Rice on the Mics

A Free New York Sports Therapy Session

• Ian • Season 1 • Episode 34

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New York sports needed a couch tonight. We break down why Giants-Eagles has real upset juice if New York wins first down, lets Jackson Dart dictate with RPOs and quick game, and turns MetLife into a weapon. Then we level with Jets fans heading to London: 0-5, zero takeaways, and a season that can only be salvaged by boring, disciplined football—protect the ball, shorten the game, and stop living in third-and-long.

The middle stretch swings through the week’s wildest NFL beats: CJ Stroud carving Baltimore while the Ravens’ identity vanishes without Lamar, New England clipping Buffalo because flags and turnovers are undefeated, Baker Mayfield stacking razor-thin wins with ruthless efficiency, and a Monday night rollercoaster where Trevor Lawrence outdueled Mahomes at the wire. We preview Lions at Chiefs, a desperation spot where Arrowhead noise only matters if KC stops wasting red-zone trips, and Bengals at Packers, where Joe Flacco’s veteran eyes meet a defense he just saw.

Then comes the Yankees post-mortem with no varnish: October is a contact tournament, and New York brought a three-true-outcomes lineup to a knife fight. Toronto stitched 27 outs with eight arms while the Yankees stranded leverage and chased their way out of rallies. We talk roster construction, the math of OBP and two-strike plans, and why wasting Judge’s peak is a preventable outcome if the organization pivots back to bat-to-ball skill. To help you actually win something this week, we drop fantasy buy lows (Derrick Henry, TreVeyon Henderson, Lad McConkey), sell highs, and landmines to avoid. The mailbag hits Flacco’s stability, Phillies’ hard choices, and messy Chiefs RB rumors. We close with the Costanza slate: fading our gut on four lines to beat bias and get back in the green.

If this kind of clear-eyed breakdown helps you watch smarter, subscribe, share with a fellow sports masochist, and leave a quick rating on Apple or Spotify. Tell me your boldest Week 6 upset in the reviews—I’ll read my favorites on the next show.

SPEAKER_00:

Mikä siinä on myöskin. Again, my friend. Alright, here to talk to you about your favorite tea. And you might want to pull up a chair and pour whatever you're drinking into a big cup because tonight feels like one of those sports therapy nights. We got giant eagles under the lights in MetLife. The Jets accidentally auditioning for a weekly stress test in London. And the Yankees, man, oh man, the Yankees. Well, they just packed it in for the winner yet again. And the way it ended, it wasn't fluky, it wasn't a bad bounce or a blown call. They just weren't good enough. That's the part that stings the most. Post-mortem for this Yankee team is gonna be a rough obituary. I'll go over some fun games from week five of the NFL and also highlight some games I think you should keep your eye on this upcoming week. Right now, Giants Eagles Thursday Night Football is spicy, Philly's coming off a loss, the offense looks clunky, and MetLife's gonna be on one. That Giants defense is better than people think. We'll hit the polls, the playoff picture, the fantasy fallout, and as always, the mailbag and the rolling the dice with rice picks, aka Fade Me picks to wrap it up. It's Thursday Night Football on deck, baseball chaos in the rear view, and another therapy session for New York sports fans everywhere. I'm Ian Rice. This is episode 34 of Rice on the Mikes. Let's do it to it.

SPEAKER_01:

Angularity base here. The Eagle has landed.

