Rice on the Mics

London Meltdown, Mile High Test

• Ian • Season 1 • Episode 35

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A New York double-feature: Giants earn a cleansing win then face Denver’s buzzsaw, while the Jets deliver a London throwback to stone-age offense and muddle Brees Hall’s value. We zoom through Week Six signals, a Week Seven watchlist, leadership moments, MLB headlines, fantasy angles, and a sharp picks card that fades the local optimism.

• Giants’ situational growth meets Denver’s sack wave
• Jets’ minus-10 passing yards and Brees Hall trade calculus
• Week six reads on Ravens, Chiefs, Bills
• Week seven watchlist with injuries and coaching heat
• Tua’s apology, Jaden’s accountability, Cam Ward’s calm
• Dodgers surge, ALCS flips, Yankees’ Volpe and Judge urgency
• Mets and Pete Alonso’s contract risk and structure
• Fantasy streamers, panic meter, and waiver logic
• Picks card: spread edges and a total worth chasing

If you enjoyed what you heard, do me a favor, follow and subscribe, rate the pod, and share it with a friend who argues about sports way too much and doesn’t know what the hell they’re talking about. Make sure you hit the Instagram, that’s at Rice on the Radio. For the Wednesday mic check. Every week we put out polls, you guys vote on them, and I take the pulse of the people and incorporate it into the show.


SPEAKER_00:

