed my thinking over the last couple of years,
(16:06):
where I just think guys are going to get there's
now the Dolphins may not win and they may score
sixteen points, but I still think Tyreek Hill is going
to get his And do not see a game or
Tyreek Hill has three catches for one yards not gonna
happen yeah, it is. It is a curious game. I alright,
strength on strength one of the big things of storylines.
Even if he has if he has seven catches for
(16:27):
eighty four yards, you're not regretting playing him. And I
know that's not ideal, but that could be a stat
line that he could end up producing in that game.
But that's to saying it's all about in game versus
box score. And this is where this is one of
those games that will be really interesting to watch. I've
seen a lot of social media capital from folks trying
to make their make their names and and and get
(16:49):
some clout coming out of that battle in the Bay Area.
A rematch of Super Bowl nineteen, which by the way,
was also played in the Bay Area at Stanford Stadium,
the old Sanford Stadium back in the day, so prior
to the Buccaneers and uh Um Rams playing in their
home stadiums the too closest Super Bowls, the Rams played
in a Super Bowl at the Rose Bowl and the
(17:11):
Niners played one at Stanford Stadium, so you were like
in the same metropolitan area, but you're just not in
the same stadium. Until the Buccaneers and Rams ruined it.
The last two years. I always enjoyed going to Stanford
Stadium when I lived up there in the Bay. Yeah,
it's pretty good. Plays kind of tucked away. Uh if
you if you didn't know it was there on campus,
you would walk right past it. They built that thing
(17:32):
like nine months. I remember Stanford played Notre Dame and
they had the like the the bulldozers in the tunnel
ready to tear it up because they needed to turn
that thing around for the next year. And they got
it done. They got it done. It's amazing. They do
that Wrigley Field every year once the Cup's final home
game is played. All right, what do we need to
shore up this year? All right, let's get to the
(17:53):
hot plays, gold Swords and Ninja's. Let's start with the
hot plays. Guys that aren't in the top five, but
you should get in your lineup in week thirteen. Go
back to the well with Geneo g Yeah, Gino Smith
is gonna be one of the guys to lead you,
uh to fantasy playoff glory. Look this week, opportunity against
the Rams again. One of the leading pass rushers in
our lifetime is not gonna play. Can they scheme it
(18:14):
up and still get after him perhaps, but Gino is
a guy. I think if you start looking at your valuations,
particularly in doubt daily fantasy leads, you might have an
opportunity there. As much as it pains me to try
to give any love to the Jets, uh Mike White
against Minnesota and particularly Garrett Wilson, I was intrigued to
see Elijah more back in it. You can see how
(18:36):
happy everybody was for him, so that had to be weird.
I'm tired of everybody airing their laundry, right c j
Uzama hitting up the podcast world to talk about what
a mentor he was and how he counseled Zack Wilson
in adversity. Keep that in the locker room. Patrick Peterson,
you're not on the Cardinals anymore. You shut up too.
You had your opportunity to try to help uh Kyler
(18:57):
Murray when he was younger, you didn't. But the young
receivers can be at play from Mike White, which means
I'm gonna have another week of opens if they win
this game. You know this. I think that is a backup,
and I regret it. We mentioned Deshaun Watson before. I
have no idea what to expect I really don't. They
are seven point favorites on the road in Houston, opportunities
(19:20):
there expect a lot of chub. But when when we
look at it, I think there's there's no denying that
all things are set for what would be a grand
re entrance here and a guy who could be again
a difference maker. I don't know how many I think
about half the league's he was stashed away. The other
half you've been back to waivers and there's a lot
(19:41):
of uneasy feeling about it. But like, if he's available, um,
winds are wins. Um. We look at Aaron Jones going
up against the Bear, second worst against running backs. On
the other side of that game, you got David Montgomery. Uh,
and then I already mentioned Wilson. So we take the
other guy, the lead man in Tampa that cannot be stopped,
and that's Chris Godwin. Chris Godwin finding his way through
(20:07):
that mess of Buccaneers wide receivers. All right, let's and
Todd Bowles. But that's what we got. We we don't
have time for that right now. Dave Hunts, Todd Bowles.
That's what I always feel like, it's a hobby. We're
talking about Todd Bowles. UM's got the cold sores for
a week. So much there, Dan, I'm not putting the
ball in Tom's hands. He could throw an interception. Uh
(20:30):
or I'm not gonna I'm not gonna call time out,
So I'm not doing any of that. All right, Who
do you got for the cold sores? Alright? Well we'll
put Kirk Cousins up there with a giant question mark
against that New York Jets secondary. A lot of chirping
back and forth between Justin Jefferson, H and Sauce. Gardner
noticed Justin Jefferson didn't have fear in my top five.
(20:51):
I think he's a little on the outside looking in,
and I think it's gonna be Osborne and feeling that
are gonna have to come up big for them if
they're gonna get over Uh. Lamar Ja Baxon, you've got
the injury issue, but you're also playing the Denver defense.
I actually made the joke earlier this week that Tampa's
just Denver with a little better press than a little
higher scoring average. They've only scored more than twenty two
(21:13):
points once this year, have the Buccaneers. As for the
Ravens fourth quarter, collapses. But this is just a tough
spot for anybody grind it out at justin Tucker kind
of game. I put two on the list just you
still have to play him because he's not been able
to be stopped. Like last week, the only thing that
stopped him was sitting on the sidelines and watching a game. Uh.
(21:35):
So you have that Miles Sanders going up against Tennessee,
the third best against running backs, and you have the
split backfield. But he's been fantastic, so it's tough to
take him upfield. But more in RB two for me
this week. Likewise, se Quon Barkley going up against the
surging Washington Commanders, just one that you're you just hanging
hanging asterisk on as you were. And then Deebo Samuel
(21:58):
going up against Miami. Uh, top top play right now,
running backs are all hurt. Miami's defense doesn't get credit
because well, the offense has been so spectacular, but a
tough matchup for them. And again Christian McCaffrey taking away
opportunities from other forty niners. All right, let's get to
(22:18):
the ninja's This sneaky plays for week thirteen. Does Aaron
Rodgers count Sure? Absolutely at twenty three and five against
the Bears lifetime, and he sounded like he really wants
to play. I did, like you know, Jason Smith and
I had. Normally, I don't get too deep into the
wow people listen to the show, uh and then it's there.
