The Action Network Sports Betting Podcast artwork

NFL Futures Watch | Week 6

STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.

57 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Oct 13, 2026
Published
Tue, October 13, 2026
28
Player insights
27
Players mentioned
Topics
Lamar JacksonA.J. BrownBaker MayfieldBrock PurdyBryce YoungC.J. StroudCaleb WilliamsChristian McCaffreyDeebo SamuelDenzel BostonDrake MayeFernando MendozaGeorge HolaniJared Goff
Player analysis

Player insights

28

A.J. Brown

NegativeInjury13:00

A.J. Brown was out for the Patriots' win over the Raiders; he has been the quarterback's top target alongside Mac Hollins, who is also out. Brandon Anderson notes the Patriots are missing their top two receivers but still won back-to-back games and have room to improve once these players return.

Insight page

Baker Mayfield

PositiveInjury47:48

Baker Mayfield should be back soon for the Buccaneers. When he returns, Futures Futures Analyst Brandon Anderson Brandon Anderson believes the Buccaneers remain the number one team in the NFC South division, as they have been performing well even without him.

Insight page

Brock Purdy

NegativeProjection26:00

Brock Purdy is an MVP candidate who has been 'tearing it up for the last month' but got sacked three times in the Niners' 32-29 win vs. Seattle—his first sacks of the season. Brandon Anderson notes Seattle's defense 'had all the answers' for San Francisco's offense, which has been held to its worst EPA per drive in the last two years against Seattle.

Insight page

Bryce Young

NegativeProjection48:00

Futures Futures Analyst Brandon Anderson Brandon Anderson is waiting to see how Bryce Young performs coming out of the bye week before committing to the Panthers as a division winner. The concern is how teams will adjust to Young's aggressive play-calling now that they have film on him.

Insight page

C.J. Stroud

PositiveProjection53:54

CJ Stroud and the Texans offense have been much better than expected this season. Futures Futures Analyst Brandon Anderson Brandon Anderson notes that while the Texans' defense has been correctly criticized, Stroud's offense has quietly performed well, dominating the Titans in Week 6.

Insight page

Caleb Williams

NegativeInjury40:00

Caleb Williams was missing for a stretch of games for the Bears, during which the team went 2-1 with a backup quarterback. Futures Futures Analyst Brandon Anderson Brandon Anderson notes that the Bears' 3-2 record feels reasonable given Williams' absence.

Insight page

Christian McCaffrey

NegativeUsage27:30

Christian McCaffrey is being 'slowed down a little bit' in the Niners' offense, with Kaelin Black getting 'a lot of work' presumably because McCaffrey just had a baby over the weekend and the team wants to preserve him for a postseason run.

Insight page

Deebo Samuel

NegativeInjury29:00

Debo Samuel looks to be out for a few weeks with an injury. Brandon Anderson notes he doesn't 'really care' if the Niners lose Debo because he's 'not that big of' a loss, but the injury adds to the team's mounting injury concerns heading into a tough stretch.

Insight page

Denzel Boston

NegativeProjection52:09

Denzel Boston is the odds-on favorite for Offensive Rookie of the Year but has not done anything elite; he has caught a couple of touchdown passes but lacks elite production. Futures Futures Analyst Brandon Anderson Brandon Anderson believes this inflated odds are due to recency bias from his touchdowns.

Insight page

Drake Maye

PositiveProjection13:00

Drake Maye had 374 yards and 'looks all the way back' after the Patriots demolished the Raiders 536 yards to 8 yards per play; he had the best EPA game by any quarterback this season over 10 yards downfield despite missing A.J. Brown and Mac Hollins. Brandon Anderson says the Patriots offense is 'looking pretty good' and the team is 'right back in the mix' for the playoffs.

Insight page

Fernando Mendoza

NegativeBreakout49:55

Fernando Mendoza is Futures Futures Analyst Brandon Anderson Brandon Anderson's buy for Offensive Rookie of the Year at 25-to-1 odds (3.8). Futures Futures Analyst Brandon Anderson Brandon Anderson has held this position since the preseason and believes now is the time to bet it, as Mendoza has shown willingness to play in blowouts and the Chiefs have already broken the seal on using him. Futures Futures Analyst Brandon Anderson Brandon Anderson plans to sell once Mendoza gets the starting nod or plays well, before he hits the rookie wall.

Insight page

George Holani

NegativeUsage26:00

George Helani had an 'egregious mistake' at the goal line in the Niners' win vs. Seattle, fumbling for a touchdown six right before halftime when the team was trying to run the clock out. Brandon Anderson cites this as a key defensive play that won the game for San Francisco.

Insight page

Jared Goff

NegativeProjection41:08

Jared Goff's performance has declined; the ball is not zipping out of his hand the way it used to, and something feels off with the Lions offense. Futures Futures Analyst Brandon Anderson Brandon Anderson attributes this to the loss of Ben Johnson calling plays, noting the offense lacks the same fluidity it had previously.

Insight page

Jordan Addison

NegativeInjury38:54

Jordan Addison was unavailable in Week 6 when Caller Murray and Justin Jefferson played together for the first time this season.

Insight page

Jordan Mason

PositiveInjury38:58

Jordan Mason, Minnesota's best running back, should be back soon after missing time. His return will help complete the Vikings offense.

Insight page

Josh Allen

PositiveProjection6:00

Josh Allen had 21.5 EPA in the Bills' overtime win vs. the Rams, more EPA than the entire Bills team combined; he scrambled for 121 yards and was described as 'unstoppable' and 'the best player in the field by a mile.' Brandon Anderson notes Allen is an annual MVP candidate and can dig teams out of the mud in the regular season, though his team's defensive and turnover issues may limit his playoff ceiling.

Insight page

Josh Jacobs

NegativeInjury40:28

Josh Jacobs' status for the Packers is uncertain; Futures Futures Analyst Brandon Anderson Brandon Anderson notes 'We Don't Know' if he will return, though his return would be significant for the team.

Insight page

Justin Jefferson

PositiveInjury38:34

Vikings have not seen Justin Jefferson healthy this season; Week 6 was the first week he and Caller Murray played together, though Jordan Addison was unavailable. With a bye week ahead, Minnesota has two weeks to get healthy and practice together, which should help the offense gel.

Insight page

Kaelon Black

PositiveUsage27:30

Kaelin Black is getting 'a lot of work' in the Niners' offense as the team slows down Christian McCaffrey to preserve him for the postseason. Brandon Anderson notes this increased role for Black in the running game.