SPEAKER_00:

Let's dive right into the football. Let's talk like we're at the bar, and the games are on in the corner. They got the package, the whole works, and you want to hear Uncle Rice's opinion. And we start tonight with Giants Eagles first, because it's the first game of week six, and it's got juice. Philly is coming off a loss, and the offense has been sticky, I guess you could say. You see the flashes here and there, but it isn't clean. The defense hasn't exactly been the bully that everybody expected either. Good in moments, but you can you can move the chains on them if you stay ahead of the sticks. And that's exactly how if you're the Giants, you're gonna have to play to win this game. This needs to be the Jackson Dart game that actually looks like a Jackson Dart game. RPOs, design keepers, quick throws, get them in rhythm, let them dictate instead of react to what they're throwing at them. You're already shorthanded at wideout, no neighbors, and then Darius Slayton is also ruled out for tonight. So no easy answers. But let him be an athlete. Lean on your running game. And defensively, it's the most boring coaching point in the world, but win first down. Live in third and seven instead of third and two. And give yourself a chance. If Hertz is living in short yarders, you're cooked. Make them drive the ball down the field. Make them be patient looking for a receiver. Let your D-line eat. And also let MetLife do some of the lifting too. I don't know how many Philly fans are going to be driving up 95, but if the crowd is in it, that pass rush is going to wake up. Giants might have a chance tonight. I believe in them. Every week's got an upset. Why not Thursday night, right? Now, on to the Jets. And oh boy, are the Jets Jetsing. I mean, played the Cowboys over the week, and that Cowboys game finished at 37-22, but it wasn't as close as the box score leads you to believe. There was a beatdown with a polite finish for the books. The fumbles, the situational stuff, the body language. Oh, and about a million Dallas fans taking over your stadium, too. You're now 0-5, first coach in franchise history to start that way, which is an insane stat. Didn't think that was possible for how bad the Jets have been, but it is. Aaron Glenn is the first Jets coach to start 0-5. And now you're going to London, nice little 9-30 brunch game, and you got Denver and Sean Payton staring you in the face looking at 0-6. All offseason, we got discernment about discipline, about identity, and through five games, you've literally recorded zero takeaways. The first teams do that since 1933. 1933. We didn't even enter World War II yet. I don't say that to be dramatic. I say it because the only way that you dig out of this is by stopping this self-inflicted stuff. Get back to boring football. I mean, no one wants to watch the Jets anyway. We're out of it by Halloween. So protect the ball. Shorten the game. Quit living in third and long for God's sakes. This team is out by Halloween. They're done. They're not going to the playoffs. That's 16 years now of not going to the playoffs. I've said it before. We had a Pope come in to Pope them and then die from the last time the Jets went to the playoffs. This franchise is just miserable. And I think Aaron Glenn might be the guy. I really do. I still have faith in him. But the players, I don't know if it's the wrong guys in here. They just don't fit the system. They just are not buying in. I don't know. The overhaul is going to be massive. Or it needs to be massive. Or we're looking at Rich Kotai 2.0. Not great. Either way for the Jets. Alright, let's go around the league. Couple games from last week that you might have missed if you don't uh have the package or just don't have the time to watch everything like I do. So, first game on the list is Texans, Ravens. Texans 44, Ravens 10. Oh, Ravens. Ravens fans. Jesus. Having a rough go at it here. Tough schedule, a miserable schedule to start, honestly. But CJ Stroud did the damn thing. He was a surgeon. Goes 23 for 27, four touchdowns. Houston scored on every drive he played. And yes, I understand Baltimore's roster is littered with injuries right now. But what does every coach say? Next man up, right? Well, it's tough to go to next man up when Lamar doesn't play. And it also showed you that when Lamar doesn't play, this offense just can't run through Derrick Henry. They can't ask Derrick Henry to drag you to get a win. They got out gained 417 yards to 207. It's the worst home loss in franchise history. That doesn't really sound like a we're injured and we'll figure it out thing. That sounds like a we might be on the precipice of a reset thing for the Ravens. Alright, next game on the list is the Patriots and the Bills. The big upset of the week. Patriots win 23-20, but Buffalo beat Buffalo, in my opinion. They had three turnovers, 11 penalties, and they let Drake May shine. He made every throw he needed to, especially to Stefan Diggs of all people, back in Orchard Park. Goes 10 for 146. Ramondre Stevenson punches in two touchdowns. And Andy Borales nails a 52-yarder with 15 seconds left to win the game for him. That snapped a 14-game home win streak against the Buffalo Bills and left the league with zero unbeaten teams. Look, you can talk about