#NFLVideos: Cowboys vs Lions: Massive playoff implications, Deshaun Watson returns to practice | The Insiders

Cowboys vs Lions: Massive playoff implications, Deshaun Watson returns to practice | The Insiders

Live for Michael and Adam Rank.
The most played rivalry in NFL
history, has not had many matchups bigger than this.
Bears. Packers Caleb Jordan,
Brian Baldinger and Stacey Dales join us tonight to break
down Sunday’s showdown for
first place in the NFC North. Things also are heating up in
the AFC West, where the Broncos
on a two game lead over the Chargers. So let’s double dip
tonight. Alex Singleton and
Tuli Tuipulotu stop by to discuss exactly where things
stand. We’ll also talk to our
guy Marcas Grant, who is back with his weekly fantasy
sleepers. Plus a couple names
you should stash now for potential playoff use later.
Welcome inside with the
insiders presented by Progressive Insurance alongside
Ian Rapoport and Judy Battista.
I am Tom Pelissero. It is the eve of week 14 on the NFL
calendar, and we’ve got some
injury updates ahead of a doozy to kick things off in Detroit.
Cowboys wide receiver George
Pickens missed some practice time this week, still dealing
with calf and knee issues, but
he is officially off the injury report and will play against
the Lions cornerback Trayvon
Diggs, meanwhile, working his way back from an IR stint was
ruled out for the game. Jerry
Jones had said earlier in the week that Diggs would be
available, but apparently it
will be at least one more week. Meanwhile, Lions wide receiver
Amon-ra Brown officially listed
as questionable for the game questionable being a borderline
miracle based on how this play
looked on Thanksgiving. It is a low ankle sprain for Brown
suffered in that Thanksgiving
loss to the Packers, but Dan Campbell, not slamming the door
on Brown playing just yet. This
is a huge game. You need all hands on deck because there are
massive playoff implications in
the airtight NFC. Look at that. From the one seed to the seven
seed. You’re talking about a
difference of a half game. Thanks to that tie. You’re
going to see a little bit of an
eye trick here. Yes the Packers based on percentage points
would be above the 40 Niners
here right now. Bottom line set all that aside for a second
here Judy. You cannot overstate
the implications of this game. The Lions and the Cowboys both
trying to get in it. And the
team that does not win is going to have to fight off being out
of it. With several weeks still
to go. Yeah, just look at those teams listed as in the hunt.
They’re in the hunt. Neither of
these teams is in the playoff picture right now. Let’s bring
up these percentages. This is
basically win or your season dies if you lose this game.
Look at this. The Lions with a
loss here are down to 19% chance of getting in. This is
according to Next Gen Stats.
The Cowboys are on a three game winning streak. You feel like
they’ve got so much momentum
with a loss, their chances would only go down to 9%. I
actually feel like the Cowboys
have the momentum here. These teams feel like they’re going
in opposite directions. The
Cowboys have won three in a row. And of course, with the
problems that the Eagles are
having, you feel like the Cowboys might actually have a
chance to sneak in there and
grab the NFC East. But this is a monster game for both teams
if they want to be alive in the
playoff mix going forward. I’m really looking forward to
learning about both these teams.
We’ve seen plenty of them. You mentioned the Cowboys three
game winning streak. We’ve seen
their defense go from being god awful terrible to hey actually
they’re pretty good. They’re
stopping some guys. Thanks of course to a couple midseason
trades from Jerry Jones and a
couple players getting back due to positive health reasons.
This is probably going to be
the biggest test this Cowboys defense has faced, maybe all
year, or at least since they’ve
gotten back together. So how do they hold up? How can they stop
the run? Can they stop? Jahmyr
Gibbs. Some big questions too. And then if these Detroit Lions
are going to be where they were
last year in the same position, you got to win games like this.
I mean, this is why they play.
I cannot wait. This is as big a game as we have seen in some
time, guys. Tons of drama still
to go here over the final month of the regular season. One bit
of drama over in Baltimore.
