October 12, 2023 • 21 mins
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It's Fox Sports Radio's Official Fantasy Football Podcast! Dan Beyer, Mike Harmon and Ryan Burschinger get you ready for the start of Week 6. Harmon and Burschinger dive into the Thursday night matchup between the Broncos and Chiefs. Ryan gives you his streaming defense plays for the week, and Dan gives his survivor pool picks!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Ladies.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
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 Bayer and
Mike Harmon. Mike and Dan break down everything you need
to set your lineups, from position rankings to starts and sits.
(00:24):
The guys help you make those hard decisions. And now
let's get your flexide. Here's Dan Bayer and Mike Harmon.
Welcome in.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
It's week six. That's right, already week six on your
fantasy scorecard. This is the IYE Watcher Flex Podcast Thursday
Night preview, Mike Harmon alongside our guy Ryan Berschinger, trying
to roll through the next wave of games. That's right,
bye weeks. Only two teams on buye for this week.
We've got Green Bay and Pittsburgh, and I think everybody's
(00:56):
happy because maybe they'll actually go find some offense for
your fantasy team during their bye week. But in the interim, Ryan,
we've got Kansas City ten and a half point favorites
hosting Denver with a forty eight over under. And while
Kansas City has not yet really shown to be an
offensive juggernaut, defense has been getting after it most weeks
(01:19):
and you get to lampoon, harpoon and mock the Denver
Broncos defense on national television once again, and I'll be
on in studio. I've enjoyed nothing more than watching Russell,
Wilson and Sean Payton flail.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Yeah, yeah, we get primetime Broncos again. It's twenty twenty
two all over again, but at least like it's a
good team on the other side this time. So yeah,
I mean, how many ways do we say player chiefs
and h in terms of the Broncos.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Well, I mean, look, Russell's eighth among quarterbacks through the
first five weeks of the season, right, and and then
it becomes the real versus a madge Like fantasy stats,
they all couch just the same, but trying to predict
that that's going to continue against a good defense with
a good pass rush, going against a bad offensive line
(02:18):
and just going and praying for garbage points. I don't
subscribe to that philosophy full on, right, I mean, there's
just you get yourself into danger spots there. I mean,
I don't know if you saw the quotes from our
Fox analyst and teammate in the larger universe. Mark Schlareth
on his show in Denver saying at the effort from
Jerry Judy and Courtland Sutton last week that he would
(02:39):
have cut him if he was the coach.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Oh that's good.
Speaker 4 (02:44):
That's there's trade whispers all over the playoffs, right, we
talked about it, you know, Van Jefferson gets del to
Atlanta whatever, And there's been a lot of rumors about
wide receivers perhaps unlosing teams getting bounced around.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
But when you've got a guy flat out saying yeah,
they quit and I wouldn't have him on my teams,
Like all right, let's talk about week six fast?
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Oh oh so yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
I mean I'm looking at the Broncos side of it
and trying to figure out exactly I guess we look
at Russ and he'd be probably a high end QB
two and with more leagues using two qbs super flexes
whatever that potentially you get him into your lineup. But
I don't feel confident about it, right, I mean, Kansas
(03:37):
City can shut you down. I mean, it's not like
he's making a ton of plays with his legs where
you say I'm gonna get thirty forty yards right now,
you're more likely to get that on the other side
with Patrick Mahomes, which is really weird because I still
think about him running side to side in the Super
Bowl to the tune of like five hundred yards. But
when we look at this, I mean for Denver, I
(03:57):
mean McLoughlin, McLaughlin. You know, at running back back end
two maybe right, and you're just hoping that he breaks one,
and you're just playing him based on volume at that
point versus expectation. Right, it's the all right, he's got
to be able to do this with ten to fifteen touches,
(04:19):
but you have no confidence in it. Those wide receivers
are no better than back end threes or fours. And
on most rosters, again, with a very short bye week
of just Green Bay and Pittsburgh, you'll find other options,
especially because you've got other guys are more viable based
on injuries. Right with Indianapolis, their wide receiving room is
(04:40):
more viable because it's Minshew instead of Richardson. As much
as I love what Richardson has shown and can't be
but Minshew, we know he has no conscience and we'll
throw the ball around, right, which means Josh downs and
these guys get an upgrade, so I'd rather be playing
them than necessarily trying to find the needle in the
hate stack with with Judy or Sutton.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
I agree with that because on the surface, it feels like, oh,
the Chiefs are gonna blow them out, Russ Is gonna
have to throw a ton, but still the Chiefs defense
can hold things together. And so with Sutton or Judy
you'll get You could get good PPR performances from any
of these guys, but it's hard to feel super confident.