play calling all you want. You can talk about defense or a trap game. If you're handing teams free yards and extra possessions left and right, you're begging to get clipped. That's how it goes. Trust me, I know it firsthand with the Jets. A man we need to talk about now is Baker Mayfield. Buck Seahawks this week. Baker just keeps on cashing their receipts. Tampa wins 38-35. Mayfield goes 29 for 33 with 379 yards while throwing two touchdowns. And Levante David makes the money play at the end to set up the winner. That's four wins by three or fewer points in the first five games. First team to ever do it ever. Not pretty, but they all count as a check in the W column. Baker is making a legitimate case for MVP this year. Led the league in touchdowns last year, myself included, said, oh, he's not going to have another career year. Well, seems to be proving us all wrong right now. We'll file this later for the mailbag. I got a good question this week, but Joe Flacco is now the Bengals, not the Browns, the Bengals starter on Sunday at Lambeau. And say what you want about him, but the guy knows every this is his 18th year in the league. Okay? 18 years. There's no coverage, no defense you can throw at him that he hasn't seen before. So he's got a good arm. He's not going to move much, but he knows how to run the quick game. He'll find his backs and he'll throw receivers open. And if you're Jamar Chase, that is not the worst news you've heard this week. The big question is, though, whether that defense will be able to stop anybody long enough for it to even matter. Now, the Monday night football piece that I owe you, Chiefs, Jaguars, was chaos. Kansas City jumps out to a 14-0 lead, and then Trevor Lawrence says, okay, that's enough of that. Flips the switch. They get a 99-yard pick six. They claw their way back, and then you get an absolutely wild game winner from Trevor Lawrence. Takes the snap, gets stepped on by a center, stumbles, gets up, stumbles again, and then scrambles in from a yard out with 23 seconds left to take the lead. Mahomes had a shot, but the last drive fizzled and the Jags win 31-28. The Chiefs right now, they show flashes of greatness here and there, but they don't seem to have that same magic anymore. Now, yes, I know they're missing Rasheed Rice. Travis Kelsey's starting to look a little bit older, but I don't know, they're just not finishing games. They're not finishing drives like they have been. Now, speaking of the Chiefs, two big previews this week. That's what we call in this business a segue, by the way. Lions at Chiefs on Sunday night. Detroit's offense comes at you in waves. Physical backs, speedy backs, yards after contact. Goff is efficient in rhythm, and the Chiefs need this one to get back to 500. And it starts with cleaning up the self-inflicted stuff too. All over the league, penalties, red zone stalls, those are empty possessions in the middle quarters. If Casey can get a lead and let the pass rush hunt, Arrowhead again is real loud. They tend to do the rest. But if Detroit comes out and hits a Monra early or Laporta early, or Sonic and Knuckles get going, they can grind the clock and just keep Mahomes on the sideline watching. It's strength on strength and desperation on one sideline, not the other. That's a fun mix. Sunday night football is going to be good this week. The other game I want to highlight, Bangles at Packers, and I touched on it before. This is Flacco Deja Vu. He saw Green Bay in week three with Cleveland, and now he gets them again with the Bengals, which almost never happens outside of the division. That's pretty cool. That matters. He's already beaten them once. Now the defense was a lot better with the Browns, but he has a feel for their tells. He has a feel for the defense. Since he just got traded, I would expect a condensed install of the offense. A lot of quick game, heavy dose of check down, some slants, maybe a couple calculated shots when the safeties press up. On the other side, though, Green Bay did just see him too. And they're off of a bye. So they're going to try and heat him up too. They're going to try and force that ball out before those deeper routes develop. This one is probably going to come down to which defense keeps the explosive plays in front of them and maybe who steals a possession. Alright. Well, that's the NFL. Stick around because on the other side of the music, we're doing it. We're doing the Yankees post-mortem. No spin. No, if only Bulby Semit in a bat, the Grisham first pitch flying out, cashman conversation, contact hitting versus launch angle, everything. Baseball season is over in the Bronx, and it's over in New York. So let's get on as about wide-handed. Well, as many of you know, and if you listen to the podcast, you know that I am a Med fan. And you also know that I am a little bit of a Yankee hater. I don't really hate the Giants as a Jet fan, but I really can't stand the Yankees as a Met fan. Now, that being said, the Mets are out. They've been out. So this post-mortem is going to be about the Yankees. And Yankee fans, honestly, you're going to be not upset with me because you have every right to be angry. You have every right to be upset with this team. So let's start where it hurts. Losing game four at home. Yet