But I felt like Aaron Rodgers did because he channeled
(22:39):
something I said was like, you know, if you asked
me real nicely, maybe I'd think about sitting down. But
let me let me go beat up on the Bears
one more time before I do it. Um Joe Michael Hasty.
Depending on E. T n s availability, and even if
et N is there, I think you've still got an
opportunity for a flex worthy option there. We've looked at
(23:00):
Homer in the receiving corps for the charges. Even with
Alan and Williams potentially available. Here, Palmer has been the
safety valve uh and kind of keeping this thing afloat
along the way. Ju Smith Houster going up against Cincinnati
would be the other one. And then in Pittsburgh, with
(23:20):
the injury to Nazi Harris, some talk of a hernia
possible question mark keeping an eye on his availability. Benny
Snell looked pretty good against Indianapolis, so h Jalen Warren
another guy to keep an eye out towards kickoff. But
once again, Pittsburgh, it only goes as far as the
run game gets to and going up against Atlanta, I
(23:42):
think they lean on in a bunch. All right. So
you got Mike's rankings, you got his top five, you
got his hot plays, cold source and Ninja's. Now it's
the time for Ryan bur Singer on myself to give
you some advice. I'm gonna give you some advice on
who to start and who to bens. Just one player
and Mike, you're a high on that uh jaguar is
Lions game. With the possibilities you have, Trevor Lawrence, you
(24:03):
have a monra St Brown. I'm putting Christian Kirk is
my guy to start this week because of the points
that You're targets have always been there. The production against
tougher defenses. Yeah, it's it's shown in some of Kirk's numbers,
But I think he has another opportunity because he's going
to get opportunities. The targets share is there for Christian
Kirk and the guy I'm gonna bench. And it goes
(24:24):
along with your theme of what we could see in
the Twin Cities. I'm gonna put Dalvin Cook of the
Minnesota Vikings. Now I'm not saying to bench him, um,
but if he doesn't have a great week to your
point of some of your cold sores, uh, I would
not be surprised because of that Jets defense. So Cook
is benched Kirk to start. I think it goes back to,
(24:45):
you know, just our our general mantra to this Dan
is as much as there are guys that are etched
in stone, kind of like when you do a camp
cut list. Like when we were administrators of the Yahoo leagues,
when I was helping run things behind the scene every
week had to uh decide, all right, is this a
game changer? If a guy gets dropped right and he
(25:06):
goes to waiver wires, doesn't cause chaos and unrest in
the league, you know, like guys dropping full teams burst
precipitating that. But it's the idea that in these circumstances
like okay, I have to start this guy if I
start to running backs. But beyond that, now I really
have to spend all my time in my fantasy evaluation
(25:28):
where I've really got to get my second wide receiver,
my flex play, my tight end. I've got to squeeze
every bit of juice that is there, and right now,
I mean mentioning those secondary positions. That's really hard right
now because you've got the haves and and truly the
have nots. Absolutely, let's go to Burst. Burst, You've got
some survivor uh teams to pick for Week thirteen. And
(25:51):
by the way, if you're alive in a survivor pool
right now, congratulations, that is uh, that is something to
be very very proud of. Burst. What do you got
for week third team? Yeah, seriously, I am not alive
in the survivor pool right now. It has been has
been months quite frankly. But um, if you are still alive,
this is gonna be a really tough week because there's
a lot of good teams playing other good teams. Um.
(26:13):
In terms of the the most clear cut choices, I
think if you've still got the Ravens available there, they've
got the Broncos at home, I think that's a great choice. Um,
the Seahawks should beat the Rams, especially with Stafford still
not hackers even on a road division game is not
you know, but I was thinking that as well. Yes,
(26:34):
I I I only hesitated on that because the Packers
have burned me the last couple of times I've tried
to pick them in survival. Yes, exactly, both in personal
and professional lives. A difficult week, it's not fun, but
they are playing better than they have over the last
couple of weeks, and of course with the uh especially
(26:54):
if Justin Fields isn't going for the Bears, and we've
seen what the Bears secondary is capable of doing for
opposing offenses. So uh yeah, No, I do also like
the Packers, and I think I would also take the
Browns at Houston. Obviously, I know, uh this is a
potential only because of the scenario they're in. You would
(27:15):
think that like maybe the Texans are able to play
up to him, but the Texans are just so bad.
I think if if you're looking to thread the needle
a bit, the Browns are probably a team that that
are still available to a lot of people who are
still alive and survivor at this point, and you don't
get a better opportunity to win than when playing the Texans.
Um and in terms of Survivor the TV show, I
(27:36):
think I will now now that we're down really down
to it. I will lay off of giving names in
terms of UH because it might give away too much
to say who is gone who isn't um, But I
will say that, you know, my picks throughout the season
have been great thus far, and I really feel strongly
about one of them actually winning. But um. Also, I'm
(27:56):
shocked that Survivor brought that last gasp at the challenge. UH.
For those who are unfamiliar, last gaps, last gasp is UH,
it's drowning. It is drowning. It is. It is very
difficult to watch. Um. But somehow a couple of people
did fantastically in it, So it's it's a it's a
(28:16):
scary thing. And I'm shocked that they gave the okay
to bring it back, but they did well so and
it may not be back again for the reason that occurred. Yeah, yeah,
exactly exactly. It makes you want to watch My man,
are we gonna do a Survivor podcast for next time?
I'm on board with it, let's go. Obviously, I can't
(28:37):
watch it live so long as the good folks and
Fox keep me in my seven to eleven perch Monday
through Friday, But damn it, I can get through it
forty minutes after the show. I really love the show.