(05:25):
And when it's a Thursday night when you got to
make decisions early, if you've got better options, if you've
got options that you're like deliberating between, you probably have
to go away from the choices on the Bronco side.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
Let me give you one in the same game. Yeah, what,
I feel more confident with Rashi Rice, right, who's in
the same range. When we start talking about rankings or
Courtland Sutton, I was like, the Broncos defense, they're still
gonna sell off spare parts all over the field, right,
So I mean I'd play Rice against that second yeah,
(06:01):
all day, even if I know I'm not getting a
giant volume. The potential for the big hit and for
Kansas City's offense, which has been you know, concerning. I
think to some people at this point when you start
going down the road of your fantasy points for Mahomes
and what we've seen and Travis Kelsey will get to
(06:22):
him in a moment that you know this is this
is the bust out game, because we've seen everybody feast
on this Denver defense thus far to that point, let
me get to Kelsey injured, the turf gotam some say
it's a swifty curse, whatever the case may be. Looks
like he's going to be able to go. But since
(06:45):
the tight end position has been such a roll of
the dice this this year, do you start looking at
Noah Gray as a roll the dice against the team
that's given up the sixth most fantasy points per game
to tight ends.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
I think he can, especially given the matchup. Yeah, if
Kelsey's a no go, Noah Gray does provide good opportunity. Ideally,
like there there are still a handful of guys you
wouldn't start Gray over, but especially if you have Kelsey,
you need to pivot to somebody else. No Grey is
a great.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
Option and you probably didn't draft a backup.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Yeah, yeah, right, or you.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
Drafted you know, tight end twenty four anyway, Yes, right,
if you go get one of those top options, because
right now, when you look at going down the line,
I mean, are you trusting guys? Are you trusting Dawson Knox. No,
he's already competing with Kincaid and neither of them are
doing anything. We talked about that in another podcast this week.
You know, you've had the ascendants of Dalton Schultz, who
(07:44):
I like a lot tough match against New Orleans, but
he seems like a guy that's on the come. Okay,
I'll take him on that side. Higbee against Arizona. Okay,
I'll take Higbee in that that matchup. But you start
getting into some of these other options, you know what
we're talking about, JEANU Smith, Kyle Pitts or the others, Like,
(08:06):
I don't know, I think I'll go where the offense
goes against a terrible defense.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Yeah, looking back when Noah Gray was the main tight
end option Week one against the Lions, when Kelsey was
out three catches on five targets for thirty one yards.
So not a ton there, but also the Chiefs offense
as a whole didn't get a ton moving in that
game as it was. I'd imagine they're going to be
much more effective overall against the Broncos defense, So there
(08:31):
should be some pretty You're looking at least five to
seven targets there for Noah Gray, which when they're coming
from Patrick Mahomes against a bad defense, that's something you'd
want to part of. Now.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
One of the things you do on the podcast for
us each week is talking about trying to find some
streamers case might still be out there.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, coming off of the matchup with the Vikings.
The Vikings sure not a good team, but they're not
also an offense that you typically aimed to stream defenses again,
so it's entirely possible that the Chiefs defense is still
out there. So yeah, this would be this would be
a fun stream And then they get them again in
(09:08):
two weeks as well, So I mean, yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
How much I love those scheduling quirks, especially down the stretch.
What do I got? I got this team, that team,
and then team one again. It's like, what are we doing,
especially at the end of seasons, you know, when injuries
have really decided. Let's yeah, let's make the division up
for grabs anyway, that's a rant for another time, or
I might have done that Sunday. I think I hadnnoyed
to Andy Furman and Jason Fitz with that one, because
(09:34):
you know, I got on my soapbox because I had
to yell with them the week before for not fully
embracing Travis Kelsey and Taylor Swift and the marketing and
brilliant so at all.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
But I digress.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
At Ryan Bershon here where you find him on Twitter,
find me over at Swollen Dome, send those lineup calls,
or if you just have rants about players who failed you.
The airing of the grievances isn't just reserve for the
holidays around here. We certainly welcome them each and every
week because, look, this is part of the forum and
what we love to do as well. We're part of
(10:09):
the community playing these games as well. For Bursch Mike,
we'll be back with all of the week six previews.
Check out the rest of the podcast the iWatch Flex
wherever you're getting you obviously found it now, go subscribe,
Go evangelize and tell your friends, family, neighbors, leave stickers,
(10:30):
start calling people in your extended call list because I
mean you have them. Maybe you post it on social
media as well. We appreciate the love and you being
part of the extended family. Let's keep it growing and
we'll be back for more of Week six. Yes, week
six of your National Football League.
Speaker 5 (10:46):
Welcome back it is I want your flex time for
Ryan Berschinger and myself Dan Byer to flex some of
our knowledge. Harmon and Bursch broke down the Thursday night game.