Remember all that talk in the offseason about whether or not
Mark Andrews would remain a
Raven and there were contract talks. Nothing became of it.
Well, today we got resolution.
Mark Andrews will not be a free agent in March, the team and
Andrews agreeing to terms on a
three year, $39.3 million contract extension that
includes $26 million guaranteed,
according to our friend Mike Garafolo, the franchise’s all
time leading receiver was
slated to be a free agent. Instead, he is sticking in
Baltimore on a deal done by his
agent, Justin Shulman of Athletes First. Chargers
quarterback Justin Herbert told
reporters he’s planning to play on Monday night against the
Eagles, exactly one week after
having surgery to stabilize a fracture in his left hand.
Herbert spoke to reporters just
a little bit ago, said that he had a plate and screws put into
the hand. He didn’t practice.
Today. Has not even yet tried to grip a ball. They’re still
waiting for the swelling to go
down in that hand. That’s going to be the key to the swelling.
Come out enough. So Herbert
will be out there on Monday night. Meanwhile, the Browns
open quarterback Deshaun
Watson’s 21 day practice window today to return from injured
reserve as Watson attempts to
return from two Achilles tears. Kevin Stefanski, downplaying
the return to gameplay piece,
said the focus right now is on getting back to individual
drills, but the question
remains there’s five games left. Is there a chance? Ian. We see
Deshaun Watson in game action
in 2025? First of all, no one has ruled that out, right? I
mean that question has been
asked plenty of times. Kevin Stefanski kind of danced around
it today. Focused his attention
on the field. And really that’s what this is about for Deshaun
Watson. He’s coming off an
Achilles tear. Everyone else has gone through preseason,
training camp. All these
practices. He has not he’s probably going to get, I don’t
know, maybe 9 or 10 practices
before his 21 day window. Perhaps the most important
thing, getting them out on the
field and see what happens. It is no doubt a jumbled
quarterback picture for the
Cleveland Browns now and into the future. This is a reminder
that Deshaun Watson does in
some way figure into that, whether he’s playing for the
Browns or not. Next year he is
expected to play football. So the fact that he is back from
an Achilles tear is an
excellent thing for him, and a fascinating thing for the
Cleveland Browns now and in the
future. Meanwhile, we had some good news for the Tampa Bay
Buccaneers today. Another
practice window open. While we’re on the subject of
practice windows. Mike Evans
coming back from a fractured collarbone and Jalen McMillan,
one veteran receiver, one
rising star receiver, both of these guys had their practice
window open. My understanding
Mike Evans probably back in the field quicker than McMillan.
McMillan dealing with three
fractured vertebrae in his neck has not practiced at all this
season. So we’ll see Judy when
he is able to play. But this is big news for a Bucs offense
finally getting healthy. Here’s
some interesting news for the Steelers defense. T.J. Watt
popped up on the Steelers
injury report today, sat out practice with a toe injury that
was a bit of a surprise. No
ailments have been mentioned. He does sometimes take a
Veterans Day off. Linebacker
Patrick Queen missed practice with a glute injury that was
expected. Mike Tomlin has made
it sound like Queen is likely to play against the Ravens. And
finally, Aaron Rodgers again
did not practice with the fractured wrist. That too was
expected. He is expected to
play against the Ravens and probably practice later on in
the week. Going to the other
side of the state. Embattled Eagles offensive coordinator
Kevin talked to reporters today
about the struggling offense. He talked about
miscommunication, issues
between players, the playbook, his role as the playcaller and
days after his house was egged.
After the loss to the Bears on Black Friday, he talked about
Eagles fans to. You know,
unfortunately it happened. You know, I’ve been here for for
five years now and it’s been
awesome. I mean, this is such a unique place to coach and play.
It’s very special. We’ve been
to two NFC championship games. We’ve won at Lincoln Financial
a Super Bowl. The parade is
just it’s an amazing atmosphere to be a coach and a player. And
as coaches and players, we all
know that part of our job is to handle criticism. And so it’s
perfectly acceptable to sit up
here and talk about what’s going on, how to fix it, what
we’re going to do going forward.
