Week 18 Big Picture - Fantasy Football Podcast for 1/4

to the fantasy footballers podcast with your host, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright. Welcome into the show, Andy Mike and Jason, the Fantasy Footballers podcast with you. It's Wednesday, January 4th. We have the whole crew together today. Back with you after a hiatus. We were not, we didn't do any show yesterday, no DFS show yesterday. Obviously, all of our thoughts, prayers, hearts and minds have been entirely focused on the DeMar Hamlin injury, the response to that, and the continuing situation where it's becoming more and more evident day by day. The reports that we get, this is going to be a long road. Right.

to potential recovery for Damar Hamlin. I think, you know, I speak for all of us when I say absolute unprecedented injury, the situation would just, you know, sobering for all of us. I mean, it was just something that you, you know, I think in the back of my head, and we've had a lot of conversations in the last couple of days now about what transpired on the field. And, you know, In the back of my head, it was always something I feared as a football fan. We have this show and we talk about fantasy football, championship week, player nicknames, ridiculous statements. Like everything about this show is, and I tweeted this, you know, this show is meant to be kind of a distraction from real life. And it's worked really well when that real life hasn't touched our sphere.

in our world, the NFL world, and we pride ourselves on being that for you, like being able to come in here and say a bunch of ridiculous, stupid, grammatically incorrect things. Yes. Which seem to be. Some of us are better than others. Which seem to be a salve, you know, in the midst of real life. And we take great pride in that. But when it hits you in the face at the pinnacle of what you talk about, You know, it wasn't possible to come on here yesterday and make a bunch of jokes and talk about the trivial things that are, you know, fantasy football is trivial in comparison to what took place. Yeah, we can't, we can't be the distraction from the hardships of real life when the hardships of real life are exactly what we're dealing with, what we're watching, what we're participating in. And it was, you know, it's one of those really sobering, tragic events that, you know,

unfortunately and fortunately bring good conversations together, bring people together. We've seen just an outpouring of unity from NFL, from all teams, from players, from fantasy managers, from all walks of, I mean, even outside the NFL scope, wherever you look, the DeMar Hamlin situation is there to remind us. that there are obviously things that are far more important than football than playing a game, then playing this game about the game of football that we play. Yeah, yeah. And, you know, Mike, I don't know if you want to add anything to the equation here. This is not, I think it's really important to me that, you know, nothing we say about DeMar Hamlin needs to be the focus. Demar Hamlin needs to be the focus. Like his family, his friends.

his teammates, his broader community in the NFL. You know, that's the focus. So, you know, I have been, you know, Jason mentioned it with fantasy managers. Like, I've been genuinely moved by the unity behind the focus on the health and well-being of Damar Hamlin as opposed to, like, look, the reality of the situation is this was a consequential week for this game we play. It's consequential for the NFL. It's huge. You had two teams that were playing an extremely important game to their schedule, that we do not know how that is going to carry out through the remainder of the season. But to see people, like you said, come together for this young man who's 24 years old, who by all accounts is an extremely humble, community-centered gentleman that just has made it a focus of him to use his platform for good.

It's been rewarding to see that. I look forward to hopefully him waking up and recovering and seeing this outpouring of support. And I hope it sets a precedent for the way we approach the NFL injuries and fantasy football for the future because sports betting and fantasy, like it just all fell away immediately, as it should. as it should. And so we, you know, we wanted to get on here today. We're going to have a show. Um, you know, what's in my head is the idea of moving forward and not moving on. So we're going to move forward with some, you know, discussion and conversation about playoff scenarios. I know that there are fantasy players that play in week 18. And, uh, but our hearts are with Damar Hamlin and will remain there. And so that's going to be the focus, right? Yeah. And the, seeing, um,

You know, like, you feel so helpless of, like, I am, I'm watching this with my son. And, like, I have nothing to do with these people. But we, our family became immediately involved with this. And so you're just, I mean, you're staring at a television screen watching people who are, you know, like. Your job is to somehow talk. Your job is to talk about football. And you're not trained to be this type of a journalist, right? And so it was just something watching, you know, these people, these analysts on ESPN, how they're responding to it. We have at this, on this show, like personally, like Booger McFarland, right, was on Monday Night Football for a season.