again, another team celebrating on your field. And it wasn't just a good starter, it was a bullpen game. Eight different Blue Jays pitchers walked into your building and pieced together 27 outs while you mustered six hits and you went one for six with runners in scoring position. You stranded ten. That's not bad luck. That's getting out executed on your own grass with your season on the line. And the worst part, Cam Schlitler, who God bless the Yankees, looks like the real deal, looks like the Mets Noah McLean is going to be a real big piece in this rotation going forward. He gave you enough to win the game. He wasn't the Boston elimination buzzsaw game, but six and a third with two earned and zero walks in October as a rookie. That's yeah, we can steal this game territory. If your offense is built to win playoff at bats, I got a little spoil alert. It wasn't. There's two moments that sum it up for me for that game. Seventh inning, Anthony Volby. And we love the kid. He's from Jersey. This and he's had a rough year. Played well in the Boston series. But otherwise, he's been struggling. So what happens? He comes up, seventh inning, there's a man on, the game's still close. And I'm sitting there, I turn to my brother and I go, why is he hitting right now? Why is he hitting in this spot? Don't you have a button to push Boone? Don't you have a pinch hitter ready to go? He'd been drowning all series. I touched on it last week. Boone versus the binder. This was the opportunity for Boone to go to the binder. Have a feel for the game. Understand the moment. The kid has been floundering. This is your chance to see who has good stats against the pitcher that was in and pinch hit for the kid. Nope. Strikes out a bad swing, too, and they get a terrible look on him in the camera. He looked like he was like in pain when he swung. Then the eighth. Stanton singles, big G, playoff king. Then Jezz walks. Then Ben Rice. Shout out Rice on the mics. Walks. Base is loaded. Top of the order. Trent Grisham. In the on-decked circle, just watched the pitcher in front of him walk two guys. So what happens? The first pitch, he swings and does a lazy fly out to left. Two straight walks. That's the exact at-bat where you see if the pitcher will beat himself. Or you even make him throw, you know, two, three quality strikes that maybe you foul one off and try to force a mistake, put something in play. Instead, you gift them an out and you never let Judge get up with the bags juiced. That's game awareness, that's situational awareness, that's situational discipline. And that's what October looks like when you don't have it. And since we're here, by the way, Yankee fans going at Aaron Judge, stop it. Stop. He was the best player in this series, and the only reason Tuesday even happened in the first place, he's the last guy on your list to blame. If anything, it's another year where they wasted how special he is. And look, baseball is cruel like that. One guy can't drag nine to the finish line. But don't twist this into Judge didn't homer every at bat. He did his job. The roster didn't hold up around him. The roster that Cashman built. And this is where the batting average is overrated, talking point dies for me. The last time the Yankees had any success was 2009. So, because we do our homework around here, I pulled up the lineup card from the last day of the season in 2009. And I also pulled up the lineup card from the last game of the 2025 season. And just look at the columns. It is jarring. In 09, you had a lineup that littered with high 270 and 300 hitters. Multiple dudes living on base, spraying liners, running deep into counts. In 2025, you've got way more 210 to 240 hitters. And scary low on base percentage guys. Whole lot of three true outcomes. Strikeouts, walks, or home runs with none of the situational awareness. This isn't nostalgia. It's math. You want to talk about math? You want to talk about analytics? They need to go back and look at the analytics from back when they actually did something. Guys that get on base, guys that put the ball in play, that's how you win games. Those are the guys that you need on your team. October is a contact tournament. And the Blue Jays just showed you firsthand in your own house. Foul balls, spoiling off pitches, constant traffic. They go three for 17 with runners in scoring position, and they still won comfortably because they put the ball and play twelve times. They touched every quadrant and turned at bats into marathons. Putting stress on pitchers, putting stress on bullpen guys. What the Yankees do? One for six with runners in scoring position, and a bunch of empty swings, bunch of empty strikeouts, and two of the biggest spots of the night, by the way. So yeah. Same old Jets, you might want to start talking about same old Yankees. Congratulations, you're over 500 every year. Congratulations, you go to the playoffs every year. And if the front office just thinks it's a crapshoot of let's just bide our time and get in, and whatever happens once we're in, we're in. Well, it hasn't looked like that. Eventually you gotta win. It's one thing to go to the World Series, it's another thing to bring home that piece of tin that Rob Manfred calls it. This whole run started with the baby bombers in 