Insight page

Kirk Cousins

NegativeMatchup50:24

Kirk Cousins was flustered by the Patriots' simple Cover Zero looks and extra corners sent at him in Week 6. Futures Futures Analyst Brandon Anderson Brandon Anderson notes Cousins is not mobile enough to handle these coverages and predicts he will see similar looks in the coming weeks, though he should be able to adjust.

Insight page

Lamar Jackson

PositiveProjection19:00

Lamar Jackson's MVP odds dropped to 5% at friction markets and 12-to-1 at books after missing one game, but Brandon Anderson argues this is 'insane' because MVP is a team award requiring wins and high seeds; Jackson won the award in 2019 and 2023 while missing exactly one game in both seasons, suggesting he can miss one more game and still be viable for the award.

Insight page
NegativeProjection51:51

Futures Futures Analyst Brandon Anderson Brandon Anderson references Lamar Jackson in the context of discussing how many games a quarterback can miss and still win MVP or Rookie of the Year, noting that MVP and Rookie of the Year are not the same award.

Insight page

Mark Andrews

NegativeUsage18:00

Mark Andrews 'looks like he's getting paid to try to get Baltimore to lose games,' dropping a touchdown, dropping two other passes, and having a fumble six early in the Ravens' overtime win vs. the Falcons. Brandon Anderson criticizes his performance despite the team's victory.

Insight page

Michael Penix Jr.

NegativeInjury17:30

Michael Penix Jr. was having a strong game for the Falcons against the Ravens until he suffered a rib injury that limited his effectiveness. Brandon Anderson notes this injury concern as part of Baltimore's defensive struggles in the game.

Insight page

Parker Washington

PositiveRole16:00

Parker Washington 'saved the game' for the Jaguars against the Eagles, making a key play late when his coach and quarterback 'kind of tried to give away' the game. Brandon Anderson notes Jacksonville was sloppy with 10-13 penalties for 100 yards and went 0-3 in the red zone but still won.

Insight page

Puka Nacua

PositiveUsage12:00

Puka Nakua was 'amazing' in the Rams' overtime loss to the Bills, but Brandon Anderson criticized the play-calling for not targeting him on third down in overtime, suggesting missed opportunity in a critical moment despite his strong overall performance.

Insight page

Sam Darnold

NegativeProjection27:00

Sam Darnold is a quarterback Brandon Anderson 'doesn't really trust that much' compared to C.J. Stroud; he's asking Darnold to do too much in Seattle's offense, and 'the turnovers are rearing their ugly heads again.' Darnold had multiple turnovers in the Niners game, and Anderson expects similar results if the teams play again.

Insight page

Tyler Huntley

PositiveRole17:00

Tyler Huntley 'did exactly what you need your backup quarterback to do' late in the Ravens' overtime win vs. the Falcons: 6 for 71 yards down the field, got into the end zone for the two-point conversion, and led a 14-play 68-yard drive that ate up the entire overtime clock to win the game.