I've watched it. Um. I stopped for a while, but
watched it for the last decade. But I am not
like those Survivor die hards, um, who like know about
the edits and everything. But there are certain things about
(28:57):
how the show is edited that you know, like in
the and who it's going to come down to. Okay,
well I do know this. My my older daughter is
really deep into it. She loves all the game shows
right the like between That, the Amazing Race, the Challenge,
all of those things are big on her watch list.
So I I have a human cheat code because her
memory of all this crap is amazing. If I can
(29:20):
get it, get her to apply it to things that
can make us money. Uh, and this could be one
of them. I'm all on board with that. It's it's
it's it really is fascinating. I mean it is, and yeah,
you should cash in because I'll tell you there's an audience. Yeah,
there's an audience for that. Absolutely. I'm I've been a
survivor of fan since twenty years. I remember watching my
(29:41):
living room then they all start crying and watching it
when they had it the premiere after the Super Bowl,
right like, all right, here it is. I've been waiting
for it, and we all sat around and looked at
each other because it's gonna be interesting. And then after
about seven years, I was like, I can't. I also
think people thought that, you know, like you're gonna be
killing out most of your bare hands and instead you're
(30:01):
finding immunity idols. Like that's a little difference, you know
of Although there was a season where some of that stuff,
you know, what did happen? Anybody? What did you do
to learn and get ready for survival? Well? I went
out of Nada, make a shift. Seriously, I think that's
what people thought. Uh that and probably a lot of sex.
(30:22):
But they don't that doesn't make don't show that that
that that should be Survivor after Dark. They do it
with Big Brother. Let's get it on, oh man, all right,
let's let's get have three point conversions on Mike. As
we wrap this up, I'll give you the floor for
your three points to watch for Week thirteen. Obviously, storyline
sudden we mentioned a few of them. Right, Rogers against
the Bears is at his last game for the season.
(30:44):
With Week four team as a buy an operation shut down,
Jordan Loved, do you need to see what he is?
Blah blah blah blah blah, the Deshaun Watson, the return
of a J. Brown against the Titans. There's just all
fun storylines to be had. Number two, look ahead. We've
mentioned it in Passing a couple of times, but really,
before games kick off on Sunday, really look ahead to
(31:06):
Week four team, particularly if you need if you only
carry one tight end or things of that nature. Going
back to burs with defenses, because you're gonna be scrambling
and fighting people for the best the kicker position if
your league still uses it, so you still have that
flowing on that And I got my popcorn ready to
watch KSE Cincinnati. That is a game that I'm just
(31:28):
very excited to watch Patrick mahomes Uh and Joe Burrow
battle and hopefully someone decides to wear a random uniform
to get me excited. A couple of a couple of
points of pollutes and nominees. I'm gonna go with Chargers
Raiders in this one. Okay, just because of the heels
of their meeting earlier this year. Wasn't the points of
pelluser that we thought. But I think that both teams
(31:48):
now have found at least a footing, especially the Raiders,
and we've talked about so I think you'll see points
in that one. UM to give my best def leopard imitation,
look it you Yes, I'm going Tyler Lockett's that was good.
You could see some DK Metcalf Jalen Ramsey showdown. So
(32:09):
that opens things up for Tyler Lockett. You had Gino
Smith as a as a hot play. And Pittsburgh Atlanta
is a game that has sixteen like written all over it.
That game, by the way, I think could take two
hours and thirty minutes. That's just my guess. I think
(32:30):
it'll be done by about by about three thirty Eastern times,
so that that's the thing to watch the game time
of the Steelers Falcons game. That's funny because that's only
the fourth Lewis over under week. The other is is
I think bad football could be like like part of it.
(32:50):
But this is I just think that two teams that
are just gonna, you know, just bang helmets for the
for three hours in the run the ball. Yeah, this
is a couple of pieces that are on a getaway
day and getting it done in the baseball season forty
two and a half Atlanta, the narrow home Favorite. I
did like the locket, and eventually we just need to
have you record in whatever song styling last names that
(33:12):
we could just plug in can do as long as
we don't have to pay for the rights. Uh, as
long as you don't put the music in the podcast,
we'll be okay. Well, I hope, I hope that's how
it works. Otherwise we're in big trouble, all right. So
for Ryan Burrsinger, our executive producer, and Mike Carmen, I'll
find Ryan on Twitter at Ryan Burrsing or find Mike
on Twitter at Swelling Dolman. Could find me Dan Buyer
on Twitter at Dan Buyer on Fox Again, A hopefully
(33:35):
lucky Week thirteen for you. We'll talk to you next time.
And I want to Flens
You want experience during your football season, Well, buckle love,
sweet cheeks, We've got all the experience in the world.
This is I want your Flex with Dan Buyer and
Mike Harman. Mike and Dan breakdown everything you need to
set your line ups from position rankings, two starts and sits.
(00:24):
The guys help you make those hard decisions and now
let's get your flexad. Here's Dan Buyer and Mike Harman.
Week thirteen is here. Hopefully it's lucky for you, maybe
unlucky for some, but we are hitting the stretch run
of the fantasy football season. Get Mike on Twitter at
Swollen Dome. You can find me on Twitter at Dan Buyer.
(00:46):
On Fox, we have one heck of a matchup coming
up on Sunday with the Chiefs and Bengals playing in Cincinnati,
Cowboys and Colts playing in Big d is an interesting affair,
Aaron Rodgers returning for the Bears. But Mike, we're going
to focus on Brown's Texans because that is really the
story of the week, as Deshaun Watson not only returns
(01:08):
to action, it's the first time we see him in
a Brown's uniform and he's back in Houston facing his
former team. First time we've seen him on a field,
going all the way back to what, uh, early January
of two thousand, I guess twenty one. That would be
the end of that season. Uh, and so a lot
of questions about ye and then yeah, so season, the
(01:38):
COVID season, right versus this is what we're getting, right. Yeah,
it's actually been seven hundred days. It's been seven days
since we've seen Watson. He's a creep. Yeah, that's that's it,
you know, answering football only questions, and you have to
raise your hand if you want to ask one, because
then we can circle you and put a picture of
you up there to never be able to ask a
(01:59):
question again. But I digress. Lots of questions about what
it means for the squad, obviously, Jacoby Brissette, congratulations on
a job done. Still one of the worst teams in
the NFL. And look, and no disrespect to Jacoby Brissette
for fantasy purposes, most weeks he was just a guy.