Siinä on video. Welcome back to Race on the Mike. This is episode 35. Can you believe it? 35 weeks in ready. That's more than half a year I've been into this. And I appreciated every single listen from every single one of you. We got a full slate to go over this week, so lock it in. The Dodges are up 2-0 after Yoshinobu Yamamoto, say that three times fast. Through the first postseason complete game in eight years. And yes, ESPN wrote three versions of that story. And yes, I painfully read all three to keep you up to date. The ALCS flips in Seattle as Toronto drives five homers and hands the Mariners a wake-up call. Plus, Mac Scherzer, yes, that Mac Scherzer at 41 gets the ball for game four. Local NFL spicy breeze hole trade rumors just won't die. The Jets offense looks stuck, and the Giants walk into Denver Sack Factory. Pause. Leadership is a theme for this week for QBs, too, to his apology, Jaden Daniels owning a costy fumble, and Cam Ward steering through a mid-season coaching change in his early young career. Aaron Judge avoids surgery while Bulby doesn't. But Brian Catchman still says he's your 2026 shortstop. And across town, the Pedalonzo market is heating up, kinda. Seven years sounds cute until you start doing a defensive math. We'll hit your Instagram poll results, tighten the fantasy streamers, hello Rasheed Rice, shout out Rice on the mics. And yes, rolling the dice with Rice pick segment returns after a three and two week. We'll joke about the George Costanza method, but we're picking off actual reads. Strap in, locals first, then we'll zoom out. Let's do it to it. Let's dive right into the NFL because I got a lot to talk about this week. And we'll kick it off locally with the Giants first. Because that Eagles win on Thursday night felt cleansing, I guess, to say the least. And it wasn't perfect. But it was the first time in a long time that this team played situational ball. They made the right plays late. They didn't beat themselves. The Wednesday poll told the story from the listeners' mouths themselves. The real deal and blip on the radar options split three and three, while most of you voted wait till at Denver. And a good chunk of you still had the still rebuilding circle, too, which is all totally fair. Because this week is a different test entirely. The Giants are now walking into Mile High City. Thin air, loud building, and a defense that's playing like a buzzsaw right now. Denver's number one in red zone defense, number one on third down, top two in yards allowed, and they're already at 30 sacks in six weeks. Well above pace for the single season record of 72. Hell, Nick Benito's at eight already. I'm sure four of them were on Justin Fields. Jonathan Cooper just got AFC play defensive player of the week, and they might get Dre Greenlaw back on top of it. That's not just good defense. That's Andrew Thomas has his work cut out for him. That's your protection plan, better be pristine. And I actually do love this matchup as a measuring stick for the Giants rookie pair, Jackson Dart and Cam Scattabow. The Bash brothers, I guess you could say. You can see that early chemistry forming already between the two of them. The sideline stuff, the way Dart trusts Scatabo on early down check downs and blitz pickup. It looks like two rookies who actually like playing ball together. But it's one thing doing that at home. It's a completely different thing doing it 5,280 feet above sea level. That's why Denver is called the Mile High City, by the way, just in case you didn't know. But when the pass rush is humming and your legs get heavy in the fourth, add in that the Giants have the third hardest remaining schedule. Yeah. Waiting till Denver on the poll wasn't exactly hating, it was foreshadowing. We'll see how the kids do. No Malik neighbors. Tough defense to go against. Tough uh tough task for the Giants. But I'll tell you what, if they pull it out, Giant fans around here are going to start losing their mind and start saying that they have a chance at the division and they should trade for the best receiver available. And with that being said, now it's time to slide across town and talk about the goddamn Jets. 9.30 in the morning, London. That performance ruined my whole brunch. I couldn't even enjoy my bagel. That London performance was offensive football from the stone age. Minus 10 net passing yards. They couldn't run a two-minute drill if you had a month. And now Garrett Wilson, your only true perimeter matchup winner, dodges the worst, but is still going to be out for at least a week or two. You got to manufacture something in the pass game. And instead, you gave Brees Hall zero targets. Zero. Your quarterback can't find oxygen. You don't think they're on a screen or a check down to shift your running back? I mean, that's malpractice. And now, now the Brees conversation, the coach keeps saying that they they don't want to trade him, and maybe that's true, maybe they don't. But if you're even entertaining it and playing coy to try and drive up the price for him, you don't sell teams on what Brees has been in the last month or so. You sell them on what he reminds them of. If I'm on the phone with Kansas City, let's say, I'm talking to them about Jamal Charles years, about the burst, about angle routes, an outlet to an explosive play, the way he made life easy for your Hall of Fame caliber quarterback. If I'm uh if I'm calling the Chargers, I'm playing the Ladanian Tomlinson nostalgia card on them, about lighting up the scoreboard, about hammering the paint and still be your quarterback's best friend on third and six. If you're gonna sell Brees, you don't sell Brees the player today. You sell the archetype he could be in their uniform. That's how you get real value. That's how you nudge a real pick for trading Brees. Because everybody knows you're not gonna pay him. So instead of maybe getting a six, maybe you get a third and a sweetener or even a second out of a desperate contender. But if you're not moving him, then act like it. Feature him. Panthers this week, if the plan is punt, pray, and hope that the defense scores a touchdown, 0-7 is right there staring you in the face. And this fan base will start to implode if it hasn't already. I'm really interested to see how many people actually show up to this game on Sunday. Everybody's frustrated, and it's not like Carolina travels well. I am predicting a lot of empty seats in MetLife Stadium come Sunday. So now with the locals out of the way, let's do uh let's do a little recap and look forward. Three games you might have missed in week six, but probably wish you didn't. And then I'll hit three games you're gonna want to keep your eye on in week seven. So last week Rams, Ravens. Rams win 17-3. Forget about the injury angles. This is about Baltimore. They're one and five, and they looked lifeless at home. The whole thing just screamed out of sorts. The first quarter scoring splits are rough. The rhythm just isn't there. And it it fed right into our biggest mess pole where the Ravens took a beating. That was a something is broken loss, not a oh bad bounce here and there loss. Next game, Chiefs Lions, Sunday night football. Chiefs 30, Lions 17. And the football was good, but the real headline is Kansas City had zero penalties at Arrowhead in prime time. Say what you want, fix, not fix, whatever, I'll let you draw your own conclusions. The the defense did play with its hair on fire, the building was deafening, and it was a classic, like, we're