It didn't feel like the greatest fit. And there was just a lot of like, you know, fun kind of at his expense of like he had the booger mobile. And it was just like it was it was ripe for for jokes and comedy and making light of it. And it's the bugger mobile. Right. And I mean, and he took his emotion in stride and just and he stuck with the company. And we've talked about in this office of. Yeah. Watching him react to the situation was incredibly moving of someone who has the experience, like knows what he's talking about. We're all just, we're idiots who. So far removed. We've never played the game, admittedly. He's been in the trenches with these guys and not a situation like this, but seen his brothers get hurt. And just the way that he was able to have this conversation was,

was moving, was insightful. And then you went to Van Pelt and Ryan Clark. And it was like watching these people, I mean, a situation that you've never expected to. You talk about sports. You're not expecting to have this come up. And the way that they handled it with the grace and the dignity that the situation deserved, it was just like. I mean, I don't even know where I'm going with this conversation, but it's just talking of my experience watching it all unfold. And like, I was very grateful to have those people guide me through the, the tragedy of like, I mean, I'm just staring at a TV crying and. Yeah, no, I mean, it's well. No one knowing what to do. Yeah, but they brought a tremendous amount of humanity and insight to the situation. And they did it, you know, not because they were trained in how to do it. It was just.

It was just being genuine. And like you said, I mean, it earned a great deal of respect for Booger that night and the way he responded to that. So many, we're in the world and we're part of it in a way of talking head world, right? Yes. Where like, I mean, there were other voices that, you know, you get out and you have to have a take on everything. You can't just be a person. You have to have a take. And so you saw some people on, I agree, the coverage was human. So, I mean, the situation is human, right? And that is our game is a game for a game. And so, yeah, it was, it was a, was and is a tough, tough situation to deal with. It's been, you know, we were talking also about the decisions to be made moving forward, about the schedule, the amount of people involved, the way that.

You know, we need to kind of transition into what's going to happen with that game. What's going to happen with motivation levels in week 18 and what transpires. But, and I think I'll just move into that now. Sure. We don't, you know, we can just start talking about that. But there's a lot of implications for what is going to take place in terms of the, and again. This is all extremely secondary. You know that listening to the show. But as we move into this discussion, we look at what the NFL announced. The Bengals-Bills game will not be resumed this week. They have not currently, nor do we expect them to make changes for week 18 of the NFL season. Fantasy platforms, the FPPC, is that right?

I'm sorry, the NFFC. That's what I meant to say. You know, they've sent out, you know, there's a lot of implications on what transpired in that game. Do you stick with the stats? Do you wait? Sleeper came out and said, quote, given these unprecedented circumstances, we will be scoring week 17 as is. If the NFL resumes the game at a later time, there will be an option in commissioner tools to rerun the results. That will be an option, not a default. So commissioners will have to make a decision within their platform based on what their league wants to do to.

You know, if they play this game, which it's a possibility. Yeah. If they play this game to retroactively apply points for the resumption, you know, the resumed game, I don't know if resumption's a word, to be honest with this. I don't think that's a word. No, it definitely sounds wrong. Oh, I thought it sounded right. To you. If it sounds wrong to me, it's, I mean, I knew what he meant. Yes. So, so. It's been resumpted. Yes, resumpted. But yeah, I mean, definitely unprecedented is the right word for this. It's really, really hard when you look at the league's decision about this game. And I think a lot of that needs to be about what these teams want because if Buffalo, like, it's going to cost them to not resume this game. Right. And that's not just home field. It's also a buy week. Like they have the potential to have a week off. And so, you know, it's really tough to look at it and say that it's more fair to not play it because it hurts them and their team.

But I hope the league is talking to them, and it's a lot about those players. And there are situations. And Kyle, correct me if I'm wrong about the implications here. But if Buffalo loses to New England this weekend, they would not need to play that game to have the possibility of a – and Kansas City wins, I'm saying. So if Kansas City wins and Buffalo loses to New England, does that game have any implications at all for – For Buffalo. No, they go by win percentage as the next kind of thing. So no. And then if Baltimore were to lose this weekend, are there any implications of any kind for Cincinnati?

No, Cincinnati would be the three seed. They would play each other again in the playoffs, which is another. So there does seem to be a fluidity here is what I'm saying. There's a possibility that what happens this weekend would determine whether or not this game needs to get played. I think that's 100% why they have not come out and given their answer because their answer could change. If they were to play this game, if they were to continue on the resumption plan, then that would come after week 18 games. It's a word. Yeah. Well, that's why I used it again. This great word that Jason has brought to the forefront of our minds. Thank you, Jason. You are very welcome. Anyways, if I'm a resumption here. No, Jason, you're resumping. Thank you. I need to resump here. Thank you.

But, you know, that would be played after the week 18 games, most likely pushing the playoff weeks back a week, keeping the Super Bowl where it is because there's that week break between the Super Bowl usually. You know, obviously how the Kansas City game goes and how the Buffalo game goes this weekend will have an effect on that. I think the most likely outcome right now is that this game will not be played, but that is certainly no guarantee right now. that game does not resump, then you have a real question for fantasy managers in their leagues, all these championship games, assuming you're not playing into week 18 and week 17 is your championship, as it should be, then there are two courses of actions. If the game is not played or if the game is played, if the game is not played, which I think is the most likely, like Sleeper said, then it's over. The scores are in. That's how they are choosing their champion.