But you're looking at Cleveland still tied for second worst
(02:21):
in terms of turnover differential games. They they let get
away to help build the Jet season, et cetera. On paper,
solid wide receivers. You got Cooper, you got in Joku,
but you just have a giant question mark of what
the hell do you expect? I guess the only good
thing outside of all the emotions protesters or whatever, is
you're facing the Texans who stink. I'm sorry you when
(02:46):
you casually put in what is it is one of
the greatest insults of all time. And when I whenever
you say congratulations on a job done, it just goes
back to Peterman telling Elaine on Seinfeld, yep, that congratulations
at a job done. I absolutely absolutely love it. I
I'll say this to your point about the Texans, and
(03:08):
this is how I feel about the game. You would
think that there would be a lot of motivation, maybe
on the Texans side of things. Here's a guy that
didn't want to play for that team. But number one,
your point is correct, they are so bad. Number Two,
I'm not sure they really care that it's the return
of Deshaun Watson because he was on the team, just
(03:29):
didn't want to play it and and you don't have
to rehash the whole thing, but he didn't want to play.
Texans didn't want him to play. I don't know if
there's a you know, like, let's take it to like
I was so ready to jump on the Texans and
load up on the Texans, but yeah, they stink And
what really is their motivation? I don't even know the
(03:50):
Browns are going to be motivated to show that Deshaun
Watson is their guy. It's such a weird sort of
return revenge game. And then just the sliminess of Deshaun
Watson covers the whole thing as well. Yeah, that that's
the thing that sits in the background that will come
to the uh, the forefront as we get to game
day on Sunday. Obviously a lot of curiosity an appreciation
(04:11):
of the player Deshaun Watson was certainly there, but trying
to reconcile that with the off the field, the allegations,
the ongoing um still civil things that aren't quite settled. Uh.
It just leaves you uneasy, uh in myriad ways, and
then you try to break it back down into the
football side of it too. You know, to you what
(04:33):
you said about Houston, right, you think there'd be guys
that are fired up, but Lovey Smith is not that guy, right,
He's not a guy that's gonna be all bulletin board.
But this guy didn't want us, This guy didn't like
That's that's just not who love E Smith is. And
on that team, you've got so many guys that I
think are trying to do whatever they can just to
(04:53):
play well enough to get another contract, whether it be
in Houston or somewhere else. There's not a lot of
stats that have been put up. The guy that we
were excited about, and Pierce, he's disappeared the last couple
of weeks. Kyle Allen's now your quarterback. David s Mills,
you've moved off him, whether for good or or whatever
the case. Maybe Brandon Cook's quit on you. Like you've
(05:14):
got so many things wrong inside your own house, you
have no time to look outside to see what the neighbors,
uh including the Cleveland Browns and Deshaun Watson are doing.
I've I looked at a couple of weeks ago. You
know a guy that we talked about earlier than year,
Nico Collins is maybe a guy. But yeah, to your point,
there's there's no one there that you just start sitting
there counting on your only just gonna get disappointed. If
(05:37):
you have any any Houston Texans trust me again is
the guy who loaded up on the Brandon cook shares
in two. So that is it's it's truly is one
of my biggest l again going back to the Rashad
Penny or Brandon Cook's thing, Petty, we kind of knew
was gonna get hurt, but he still produced. Cooks just
hasn't been there at all. And now he's gotta work
his way back into a place where he was a
(05:57):
captain and a leader. It's so so yeah, the Cooks
thing is is just weird on a million levels. Right.
You brought back into a team that you knew wasn't
gonna be very good. Now. I had higher expectations based
on what we saw for Davis Mills a year ago.
And if you just look at Brandon Cooks, what he's done,
wherever he's wherever he's been, What kind of teammate he is?
(06:18):
What kind of guy is the number? I I don't know.
I can't speak to that. They did take the captain
and captain c from him after he whined and pouted
about the trade deadline and didn't get out of town again.
You signed for very large money in Houston, which made
it very impossible to trade you. But that's on him.
That's a hymn problem for us in the fantasy realm.
(06:41):
You thought, all right, he's always had a consistent like
the floor you thought was was high enough that you're like,
all right, as my third I'm fine, this guy is
gonna be in the lineup. I'm getting my ten points right.
The ronco said it, and forget it, move on and
find to you know, pick over the other positions with
a line to comb Instead, you got a guy who
(07:02):
who basically took his ball and went home. Yeah. Yeah,
and there there were targets there. Last year, I thought
that there was some rapport being built between David's Mills
and Brandon Cooks. Um that is not in neither either
uh likely to play a significant role for the Texans.
All right, let's uh, let's move on. Let's get onto
(07:22):
our rankings of the week for week thirteen in the
National Football League season. Ryan Burgner will be here a
little bit later, our executive producer with his Survivor Pick
Survivor getting down to the wire on the television show
as well. I'll give you one reason to start a
guy and one reason to bench a guy. But Mike
Harmon has the floor, your top five quarterbacks Mike for
(07:43):
Week thirteen in the NFL Usual Suspects A top of
the board. It's just one of those weeks. Jalen Hurt's
going up against Tennessee. We've seen the past defense. You've
got the subplot when we talk about all the storyline
soap operas and gamesmanship like Survivor with a J. Brown
against the Titans here and a secondary that while they
(08:03):
want to try to shut them up, too many weapons
for Philly d really be able to do so. Uh.