Insight page
Full transcript

Episode Transcript

365
0:00The Action Network Podcast I'm just about that action boss Ready!
0:05Alright, here we go From the tent, throwing in zone Spectacular catch They're saying it's a catch Touchdown!
0:13You see, most gamblers, when they go to gamble, they go to win Oh my god, that's incredible Big bank, small bank,
0:22I like to make money Alright That is the ultimate kibosh You want a bet?
0:29And we are under Welcome to the Action Network Podcast Presented by DraftKings, I'm Brandon Kravitz And I'm joined every Tuesday with
0:38Futures Analyst Brandon Anderson for a deep dive into the Futures Market And more Another NFL weekend is in the books Week
0:485 has come and gone We take the telescope out To see what we can see On the horizon A lot of
0:58coaches vying for that first coach Fired tag is what it looks like to me Because the malpractice this weekend In the
1:07NFL How is that not The story of the league?
1:12Every time I flip on any network That talks about the National Football League It's about some coach doing something That they
1:21weren't supposed to do Yeah, I mean, I feel like we had Some crazy ending in every window And that's a lot
1:31When we had the Sunday morning window And the Sunday night window And the Monday night window And then, you know, the
1:40main slate too So it's great content for us They keep us in business Like, the more coaches are on the hot
1:50seat The less we're on the hot seat, Brandon Because we just have all the endings to talk about And all the
2:00craziness And, yeah, just a wild slate of games this weekend You think that maybe we, as football fans If I can
2:09be the show Where we just take a big deep breath Rather than hyperventilate And fire everybody sight unseen That we just
2:19don't fully appreciate How difficult it is to manage These moments at the end of these games Standing there on the sideline
2:28When you're worried about 15 things at once No doubt I mean, when we're sitting home on our couches You know, texting
2:38our buddies Cold one in our hand Enjoying the game It's a little bit of a different feel Than your jobs on
2:48the line Your entire staff and their families You got 53 players out there You got the injury report in your ear
2:57You got, you know, every other thing going on We can definitely understand it But we're going to be fans at home
3:07too We're going to still yell We're going to throw stuff to the TV And want things to go our way And
3:16look, it is your job as coach To manage this among the other 100 things I understand it's a lot of things
3:26to manage But hire a time management guy Or, you know, get somebody on your team To be in your ear to
3:36make those decisions If you can't do them, that's okay You have to do everything But somebody has to do it And
3:45somebody has to coach special teams too Sean McVay Like, somebody has to do the things To win the games I think
3:55I would fire the If I had to make space I would fire the analytics guy That tells me to go for
4:04it On fourth down every time And I would replace them With someone to help me With time management Maybe that is
4:14the way to do this For the coaches out there Let's play a little buy or sell Are you buying this?
4:23Are you buying or selling? What are you buying?
4:27You want to sell? Buy it! Time to sell is right now It's time to buy and sell Some of these market
4:37movers We've had some big time stories And some big market shifts That we need to be aware of as well The
4:46Bills and the Rams Put on a major motion picture last night Absolute theater Let's get a temp check On the losers
4:56Buy or sell the Rams The two and three Rams Are in big time trouble Yeah, that game was awesome Like, we
5:06can't have the game of the year Every day that we watch football But that certainly felt like a candidate We had
5:15three punts the entire game We had 35 points in the fourth quarter Six straight touchdowns to end regulation And then obviously
5:25the overtime We just talked about The special teams mistakes And the coaching mistakes McVay, bad clock management Doesn't go for two
5:34at the end And I thought they should have Just tried to end it right there Then you kick it off in
5:44overtime Which I think is a mistake And has everyone talking now And then they kind of turtle When they got the
5:54ball too And settle for the long field goal Look, I thought that the Bills Should have run the clock down At
6:03the end before they kicked Their field goal Mistakes were made By a lot of teams there For Buffalo Great win Obviously
6:13Josh Allen I thought was incredible Last night Just unbelievable Best player in the field By a mile There's a reason why
6:22He is the annual MVP candidate And the guy on the other side Is an MVP candidate If he has two elite
6:32receivers And a great running game And a great defense And all of the other things That's the difference We saw it
6:42last night No DJ Moore Your defense can't get a stop Cook can't stop fumbling The ball right now Even in overtime
6:51And Josh still goes And gets the job done Last night Do you know that the Bills Bills had 17 EPA For
7:01the game As a team Josh Allen Had 21 and a half Josh Allen Had more EPA Than the entire Bills team
7:10Because the rest of the team Was costing them points And Josh Allen Scrambled for 121 yards Just unstoppable The Rams had
7:20two and three They keep losing These marquee games And look We've seen this happen Where you put the team That everyone
7:30knows Is going to be good In all the marquee September-October games You get this rough schedule Starting out Because they front
7:39load The TV thing It's not that big of a deal To lose the Bills In the coin to flip game Like
7:49it's not like We watch the game And we're like Oh the sky's But the sky's not falling The Rams should have
7:58won the game The Bills should have won the game They both should have lost the game We all saw what happened
8:08You know what I'm talking about It's not that crazy To lose this game But you're two and three right now So
8:18let me ask you this question Right now The two and three Rams Or the four and one Bills Taking the context
8:27Into consideration Right now Which one of these teams Do you think is more likely To play in the Super Bowl This
8:37year Because in the batting markets It's priced about even right now For me it's the Rams I just Yes Josh Allen
8:46is good enough To cover up a lot of holes On that Bills team But That defense is a problem Their propensity
8:56To turn the ball over In key situations Is a problem And we know What this looks like Josh Allen can dig
9:06you Out of the mud In the regular season Or maybe he doesn't And they lose a game And it doesn't matter
9:15Because it's the regular season In the playoffs It does matter The Rams are still getting Miles Garrett back I think the
9:25thing that Has I don't know if it's a surprise But it's just sort of I think it's It's definitely happening Which