And we know that. But when it involves your family obviously
crosses the line. We got some
drama in the NFC North right now. Take a look at the
standings. Jam packed tight up
at the top. And what do you know those two teams. One of
the great rivalries in the
entire sport. The Bears and Packers meet on Sunday as we
welcome in our Stacey Dales and
Brian Baldinger to the conversation. This is a good
one. Stacey. With a bears team
that really has searched, I think any reasonable
expectations were they were
going to be able to take steps forward with Ben Johnson. Caleb
Williams would take steps
forward with Ben Johnson. Right now, it seems like that entire
process has been accelerated.
What are you seeing and hearing right now? Well, they’ve won
nine of their last ten football
games, the Chicago Bears. And it’s in large part because
Caleb Williams calmed down.
Everybody is managing the game and he’s executing the offense
exactly like Ben Johnson wants,
even though he has the lowest completion percentage in the
National Football League. And
yes, the bears want it to be better. They would like the
passing game to surge. They
would love it to pop, and they would love to see more
efficiency. Certainly Caleb
Williams would as well. However, they’ve got the second best
rushing offense in the National
Football League. And as Ben Johnson said this week, I
couldn’t be more pleased with
how Caleb played last week. He’s done a good job managing
the game, which is the number
one priority for the quarterback. He also heats up
and lights up when the moments
are big. As we’ve seen in the fourth quarter of this season,
Kyle Monangai, who we could
argue has been the best rookie rusher in the National Football
League this season, told me
this week in clutch moments, whatever the case may be, we
know 18 is going to show up.
And Williams guys Baldy and Tom, he’s got the attention of the
opposition. Matt LaFleur with
these Packers couldn’t have been more effusive in his
praise, talking about his
escapability, calling him a magician, his speed. We know
Caleb has next gen stats. Hit
that 20 mile per hour mark on four different carries Baldy
this season, but I mentioned
that run game has certainly helped him, but so has the
bears defense. Baldy. They lead
the league in takeaways 26. And how about Chicago 80 points
second in the NFL off of those
takeaways. It’s been impressive to watch. I’m glad you brought
that up Stacy because I wanted
to do some homework for this segment. So I went back and
watched all 17 bear
interceptions this year. And it’s interesting. Two of them
were deflections and they
caught the deflection. But the other ones were all zone
coverage all zone. So Jordan
Love is going to see primarily a zone look. And these guys
whether it’s nation right or
Kevin Byard who leads the league in interceptions with
six or whether it’s you know
Terrell Edmunds in the middle of the field. These guys are
seeing the flight of the ball.
Now look Jordan Love has done a great job of taking care of the
football. He hasn’t thrown an
interception in weeks now but he’s going to see his zone.
Look this week up at Lambeau
Field. And these guys especially Byron at free safety.
He just has a unique feel he
did last week against parts of knowing where the ball is going
and taking an angle and having
the range to get there, and so they cover a vast territory in
the secondary without a great
deal of pressure, and they have good zone eyes and something
that Jordan love and the
offense that Matt LaFleur is running that they have to be
cognizant of. Because the
takeaways, like you mentioned, Stacy, it’s been a big part of
them scoring points this year.
That offense has had some bumps in the road, a lot of them
injury driven. Losing Tucker
Kraft was obviously huge. Stacy. But when you look at the stats
right now, this is arguably the
best football that Jordan Love has played. Yeah I think they
would tell you Tom out of green
Bay this is the best. He is playing in this surge here for
these Packers. And we saw it
manifest last week on Thanksgiving. He had a tying
career high day with those four
passing touchdowns Christian Watson has been spectacular by
the way replacing some of that
production of Tucker Kraft. But when you talk about the Packers
what’s interesting is they got
seven giveaways. That is number one in the NFL. So this
turnover battle is going to be
fascinating to watch, including the chess match with these
coaches back and forth. Matt
LaFleur though has been very pleased with Jordan Love not
only his throwing rhythm, but
his timing in his progressions with his receivers. That
decision making, taking care of
the ball. You mentioned Kevin Byard. I spoke with him this
week. He’s got those six picks.