You know, it's one of those things that is you deal with this when you put a player in your lineup. And, you know, unfortunately, situations out of your control, you know, Derek Henry wasn't injured. I couldn't have them because of situations out of my control. And I think in most situations, that's the right approach is this is what happened in the game. These are the points that were scored. That's what the NFL is moving forward with on the record books. And if that's the case, then whatever the NFL moves forward with on the record books, that's kind of how it goes.

I think it's important to have the humanity in these leagues. And on a league by league basis, it can change. I don't think there is one like mandatory right approach. You know, in, in the two championships, the two main championships I was in, Mike and I had a team and in the league of record. Those games we were going into, they were already pretty much settled. There was, you know, you're talking one to five percent chance. of the score flipping. Right. And so I think, you know, in our leagues, it hasn't even been a question. It was just like, okay, the championship is over. In a league where it was really close, if it's like a 50-50, it's going to be a toss-up, it's going to be a coin flip. I think that might be a tougher pill to swallow, and that's a league by league basis where maybe you take a vote and say what you think should happen. I know a lot of leagues, they're co-champions. I was going to say, yeah, you're right. The co-champions, this just happened in the CBS league I play in with.

great friend of the show, Jamie Eisenberg, sent an email out. You know, this game had players from both teams in the championship on both sides. So it's like, you know, you had no idea how this was going to turn out. Three players on this side, three, you know, two players on this side. Co-champions. And, you know, you made some contributions to the, DeMarne Hamlin charity situation, which kind of mind-blowing, really, the idea, I mean. That's over $5 million, right? That's where I was going. When I lost my train of thought at the beginning of like what, how I, there's nothing that we can do, but we're also locked into the situation. And you're like, well, what is this person about? What is this person supported? And then there was this. Over six million now. Yeah. So there was a go fund me, a toy drive from DeMar Hamlin that got.

that got raised up and elevated to the more public eye. And this thing has just exploded and has been a... We'll get that out on Twitter. A treat. Just like a... It's so nice to see humans get together every once in a while and support each other and the same thing. The original goal was just $2,500. And what was it at, Andy? Over $6 million. It's right now at $6.25 million. It's incredible. with over 200, almost 206,000 people participating. And we'll get that tweeted out in case you wanted to contribute. The Chasing M's Foundation Community Toy Drive. Yeah. So it's pretty incredible. But yeah, I mean, I think Jason's right. I think every league you can kind of determine the outcome that you want, you know, whether by vote or just by sensibilities and whatever the case may be, there's not really a wrong way to execute the end of that season. I know that there are.

You know, there are high stakes leagues and there are underdog tournaments and those things have very, you know, impactful financial implications and they have to handle those in the way that they see fit and, you know, lean. I know all of them are leaning on like terms and conditions that talk about canceled games, that talk about. what takes place in that event. And so... And that's where I think the hard and fast rule, if you look at those big money leagues where money is changing hands, the betting markets, things like that, at the end of the day, it's whatever the official rulebook has is what happened. Yeah, and from what I've seen in those, there is no, there's certainly not going to be any retroactive application of points based on resuming the game later. It's going to be, at least with the national one that I looked at,

if a game's played in a future week, it counts for that future week. So it doesn't count for the week that has taken place. So, yeah, I mean, you never seen it before. Right. I mean, we went, we went through an entire, you know, COVID season and thought we would be dealing with this type of situation a lot from a schedule standpoint. We didn't deal with it that much. So we'll move, we'll move forward and talk about some of the week 18 information. I know that there are. A lot of you out there in need of guidance. And we're going to look at the motivation of teams heading into week 18. I wouldn't say it's entirely settled. I would say we have a good indication of what teams are going to do. But there are, there's definitely room for certain teams to make an adjustment. You know, where the coach speak right now goes from like, certainly we'd like to win the game to.

rubber meets the road and what's the depth chart look like on Sunday. You're talking about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, I'll bet. I mean, that's the one that I'm looking through squinted eyes at the, I do not trust you, Todd Bowles. Quote, don't want to take our foot off the gas. Yeah, that sounds great. That sounds like you're going to play your starters. But then you look at the betting markets and you go, wait, Atlanta is a heavy favorite in this game. It is a good thing to look at to kind of understand. Maybe weed through it. Yeah, like the way that I look at these games is it's risk. It's how it's a level of risk that like the Buccaneers, I don't think you're going to know until the games are being played. Like if Tom Brady's inactive for the game, that's humongous. But I'm guessing that a lot of these players will be active and you won't know if you should play, play them or not.