2018. Well, guess what? Aaron Judge is the last guy from that team on this team currently. They've moved guys around, they've brought guys in and out, and none of it's mattered. Last year you beat yourself with errors. And then you tried to share up the defense with trading for McMahon at third, bringing in Goldschmidt. This year you just weren't good enough. You had streaky hitting, spotty pitching, and when the game boiled down to a couple of at-bats, you lost those at-bats. You had the wrong guys doing the wrong things. And don't get me started on the postgame either. Big Poppy couldn't wait to say it. Duh Jenkies lose. Derek Jeter, I mean it was Jeter and A-Rod there. A-Rod gets it, but he doesn't really care. But Jeter, Jeter looked like he wanted to just destroy this franchise, destroy Cashman's work that he, if you want to call it that, that he's put out. And he can't nuke the franchise because he's Derek Jeter, but you could just read that body language. Which brings us to Brass X. This is organizational. If, and this is a big if Brian Cashman were to ever get shown the door, which will never happen. People will be begging at his feet to take their GM job. But that's what this team needs. They need a new voice, they need a new message, a new philosophy from the ground up. Stop swinging for the fences. Stop worrying about home runs. How did the 2015 Royals beat the Mets in the World Series? Contact, slap hits with one or two big bombers. How did the Red Sox win the World Series? Contact, slap hits with Ortiz going yard. That's the formula. One, maybe two big bombers, and then guys causing havoc at the plate. That needs to be the philosophy. Not swing out of your shoes and hope for the best. So now that's what the offseason has to be. It's the plan B for the plan B. You missed out on keeping Soto. Thank you, by the way. I know I missed the playoffs, but I'll take them on my team. So what'd you do? You pivoted to frontline pitching with Max Fried, who was brilliant in the regular season. 19 wins is going to either finish two or three for the Cy Young. I think Scuba's going to get the Cy Young. But then he melted when it mattered the most. What else did you do? You traded for Cody Bellinger, who had a good, not great year, but a pretty damn good year. He'll likely exercise his option if he's not an idiot. And now he's blocking Jason Dominguez or Spencer Jones. Trent Gersham in center, he's probably out. So who's on first? What's on second? Who's on first? What's the plan for Ben Rice? Is he a liability a catcher? Can he play first? Defense bit you again in October. You don't want to lose that. And then somewhere on top of it in the winter, you need to find a real contact bat. Or someone at least needs to hand Volpe a two-strike plan that isn't swing out of your shoes. Otherwise, it's just going to be more of the same old, same old. One of the greatest right-handed hitters of our generation putting up all-time numbers in the regular season and starting to figure it out in the postseason while everyone else hopes that the next ball that he hits leaves the park. This is wasted judge years conversation. And it's also the conversation of if this continues, he might fall into the category with Mike Trout of one of the greatest players that is never going to win a ring. And it's not an unfair conversation to have. I don't even know where to go. Bellinger is going to cost a bunch of money, but he's 34. Kyle Tucker is going to cost even more money if you want to get rid of Bellinger, but he plays right field. What's going on with Spencer Jones? Is he good? Is he not? Jason Dominguez looked alright and then he looked lost. He didn't even get an he got a pity at that in the postseason. Cashman constantly touts these prospects like they're the next coming of God and won't trade them for anything because I know what I have. And then they kind of come up, and they're not what they were advertised to be. Either shove off of them or don't. Get better or don't. I know it sounds like I'm bagging on the Yankees here, and I kind of am because they kind of deserve it. But it's not the players. This is an organizational problem. From single A ball up, they are told to swing for the fences. So by the time they get to the majors and they actually see real pitching, not some juco level idiot that's trying out for a single A ball club. You get guys swinging at sliders in the other batter's box. I I don't even know where to go if I was the Yankees. You have so much money tied up in pitching. You have money tied up in judge. Do you go for a$450 million payroll and put the Mets and the Dodgers to shame? Because you need to pay more players? I don't know. Look, I don't mean to be that guy, but I'm gonna be that guy for a second. Losing Soto hurts. Whether you want to admit it or not. Maybe you didn't want to give him the sweets, maybe you didn't want to give him the stuff, maybe you didn't want to pony up. But Soto definitely went for the money. But the Mets missed the playoffs because they don't have their Aaron Judge. Soto was supposed to be their Aaron Judge. But those two guys play different roles. Together they complement each other perfectly, and that's why they went to the World Series last year. And a couple errors aside, they probably