We look a little bit more to week six. Bursch
has the streaming defenses. I have my survivor picks. Let's
start with bursh Are we going Kansas City? Continuing on
(11:07):
this run, where are we looking for streaming defenses on
a week where only the Packers and Steelers have buys?
Speaker 1 (11:13):
Well, I mean playing the Chiefs tonight on Thursday night
is not a bad idea at all. They are still
available and roughly forty percent of leagues, and you know,
targeting the Broncos as a streaming opponent is a strong strategy.
I still think there are a handful of a very
strong plays that are available. Now. I know what you're thinking.
(11:34):
Fool me once, Shame on you, fool me twice. I
advocated heavily last week for one of the Thursday Night defenses,
and that was of course the Washington Demanders. Yes, then
started my week off with a solid negative five.
Speaker 5 (11:53):
And again could have been worse if DJ Moore actually
is in bounds, which we never saw the replay of.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
Yeah, and I advocated for the Commanders because of the
fact that they had a couple strong matchups here, and
I'm still not afraid to play the Commanders as way
to do it, that is, of course against the Atlanta Falcons. Yeah,
Desmond Ritter put together three in a passing yard somehow
last week. I'm I'm willing to bet that that's not
(12:22):
going to happen again.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
Now.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
Yes, the Commanders also as a team have allowed over
thirty points in four straight games. So there are a
lot of signs saying that this is probably not the
best move. But I still believe and you trust the process.
I would still play the Commanders here, Isn't.
Speaker 5 (12:41):
That the point of it? Like, you've either committed to
a team or you committed to streaming, right, So if
you've committed to streaming, you have to look for options
that are available, which, by the way, isn't twenty five
teams in the National Football League, it's likely about fifteen
of them, right.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Right, So yeah, exactly, because I mean, obviously the Bills
are the number one play this week, but the Bills
are probably not available in your league somehow. There's still
like four percent of leagues where they're still available if
they are, jump on that. But and the Eagles are
great play this week. They're certainly, I mean, they're still
available in ten percent of league somehow. Again, just like
I don't know what you people are doing. Pick those
defenses up. But in terms of more streaming options, I
(13:21):
like the Dolphins defense this week against the Panthers. I
also like the Patriots defense against the Raiders. I think
that there's a solid opportunity from both of those defenses.
Speaker 5 (13:32):
I am so nervous about Dolphins Panthers. Not that the
Panthers looked great against the Lions, but is there a
hiccup at some point where where like we don't see
and the Dolphins' defense hasn't been huge, but they're two
touchdown favorite over Carolina. Sure, I was just I could
(13:53):
not do. I would rather do commanders thinking that the
Falcons aren't gonna put forty on me as opposed to
not that the Panthers will, but I think you could
get in the back and forth game and that Panthers
Dolphins matchup.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Now, the Dolphins are a little bit like the Commanders
where you kind of had to pick them up last week.
The Dolphins are available and only like thirteen percent of
the leagues right now because they had the Giants last week.
But the Commanders are still very widely available, roughly seventy percent.
The Patriots defense is available in nearly half of league's
so there are some and if you are desperate, if
you've got to jump on a stream late in the week,
(14:28):
here in terms of deeper options that might still be available.
I mean, shoot, you could go to the other side
of that Patriots Raiders matchup and take that Raiders defense,
given the fact that the Patriots have looked awful offensively
and didn't score any points last week.
Speaker 5 (14:45):
So there is a gamble now in hearing you because
I am not a streaming defense guy, but things are
popping up in my head. Do you want Do you
want that defense that's going to give you twenty each week?
Or do you want to avoid the team that's not
going to like it? Is it worth it? Can you
can you live with your team giving you negative five, Yeah,
(15:05):
like you got against the Commanders. Like I'm the guy
thinking like, because I stay with one defense, I'm of
the ilk of cut my losses. I think if you
are streaming defenses, you are go bigger, go home.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
Absolutely, And and you also hope too that the remainder
of your roster kind of picks things up, because in
my in my negative five Commanders team, I've still won
that game.
Speaker 5 (15:29):
Sure.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
So that's where it is a boomer bus sort of play,
and if you've got a strong roster otherwise, you can
kind of weather those busts sometimes and with the high risk,
high reward level of play, you'll you'll get an extra
winner two from the from the high risk explosive numbers
(15:50):
from a defense. But yeah, you could absolutely still get
an extra loss or too if if those Bus hurt bad.
Speaker 5 (15:56):
The London game. You know, sometimes if the Ravens do
get down, you could make a little hay because Lamar
likes to run and can put pressure on him. The
Titan's very good against the run, not so much against
the pass. I think you could have maybe looked at
that as an option, but I'd probably want to stay
away from that one, all right, So a lot of
the matchups that you mentioned can play into my Survivor pick.