9:34is Aaron Donald looks incredible Aaron Donald looks like The old Aaron Donald to me And the fact that We haven't seen
9:44This version of Donald Play with Miles Garrett Yet That pairing is going To be as advertised So as long as McVay
9:54can get over this I think there's this fear When he's coaching At the end of games He's playing not to lose
10:03I think he feels The weight of expectation If they can get past that That's definitely the team I'm still waiting For
10:13a better number Because they're still Not far enough removed From what their preseason Number was But for me it's the Rams
10:22For me it has to be the Bills Because look To make the Super Bowl You have to make the playoffs And
10:32the Rams After three losses And five Like they're in some doubt We're going to get to In big picture today The
10:42whole NFC playoff picture So we'll come back to What that looks like for them But you know I'm not saying They're
10:51going to miss the playoffs So they have a soft schedule Coming up here But to me Look I agree The Rams
11:01are clearly The better team than Buffalo Put them both in the playoffs Right now at whatever seeds You can Buffalo the
11:10one And the bye week Give the Rams the seven That's where we're heading Right now I'll still probably take the Rams
11:20But they got to make The playoffs first They got to be healthy enough To get to the playoffs first To me
11:30last night Is more about the Bills I think To me we saw This is why Josh Allen Is the most valuable
11:39Player in the league But also This is why He's not going to win it It is a team award And Josh
11:49Allen's team Isn't good enough And his team Is going to let him down For MVP Eventually And his team Is going
11:58to let him down In the quest for the Super Bowl Like you're saying Because You can't do One on 53 In
12:08the playoffs And Buffalo Was building something Better than that In recent years And it feels like We're back to that again
12:18Where it's Josh Allen's Superman And everything else Last note here Just mark it away If we do get This game again
12:27In the Super Bowl Sign me up right now And Puka Nakua reception Just put him in the In the back app
12:37Right now Because those guys Were both amazing Last night Oh my god And to not throw To Puka Nakua On third
12:47down In overtime I don't know One of the most Impressive wins Of the season So far I think the Raiders Are
12:56fine I think the Raiders Are like a legitimately League average-ish team 20th best type team The Patriots Demolished them 536 yards
13:06Over 8 yards of play They scored in 7 of 10 possessions 62% success rate Passing the ball Drake May Especially Looks
13:15all the way back 374 yards Attacking down the field He had the best EPA game By any quarterback This season Over
13:2510 yards A dot And And No A.J. Brown Still No Mac Hollins Who sadly Has been the new Wide receiver one With no A.J.
13:36Brown So you're missing What's been his Top two targets You're missing Their fullback Which is important For that team On defense
13:45Missing their Top two corners This was a Raiders Spot This was the Perfect spot For the Raiders To catch the Patriots
13:55At this spot And Will Campbell The tackle Maybe their best Offensive lineman He gets hurt In this game as well You
14:05can't say The Patriots Are all the way back Until these dudes Get out there But this team Looks like This is
14:14what They're supposed to be This and the Bills win I think Save the Patriots Season Three and two Pretty safely Back
14:24on track For the playoffs I still think The defense Is maybe the best Unit on the team But that's a compliment
14:33If you're a Patriots Fan Because The offense Is looking pretty good Too And this team I think Is right back In
14:43the mix Of things Where they thought They would be And for their Defense to turn Around Without Christian Gonzalez On the
14:53field For the last Two weeks They didn't have Carlton Davis This past Sunday As well So it's not Just AJ Brown
15:02That they're going To be getting Back This team Is showing Some real Upside With a lot Of room To get better
15:12With the players That are out They have a total Of 19 players On injured reserve And they still Bagged back-to-back Wins
15:21against The Raiders And the Bills Plus 160 To win the division I think they Still have value The Jags And the
15:31Ravens Pull out Miracle victories To start And end Our Sunday Plus we got A wild overtime Finish with the Bills on
15:41Monday Night Football Which 4-1 team Are you buying As your AFC sleeper Basically the Non-Chiefs team In the AFC Yeah look
15:50We obviously Watched Those are all Island games So we all Saw those games Jacksonville I thought For the second Straight week
16:00Really sloppy really Sloppy in that Game I thought Honestly Liam Cohen Had a bit Of an arrogant Game plan I think
16:09they Thought they Had an easy One against The Eagles And they Almost blew It 10 or 13 penalties For 100 Yards
16:19This was A team That racked Up huge Penalties Last week Too They're Supposed To be One of The cleanest Teams In
16:29the League They go 0-3 In the Red zone They had The game's Only Turnover They almost Doubled up Philly And yardage
16:38And they Still almost Lost This was The first Game Ever In the Super Bowl Era With two Lead changes In the
16:48Last 10 Seconds Which is Pretty crazy I thought Parker Washington Like saved The game That his Coach and His quarterback Frankly
16:58Kind of Tried to Give away There So You get The win That's Good But I don't Love The direction The team
17:07Is going Right now Baltimore Tyler Huntley Did exactly What you Need your Backup Quarterback To do Late In the Game Six
17:17For 71 Yards Right Down The field Mostly Passing No Time And he Gets Into The end Zone Gets The Two Point
17:26Conversion And Then A 14 Play 68 Yard Drive That Eats Up The Entire Overtime Clock Almost And Wins The game Once
17:36Tua Had to Come in And throw The interception That we All knew Was coming At that Point I'm Concerned That Baltimore's
17:46Defense Couldn't Get off The field On a Third Down Michael Penix Was having A day Out there Until he Was having
17:55A rib Injury Out there Instead I'm Concerned That Mark Andrews Looks Like He's Getting Paid To Try To Get Baltimore To
18:05Lose Games Dropped A Touchdown Dropped To Two Had The Fumble Six I Didn't Even Count That To Start Out He To
18:14Win That Keeps Baltimore In The Race Because That Is The Win You Need When Your Quarterback Is Out And We Know
18:24With Lamar Jackson He's Going To Miss A Couple Games Each Year It's Kind Of Part Of The Drill I've Heard Like
18:34Josh Allen Described As As A Humvee And Lamar Jackson More Like A Lambo You Think This Is As Good As Any
18:43Team In The NFL My Power Ratings Reflect That Jacksonville Just Inside The Top 10 Baltimore With Lamar Top Three Team Maybe
18:53Number One I'm Going To Go And Add Right Now To My Lamar Jackson MVP Position He Is Down To 5% At
19:02Friction Markets About 12 To 1 At Books Why Is He Down This Win Should Move His Odds Up MVP Is A