But of Jordan Love, he said he’s so talented throwing the
football whether he’s in the
pocket or out of it. He said, quote, he’s probably one of the
best throwers of the football
outside the numbers in this league. He’s been incredibly
accurate at every depth of the
field, whether it’s out of the backfield, the next phase, the
middle of the field or all the
way down the field in the deepest areas on the football
field, Jordan Love has been
really good and he’s going to need to play really well. And
this thing is going to be
rocking at Lambeau really cold. But who cares. Oldest rivalry
in football Stacy. Great stuff
from you baldy. Do not move because coming up in just a
little bit we got a baldy’s
breakdown. Looking at a team that I saw last week that
Houston Texans defense is
absolutely buzzing. Baldy will break down exactly what Matt
Burke is cooking up down there
in Houston. But first we got Broncos linebacker Alex
Singleton, who has had an
improbable year in more ways than one, Alex Singleton,
joining us right after this to
talk about one of the top teams in all of football and his
incredible journey back from a
frightening discovery. That’s next. With Alex Singleton
joining the show. The insiders
is presented by progressive. free and supportive adult
education centers near you.
That is Broncos linebacker Alex Singleton leading the Broncos
out of the tunnel onto the
field Sunday night before they face the commanders, a game
that they won in rather
dramatic fashion. I bet that run out of the tunnel felt a
little bit more special for
Alex than maybe any other run out has. And you know what?
Lucky us here at The insiders,
we get to ask Alex about that because he is joining the
insiders. That’s Ian Rapoport I
am Judy Battista. Alex, first of all thank you so much for
being here. It is so great to
see you. You ran out of the tunnel three weeks after having
surgery for testicular cancer
discovered in a routine drug test. How are you feeling and
how did that run out of the
tunnel feel? Yeah, first, thanks for having me. And yeah,
I feel great. Body is feeling
really good. You know, getting back into it last week was a
lot. And yeah, the the running
out was special. It meant a lot just to just to be with the
guys again, you know with what
had gone on for the three weeks, just kind of let that all go
and finally get to play
football again was just a really special moment. So I was
looking at the timeline of this
and it’s really amazing, amazing story. So you you
failed the drug test. Not
really, but sort of failed the drug test. Learn you have to
testicular cancer, play in a
game and then go have surgery. Why was it so important for you
to play in a game rather than
say, you know what, I’m just going to deal with this right
now and be done? Yeah, well,
surgery was scheduled for that Friday no matter what. So our
schedule just kind of worked
out really good. Like we were playing Sunday. I would have
missed that that week. But
because Thursday night we were playing the Raiders and it was
it was really my decision to
want to play. If we didn’t really know what else was going
on in my body. So if if this
was going to be the last time I ever played football, I, you
know, I wanted it to be on my
own terms, not just finding out on Monday that, you know, I
might, you know, have cancer
and, you know, a lot of treatments coming up. So I
really wanted to, you know,
leave if I had to leave the game on my own terms. Have you
even had a chance to process
everything that’s happened in three weeks? A cancer diagnosis,
surgery. You come back, like
you said, not knowing what’s going to happen. And then, by
the way, you have a great
performance against the commanders. Have you can you
wrap your head around all of
this yet? No. And I think that’s the the blessing of
football is that I’ve gotten to
just focus on football. I got to, you know, obviously the
Thursday night game focus on
Thursday night. Then the next week was surgery, but then it
was helping coaching the guys
that were going to play that week. Then it was the bye week,
just getting back into shape,
running again. And then the commanders week was getting
back into it. I still, you know,
everything is still emotional through it. Even after the game
against the commanders. You
know the first thing all those guys did, you know guys I
didn’t know from the other team
was just come up to me and tell me they’ve been thinking about
me, praying for me. And that’s
what just, you know, made it so special and just I learned so
much more. How much bigger it
you know, everyone’s health is in this league than just, you
know, playing football. Well,
that’s kind of what I was going to ask because, you know, there
are different ways to handle
this, right? Like you could have said, I have a personal
issue and I have to miss a game.