(16:21):
And before I get into week six, do you remember
what I said in week five? Do you remember? And
it's okay if you don't. I didn't tell you beforehand.
Remember what I said in week five?
Speaker 1 (16:32):
I don't think, okay.
Speaker 5 (16:33):
I said, if there was one game that you wanted
to risk, who would it mean more to the Broncos
beating the Jets or the Jets beating the Denver Broncos.
And I said, if you really wanted to risk it, which,
by the way, I did not put my money where
my mouth is, and the Survivor entries that I still
have alive, I did not pick the Jets. But the
Jets did come through in that fashion. So I am
(16:56):
riding high right now on my fifty to fifty pick
of a Survivor pick, because perst, if you have the
Dolphins available, they are likely going to be picked this
week against the Panthers. Yeah, you mentioned the Bills being
the two touchdown favorite against the Giants. They are also
a likely pick. So you do kind of want to
look other places if you want to save those better
(17:17):
teams which you think that the Bills and Dolphins are
for maybe later on in the season. Another thing to
do is if you are thinking about the Bills are
thinking about the Dolphins, just look ahead to their schedule
and be like, what week would I pick them. You
don't have to say, Okay, I'm going to save them
for Week eleven. If there are two or three games
where you could be like, okay, I'd feel all right
(17:37):
with it, then maybe you want to hold off with it.
But I think what you're going to see in a
lot in Week six or a lot of Dolphins and
a lot of Bills. I don't blame you for that.
I think that there are two games that we can
look at to try to maybe get some value if
there happens to be that upset that shakes everything up.
One game that I'm going to tell you to not pick, though,
and that is the Colts Jacksonville game, because I'm going
(18:00):
back to my rules. Jacksonville is a four point favorite,
and you say to yourself, remember all of the success
that Jacksonville has had against the Colts when they play
in Jacksonville. They seem to always beat the Colts there.
With Gardner Minshew now starting against his former team, and
the Colts coming off of a win against the against
the Titans last week and Jacksonville after staying a week
(18:22):
in London and now coming back home. It's just something
I would stay away from, and I think that's one
that people would look, Okay, I'm gonna take the Jaguars.
I think the Colts are better with Gardner Minshew right
now than they are with Anthony Richardson, so I actually
give them an uptick. So stay away from Colts Jaguars.
I do think again divisional matchup as well one of
my rules. But in going against what I just said
(18:45):
one second ago, Cardinals Rams does offer some value. I
think the Rams are a good football team, even though
they were shot out against the Eagles in the second half.
The Cardinals thing. They fight hard, they play hard, But
now you don't have James Connor. He's so you're gonna
have different pieces there. I think at some point the
season is just gonna catch up with Arizona. So while
(19:05):
I told you earlier in the year, don't pick against
Arizona every single week, because at some point they're gonna
win a game, which they did against the Cowboys in
Week three and knocked a bunch of people out. I
think you could look at the Rams as a possibility
in this one. So that's game number one where if
you had to kind of have a coin flip, even
though it's not really a coin flip because the Rams
are a touchdown favorite, look for the Rams in that one.
(19:29):
And then the other one is that you just mentioned
how in the world can you pick the New England
Patriots winning anything right now? And I'm sure that there's
gonna be a bunch of Patriots fans, but I'm not
sure there's going to be as many as there would
have three weeks ago, since this team has been outscored
seventy two to three over these last two weeks. The
(19:49):
Raiders have their issues, but if you wanted to go
with a coin flip, Raiders at home, Josh McDaniels against
Bill Belichick, I think it probably means something to him
beat his former boss while they're down. I think that
the Raiders would be the coin flip pick if you
were to pick in Survivor this week.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
I like that. I like that, and the more I'm
looking at that, yeah, the both I think both sides
defensively as streams offered great opportunity, but the Raiders could
that could be a sort of boomer bust play here.
Speaker 5 (20:23):
I think beating I think Bill Belichick knows more obviously
about what Josh McDaniels is going to do and what
Jimmy Garoppolo's strengths and weaknesses are. I just don't know
if Bill Belichick has the people to do what he
wants to do to stop the Raiders. And so I
think that even though it's a short week for the
Raiders there back to back home games, there may be
(20:43):
some revenge from last year's lateral Chandler Jones taking it
the rest of the way and stealing victory from New England.
But I just right now it's just tough for me
to pick the New England Patriots and anything. So if
I had to go with the coin flip, I would
probably go with the Raiders against the Patriots. The other
one I actually look at. I think the Buccaneers have
(21:05):
a good chance to beat the Lions despite being an underdog,
but especially with the Creamsickles out this week. So there's
your survivor of picks. Bersh's got a streaming defenses coming
up on Friday's episode Harmon's gonna have all of his rankings,
all of his hot plays, and I'll give you one
reason to start and bench a guy that's coming up
tomorrow in our weekend episode. So, for Ryan Berschinger and
Mike Harmen, I'm Dan Byer. This is I want your
(21:26):
flex
Ladies.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
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 Bayer and
Mike Harmon. Mike and Dan break down everything you need
to set your lineups, from position rankings to starts and sits.