Justin Herbert going up against Las Vegas. I saw a
stat that was pretty interesting floating around. I thought you'd
enjoy this. One fewest airy yards this season. Uh, You've
got Matt Ryan at five point eight six. Second was
Justin Herbert at six one point one seven. Because of
(08:26):
all the checkdowns and short passes to Austin Ekeler, guys
out of the backfield, guys like Gerald Everett and then
the yak right even some of the big players to
Palmer and company have come on short passes that they've
then worked into the secondary. Uh, and getting a little
bit of help in the blocking scheme. So I thought
that was interesting. Third, well, based on the qualifiers was
(08:49):
Baker Mayfield uh so not exactly the great company for
Justin Herbert uh No. Number three Patrick Mahomes on the
road at Cincinnati. They're a narrow favorite and the over
under in this one Dan fifty two and a half,
which means let's light them up. Uh And Look. The
first positive thing I will ever say about Matt Naggie
(09:11):
is a story that was breaking right as we cracked
our microphones and Patrick Mahomes talking about how Matt Naggie
helped him cheat on all of the play calls and
everything so he would ace his interview with Andy Reid
to get drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs. Hey, I
want to him a fruit bask Yeah, you gotta make it.
(09:35):
And then and then he goes and coaches the Bears
that doesn't know what he's doing. Number four Dak Prescott
against the Indianapolis Colts. Cults are stingy at times, but Dallas,
a ten point favorite, looked for the run game to
take over and then for Dak to pick his spots.
And finally, guy, I don't know that we've had him
in the top five all year, but he's been playing very,
(09:56):
very well. I know one of his component parts to
his offense will be featured a little later here. I'm
going Trevor Lawrence going up against Detroit in a game
once again. I don't know how many Jackson Jaguars games
we've seen were the over under eclipse fifty points currently
at fifty one and a half on the road. It
could be some Jags flavor later on in the podcast. Hint, hint, hint,
(10:18):
and so so when took over in Chicago, was it
after mahomes Is second year? I always know it was
the one year, right. The reason I'm saying is because
if it was just one year, then maybe that could
have been your quarterback in Chicago. If that was the
reason that he loved him so much. Well, you know,
when we go back to the fun and excitement of
(10:39):
Matt Nagy, who's the head coach at Chicago throughen, he
helped Patrick Mahomes end up there and he coached up
Rabinsky who got him to two playoffs. They got two
playoffs together. One guy gets blamed for everything the other
guy because whatever reason in our media business, everybody wants
to kiss the ass of the failed coach who goes
(11:02):
back to Kansas City, and now he's the sixth guy
again again Patrick Mahomes. And and I think you'll agree
with this, would not have been Patrick Mahomes if he
was in Chicago, if he doesn't go to Andy Reid.
That's It's one of the things that I was glad
they finally won that Super Bowl because I don't think
Andy Reid ever got the credit he deserved for how
(11:24):
good a coach and how good a system he ran,
right Donovan McNabb in that run, Not to make it
a big NFL segment, uh, in terms of the regular
NFL speaking points, especially for guys that have no relevancy
to your fantasy team twenty years later. Uh, is Donovan
McNabb and those guys that were running around his wide receivers.
Who did you have outside of that one t o year.
(11:44):
You had Brian Westbrook in the backfield and a bunch
of guys and yet they still ran rough shot over
the NFC for years. So appreciation moment there it is.
Let's jump back to the rankings. Top five running backs
four week thirteen in the NFL, currently the number two
running back in all of fantasy football after twelve weeks
(12:06):
based on some monster performances, including last week's You got
Josh Jacobs, Remember they didn't pick up his option running angry?
Uh Jacob's going up against the Charges, Charges still giving
up about five point seven yards per carry. Big opportunity here.
Nick Chubb going up against Houston. Houston giving up a
hundred eighty yards per game on the ground. It's a
(12:26):
nice way to ease Deshaun Watson back in, don't you think. Uh.
Number three Austin Ekeler on the other side of that
game against the Raiders. He is currently RB one in
all of Fantasy football. Number four Derrick Henry going up
against Philly. We have seen while you might not be
able to break that secondary, you can impose some will
on that front seven. And this is a strength on
(12:48):
strength as Philly. Uh Beef's up right, because now we're
talking about recency and what they've done adding a lot
of bodies and beef to that defensive line. So we'll
see what what comes out in the wash. But I
like King Henry for another big effort here. And then
your guy, our man, Mr. Walker going up against the Rams.
No Aaron Donald. What the hell's that defense gonna look like?
(13:10):
With no Aeron I am still very cautious. Um, the
uniforms are the same, the names and faces that you'll
see in those helmets different. But you know, the Rams
and the Seahawks. Rams have always kind of the Seahawks
number as of late. If if it happens with this
cast of characters, uh, then something's definitely wrong. But yeah,
(13:32):
to your point, Kenneth Walker has been saved by touchdowns lately,
hopefully at least as a Seahawks fan. He bounces back
against it. Now, you'll be on air on Fox Sports
Radio when that game goes live, will you not? Yes? Correct.
I was debating, going if I can get in cheap enough, Yeah,
well I'm sure you can. You know for sure, Maybe
I can get someone to give me some tickets now,
(13:52):
and then I was reminded that I'm supposed to volunteer
to help out my daughter's play's probably a better option,
and I usually have the game streaming in the lobby
all the play is going on. I heard they're they're
they're freaking out over the Christmas game because of the
with the Broncos and Rams playing in l A and
how many people aren't going to show up to that thing,
how poorly bal teams are playing no stars that effect.
(14:13):
This is where you find a local sponsor and you
print up as many cheap T shirts, chat skeys, whatever
as you can, get some gift certificates to local businesses, whatever, whatever.
Incentivize the hell out of it and try to make
it a Christmas miracle. Absolutely, let's get to the wide receivers.
Four week thirteen in the NFL Top five, Mike, when
(14:35):
you got looking for that score fest between the Chargers
and the Raiders, I got Davante Adams up at the
top of the board. A J. Brown and his return
against the Titans. Uh, look for him to put up numbers.