19:12Team Award You Need To Win Games And Get High Seeds This Is Not Proof That Lamar Is Not Valuable That's Insane
19:22We Without Lamar Jackson And One Thing That I Noticed In Looking Back At His Previous MVP Seasons 2019 2023 He Missed
19:31Exactly One Game In Both Of Those Seasons So That's Something To Consider That You're Okay If Lamar Is Already Shown He
19:41Can Win The Award And Miss A Game Do You Think One More Game Is Would That Be What What's The Point
19:50Where Lamar Can No Longer Almost Like The NBA 65 Game Rule How Many Games Does Lamar Have To Win The Award
20:00I Think You Can Miss One More And I Think After That Then You Start To Get Pretty Tenuous And I Think
20:10Even Then Similarly Like You Said With NBA It Used To World Like Look Some Of The Quarterbacks They're This Week You
20:19Miss The Cleveland Game Tyler Huntley Wins Against Cleveland Look He Doesn't Always He's Lost Twice Against Cleveland For Baltimore But I
20:29Think That Game Mostly Irrelevant It's October We Get To December And The Ravens Are 13 And Four And Lamar Looks Awesome
20:38Every Every Podcast You Listen To A Week Ago Doing Their Quarter Season MVP Award It's It's Lamar Jackson He's Incredible He's
20:48The Best Player In Football Now He Didn't Play For A Week You're Like He's Six And MVP Odds What Are We
20:58Doing I Understand One Thing I Want To Mention Though As far As The Teams We Just Discussed The Sleepers The Teams
21:07We Would Want To Buy In On In The AFC One Of The Teams That I Was In On Early With The
21:17Jacksonville Jaguars I've Talked About This On This Podcast 30 To One My Handicapping For The Last Couple Of Years And The
21:26Jacksonville Jaguars Have The Best Home Field Advantage Over The Last Five Years They Only Play Four More Home Games This Season
21:36They Are On The Road A Lot And In The London Games We Just Saw That If They Play The Home Team
21:46There Which Is Supposed To The Case The Texans Are Charging Right Now I Think This Is A Team They Had No
21:55Business Winning That Game Last Week They Really Haven't Played Well The Last Couple Of Weeks And They Haven't Played Well Against
22:05Houston Do They Have Two Times Coming Up I Think The Jags Are A Sell For Me I'm Just Trying To Figure
22:14Out How To Get It How To Get Into That Market But It Was Something I Wanted To Throw Out There I
22:24Have The Perfect Answer For You And I'm Going To Tease It And Tell You It's Coming Up In Our Weekly Trading
22:34Segment Toward The End Of 50 States Bring The Excitement Straight To Your Fingertips From Florida To Texas To California You'll Never
22:43Miss A Beat Follow Every Moment Every Matchup Every Highlight And A Seamless Experience No Matter Where You're Watching All In One
22:53App So If You're New To Draft Kings Be Sure To Sign Up With The Code Action Network Spend Five Dollars To
23:02Get 200 In Total Rewards That's Code Action Network Download The Draft Kings Sports App And Keep Football At Your Fingertips All
23:12Season Long Draft Kings The Crown Is Yours And Now The Moment You've All Been Waiting For Isn't That Why You're Here
23:22Oh I Can't Wait Let's Look At The Big Picture Here Time For Us To Take The Wide View Angle Of The
23:31NFL Big Picture Style What Are We Looking At This Week BA We're Going NFC Big Picture Just Trying To Zoom Out
23:41And Say Let's Hit The Reset Button Let's Look At The Divisions Because Right Now In The NFC There's Only One NFC
23:50Division Team That Is Favorite At 50% Or Better These Are Wide Open Divisions Look Two Of Them Are Wide Open In
24:00A Bad Way We Might Be Lucky To Get A Team To 500 Two Of Them Are Loaded And Everyone's Trying To
24:10Make The Playoffs Plus You Know Featuring The Cardinals Also Hanging Around So It Looks Like Right Now Big Picture On The
24:19Playoffs We Know Seven Teams It Looks Very Much Like One NFC South One NFC East Five From The Other Two Divisions
24:29From Frankly Seven Teams Because It's Not The Cardinals Let's Be Fair So Five Out Seven Teams That's Good News We Talk
24:38About The Rams We Good Fell But Will All Three Make The Playoffs Yeah So We Talked About The Rams A Bit
24:48Already Can't Be Too Worried About That Loss Pretty Coin Flippy Outcome There's Still You Mentioned Myles Garrett They're Still Number One
24:58Of My Power Ratings Even Without Myles Garrett So Once He Comes Back They're Still The Team To Be Like We Didn't
25:07Get That Wrong They Still Have All The Stars And The Offense Is Finally Looking Healthy Now Obviously The Other Two The
25:17Niners And Seahawks Just Played Each Other So 32 29 For San Francisco Weirdly Even Though We Got 61 Points Dominant Defensive
25:26Game From Both Teams Neither Team Had 260 Yards Neither Team Had 15 First Downs The Problem Is Neither Team Could Keep
25:36The Ball Because The Defenses Were Playing So Well That They Had Seven Turnovers For It That's The Most In Any Game
25:46This Season The Niners Defensive Line I Think Won The Game For Them Including A Fumble Six From George Helani Right Before
25:55Halftime Just Like An Egregious Mistake At The Goal Line When They Are Trying To Run The Clock Out San Francisco Has
26:05Now Been Held In These Last Three Straight Games Against Seattle One In The Playoffs Is Their Worst EPA Per Drive Offensive
26:14Games The Last Two Years All Against Seattle So Seattle's Defense Has The Answers This Was Sam Fran's Best Rushing Game Against
26:24Mike McDonald 65% Success Rate On Designed Runs But Seattle's Defense Is Brock Purdy Is The Other MVP Candidate And Brock Purdy
26:34Has Been Tearing It Up For The Last Month And Then Suddenly Got Three Sacks This Week His First Time That He
26:43Got Sacked At All This Season Suddenly Seattle's Defense Just Had All The Answers For San Fran But Meanwhile The Niners Defense
26:53Still Continues To Surprise Seattle 30% Success Rate That Is A Fourth Percentile Outcome For Them The San Fran D Line This
27:03Is Not A Unit I We Talked About The Houston Tex We Talked A lot About The Houston Tex We Talked About
27:12Texans As Top Three Defense League Average Offense And Is That Good Enough I Kind Of Think That's What Seattle Has Become
27:22I Don't Really Look One Star Receiver A Quarterback You Don't Really Trust That Much I Trust Stroud More Than I Trust
27:31Darnold Right Now And Not A Lot Else There Niner Seahawks What Did You Take Away From That One I Mean These
27:41Two Teams Are Just They're So Well Matched With One Slow Playing McCaffrey A Little Bit In This Offense And They're Giving
27:51Kaelin Black A Lot Of Work Presumably Because McCaffrey Is Getting Up There The Guy Just Had A Baby Over The Weekend
28:00And They Want To Preserve Him For A Postseason Run They're Getting Nick Bosa Back That Should Help To Me It Comes
28:10Down To Seattle's Run Game If I'm Just Looking For What's The Seattle's Weakness Is Their Run Game They Cannot Get A
28:19Consistent Push Offensively On The Ground And Then You're Asking Sam Darnold To Do A Little Too Much And The Turnovers Are