And that’s that. I mean, I’m I’m the son of an oncologist.
I’ve been hearing these stories
for a long time, and everyone deals with it very differently.
You chose to there was a
celebration on field, which I’m thankful you did not get fined
for, to sort of celebrate your
prognosis. You’re on here talking about it. Why did you
choose to be so open with it?
Yeah, I think initially it was, you know, football. Our
injuries are known to people.
And so when I first found out about it, you know, it was
something I wasn’t afraid to
talk about. And then I just learned so much about how early
detection, finding things out
and how afraid I was at the doctor and how it made me feel.
And I know that everybody else
feels that exact same way. But, you know, in this country, in
this world. And so to not be
afraid to be able to just say, hey, you know, I had cancer,
you know, I got the I got the
checkup, found out I had cancer. And so to just tell men that
it’s okay to do that and feel
okay, and if I have to start that conversation, let’s do
that because it is so important.
And, you know, I can attest that, you know, with everything
going in the right direction,
it really has been a three week process for me. And, you know,
hopefully nothing more than
that besides just kind of maintenance and checkups. And
with early detection, it was
able to save my life and be able to, you know, get me back
to a regular life. And so
anyone you know, whether you just have kids at home, you’re
raising and you know, a 9 to 5
job, you should be able to do that the rest of your life to
take care of your family,
because that’s the most important thing in the world.
And so if a checkup can do that,
you know, and me going through this and just talking about it
gives awareness to that, I’m
more than happy to do that. One football question before we let
you go, as we said, you had a
great game against the commanders. You’re leading the
team in tackles. It’s a top
five defense. What is working for you? What’s working for the
Denver Broncos defense right
now? Yeah, I think it’s just guys that are playing together
and truly love each other. You
know, I think, you know, we’ve really I would say in Denver
it’s it’s been that way for a
long time. And you know now it’s just a full team team game
every single week. And so, you
know, I would say the rush is all rushing together. I think
we have, you know, five
individuals who individually on any team could be the best pass
rusher in the league. And they
all rush together. I think the back end is the same way. You
know we have Patrick is the
best defensive back in the NFL. We have two of the best
safeties in the NFL. I think
Riley Moss is a stud and overlooked. J. Mack is the best,
one of the best nickels in the
league, if not the best. I think Dre Greenlaw is the best
back in the league, so we have
so much around us. I just feel lucky to be one of the 11 guys
that get to be surrounded by
these guys. Alex, thank you so much for taking the time to
join us. It is great to see you.
Good luck the rest of the way. Good health the rest of the way.
Yeah. Thank you guys I
appreciate it. Thank you. The Broncos have some room to
breathe in the AFC West. The
Colts breathing room has vanished now eight and four.
The Jaguars, based on
tiebreakers atop that division. The Texans after a big win in
Indianapolis now just one game
back as we welcome back our Brian Baldinger. Welcome in our
Bucky Brooks Baldi I was at
that Colts game against the Texans on Sunday. And it’s
impressive watching Houston’s
defense from afar catching up with Matt Burke. They’ve got
obviously some freakish dudes
up front, but they’re also making things really tough on
offense as you broke them down,
what do you see? Well, you can look at the stats and say
they’re the best defense in
football, and then you can do what you just did. Just watch
him play, watch everybody
tackle, watch their style, watch how aggressive they are.