I don't know if the yardage is there, but red zone.
I gotta feel like they're gonna do what they can
to feed him. Ceedee Lamb going up against Indianapolis, all
(14:57):
the talk of the Odell Beckham Jr. Free agency tour,
all the targets are there, and the connection he's got
with Dak right now has been fantastic. You know, I
love me some Aman Ross st. Brown going up on
the other side of that game against Jacksonville again high
high over under total, and when we look at what
the Lions offense is on a weekly basis. That's a
(15:18):
heavy dose of st brown targets like I can't promise
your performance, but I can promise you he's gonna get
his opportunities. And finally one that I have an asterisk
asterisk on again to ask you about Dan Uh Tyreek
Hill going against San Francisco. To this point, nobody's been
able to crack the code and really erase him. Even
in his worst days, he's still giving you a pretty
(15:41):
solid effort. San Francisco's defense been really stingy of late,
especially in the second half. What's that four straight shutouts? Yes? Yes,
and Uh saved me. If I didn't have a shout
out from the forty nins last week, I would have
taken the big old l um. Obviously, he's still a play.
I actually think there's gonna be something there for him
because I've changed my thinking over the last couple of years,
(16:06):
where I just think guys are going to get there's
now the Dolphins may not win and they may score
sixteen points, but I still think Tyreek Hill is going
to get his And do not see a game or
Tyreek Hill has three catches for one yards not gonna
happen yeah, it is. It is a curious game. I alright,
strength on strength one of the big things of storylines.
Even if he has if he has seven catches for
(16:27):
eighty four yards, you're not regretting playing him. And I
know that's not ideal, but that could be a stat
line that he could end up producing in that game.
But that's to saying it's all about in game versus
box score. And this is where this is one of
those games that will be really interesting to watch. I've
seen a lot of social media capital from folks trying
to make their make their names and and and get
(16:49):
some clout coming out of that battle in the Bay Area.
A rematch of Super Bowl nineteen, which by the way,
was also played in the Bay Area at Stanford Stadium,
the old Sanford Stadium back in the day, so prior
to the Buccaneers and uh Um Rams playing in their
home stadiums the too closest Super Bowls, the Rams played
in a Super Bowl at the Rose Bowl and the
(17:11):
Niners played one at Stanford Stadium, so you were like
in the same metropolitan area, but you're just not in
the same stadium. Until the Buccaneers and Rams ruined it.
The last two years. I always enjoyed going to Stanford
Stadium when I lived up there in the Bay. Yeah,
it's pretty good. Plays kind of tucked away. Uh if
you if you didn't know it was there on campus,
you would walk right past it. They built that thing
(17:32):
like nine months. I remember Stanford played Notre Dame and
they had the like the the bulldozers in the tunnel
ready to tear it up because they needed to turn
that thing around for the next year. And they got
it done. They got it done. It's amazing. They do
that Wrigley Field every year once the Cup's final home
game is played. All right, what do we need to
shore up this year? All right, let's get to the
(17:53):
hot plays, gold Swords and Ninja's. Let's start with the
hot plays. Guys that aren't in the top five, but
you should get in your lineup in week thirteen. Go
back to the well with Geneo g Yeah, Gino Smith
is gonna be one of the guys to lead you,
uh to fantasy playoff glory. Look this week, opportunity against
the Rams again. One of the leading pass rushers in
our lifetime is not gonna play. Can they scheme it
(18:14):
up and still get after him perhaps, but Gino is
a guy. I think if you start looking at your valuations,
particularly in doubt daily fantasy leads, you might have an
opportunity there. As much as it pains me to try
to give any love to the Jets, uh Mike White
against Minnesota and particularly Garrett Wilson, I was intrigued to
see Elijah more back in it. You can see how
(18:36):
happy everybody was for him, so that had to be weird.
I'm tired of everybody airing their laundry, right c j
Uzama hitting up the podcast world to talk about what
a mentor he was and how he counseled Zack Wilson
in adversity. Keep that in the locker room. Patrick Peterson,
you're not on the Cardinals anymore. You shut up too.
You had your opportunity to try to help uh Kyler
(18:57):
Murray when he was younger, you didn't. But the young
receivers can be at play from Mike White, which means
I'm gonna have another week of opens if they win
this game. You know this. I think that is a backup,
and I regret it. We mentioned Deshaun Watson before. I
have no idea what to expect I really don't. They
are seven point favorites on the road in Houston, opportunities
(19:20):
there expect a lot of chub. But when when we
look at it, I think there's there's no denying that
all things are set for what would be a grand
re entrance here and a guy who could be again
a difference maker. I don't know how many I think
about half the league's he was stashed away. The other
half you've been back to waivers and there's a lot
(19:41):
of uneasy feeling about it. But like, if he's available, um,
winds are wins. Um. We look at Aaron Jones going
up against the Bear, second worst against running backs. On
the other side of that game, you got David Montgomery. Uh,
and then I already mentioned Wilson. So we take the
other guy, the lead man in Tampa that cannot be stopped,
and that's Chris Godwin. Chris Godwin finding his way through
(20:07):
that mess of Buccaneers wide receivers. All right, let's and
Todd Bowles. But that's what we got. We we don't
have time for that right now. Dave Hunts, Todd Bowles.
That's what I always feel like, it's a hobby. We're
talking about Todd Bowles. UM's got the cold sores for
a week. So much there, Dan, I'm not putting the
ball in Tom's hands. He could throw an interception. Uh
(20:30):
or I'm not gonna I'm not gonna call time out,
So I'm not doing any of that. All right, Who
do you got for the cold sores? Alright? Well we'll
put Kirk Cousins up there with a giant question mark
against that New York Jets secondary. A lot of chirping
back and forth between Justin Jefferson, H and Sauce. Gardner
noticed Justin Jefferson didn't have fear in my top five.