(00:24):
The guys help you make those hard decisions. And now
let's get your flexide. Here's Dan Bayer and Mike Harmon.
Welcome in.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
It's week six. That's right, already week six on your
fantasy scorecard. This is the IYE Watcher Flex Podcast Thursday
Night preview, Mike Harmon alongside our guy Ryan Berschinger, trying
to roll through the next wave of games. That's right,
bye weeks. Only two teams on buye for this week.
We've got Green Bay and Pittsburgh, and I think everybody's
(00:56):
happy because maybe they'll actually go find some offense for
your fantasy team during their bye week. But in the interim, Ryan,
we've got Kansas City ten and a half point favorites
hosting Denver with a forty eight over under. And while
Kansas City has not yet really shown to be an
offensive juggernaut, defense has been getting after it most weeks
(01:19):
and you get to lampoon, harpoon and mock the Denver
Broncos defense on national television once again, and I'll be
on in studio. I've enjoyed nothing more than watching Russell,
Wilson and Sean Payton flail.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Yeah, yeah, we get primetime Broncos again. It's twenty twenty
two all over again, but at least like it's a
good team on the other side this time. So yeah,
I mean, how many ways do we say player chiefs
and h in terms of the Broncos.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Well, I mean, look, Russell's eighth among quarterbacks through the
first five weeks of the season, right, and and then
it becomes the real versus a madge Like fantasy stats,
they all couch just the same, but trying to predict
that that's going to continue against a good defense with
a good pass rush, going against a bad offensive line
(02:18):
and just going and praying for garbage points. I don't
subscribe to that philosophy full on, right, I mean, there's
just you get yourself into danger spots there. I mean,
I don't know if you saw the quotes from our
Fox analyst and teammate in the larger universe. Mark Schlareth
on his show in Denver saying at the effort from
Jerry Judy and Courtland Sutton last week that he would
(02:39):
have cut him if he was the coach.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Oh that's good.
Speaker 4 (02:44):
That's there's trade whispers all over the playoffs, right, we
talked about it, you know, Van Jefferson gets del to
Atlanta whatever, And there's been a lot of rumors about
wide receivers perhaps unlosing teams getting bounced around.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
But when you've got a guy flat out saying yeah,
they quit and I wouldn't have him on my teams,
Like all right, let's talk about week six fast?
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Oh oh so yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
I mean I'm looking at the Broncos side of it
and trying to figure out exactly I guess we look
at Russ and he'd be probably a high end QB
two and with more leagues using two qbs super flexes
whatever that potentially you get him into your lineup. But
I don't feel confident about it, right, I mean, Kansas
(03:37):
City can shut you down. I mean, it's not like
he's making a ton of plays with his legs where
you say I'm gonna get thirty forty yards right now,
you're more likely to get that on the other side
with Patrick Mahomes, which is really weird because I still
think about him running side to side in the Super
Bowl to the tune of like five hundred yards. But
when we look at this, I mean for Denver, I
(03:57):
mean McLoughlin, McLaughlin. You know, at running back back end
two maybe right, and you're just hoping that he breaks one,
and you're just playing him based on volume at that
point versus expectation. Right, it's the all right, he's got
to be able to do this with ten to fifteen touches,
(04:19):
but you have no confidence in it. Those wide receivers
are no better than back end threes or fours. And
on most rosters, again, with a very short bye week
of just Green Bay and Pittsburgh, you'll find other options,
especially because you've got other guys are more viable based
on injuries. Right with Indianapolis, their wide receiving room is
(04:40):
more viable because it's Minshew instead of Richardson. As much
as I love what Richardson has shown and can't be
but Minshew, we know he has no conscience and we'll
throw the ball around, right, which means Josh downs and
these guys get an upgrade, so I'd rather be playing
them than necessarily trying to find the needle in the
hate stack with with Judy or Sutton.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
I agree with that because on the surface, it feels like, oh,
the Chiefs are gonna blow them out, Russ Is gonna
have to throw a ton, but still the Chiefs defense
can hold things together. And so with Sutton or Judy
you'll get You could get good PPR performances from any
of these guys, but it's hard to feel super confident.