They are. They literally choke
you out. They stopped Jonathan Taylor last week. You know when
I break him down they’re
interesting because they’re a four man front a single high
safety. They really concentrate
on building a box, building an eight man front to be able to
really limit the running lanes
right here. And you see this right here like on this play
right here. They don’t give
Jonathan Taylor anywhere to go. And if you look at who makes
the first contact it’s the
corner. Kamara. Laughter number four over here. Like he’s the
force right here. Will Anderson
is going to take on the block. They’re going to squeeze it
choke it shrink the running
lanes right here and give Jonathan Taylor very little
places to go. But you can see
them constantly how they build the box. Like they’re going to
cover two with Bullock and
Myles Bryant. Now Bryant and the sting are going to cheat up
right here. They see the trap
coming. They squeeze it. Will Anderson is right there. So
once they get you into passing
situation this is where Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter
can take over. Like their
ability to collapse the pocket consistently and really give
the quarterback no room to
operate like they do right here. And Sheldon Rankins gets the
sack. But really it’s a group
effort. And then the way Will Anderson is playing they’re
isolating him now. This is
excellent. They cover up both guards right here. And they
give Anderson a one on one with
the center. Nobody wants to see it. Like this guy’s power is
unique. And the way that he
plays the game, the energy level that he plays the game
with, I really feel like
everybody feeds off of Will Anderson right now. And that
combination of Will Anderson,
Danielle Hunter, over 21 sacks between the two of them. But
it’s far more than that Tom.
It’s it’s group tackling. They attack the line of scrimmage
and they really kind of choke
you out and they limit the opportunities. And that’s why
they’ve given up the fewest
points in the NFL. Right now. Texans have an opportunity this
week to go after the Chiefs
team that knocked them out of the playoffs last year.
Meanwhile, the Colts head to
Jacksonville and take on a Jacksonville team that seems
like on both sides of the
football. After a little bit of a rocky stretch there in
midseason, they’re headed in
the right direction again. They absolutely are headed in the
right direction. And it
coincides with Liam Quinn encouraging the quarterback
Trevor Lawrence, to let it rip.
And you’ve seen since those three weeks when Liam made that
suggestion Trevor has let it
rip. Now people are talking about the four turnovers
against Arizona. But what I can
tell you from my vantage point on the sideline, Trevor is
playing with more decisiveness,
more fearlessness. And that is leading to more anticipatory
throws in the middle of the
field. And the reason why that matters, because most of the
teams in this division play
zone coverage, they want to play vision and break. And so
to be a quarterback to throw
against that type of defense, you got to let it go early and
throw your guys open. But it
takes a level of trust and some courage to do it before you
receive comes open. Trevor
Lawrence is doing that. And with the defense beginning to
play like they played early,
the Jaguars are beginning to play their best football
heading down the stretch. Thank
you Bucky and Baldy. Now let’s talk Bills and Bengals with our
guy. Well it’s not a B Cameron
Wolfe though is going to be here. He’s going to have that
game. It is a big one. The
Bengals floating right there a couple games back now in the
AFC North. The bills seem to be
going in the right direction. Who’s got the edge and how Cam
Wolfe with us to break it down.
Next on The insiders presented by Progressive Insurance.
Broker. Ever since I started
wearing handsfree glide steps yes NFL plus keep the NFL in
reach MVP. A couple weeks ago
this was just a regular old game. And then that guy on the
right or left, depending on
which way you’re looking at it, Joe Burrow decided to come back
and now it is officially a
showdown. Bills, Bengals. It is going to be a fun one. And the
guy right there, Cam Wolfe, is
going to be live and in person watching the game, talking
about it beforehand on NFL
network. It is going to be lots of fun and no doubt look
forward to the insight that
you’re going to bring us from there. Cam, we’ll start with
this. It has been, I think it’s
fair to say, a little up and down season for the bills pass
catchers, whether it be
receivers or tight ends. What kind of role are they going to
play in Sunday’s game. Yeah
huge role. The bills need their playmakers to step up and the
cavalry is not coming. They’re
going to need their recently drafted young players Keon
Coleman and Dalton Kincaid. And
let’s start with Coleman because it’s been a rocky last
month for Coleman. He was
benched after being late from a Friday morning meeting and a
Saturday night meeting. And he
was honestly humbled by the the moment. From what I understand,
he had some deep conversations
with Tony Gonzalez and Richard Sherman and Tracy McGrady and
trying to correct this thing.