(20:51):
I think he's a little on the outside looking in,
and I think it's gonna be Osborne and feeling that
are gonna have to come up big for them if
they're gonna get over Uh. Lamar Ja Baxon, you've got
the injury issue, but you're also playing the Denver defense.
I actually made the joke earlier this week that Tampa's
just Denver with a little better press than a little
higher scoring average. They've only scored more than twenty two
(21:13):
points once this year, have the Buccaneers. As for the
Ravens fourth quarter, collapses. But this is just a tough
spot for anybody grind it out at justin Tucker kind
of game. I put two on the list just you
still have to play him because he's not been able
to be stopped. Like last week, the only thing that
stopped him was sitting on the sidelines and watching a game. Uh.
(21:35):
So you have that Miles Sanders going up against Tennessee,
the third best against running backs, and you have the
split backfield. But he's been fantastic, so it's tough to
take him upfield. But more in RB two for me
this week. Likewise, se Quon Barkley going up against the
surging Washington Commanders, just one that you're you just hanging
hanging asterisk on as you were. And then Deebo Samuel
(21:58):
going up against Miami. Uh, top top play right now,
running backs are all hurt. Miami's defense doesn't get credit
because well, the offense has been so spectacular, but a
tough matchup for them. And again Christian McCaffrey taking away
opportunities from other forty niners. All right, let's get to
(22:18):
the ninja's This sneaky plays for week thirteen. Does Aaron
Rodgers count Sure? Absolutely at twenty three and five against
the Bears lifetime, and he sounded like he really wants
to play. I did, like you know, Jason Smith and
I had. Normally, I don't get too deep into the
wow people listen to the show, uh and then it's there.
But I felt like Aaron Rodgers did because he channeled
(22:39):
something I said was like, you know, if you asked
me real nicely, maybe I'd think about sitting down. But
let me let me go beat up on the Bears
one more time before I do it. Um Joe Michael Hasty.
Depending on E. T n s availability, and even if
et N is there, I think you've still got an
opportunity for a flex worthy option there. We've looked at
(23:00):
Homer in the receiving corps for the charges. Even with
Alan and Williams potentially available. Here, Palmer has been the
safety valve uh and kind of keeping this thing afloat
along the way. Ju Smith Houster going up against Cincinnati
would be the other one. And then in Pittsburgh, with
(23:20):
the injury to Nazi Harris, some talk of a hernia
possible question mark keeping an eye on his availability. Benny
Snell looked pretty good against Indianapolis, so h Jalen Warren
another guy to keep an eye out towards kickoff. But
once again, Pittsburgh, it only goes as far as the
run game gets to and going up against Atlanta, I
(23:42):
think they lean on in a bunch. All right. So
you got Mike's rankings, you got his top five, you
got his hot plays, cold source and Ninja's. Now it's
the time for Ryan bur Singer on myself to give
you some advice. I'm gonna give you some advice on
who to start and who to bens. Just one player
and Mike, you're a high on that uh jaguar is
Lions game. With the possibilities you have, Trevor Lawrence, you
(24:03):
have a monra St Brown. I'm putting Christian Kirk is
my guy to start this week because of the points
that You're targets have always been there. The production against
tougher defenses. Yeah, it's it's shown in some of Kirk's numbers,
But I think he has another opportunity because he's going
to get opportunities. The targets share is there for Christian
Kirk and the guy I'm gonna bench. And it goes
(24:24):
along with your theme of what we could see in
the Twin Cities. I'm gonna put Dalvin Cook of the
Minnesota Vikings. Now I'm not saying to bench him, um,
but if he doesn't have a great week to your
point of some of your cold sores, uh, I would
not be surprised because of that Jets defense. So Cook
is benched Kirk to start. I think it goes back to,
(24:45):
you know, just our our general mantra to this Dan
is as much as there are guys that are etched
in stone, kind of like when you do a camp
cut list. Like when we were administrators of the Yahoo leagues,
when I was helping run things behind the scene every
week had to uh decide, all right, is this a
game changer? If a guy gets dropped right and he
(25:06):
goes to waiver wires, doesn't cause chaos and unrest in
the league, you know, like guys dropping full teams burst
precipitating that. But it's the idea that in these circumstances
like okay, I have to start this guy if I
start to running backs. But beyond that, now I really
have to spend all my time in my fantasy evaluation
(25:28):
where I've really got to get my second wide receiver,
my flex play, my tight end. I've got to squeeze
every bit of juice that is there, and right now,
I mean mentioning those secondary positions. That's really hard right
now because you've got the haves and and truly the
have nots. Absolutely, let's go to Burst. Burst, You've got
some survivor uh teams to pick for Week thirteen. And
(25:51):
by the way, if you're alive in a survivor pool
right now, congratulations, that is uh, that is something to
be very very proud of. Burst. What do you got
for week third team? Yeah, seriously, I am not alive
in the survivor pool right now. It has been has
been months quite frankly. But um, if you are still alive,
this is gonna be a really tough week because there's
a lot of good teams playing other good teams. Um.
(26:13):
In terms of the the most clear cut choices, I
think if you've still got the Ravens available there, they've
got the Broncos at home, I think that's a great choice. Um,
the Seahawks should beat the Rams, especially with Stafford still
not hackers even on a road division game is not
you know, but I was thinking that as well. Yes,
(26:34):
I I I only hesitated on that because the Packers
have burned me the last couple of times I've tried
to pick them in survival. Yes, exactly, both in personal
and professional lives. A difficult week, it's not fun, but
they are playing better than they have over the last
couple of weeks, and of course with the uh especially
(26:54):
if Justin Fields isn't going for the Bears, and we've
seen what the Bears secondary is capable of doing for
opposing offenses. So uh yeah, No, I do also like
the Packers, and I think I would also take the
Browns at Houston. Obviously, I know, uh this is a
potential only because of the scenario they're in. You would
(27:15):
think that like maybe the Texans are able to play
up to him, but the Texans are just so bad.