And the coaches aren't going to tip their hands if players are going to be in. So this is just laying out which players could see part-time and whether or not you're willing to accept that risk for that level of a player. Yeah. And you also have situations like you said, you know, Washington's going to play Taylor Heineke now. As reported on the fantasy footballers on Monday. Snip, snap, snip, snap, drats. My bet. But the Carson wins, Matt Ryan. But they also said they're going to play Sam Hal on the game. Yes, their best quarterback. So it's like, and you don't know how, is it a quarter for Heineke and three quarters for hell? Those situations will arise in all of these games. The teams that are in the, you know, we kind of categorize these in five levels of motivation.

Level one is like clenched with little or nothing to gain from playing their players. That would be the Buccaneers. You know, they're eight and eight. They've clenched. They've locked the four seed. You're going to have a home game for the 500 Buccaneers. The Giants are locked into the sixth seed. They've at least been a little more forthright of head coach Dable has said, we're going to do the best thing for our team. So that sounds a lot like when Derek Henry said, I'm going to do whatever coach says, which means not playing. And there's been reports from beat riders around the Giants that say that they expect the Giants to rest their starters. That is my expectation as well. What is ironic about that is that the Philadelphia Eagles winning or losing this game has massive implications on other teams. And I would not. It seems like they're going to win the game. Yes. I would not expect the backups of the Giants to beat.

the Philadelphia Eagles. Which is funny because if you take that logic train as another team and you expect the Eagles to win, why do you play your players for the chance to take the Eagles spot that you probably won't have the opportunity to get? Well, the NFL's done a good job with scheduling and trying to have certain games in the mornings or, you know, flexing games to Saturday so that hopefully the majority of these teams don't know what's happened yet. The Vikings? They are the number three seed. They do not have a shot at the one seed. They can improve to the number two seed with a win plus the San Francisco law. San Francisco is... Who are they playing? You're talking about the Cardinals? Yeah. Yeah. San Francisco is not going to lose this week. Correct. And you also have comments, and I don't know if they're in our doc, but I mean, as Kyle Shanahan has learned from experience that he doesn't sit guys. He doesn't want to. He feels like the implications of that have...

come down upon his head in years past. And they are, if you look at Vegas again, they're like 12.5 point favorites in this game. 14 now. Ah, 14. Yeah. And the way that I. Wait, 24. 24 now. The way I, like, Brock Purdy needs snaps. Like, it's been an incredible story watching Mr. Irrelevant come in. I think he's ripped off four in a row. But he needs. as much experience as he can get as you go into the playoffs. Christian McCaffrey, we did get a little bit of news that he is dealing with an ankle sprain, a slight ankle sprain. So he's more questionable to me of, you're probably not going to have an answer. I bet he's active, but that's another risky decision that you're going to have to deal with. Does Christian McCaffrey get one quarter?

And then they put, you know, Ty Davis Price and Jordan Mason in there. Yeah, this is not a fun week to navigate starts and sits. It's a better, it's better to have your league concluded. And then you sit back and watch the mayhem unfold. Play some DFS. Yeah, with an NFL fandom. The Giants, like I said, they're locked in. The Vikings, you know, they have a situation where Kevin O'Connell, you know, this team has been up and down. They'd like to have. the opportunity to get things going, but I don't know. They probably want some momentum. I don't know what they're going to be doing in this game. Do you have a beat on it? No, I believe that all their starters will start the game, but because there is very little in the seating and who they would specifically play should things change. They technically have, you know, they can improve to the number two seed, but that's not going to happen. So I think you're going to end up with.

a game where it starts well and then they rest their starters. That's my prediction. And it just means I hope you're not playing fantasy in week 18, but we're here for you if you are. Yeah. So the other category I want to talk about our teams that are fighting for playoff seed actively and division titles, the Chiefs, you know, they can get the number one seed with a win versus Las Vegas. The bills, we talk through that situation. They can clinch the one seed. with a win and a Kansas City lost this week, independent of the resumption of that game. I also like how Jason, through the process of learning that that was a word, replaced the normal word resume with a new word resump. Yeah, well, that's, if you want to continue, then you resump. Just shake your resump. Okay. Yeah. I will. The Chargers, they have a playoff spot clenched. They'll be the fifth or sixth seed. There is motivation for them to avoid.

The top three seats. Huge motivation because you have some really good teams here. I don't want to play great teams. I want a freebie if I can't get a buy week. And so, yeah, the Chargers are playing a full game. You want to play Jacksonville or Tennessee or do you want to play the Chiefs, Bills, or Bengals? Hmm. I'll take the first one, please. I mean, I think they'd go in the favorite, right? I mean, you're talking about going in a massive road underdog or a potential... road favorite in their first round. So, you know, I think that they could give it a go in this one. Yeah, they are, they're playing against Denver. So you have a division. Oh, Denver's going to mess this up for them. I think they might mess it up for them. That's also another part of the motivation is look at the opponents. And Denver, you know, we have the divisional matchup here, wanting to play some spoiler and can.