(05:25):
And when it's a Thursday night when you got to
make decisions early, if you've got better options, if you've
got options that you're like deliberating between, you probably have
to go away from the choices on the Bronco side.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
Let me give you one in the same game. Yeah, what,
I feel more confident with Rashi Rice, right, who's in
the same range. When we start talking about rankings or
Courtland Sutton, I was like, the Broncos defense, they're still
gonna sell off spare parts all over the field, right,
So I mean I'd play Rice against that second yeah,
(06:01):
all day, even if I know I'm not getting a
giant volume. The potential for the big hit and for
Kansas City's offense, which has been you know, concerning. I
think to some people at this point when you start
going down the road of your fantasy points for Mahomes
and what we've seen and Travis Kelsey will get to
(06:22):
him in a moment that you know this is this
is the bust out game, because we've seen everybody feast
on this Denver defense thus far to that point, let
me get to Kelsey injured, the turf gotam some say
it's a swifty curse, whatever the case may be. Looks
like he's going to be able to go. But since
(06:45):
the tight end position has been such a roll of
the dice this this year, do you start looking at
Noah Gray as a roll the dice against the team
that's given up the sixth most fantasy points per game
to tight ends.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
I think he can, especially given the matchup. Yeah, if
Kelsey's a no go, Noah Gray does provide good opportunity. Ideally,
like there there are still a handful of guys you
wouldn't start Gray over, but especially if you have Kelsey,
you need to pivot to somebody else. No Grey is
a great.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
Option and you probably didn't draft a backup.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Yeah, yeah, right, or you.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
Drafted you know, tight end twenty four anyway, Yes, right,
if you go get one of those top options, because
right now, when you look at going down the line,
I mean, are you trusting guys? Are you trusting Dawson Knox. No,
he's already competing with Kincaid and neither of them are
doing anything. We talked about that in another podcast this week.
You know, you've had the ascendants of Dalton Schultz, who
(07:44):
I like a lot tough match against New Orleans, but
he seems like a guy that's on the come. Okay,
I'll take him on that side. Higbee against Arizona. Okay,
I'll take Higbee in that that matchup. But you start
getting into some of these other options, you know what
we're talking about, JEANU Smith, Kyle Pitts or the others, Like,
(08:06):
I don't know, I think I'll go where the offense
goes against a terrible defense.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Yeah, looking back when Noah Gray was the main tight
end option Week one against the Lions, when Kelsey was
out three catches on five targets for thirty one yards.
So not a ton there, but also the Chiefs offense
as a whole didn't get a ton moving in that
game as it was. I'd imagine they're going to be
much more effective overall against the Broncos defense, So there
(08:31):
should be some pretty You're looking at least five to
seven targets there for Noah Gray, which when they're coming
from Patrick Mahomes against a bad defense, that's something you'd
want to part of. Now.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
One of the things you do on the podcast for
us each week is talking about trying to find some
streamers case might still be out there.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, coming off of the matchup with the Vikings.
The Vikings sure not a good team, but they're not
also an offense that you typically aimed to stream defenses again,
so it's entirely possible that the Chiefs defense is still
out there. So yeah, this would be this would be
a fun stream And then they get them again in
(09:08):
two weeks as well, So I mean, yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
How much I love those scheduling quirks, especially down the stretch.
What do I got? I got this team, that team,
and then team one again. It's like, what are we doing,
especially at the end of seasons, you know, when injuries
have really decided. Let's yeah, let's make the division up
for grabs anyway, that's a rant for another time, or
I might have done that Sunday. I think I hadnnoyed
to Andy Furman and Jason Fitz with that one, because
(09:34):
you know, I got on my soapbox because I had
to yell with them the week before for not fully
embracing Travis Kelsey and Taylor Swift and the marketing and
brilliant so at all.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
But I digress.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
At Ryan Bershon here where you find him on Twitter,
find me over at Swollen Dome, send those lineup calls,
or if you just have rants about players who failed you.
The airing of the grievances isn't just reserve for the
holidays around here. We certainly welcome them each and every
week because, look, this is part of the forum and
what we love to do as well. We're part of
(10:09):
the community playing these games as well. For Bursch Mike,
we'll be back with all of the week six previews.
Check out the rest of the podcast the iWatch Flex
wherever you're getting you obviously found it now, go subscribe,
Go evangelize and tell your friends, family, neighbors, leave stickers,
(10:30):
start calling people in your extended call list because I
mean you have them. Maybe you post it on social
media as well. We appreciate the love and you being
part of the extended family. Let's keep it growing and
we'll be back for more of Week six. Yes, week
six of your National Football League.
Speaker 5 (10:46):
Welcome back it is I want your flex time for
Ryan Berschinger and myself Dan Byer to flex some of
our knowledge. Harmon and Bursch broke down the Thursday night game.
We look a little bit more to week six. Bursch
has the streaming defenses. I have my survivor picks. Let's
start with bursh Are we going Kansas City? Continuing on
(11:07):
this run, where are we looking for streaming defenses on
a week where only the Packers and Steelers have buys?