28:29Rearing Their Ugly Heads Again So I Think If We See This Game Play Out Again It Probably Looks A Like It
28:39Did The First Time But I Come Away From This Kind Of Feeling The Same These And Seattle Is 3 2 The
28:48Rams Are 2 And Don't Forget Sam Fran Beat Those Teams So You Have The Head To Head Tie Break And By
28:58The Way Those Were Both Road Games That Game Against The Rams In Australia That Was A Road Game That Three Cliff
29:07Has To Be Coming We See More And More Injuries Building Up Then They Now Lost Debo Samuel Looks Like For A
29:17Few Weeks I Don't Really Care If You Lose Debo Samuel It's Not That Big Of 14 And A Half Projected Wins
29:27The CX And Rams Are Around 10 Each So That Is A Pretty Huge Chasm Right Now And Actually This Is The
29:36Biggest Division Favorite By DBA Way The Niners Are 84% To Win The Division Right Now That's High Not Just NFC But
29:46The Entire League Actually If You Want The Safe Bet On To Win The Division CX And Rams Both Around 8% That's
29:55How Much Of A Drop Off It Is Right Now I Don't Like It Because The Injuries I Also Don't Like It
30:05Because This Spot Is What I Circle Before The Season To Screwed Around And Lost Those Three Games So The Margin For
30:15Error Is Gone Seattle At Denver On Thursday Night This Week That's Still A Tough One Then Chiefs And Bears That Smells
30:24Like 7-3 Also Washington For The Niners On Monday Night And Atlanta Then A Bye Week So I Think We're Going To
30:34Come Back To This Like Three Weeks From Now The Niners Are going To Be Then 7-0 And I Think 7-0 8-0
30:43Wherever The Spot Is On The Calendar We'll Get There I Think They're Going To Be Up Effectively Three And A Half
30:53Games On Both Seattle And Win To Seattle Probably Lose One In This Stretch I Don't Think You're Going To Bet This
31:03Division Right Now Because Injuries Make It So Muddy But I Will Point This Out As One Last Thing In The Last
31:12Three Weeks Of The Season Seahawks And Rams Play Twice I Think We're Looking At A Very Real Scenario Where If One
31:22Of Those Teams Sweeps The Other That Might Knock The Other One Out Of The Playoffs That's Where We're At In The
31:31NFC And That Would Be Pretty Shocking Considering What We Think About These Teams Right Now You're Going to Have Somebody Missing
31:41The Playoffs Between The NFC North And The NFC West Somebody Is Missing To Bet The NFC West The Best Way To
31:51Bet The Division Right Now Is To Take The Cardinals Under Four And A Half Wins Which Is Not Really All That
32:00Different I Believe That That Was The Number Coming Into The Season For The Arizona Cardinals I Don't Know Where The Wins
32:10Come From For This Team We Talk About How Great All These Other Teams Are So They Are Certainly Not Winning Those
32:19Games If You Start To Line Up The Upcoming Schedule For The Arizona Cardinals And Look They're Not Going To Be Favored
32:29In Probably Any Of These Football Games Rams Broncos Cowboys Seahawks Rams Chiefs Commanders Eagles I Mean We're Going To Be Sitting
32:39Pretty In A Few Weeks So I Think The Fact That We're Not That Far Removed From A Number That Existed Preseason
32:48Minus 120 Right Now On The Under Four And Half I Think That Might Be The To Bet This If You Love
32:58Everybody Else Just Fade The Cardinals I Don't Hate That I Think That That That Is A Schedule Up Until Washington And
33:07Philly We'll See What I Think By Then But By Then They're Going To Be Like One And Nine And I'm Going
33:17To Have A Much Better Number On My Under Four And Half Anyway I Can Decide Then What I Want So I
33:27Don't Mind That At All Yeah They Do Have The Jets The Raiders And The East Goes Yeah What A Week For
33:36A Division That Picks Up No Wins Despite Having One Team As A Nine Point Favorite And Two Others Playing Each Other
33:46And They I Have All Sorts Of Terrible Eagles Stats But I Need To Tell You Just Watch The Eagles Ever That's
33:55All The Terrible Eagles Stats They Can't Do Anything Offensively We Took The Win Total Mind Shaft Last Week They're Down To
34:0533% To In The Division 38% In The Playoffs That Honestly Feels Generous To Me Right Now The Giants Are Up Two
34:15In The Lost Column The Tie Honestly I Think Was Not So Awful For The Giants If You Want To Still Feel
34:24Good About Giants Island Tie Is I Don't See A Ton Of Value At Plus 180 I Thought That Was It I
34:34Thought Thursday Night When Dallas Lost I Was Like Okay Baby Here We Go Give Me The Dallas Ticket It Here's The
34:43Thing Though Did You Know That At Most Books Ties Don't Count As Wins Or Even Half Wins Toward Win Totals We
34:53Have A Win Total That's Like Six And A Half This Is Not A Half Win If You Read The Fine Print
35:03It's Just Not A Win So Washington Is 1 3 And 1 But By Win Totals They're 1 4 That's Been Terrible
35:12I Think You Mention All The Different Fired Coaches To Come Dan Quinn Is Dead Man Walking Right Now That's Not Lasting
35:22For This Team I 2 2 7 1 Or Somewhere In That Mix Of A Lot Of Losses And If Daniels Isn't
35:31Healthy And If Quinn Is Fired By Then Why Would The Bottom Just Drop Out On This Team Like Why Are They
35:41Doing Anything Useful At Prediction Markets 7 Plus Wins No And I Think If You Like The Mind Shaft You Can Mind
35:51Shaft This Team To Take The Whole Division Down The Mind Shaft 6 Plus Wins No Is 13 Kind Of Jumps Out
36:00Is What Are You Talking About But Their Quarterback Gets Hurt The Commanders Were Dominating That Game Early On Overseas Against The
36:10Colts And Then When Cal A Manus Comes In Everything Went Sideways And The Colts Got All These Short Fields And Jonathan
36:19Taylor Eight That's How The Score Went South The Way That It Did And Then A Blown Opportunity Against The Giants Those
36:29Could Have Been Back To Back Wins Actually In The Week Before They Beat The Seahawks They Should In Theory I Mean
36:39I Don Know If I Don I Should Have Won Three Games In A Row But Those Were Their Opportunities And Now
36:48They Blew It Post Halloween Cowboys Ticket To Win The East Is The Way To Go They Have Some Big Names On
36:58Defense They're All Struggling Quinn Williams Is Not Making An Impact On The Defensive Line Daron Bland Has Been I Was Saying
37:08That Before The Season Started To Niners Eagles Rams Or No That's For The Washington Commanders Anyway I Like The Cowboys I
37:17Would Just Wait For Right Now On The Dallas Cowboys Let's Move To A Dallas By The Way You Mentioned The Packers
37:27Game That's Sunday Night Do You Know That Dallas Has Won Only One Of Their Last Twelve Games Against The Packers This
37:36Is This Is A Real Rivalry And It Is Not A Real Like That Bears Packers Type Rivalry The Packers Have Dominated
37:46The Cowboys So I Agree I'm Still Waiting And Watching For The Cowboys Spot I Don't Think It's Yet I Think We'll
37:56Have A Spot Late This Is The One Where The Packers Reside In All Four Teams In The Playoff Hunt In The
38:05NFC North Do You Feel Like You Have A Good Read On This Division No Not Not Even A Little Bad I