would have won the World Series last year. So your pivot from Soto turned into Bellinger and Freed and assorted other guys. Was it the right move? Because I'll tell you what, if Soto's taking those at bats and the two-hole and judges in the three-hole, Yankees advance. End of story. Alright. Enough rubbing salt in the wound. Let's cover the bracket from around the league because the rest of October didn't stop just because of the Bronx being out of the playoffs. Toronto moves into their first ALCS since 2016, and they earned it the old fashioned way. Vlady Jr. was a monster all series against the Yankees. And their depth nicked you to death, honestly. Addison Barger, Nathan Luke's, Ernie Clement, three guys I've never heard of in my life. Constant contact, two strike fights. Foul balls, stealing bags, that travels. That's how you win games on the road. Over in Detroit, Seattle series, the Tigers kept their season alive with a 9-3 punchback. Riley Green broke it open. They were down 3-0 and they come back with a seven-run inning. Javi Bias turns the clock back. And now we're on to a do or die game five in Seattle with probably the Cy Young winner Tariq Scuba waiting like a horror movie reveal. That's going to be a fun game tomorrow. And as far as the National League, well, the Dodgers are headed back to the NLCS. End up closing out the Phillies in a 2-1-11-inning rock fight where Orion Kerrigan booted a comebacker with the bases loaded and air mailed the ball back to plate. Tough loss. Brutal loss. Brutal way to go out for the Phillies. But we don't really care because it's Foo Philly. But it's also a reminder that uh October can put anybody in the blender. And Philly didn't not fight either. They had Schwarber flashes power. Game three, you saw how one swing can flip a whole series, but over 11 innings in game four, LA's arms just suffocated him. Dodgers to the NLCS, and we're waiting on the Cubs Brewers to settle on the other side. We'll leave it there for the MOB for now. On the other side of the music, I got fantasy buy lows, sell highs, and a couple landmines to avoid for your week six lineups. Your mailbag, yes, you guys wrote in and we're talking Flacco in Cincinnati and a little Chiefs splashback. And of course, the roll in the dice with Rice Slate, now featuring the George Costanza special. Feed me or follow me, either way, we're catching content. Keep it right here. Then we're gonna rip through the mailbag and then throw down the fade me picks where I go full George Costanza, taking the opposite of my gut because have you seen my record lately? It's not great. But first up, let's help you win your league. Buy lows. And I'm starting with Derrick Henry. Yes, it has been gross. Yes, the offense has looked like it's running in sand without Lamar, but this is the exact window where you want to be to buy low. The Ravens limp into their buy in week seven, they get healthier, the schedule eases up, and historically, when Baltimore is favored, Henry has feasted. You can flip a uh productive but not quite elite wide receiver, and you're buying low on a guy who still has league-winning weeks in him, and a great fantasy playoff schedule, too. Once the game scripts flip back into his favor and Lamar comes back, you're gonna be happy. You listen to me. My second by low is Trevion Henderson. Yes, that Trevion Henderson, that rookie that has not performed, that you probably paid a good price for. Well, the usage isn't there yet, but Antonio Gibson is done and Raman J. Stevenson fumbles like there's Crisco on the ball. Rookies tend to pop once the staff trusts their pass pro and their check downs, and that's exactly what Treyvion Henderson is. And I want to be in before the snapshare climbs. So if you got depth, dangle a steady vet. Try and scoop the upside. You never know. Last but not least, third on the list, Lad McConkie. If someone's willing to sell him, get after him. He's been okay, but not great. But Chargers injuries up front, Herbert is going to be living in the quick game. And that's exactly where McConkie's wheelhouse is. He's already nipping at the heels of some big names in the first rechare. This is the exact profile that quietly turns into seven for 80 yards every week before anyone else notices. Now, the sells. Rico Dattle. Hey, hats off for the 206-yard eruption. Truly. It's a great stat. It's a great line. Great day at the office. But that was the perfect storm volume spike with Chuba sidelined. And Carolina isn't going to play Miami's run defense every week for the rest of the year. Best case when Hubbard returns, it's going to be a committee. Move him now while he looks like a league winner and turn him into something with weekly stability. And this one might sting a little bit, but it's the truth. Emeka Ibuka. I'm as surprised as you, I know. Wide receiver three and PPR and paper, and he looks fantastic. But but it's built on five touchdowns on 25 catches and a bunch of explosive plays against a busted coverage. And not to mention that reinforcements are coming back into Tampa sooner rather than later. That's when the regression monster knocks. If someone is buying the stat line, take the profit. It's always better to be Belichick and get out a little bit early than way too late. Now, some