Speaker 1 (11:13):
Well, I mean playing the Chiefs tonight on Thursday night
is not a bad idea at all. They are still
available and roughly forty percent of leagues, and you know,
targeting the Broncos as a streaming opponent is a strong strategy.
I still think there are a handful of a very
strong plays that are available. Now. I know what you're thinking.
(11:34):
Fool me once, Shame on you, fool me twice. I
advocated heavily last week for one of the Thursday Night defenses,
and that was of course the Washington Demanders. Yes, then
started my week off with a solid negative five.
Speaker 5 (11:53):
And again could have been worse if DJ Moore actually
is in bounds, which we never saw the replay of.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
Yeah, and I advocated for the Commanders because of the
fact that they had a couple strong matchups here, and
I'm still not afraid to play the Commanders as way
to do it, that is, of course against the Atlanta Falcons. Yeah,
Desmond Ritter put together three in a passing yard somehow
last week. I'm I'm willing to bet that that's not
(12:22):
going to happen again.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
Now.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
Yes, the Commanders also as a team have allowed over
thirty points in four straight games. So there are a
lot of signs saying that this is probably not the
best move. But I still believe and you trust the process.
I would still play the Commanders here, Isn't.
Speaker 5 (12:41):
That the point of it? Like, you've either committed to
a team or you committed to streaming, right, So if
you've committed to streaming, you have to look for options
that are available, which, by the way, isn't twenty five
teams in the National Football League, it's likely about fifteen
of them, right.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Right, So yeah, exactly, because I mean, obviously the Bills
are the number one play this week, but the Bills
are probably not available in your league somehow. There's still
like four percent of leagues where they're still available if
they are, jump on that. But and the Eagles are
great play this week. They're certainly, I mean, they're still
available in ten percent of league somehow. Again, just like
I don't know what you people are doing. Pick those
defenses up. But in terms of more streaming options, I
(13:21):
like the Dolphins defense this week against the Panthers. I
also like the Patriots defense against the Raiders. I think
that there's a solid opportunity from both of those defenses.
Speaker 5 (13:32):
I am so nervous about Dolphins Panthers. Not that the
Panthers looked great against the Lions, but is there a
hiccup at some point where where like we don't see
and the Dolphins' defense hasn't been huge, but they're two
touchdown favorite over Carolina. Sure, I was just I could
(13:53):
not do. I would rather do commanders thinking that the
Falcons aren't gonna put forty on me as opposed to
not that the Panthers will, but I think you could
get in the back and forth game and that Panthers
Dolphins matchup.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Now, the Dolphins are a little bit like the Commanders
where you kind of had to pick them up last week.
The Dolphins are available and only like thirteen percent of
the leagues right now because they had the Giants last week.
But the Commanders are still very widely available, roughly seventy percent.
The Patriots defense is available in nearly half of league's
so there are some and if you are desperate, if
you've got to jump on a stream late in the week,
(14:28):
here in terms of deeper options that might still be available.
I mean, shoot, you could go to the other side
of that Patriots Raiders matchup and take that Raiders defense,
given the fact that the Patriots have looked awful offensively
and didn't score any points last week.
Speaker 5 (14:45):
So there is a gamble now in hearing you because
I am not a streaming defense guy, but things are
popping up in my head. Do you want Do you
want that defense that's going to give you twenty each week?
Or do you want to avoid the team that's not
going to like it? Is it worth it? Can you
can you live with your team giving you negative five, Yeah,
(15:05):
like you got against the Commanders. Like I'm the guy
thinking like, because I stay with one defense, I'm of
the ilk of cut my losses. I think if you
are streaming defenses, you are go bigger, go home.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
Absolutely, And and you also hope too that the remainder
of your roster kind of picks things up, because in
my in my negative five Commanders team, I've still won
that game.
Speaker 5 (15:29):
Sure.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
So that's where it is a boomer bus sort of play,
and if you've got a strong roster otherwise, you can
kind of weather those busts sometimes and with the high risk,
high reward level of play, you'll you'll get an extra
winner two from the from the high risk explosive numbers
(15:50):
from a defense. But yeah, you could absolutely still get
an extra loss or too if if those Bus hurt bad.
Speaker 5 (15:56):
The London game. You know, sometimes if the Ravens do
get down, you could make a little hay because Lamar
likes to run and can put pressure on him. The
Titan's very good against the run, not so much against
the pass. I think you could have maybe looked at
that as an option, but I'd probably want to stay
away from that one, all right, So a lot of
the matchups that you mentioned can play into my Survivor pick.
(16:21):
And before I get into week six, do you remember
what I said in week five? Do you remember? And
it's okay if you don't. I didn't tell you beforehand.
Remember what I said in week five?
Speaker 1 (16:32):
I don't think, okay.