You know, he had some trouble sleeping, but he’s got to get
up. He’s got to get it right,
and he got a little bit of a bounce back in the touchdown
last week. But it was so
interesting because the bills could have released him. They
could have moved forward from
him and said hey he’s young, he’s maybe immature, but
they’ve committed to him
because they know they need him. And I know talking to people
around the building, he has
come back with a different level of energy. They’re going
to need him to play well in
this game and going forward. Dalton Kincaid is the other guy.
His thing has been injuries. He
has been in a situation where hamstring and knee injuries
last month have limited him in
action. It sounds like he is trending towards potentially
playing on Sunday and he would
get a huge boost playing a team in the Bengals that’s really
struggled to cover the tight
ends. Josh Allen has struggled in recent weeks because he
needs that playmaker to take
pressure off of him. The bills are hopeful that Keon Coleman
and Dalton Kincaid can still be
that guy. And Ian, you mentioned the intensity around
this matchup. Joe Burrow’s
return has incited something in this Bengals team. I talked to
Chase Brown this week. He said
Joe Burrow changes everything for us. The protections, the
checks up front and inside the
locker room. We’re talking playoffs. We’re talking winning
out. We’re not afraid to look
at this in a situation and say, hey, last year we were in the
same hole. Let’s dig ourselves
out of it. I talked to D.J. Turner, their star corner on
the other end, and he said, Joe
Burrow doesn’t have to say anything to us. Him coming back
early the way he is from that
toe injury when there wasn’t much quote unquote, to play for.
We need to play our livelihoods
out for him, and we expect to play with that level of
intensity. And look, I can’t
wait. Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, forget about the records.
They’re going to play their
hearts out. And I think both teams are playing as this. If
this is a must win game, it’s
going to be cold and we’re going to have some elite
quarterbacks throwing the ball
around. Tell you what, it’s a must watch game. I’ll be
watching. You’ll be watching. I
cannot wait for this one. Ken. Great insight as always. Don’t
go anywhere. More from you
coming up. But thank you very much. And great stuff. Judy,
take it away. Look at some of
those records in the AFC, shall we. This is the playoff picture
right now. You might see some
teams near the bottom. You might see some teams that are
not on that list at all. Let’s
bring back our Bucky Brooks to break it all down for us okay
Bucky you saw that list. That’s
the playoff picture as it stands right now. Certainly
some traditional powers right
on the edge some all the way off the edge. How do you think
this shakes out at the end?
Yeah. Judy, I think it’s important to note that it’s
probably going to take ten wins
to be able to get into the postseason. So that’s going to
make it very challenging for
some of these teams that are on the fringes to get in. And when
I think about the three teams
that could be out, I’m going to go with the Kansas City Chiefs,
the Indianapolis Colts and the
Baltimore Ravens. First, let’s talk about the Colts. The Colts
are in a difficult position
because they’re playing with the Houston Texans. The Jaguars
that are balling out of control.
I just don’t know if they can outplay them down the stretch.
The Baltimore Ravens have a
tough schedule. Yes they play the Pittsburgh Steelers twice.
But they also have another
tough slate of games. I don’t see them going. And then
finally when I think about the
Kansas City Chiefs, they’ve already lost the tiebreakers to
all of the teams at the bottom.
They have a tough slate. So unless they run the table,
they’re not getting in. I just
don’t see them doing it. So those teams are out. The other
ones are in. We’re going to
learn a whole lot more this weekend. Slate of games Bucky
thank you very much. And when
we return on the insiders, our buddy Marcus Grant comes in for
his weekly segment on Fantasy
Sleepers. It is time for you to be thinking about Fantasy
Sleepers. When we return on The
Insiders. On Sundays, it’s all they feel. They’re pushing for
it. Fan like a pro. The NFL
shop.com. Time now to Marcus. My words are even better.
Marcus. His words. Our guy
Marcus Grant back with his weekly fantasy sleepers. Let’s
start out with a deep sleeper.