38:15Think Do We Feel Like We Know Anything For Sure About Any One Of The Teams In The Division Even So Let's
38:24Run Through The list The Vikings Are 5 No That's The We Have Not Seen Caller Murray Healthy We Haven't Seen Justin
38:34Jefferson Healthy This Week Was The First Week They Both Played Together They Didn't Have Jordan Addison This Game They Didn't Have
38:44Jordan Mason Who Should Be Back Now I Think They're Best Running Back The Line Hasn't Been Healthy I Think Actually Minnesota
38:53Offense Is Probably Underrated Right Now Because We Haven't Actually Seen It Together And Now It's A Buy Week Now They Have
39:03Two Weeks To Get Healthy And Practice Get Some Time Together Get A Little Time To Gel Decent Amount Better So That's
39:12Minnesota The Other Three Are Three And Two The Lions Just Demolished The Cardinals Scored Seven Straight Possessions Defense Held Arizona To
39:22Seven Until Garbage Time That's Pretty Good News Because We Know They're Going To Score We Also Know Their Defense Can't Stop
39:32Anyone But They're Also On Offense That Good Can You Just Be 20th On Defense Can You Be Like Plausibly Okay And
39:41Maybe Branch Helps Get Detroit There And They Still Have That Soft Schedule Chicago Three And Two What Is Chicago They Blew
39:51Out The Panthers And We Said Who Cares The Panthers Well The Panthers Are Scoring A Lot Of Points Now So That
40:00Might Actually Look Decent Then They Scored Three In Minnesota In The Rain Storm Then They Went Two And One With The
40:10Back Up Quarterback I Think All Things Considered You Kind Of Feel Fine About Three And Two When You're Missing Caleb Williams
40:20For That Stretch But What Do We Learn In Any Of Those Games We Just I The Packers Are Kind Of Quietly
40:29Getting A Little Better The Offensive Line Has Been Much Better Since Adding Those Veterans Will They Get Josh Jacobs Back At
40:39Some Point We Don't Know It Looks Like Micah Parsons Should Be Back Soon Which Is Huge Huge For This Team We
40:48Talked About Can They Just Stay In The Most Pause I Think Is The Lions The Offensive Line Is Not What It
40:58Used To Be It Feels Like They Are Getting By Going Up Against Some Pretty Bad Defenses And Jameer Gibbs Is On
41:08Another Planet Right Now But Jared Goff Just Doesn't Look The Ball Is Just Not Zipping Out Of His Hand The Way
41:17That I'm Used To Seeing Something Feels Off With Them I've Felt That Like Many Since Last Year The Offense Doesn't Have
41:27The Same Fluidity To It Without Ben Johnson Calling The Plays So They're The Ones I'd Be Least Likely To Buy So
41:36Then I Have To Look At Okay Well So Then Who Do I Like I Did Bet The Vikings Before The Season
41:46So There Were Some Pre Reality That In A Close Division The Team With The Best Defense And A Good Special Teams
41:56Unit To That Goes Underrated Might Have The Advantage I mean The Lions Secondary Is Horrendous The Bears Showed You This Past
42:05Weekend Theirs Isn't Much Better And Maybe Is They're 5 And 0 They Have A Buy Then They Play The Colts Then
42:15They Get The Lions If They Win That Divisional Game It's Not A Stretch To Say The Vikings Could Start 7 And
42:240 So I Don't Know That I'm I'm Just Not Rushing To The Window To Bet Any Of These Other Teams Already
42:34Sitting With A Vikings Ticket Yeah I Think That's About Where I'm At Too I Had The Vikings Division Ticket Before The
42:44Season And Similarly We Said With The Niners They're Up Two Games On The Division Right Now Really Two And A Half
42:53Because They Had The Head To Head Against Two Of These Teams Already In The Division So That's The Spot Minnesota Has
43:03Created For Itself They're Basically A Coin Flip To Win The Division Right Now That's How They're Priced And I Think That
43:12That Is About Right At This Point Because They have This Huge Head Start I'm Not Saying They're The Best Team I
43:22Think All Four Of Things But If All Four In The Mix And You Give One Team A Two And Detroit Last
43:32Week At Plus 300 I Think Detroit If I Was Going To Bet The Division Is Still The Way To Go So
43:41I'm Not Going To Add To The Position But I Think Actually Betting Playoffs Can Be Smart Here Because I Found What
43:51I Think Might Be Kind Of A Five From The Other Divisions So If You Take Out The Two Division Winners That's
44:00Three Wild Card Spots That Go Into These Two I Like Lions To Make The Playoffs It's 58% Out Prediction Markets Bears
44:10To Miss Is 45% I Like Those Two Together Because If The Lions Make It There's One Less Spot For The Bears
44:20That's Just Normal That's Math That's How This Thing Goes You Shouldn't Be Able To Parlay Those Together And I Think You
44:29Pay A Price For It But It's Plus 181 To Get Those Two Together If Your Book Allows It The Big Difference
44:39Here Is Schedule We Keep Talking About It But It's Because It Keeps Mattering Detroit Has That Super Soft Schedule Including Out
44:48Of The Buy Week They're Home Against The Packers Home Against The Vikings So They Don't Leave Detroit For A Month Right
44:58Now And If You're Playing The Packers And Vikings Who By The Way Aren't Healthy Yet This Is A Pretty Good Time
45:08To Play Them You Mentioned Detroit's Line I Think Actually The Line Has Been Better Than I Thought It Would Be And
45:17Cade May Should Be The Center The Young Guys Are Playing Pretty Well I Think Detroit Can Hang In Those Games Chicago
45:27Meanwhile Is At Atlanta Who Suddenly Looks Feisty Then The Patriots And The Seahawks Last Year's Super Bowl Teams So Chicago's Defense
45:36Got A Little Exposed This Last Week Frankly I Didn't Think They Need To Exposed Why Did We Think This Defense Was
45:46Good Just Because Of High On Chicago And Look It's Not A Huge Bet For Me But I Think The Fact That
45:56You Can Play These Together Does Give Us Some Value So Lions To Make Bears To Miss The Playoffs Together At Plus
46:05181 Very Creative Way To Look At It There NFC South Still Wide Open All Four Teams Are In Play For One
46:15spot This Is The Division That I I Mean You Just Throw Your Hands Up Every Week Every Week Of The Season
46:24Brandon We've Had A Different Opinion On Who The Best Team In The Division Is I Know It Is So Ugly We
46:34Thought That It Should Be The Saints By Default And I Think It's The Least Of All The Saints Right Now They're
46:4430th In DVOA Their Only Win Was More Of A Ravens Collapse Than Anything DVOA Projection Is Five Wins For The Saints
46:53Right Now Which By The Way Is Not That Far To The Division Still But Only 2.6 In The Division But They
47:03Still Have That Crazy Soft Schedule That's A Thing Hurting His Ribs Hurt Again That Dude Is Made Of Glass You Can't
47:13Stay On The Field Michael Pennix Come On They Almost Swept The Three Primetime Games But They Didn't And Now Look At
47:22You Gotta Actually Have A Quarterback And Go Get Those Wins So I Have My Eye On Them I I'm Not Buying
47:32Carolina DVOA Like Carolina They're Top 10 In DVOA So Far They're They're The Pick At 46% To In The Division They're