I think if if you're looking to thread the needle
a bit, the Browns are probably a team that that
are still available to a lot of people who are
still alive and survivor at this point, and you don't
get a better opportunity to win than when playing the Texans.
Um and in terms of Survivor the TV show, I
(27:36):
think I will now now that we're down really down
to it. I will lay off of giving names in
terms of UH because it might give away too much
to say who is gone who isn't um, But I
will say that, you know, my picks throughout the season
have been great thus far, and I really feel strongly
about one of them actually winning. But um. Also, I'm
(27:56):
shocked that Survivor brought that last gasp at the challenge. UH.
For those who are unfamiliar, last gaps, last gasp is UH,
it's drowning. It is drowning. It is. It is very
difficult to watch. Um. But somehow a couple of people
did fantastically in it, So it's it's a it's a
(28:16):
scary thing. And I'm shocked that they gave the okay
to bring it back, but they did well so and
it may not be back again for the reason that occurred. Yeah, yeah,
exactly exactly. It makes you want to watch My man,
are we gonna do a Survivor podcast for next time?
I'm on board with it, let's go. Obviously, I can't
(28:37):
watch it live so long as the good folks and
Fox keep me in my seven to eleven perch Monday
through Friday, But damn it, I can get through it
forty minutes after the show. I really love the show.
I've watched it. Um. I stopped for a while, but
watched it for the last decade. But I am not
like those Survivor die hards, um, who like know about
the edits and everything. But there are certain things about
(28:57):
how the show is edited that you know, like in
the and who it's going to come down to. Okay,
well I do know this. My my older daughter is
really deep into it. She loves all the game shows
right the like between That, the Amazing Race, the Challenge,
all of those things are big on her watch list.
So I I have a human cheat code because her
memory of all this crap is amazing. If I can
(29:20):
get it, get her to apply it to things that
can make us money. Uh, and this could be one
of them. I'm all on board with that. It's it's
it's it really is fascinating. I mean it is, and yeah,
you should cash in because I'll tell you there's an audience. Yeah,
there's an audience for that. Absolutely. I'm I've been a
survivor of fan since twenty years. I remember watching my
(29:41):
living room then they all start crying and watching it
when they had it the premiere after the Super Bowl,
right like, all right, here it is. I've been waiting
for it, and we all sat around and looked at
each other because it's gonna be interesting. And then after
about seven years, I was like, I can't. I also
think people thought that, you know, like you're gonna be
killing out most of your bare hands and instead you're
(30:01):
finding immunity idols. Like that's a little difference, you know
of Although there was a season where some of that stuff,
you know, what did happen? Anybody? What did you do
to learn and get ready for survival? Well? I went
out of Nada, make a shift. Seriously, I think that's
what people thought. Uh that and probably a lot of sex.
(30:22):
But they don't that doesn't make don't show that that
that that should be Survivor after Dark. They do it
with Big Brother. Let's get it on, oh man, all right,
let's let's get have three point conversions on Mike. As
we wrap this up, I'll give you the floor for
your three points to watch for Week thirteen. Obviously, storyline
sudden we mentioned a few of them. Right, Rogers against
the Bears is at his last game for the season.
(30:44):
With Week four team as a buy an operation shut down,
Jordan Loved, do you need to see what he is?
Blah blah blah blah blah, the Deshaun Watson, the return
of a J. Brown against the Titans. There's just all
fun storylines to be had. Number two, look ahead. We've
mentioned it in Passing a couple of times, but really,
before games kick off on Sunday, really look ahead to
(31:06):
Week four team, particularly if you need if you only
carry one tight end or things of that nature. Going
back to burs with defenses, because you're gonna be scrambling
and fighting people for the best the kicker position if
your league still uses it, so you still have that
flowing on that And I got my popcorn ready to
watch KSE Cincinnati. That is a game that I'm just
(31:28):
very excited to watch Patrick mahomes Uh and Joe Burrow
battle and hopefully someone decides to wear a random uniform
to get me excited. A couple of a couple of
points of pollutes and nominees. I'm gonna go with Chargers
Raiders in this one. Okay, just because of the heels
of their meeting earlier this year. Wasn't the points of
pelluser that we thought. But I think that both teams
(31:48):
now have found at least a footing, especially the Raiders,
and we've talked about so I think you'll see points
in that one. UM to give my best def leopard imitation,
look it you Yes, I'm going Tyler Lockett's that was good.
You could see some DK Metcalf Jalen Ramsey showdown. So
(32:09):
that opens things up for Tyler Lockett. You had Gino
Smith as a as a hot play. And Pittsburgh Atlanta
is a game that has sixteen like written all over it.
That game, by the way, I think could take two
hours and thirty minutes. That's just my guess. I think
(32:30):
it'll be done by about by about three thirty Eastern times,
so that that's the thing to watch the game time
of the Steelers Falcons game. That's funny because that's only
the fourth Lewis over under week. The other is is
I think bad football could be like like part of it.
(32:50):
But this is I just think that two teams that
are just gonna, you know, just bang helmets for the
for three hours in the run the ball. Yeah, this
is a couple of pieces that are on a getaway
day and getting it done in the baseball season forty
two and a half Atlanta, the narrow home Favorite. I
did like the locket, and eventually we just need to
have you record in whatever song styling last names that
(33:12):
we could just plug in can do as long as
we don't have to pay for the rights. Uh, as
long as you don't put the music in the podcast,
we'll be okay. Well, I hope, I hope that's how
it works. Otherwise we're in big trouble, all right. So
for Ryan Burrsinger, our executive producer, and Mike Carmen, I'll
find Ryan on Twitter at Ryan Burrsing or find Mike
on Twitter at Swelling Dolman. Could find me Dan Buyer
on Twitter at Dan Buyer on Fox Again, A hopefully
(33:35):
lucky Week thirteen for you. We'll talk to you next time.
And I want to Flens
Hosts And Creators
Jason Smith
Mike Harmon
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