landmines for week six. The start 'em if you must, but don't come yelling at me on Sunday night crew. First on the list, Justin Fields versus Denver and London. The Broncos have held QBs to 13 fantasy points a game and basically delete rushing production from the position itself. He'll do more than five yards on the ground, but temper the expectations in that matchup. And on the same team, Garrett Wilson versus Denver this week, I'm benching him in my own league too. Denver has smothered wide receiver ones. They average about four to five catches for 44 yards. The fourth quarter garbage surge might be real, but counting on it is how you break remotes and lose your matchups. Next on that list is James Cook at Atlanta on Monday night. The Falcons are quietly a problem for running backs this year. They've allowed the fewest fantasy points and the third fewest rushing yards, and they've only allowed two rushing touchdowns all season. You need receiving work to get there, and that's been volatile with the Bills. So we'll see how that goes. But I might sit him if you have somebody else to play. Next on that list is Derrick Henry versus the Rams. And I know, I know, you heard me. You just you just heard me tell you buy low on him. I didn't say start him blindly this week. The Rams have allowed zero rushing touchdowns to a running back so far this year. If you need a floor, you might not find it here. And if you're gonna trade for him, this week might actually make your case even better to a Derrick Henry owner in your league because they're gonna go on bye next week. So if you have the space and you can afford a buy, buy him while he's on a buy and the schedule eases up, and the person that had him doesn't know what happened. Last on this list is Darren Waller versus the Chargers. He's been tight end two last two weeks, touchdown dependent. Love the comeback for him, happy for him. Maybe he stopped making music videos. But I hate this spot. LA is top five stingiest versus tight ends, and Waller's usage within games is spiky to say the least. Okay. Hope that's enough to uh help you win your fantasy matchup this week and set you up to win your league in the future. Now time for the mailbag. Yes, the viewers, the people that listen, that follow on the Instagram, that write in and want to hear my take on their questions. So we kick it off first with Chris in Calispell, Montana. And he asks, Can Joe Flacco save the Bangles? Well, save is strong. Can he stabilize him? I think so. Yes, I would say yes. Again, the man is an 18-year veteran. There's no coverage that he has not seen. His only problem is that he is a statue behind the line. So what does that mean? That's timing throws and check downs. That's let Jamar Chase win after the catch. Look, he's not the Flacco from Baltimore. That's elite. But compared to what Cincy's been getting at, it's definitely a bump in the right direction. The bigger issue that I would say is the defense. That's where their ceiling lives or dies. So can Joe Flacco fix them? Partially, I'll say. Next up we got Nick in Philly. I'll try and do a nice Delco accent here. Philly's fucking blow. Fire Rob Thompson immediately. That was terrible, by the way. Uh look, yeah, I get it. They won the division and they mash, and the rotation should be good enough, and yet it still feels less than the sum of its parts way too often in Philly. But if you pull the plug, uh you better have the upgrade ready to go in your pocket. I mean, we play this same game every year with Boone. If you're firing the guy, who's the guy walking through the door? And is he better than the guy you just fired? There's definitely a lot of hard calls to make ahead in Philly, no matter what, because there's gonna be a lot of guys that are going into free agency. Harper's getting older, Wheeler's probably done, like done done. So Philly's gonna have to go through a big uh rehaul in this upcoming offseason. There's gonna be a lot of guys that are free agents. Tough sledding ahead for Philly. And last this week on the mailbag is Joey C in Casey. And I wonder what this question is gonna be about. And he says Kamara or Brees Hall to the Chiefs before the trade deadline. Well, listen, there's been a lot of fun rumors about that, but it's really uh messy reality. The cost, the cap, the ripple effect. I don't know, not likely. And Casey's issues aren't just at running back right now. The late game killer instinct hasn't really been there. Kareem Hunt has just showed you enough that he can salt away a win when he needs to. But never say never. I mean, this league is filled with surprises. My money personally is on internal fixes. And I'll add this too. Before Braylon Allen got hurt, I think the Jets were actually toying with moving Brees. But now that Braylon Allen's hurt, they probably let it ride out for the year, maybe tag him next year. And as for Kamara, I mean, that's the cleaner win now fit. He's not getting any younger and he's definitely gonna be ring chasing. But Casey, I don't know. It's it's it's a mess. Let's see what it looks like when Rasheed Rice gets back. Maybe that opens things up a little bit more. Okay, mailbag's done. Now, time for rolling the dice with rice, our picks, and we always hold ourselves accountable here. And it's