47:41The Betting Favor Right Now I'm Not There Yet I Just I Don't Have A Good Reason Even I Just Need To
47:51See More Bryce Young Coming Out Of The Bye Week What Does It Look Like Now That Teams Are Like Oh Bryce
48:01Is Dealing Now We're Just Chucking It Okay How Do We Prep For That Now That We Have To Pay To It
48:10Because Again Not A Hugely Daunting Schedule But Teams I Like More Than The Panthers Up Next Eagles Bucks Packers Broncos Carolina
48:20Is Going To Be Underdogs And Should Be Let's See It Let's See Some Wins So Brand 2.0 Guess Where I'm Back
48:29It's Buccaneers Island Baby We Never Left We Still Have All Of Because That Is Not What I Expected That Is Been
48:39Perennially Terrible Under Todd Bowles And Finally Is Good And Baker Hopefully Should Be Back Soon When He Is This Still Is
48:49My Number One Team In The Division And Now Because They Stole That Game They're Only A Game Back In This Terrible
48:58Division With Steelers Panthers Falcons Up Next Those Are Winnable Games The Bucks Are The Best Team In This Terrible Division They're
49:0815% In The Prediction Markets I Think They Should Be At Least 20% Let Me Be Clear I'm Not Telling You They're
49:17Going To Win The Division They're Still The Underdog But If I I I In Favor In Betting This Division Of Taking
49:27The Longest Shots That Are Available Because The Only Thing I Remain And The Bucks Are One Of The Saints Would Be
49:37The Other One Right Now Bucks 5-1 Saints Plus 650 The Only Thing I'm Confident In Is That Weekly Trading Segment I
49:46Am Your Stock Analyst Brandon Kravitz Buying Up Opportunities That We Will Sell At A Later Date And This Is One I
49:56Have Been Holding Out On I Have Been Wait Wait Wait Wait Wait From The Preseason After The Draft Until Right Now
50:05Fernando Mendoza Offensive Rookie Of Off Of Mendoza For Offensive Rookie Of The Year Until Right Now This Is The Time To
50:15Bet It They Already Broke The Seal On Mendoza Having Him Close That Game In A Blow Out Against The Patriots That
50:25At At Least Show Some Willingness To Throw Him If The Chief Slip Up A Little Bit They Played The Chiefs Tough
50:34Already The Patriots Made Kirk Cousins Look Quite Pedestrian They Used Very Simple Cover Zero Looks They Sent Extra Corners At Him
50:44It Really Flustered Cousins It's One Of Those Things Where The Book Is Out It's Not The Last Time He's Going To
50:53See Those Coverages And He's Not Mobile Enough To Do Anything About It You Can't Do That Against Josh Allen Because He'll
51:03Buy Time And Chuck It Deep For A Big Play You Can Do That Against Kirk Cousins I Think They Can Make
51:13The Switch In The Next Couple Of Weeks And This Is Where This Is What This Segment Is All About Buy Sell
51:22It Right Now At 25 To 1 Or 3.8 The Second He Gets The Nod He Doesn't Even Need To Play Just
51:32If He Gets Announced As The Starter You Could Sell It Or You Can Wait Until He Plays Well And Then He
51:41Could Sell It Until Before He Hits The Rookie Wall I 15 More Games Only One Quarterback Since 2010 Even Got Votes
51:51For Rookie Of The Year Playing Single Digit Games So You Asked Me About Lamar Earlier How Many Games Can Lamar Miss
52:01MVP And Rookie Of Are Not The Same And I'm Going to pretend That They Are How Many Games More Can Mendoza
52:10Wait And Still Get In And Win Rookie Of The Or I Do Want To Buy And Flip It I Very Much
52:20I Don't Want To Hang On To This Because I Do Think That I Don't Want To Be Holding This And Then
52:29He Struggles At Boston Is The Odds On Favorite To An Offensive Rookie Of The Year Denzel Boston As He's Caught A
52:39Couple Of Touchdown Passes The Guy Hasn't Done Anything Uber Elite We So I Think That Has A Lot To Do With
52:49It Yeah I Think That Makes A Lot Easy On Him And We Already Have It At A Better Price Than This
52:58Was This Is Something That Should Be Mentioned Here 25 To One Now This Was Four To One At The Start Of
53:08The Season If You Buy Texans Division Stock At 13 This Is The Spot Because The Houston Texans Are Playing The Jacksonville
53:17Jaguars This Week In London Which By The Way Is The Home Jacksonville Game That Alone Taking Away The Presumed Home Field
53:27Advantage Which Let's Not Even Pretend That London Is The Same And You Mentioned That Jacksonville By NFL Odds Had The Best
53:37Home Field Advantage That's Probably Like Seven Or Eight Win Percentage Points That You're Taking Away From Jacksonville In This Game Right
53:46Here Houston Numbers Are Still Good Houston Just Dominated The Titans They Look Like What They're Supposed To Be Quietly While We've
53:56Worried About Their Defense Correctly So CJ Stroud Ball And Out There CJ Stroud And That Offense Have Actually Been Much Better
54:05Than We Thought They Would Be I Think Jacksonville Is The Better Team I Think People Overreacting Right Now Jacksville Is Minus
54:15350 To Win The Division That Is Too High I After This One Giants Chargers Browns Colts You Get This One You
54:25Might Start Thinking About Six And Four For Houston And Being Right Back In The Mix I Think You Mentioned Texans Plus
54:34Two And A Half It's Not Enough Texans Money Line Not Enough Texans Division That's The Spot 13% This Is What We
54:44Lions to make the playoffs and the Bears to miss parlayed at plus 181.
54:50Washington, seven plus wins. No, at 55%. The Bucs to win the division at 15%.
54:57Texans division at 13%. And I am adding Fernando Mendoza at 4% to win Offensive Rookie of the Year.
55:05What's the one last thing, V.A.? Can I say one more thing?
55:10This better be important. There's one more thing before I go.
55:15Real quick, road favorites under a touchdown. Week 5 and 6.
55:20Since 2021, killing it. 43-17 against the spread. 72% ATS.
55:24That was including this last week, 4-1. Only loss was by the Bears with their backup quarterback for week 6.
55:33That means Seattle on Thursday night. Road favorite under a touchdown.
55:38Sunday, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Chicago, and Buffalo. So keep those road favorites in mind this week.
55:44Great stuff from you, Brandon Anderson. That'll do it for us today.
55:49Keep an eye out for Stucky and Doug's week 6 betting preview on Wednesday.
55:55The touchdown show on Thursday. And Friday, V.A. will be back with the playground.
56:02Shoots, ladders, parlays, and the works. That is all still to come right here on the Action Network podcast presented by DraftKings.
56:11And if you're not bet syncing on the Action app, what are you doing with your life?
56:19I'll be back on the favorites on Thursdays to submit our five contest plays.
56:25Three and two in the contest in week 5.
56:29We'll see if we can keep it rolling. Until next time, good luck out there.
56:35Action Network reminds you, please gamble responsibly. If you or someone you care about has a gambling problem, help is available 24-7 at 1-800-GAMBLER.
56:46We'll see if you put the card in here.
56:50Fire

More episodes from The Action Network Sports Betting Podcast

6