Marcus, who you got at quarterback? Let’s go Tyler
Shuck at quarterback. Right.
It’s definitely a deep sleeper sort of situation. But he has
come in. He’s been definitely
more aggressive going downfield than what we saw from Spencer
Rattler earlier in the season.
Averaging over 17 or has scored over 17 fantasy points in two
of his last three games,
averaging about nine and a half air yards per attempt in one of
the league’s most pass heavy
offenses. Now, some of that is by necessity because the Saints
have struggled running the
football, but it’s a good matchup. The Bucs have been a
top five matchup for
quarterbacks this season. Most fantasy points per game allowed
to QBs over the last four weeks.
Running back wise. Marcus, who do you like in that backfield.
Got a couple here one Aaron
Jones. And it’s been sort of a forgettable season for Jones.
He had the injury. He’s been
sort of inefficient running the football. But part of it is
that he has seen a lot of
traffic inside the box. Third lowest percentage of light
boxes faced so far this season
for Aaron Jones. And it’s a good matchup against the
Washington Commanders because
they are not loading the box very often. In fact, 57% of the
time they have a light box,
third highest ratio in the league. Plus, with the Vikings
trying to hide their
quarterback situation a little bit, maybe they lean more on
the running game and then a
little bit of a deeper sleeper. But it’s Blake Corum with the
Los Angeles Rams who’s really
maintained a pretty steady role in that offense alongside Kyren
Williams since week seven. 33%
snap share, which doesn’t wow you, but 40% of the rushing
attempts, 50% of the rushing
attempts inside the five yard line. So he’s getting those
high leverage opportunities.
But the Rams offense being as potent as it has been, that
means he’s going to get a shot
at a touchdown at some point during the ball game. Tight end
wise. Marcus I was looking at
it today. You got a whole bunch of guys who are all basically
projected to score about five
points this week, who is somebody who might be able to
exceed that if I need a tight
end, let’s try Isaiah likely. And like a lot of things in the
Ravens offense, it’s been a
little bit inconsistent with likely. But what we do like is
the matchup against this
Pittsburgh Steelers defense. They’re they struggled against
the tight end position, a top
six matchup for tight ends and giving up the second most yards
after the catch to the position.
So Lamar Jackson can just get his big athletic tight end out
in space. I think there’s
really room for Isaiah likely to rumble, and if he gets in
the end zone, then that already
gets you past that five point projection. And for those who
like to stream their defenses,
even with the playoffs coming up with a defense you like this
week Marcas I know this sounds
a little bit sideways. But the Washington Commanders they have
been a defense that we have
sort of picked on in fantasy. This is a week that they might
get to pick back a little bit.
This is less about the commanders and more about the
Minnesota Vikings at this point.
The Vikings 13 giveaways in their last four games, 20 sacks
allowed since week eight. It
hasn’t mattered who the quarterback is. If it’s been
McCarthy or Carson Wentz or Max
Brosmer, they’re just giving the ball away. They’re giving
up a lot of sacks. So there’s a
chance for the commanders to actually put up a pretty decent
number if you want in fantasy
this week. By the way as you mentioned the playoffs are
coming. And so here’s some guys
that maybe you want to stash for your fantasy playoff roster.
Jacoby Brissett, who is still
available in way too many leagues and is playing really
well for fantasy managers.
Trevor Lawrence is out there. If you’re looking at running
backs, maybe a couple of guys
who are sort of handcuff options with standalone value
Brian Robinson and Ollie Gordon.
Jaden Higgins getting more looks in Houston. Wan’dale
Robinson has been a nice,
consistent piece for the Giants and a couple of tight ends.
Brenton strange getting some
love down there in Jacksonville. Darren Waller Not a lot of
targets, but it seems like when
they get near the end zone, they’re looking for their big
guy in the painted area. And
with another week off, that injury should be even a bigger
involvement for him in that
Miami offense this week. Marcas thank you very much. We will
get your sleepers again next
Wednesday. Coming up on the

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