not great. We are five and seventeen on the year. It has been ugly to say the least. So we're gonna change things up here. We're going full Seinfeld, we're going full George Costanza, and I'll tell you who I like and why I like them. And then I'm gonna take the other side because that's where we're at right now. Alright, first up, Cowboys minus three at Panthers. My brain says Dallas, Dallas, Dallas. Dak is in rhythm. He's putting up big numbers. The defense is starting to kind of find itself a little bit, and Carolina has been high variance with no reward. Panthers are a home dog coming off a big win. Same thing for Dallas. Dallas minus three. Seems like they're begging you to take Dallas. And I would take Dallas minus three, but we're not doing that today. So the opposite play, we're taking Panthers plus three. Next on the list, Bengals at Packers. Packers minus 14 and a half. Well, instinct says Green Bay buries them at Lambeau. They got healthier, had extra prep coming off the bye week, and a defense with Micah Parsons that can heat up a quarterback learning a new playbook. But two touchdowns and the hook is a mountain in the NFL. Flacco saw this defense a couple weeks ago. Zach Taylor can manufacture some easy throws. And the Packers offense isn't exactly pedaled down. They'll gladly settle for field goals when they have to. If instincts telling me to take Packers minus 14.5, we are taking Bengals plus 14.5. Next up, Lions at Chiefs, minus 2.5. Total 52.5. This is Sunday night football. My gut says Chiefs and the under in a desperate spot. Defense plays with their hair on fire. Arrowhead noise tilts it. But the Lions can score from anywhere. They stretch you horizontally and vertically, and their tempo tends to drag opponents into shootouts. If Casey is chasing a 500 record, they open it up too. Chiefs need this game to get back to right, and the defense should hold it down. So Chiefs at home, minus two and a half sounds great. And under 52.5 sounds great. We're going to take Lions plus two and a half and over 52.5. And last but not least, I'm giving you a fourth here. I usually only do three. We're going to go four here. Bills minus four and a half at the Falcons. Everything in me says Buffalo bounce back game. Coming off an ugly loss in the division. They clean up the flags. They get into the right personnel. And they get out with a nice, tidy, clean win. Falcons path to winning this game is going to be gross and be effective. Run game, play action, eat the clock, keep Josh Allen on the bench. Buffalo in this spot, nine times out of ten, runs away with this game. And you should be taking Buffalo minus four and a half without even looking back. So we're going to take Falcons plus four and a half. Because we're rolling with a Costanza card this week. And that's it. If we're going down, we're doing it with a system and a smile. Alright. Let's land this plane. Fantasy buys and sells are in. Landmines avoided, hopefully. The mailbag is answered. Make sure you guys keep writing in. And the fade me slate is locked and loaded. On the other side, quick reset, plug the socials, couple thank yous, and we'll get you out of here. Keep it right here. Quick reset before I get you out of here. We touched on the Giants-Eagles for Thursday night football, and the Giants actually ended up dogging Philly. And I told you throughout the week that Philly's offense looks stuck in the mud. And that the Giants defense is actually better than the national folks think. We cooked the Jets after that Cowboys debacle. The scoreline lied to you. The vibes, if you actually watch the game, did not. Then ran through last week's headlines. Texas gut punching the Ravens. Pats clipping the Bills because Buffalo beat themselves. Baker continuing to stack wins. Mahomes Lawrence Chaos on Monday Night Football. And a little peek ahead to the Lions at Chiefs and Flacco's wild second date with the Packers this week. Fantasy-wise, we hit the buy lows and sell highs. Couple landmines to avoid, then ran through the mailbag and fired off the full Costanza slate for the Picks. Doing the opposite of my gut. At least until this luck turns around. No video this week, but shout out to everyone who voted in the polls and tapped in on the IG. Keep it coming. I'm gonna be pushing more Instagram reels and YouTube shorts during the week for you to doom scroll to. So drop a like or comment your take and save and share the ones you want me to follow up on so that the algo keeps you in the loop and the feed stays hot. And if you aren't already subscribed, you can find me at Rice on the Radio on Instagram. And you can follow all the links to every social I have from there. Share the show with that one guy who swears he's done with his team this year, yet he still watches every snap. And if you're listening on Spotify or Apple, leave a quick rating. It helps more than you think, and it literally takes you two seconds. We will be back next week with your free therapy sports session, some fantasy updates, and a follow-up on the Costanza Pix Theory. Until then, stay hydrated, enjoy the game, and as always, tell someone you love, and spread some good energy in this world. I am Ian Rice. This was episode thirty-four of Rice on the Mikes, and I'll see you guys next week.