Speaker 5 (16:33):
I said, if there was one game that you wanted
to risk, who would it mean more to the Broncos
beating the Jets or the Jets beating the Denver Broncos.
And I said, if you really wanted to risk it, which,
by the way, I did not put my money where
my mouth is, and the Survivor entries that I still
have alive, I did not pick the Jets. But the
Jets did come through in that fashion. So I am
(16:56):
riding high right now on my fifty to fifty pick
of a Survivor pick, because perst, if you have the
Dolphins available, they are likely going to be picked this
week against the Panthers. Yeah, you mentioned the Bills being
the two touchdown favorite against the Giants. They are also
a likely pick. So you do kind of want to
look other places if you want to save those better
(17:17):
teams which you think that the Bills and Dolphins are
for maybe later on in the season. Another thing to
do is if you are thinking about the Bills are
thinking about the Dolphins, just look ahead to their schedule
and be like, what week would I pick them. You
don't have to say, Okay, I'm going to save them
for Week eleven. If there are two or three games
where you could be like, okay, I'd feel all right
(17:37):
with it, then maybe you want to hold off with it.
But I think what you're going to see in a
lot in Week six or a lot of Dolphins and
a lot of Bills. I don't blame you for that.
I think that there are two games that we can
look at to try to maybe get some value if
there happens to be that upset that shakes everything up.
One game that I'm going to tell you to not pick, though,
and that is the Colts Jacksonville game, because I'm going
(18:00):
back to my rules. Jacksonville is a four point favorite,
and you say to yourself, remember all of the success
that Jacksonville has had against the Colts when they play
in Jacksonville. They seem to always beat the Colts there.
With Gardner Minshew now starting against his former team, and
the Colts coming off of a win against the against
the Titans last week and Jacksonville after staying a week
(18:22):
in London and now coming back home. It's just something
I would stay away from, and I think that's one
that people would look, Okay, I'm gonna take the Jaguars.
I think the Colts are better with Gardner Minshew right
now than they are with Anthony Richardson, so I actually
give them an uptick. So stay away from Colts Jaguars.
I do think again divisional matchup as well one of
my rules. But in going against what I just said
(18:45):
one second ago, Cardinals Rams does offer some value. I
think the Rams are a good football team, even though
they were shot out against the Eagles in the second half.
The Cardinals thing. They fight hard, they play hard, But
now you don't have James Connor. He's so you're gonna
have different pieces there. I think at some point the
season is just gonna catch up with Arizona. So while
(19:05):
I told you earlier in the year, don't pick against
Arizona every single week, because at some point they're gonna
win a game, which they did against the Cowboys in
Week three and knocked a bunch of people out. I
think you could look at the Rams as a possibility
in this one. So that's game number one where if
you had to kind of have a coin flip, even
though it's not really a coin flip because the Rams
are a touchdown favorite, look for the Rams in that one.
(19:29):
And then the other one is that you just mentioned
how in the world can you pick the New England
Patriots winning anything right now? And I'm sure that there's
gonna be a bunch of Patriots fans, but I'm not
sure there's going to be as many as there would
have three weeks ago, since this team has been outscored
seventy two to three over these last two weeks. The
(19:49):
Raiders have their issues, but if you wanted to go
with a coin flip, Raiders at home, Josh McDaniels against
Bill Belichick, I think it probably means something to him
beat his former boss while they're down. I think that
the Raiders would be the coin flip pick if you
were to pick in Survivor this week.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
I like that. I like that, and the more I'm
looking at that, yeah, the both I think both sides
defensively as streams offered great opportunity, but the Raiders could
that could be a sort of boomer bust play here.
Speaker 5 (20:23):
I think beating I think Bill Belichick knows more obviously
about what Josh McDaniels is going to do and what
Jimmy Garoppolo's strengths and weaknesses are. I just don't know
if Bill Belichick has the people to do what he
wants to do to stop the Raiders. And so I
think that even though it's a short week for the
Raiders there back to back home games, there may be
(20:43):
some revenge from last year's lateral Chandler Jones taking it
the rest of the way and stealing victory from New England.
But I just right now it's just tough for me
to pick the New England Patriots and anything. So if
I had to go with the coin flip, I would
probably go with the Raiders against the Patriots. The other
one I actually look at. I think the Buccaneers have
(21:05):
a good chance to beat the Lions despite being an underdog,
but especially with the Creamsickles out this week. So there's
your survivor of picks. Bersh's got a streaming defenses coming
up on Friday's episode Harmon's gonna have all of his rankings,
all of his hot plays, and I'll give you one
reason to start and bench a guy that's coming up
tomorrow in our weekend episode. So, for Ryan Berschinger and
Mike Harmen, I'm Dan Byer. This is I want your
(21:26):
flex
Hosts And Creators
Jason Smith
Mike Harmon
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