fine, Mahomes is back game. But zero penalties? Zero? I don't know. Where there's smoke, there's fire, right? If that doesn't raise an eyebrow, I don't know what does. And then post-game, Brian Branch shaking hands, pops Juju in the face mask, bloody nose, sets off a little scuffle, and by little I mean both teams were fighting at the 50-yard line. And he got suspended for it. Gets a game. Now the Lions are still legit, but Kansas City flipped the switch and told everybody, reminded everybody, hey, we're uh we're still that damn good. Last game I want to cover from week six is uh Falcons Bills Monday night. Well, Falcons 24, Bills 14. Bijan detonates, goes for 170 on the ground, 238 total yards, and an 81 yard track meet in the second quarter. Atlanta iced it late with a 14-play, five-minute closer, kept Josh Allen off the field, and Josh Allen didn't do bad. Threw two touchdowns, but also two backbreakers. That is now back-to-back losses for Buffalo. And don't look now, but they actually look kind of human. Atlanta's defense under Jeff Ulbrich, Jets fans know that name very well, is fast, they're violent, and they're organized. It looked like a real defense for them again. And now that we've covered the past, it's time to look ahead into the future. So I'm going to give you three games to keep an eye on this week. If you have the Sunday ticket or if you stream your games on whatever site you choose to, and your team happens to be getting blown out, these are three games that you might want to tune into. The first one, bright and early, Rams Jags in London. And this whole thing revolves around Puka Nakua's ankle. Sean McVeigh is, you know, little gamesmanship basically saying uh return to play versus return to performance, which that's coach speak for if he doesn't practice, it's tough. Puka at 80 still bends coverage if he goes, but it's kind of looking like he's not gonna go. Puka in sweats means the Rams have to win grimy. And Jacksonville is no slouch. Next game, pure narrative juice, dolphins at the Browns. Two terrible teams, but Miami 1 and 5, and McDaniels is on the hot seat. Tua in the week tries to lead. He calls out lateness to players only meetings, then backpedals and apologies. I don't know. I think it's actually a little bit of leadership out of him. But I'm gonna tell you right now, if they go to Cleveland and lay an egg, the volume for Mike McDaniels to get fired is going to be unbearable. Meanwhile, on top of it too, the Browns are busy arguing amongst themselves about which quarterback to start and should Shador be the backup, should he not? This is going to be a mud wrestle, and Miami needs the ugliest W imaginable. Otherwise, they might leave Mike McDaniels in Cleveland. And the last game to highlight is Monday night. Bucks at Lions. Baker is duct taping this roster together and somehow finding wins. He is proving to be that dude. He is balling. But Detroit's home and they're coming off a loss at Casey. If Tampa can avoid the early avalanche and drag it to the fourth, Baker's got the nerve to do it. He's got a chance. But if Detroit gets up 10 in the first, Ford Field turns into a slingshot. So those are a couple games you should keep your eye on this week. And before we close this NFL segment, I wanna I want to zoom out for a leadership corner, a leadership conversation. Because I noticed that we've got three quarterbacks at three different stages in their career all trying to carry the job in different ways. Tua Tagovaloa, veteran, established, and he made a a leadership swing this week that missed badly. He called out guys being late to player-only meetings, then he apologized and said, That's on me, wrong forum. His coach called it misguided. Former players crushed him. Quarterbacks don't do that publicly. Be beyond reproach. You just created a witch hunt. Those are all quotes, by the way. Here's where I land. He tried to raise the bar and tried to keep guys honest, but the delivery was bad. And he owned it. That's leadership. Not perfect leadership, but leadership nonetheless. You set the standard, you wear the heat, you move on with the locker room intact, and you show the guys that you can take the slings and arrows, that you'll be the shield for them when they need it. Jaden Daniels. Year two, face of a franchise that's been desperate for a quarterback for a while. First genuine that loss is on me moment. Third and one, wet ball, fumble late, game flips, commanders lose. He walks right to the podium and says, That's my fault. I'm paid to hold on to it. That matters. Combine that with the possibility of Terry McLaurin returning and you got a blueprint. When it's not your day, you have to find a way to bank ugly wins anyway. And that's the next leap for Jaden Daniels. Manufacturing those B-minus wins. And Cam Ward. Rookie surrounded by chaos. Coach fired six games in. Nothing is clean. And Ward says, I've dealt with coaching changes everywhere. Keep getting better every play. Kid's got a huge arm. He's got some raw edges, but the leadership qualities that get preached about all draft season, the quote unquote stuff you can't teach, he's loaded with it. He's got a steady voice, he's got unbelievable self-discipline, great work ethic. Don't judge the kid by the stats. Judge the room because he is in full control of it. That's the arc. You got the six-year vet who learns to measure his words, the second year starter who wears the loss, and the rookie who stays calm in a storm, in a hurricane. Different chapters, same job description. Gonna be pretty fun next couple years seeing how all these guys pan out. Tua, if you actually gave him a defense and he avoids getting hurt, has the potential to be a top five quarterback. Jaden Daniels has already shown that he's not afraid of the pressure, but needs to make the plays when they need to happen. And Cam Ward's a baby, but has all the potential in the world. Unfortunately, surrounded by the wrong people. We'll save the roll in the dice with rice pick'em segment for later. But trust me, we got some sharp reads on deck. Eagles, Vikings, Patriots, Titans, Cowboys, Commanders. And I'll go over both bubbles. But before we get to that, we gotta switch gears, and we're gonna switch over to the diamond. Because while I was taping this, game three of the NLC has wrapped up, and the Dodgers just took one more step towards another World Series. Not to mention the Yankees front office. Judge avoids surgery while Bulby goes under the knife. Plus, the Pedalonzo market is getting messy. Stay close. You're gonna want to hear what's next. The season is winding down, and both New York teams are out of it, but doesn't mean we don't get to not cover it. So it's time to hit some baseball. And we're gonna start off with a quick playoff reset if you haven't been glued to every pitch. The Dodgers are absolutely cooking right now, and I hate to say it, but they are up 3-0 on the Brewers and the NLCS after a 3-1 win in game three at Dodgers Stadium. Shoe finally figured out how to hit again and led off in the first with a triple, followed by Mookie, who doubles him right in. Tyler Glass now punched out eight over five and two-thirds, and Tommy Edman cracked the game open with a go-ahead knock in the sixth. Roki Sasaki comes in, slams the door shut for save number three this postseason, and they just they do what the Dodgers do. Milwaukee didn't look bad either. Their young flamethrower, Jacob Mizarowski, looked nasty. Nine strikeouts, triple-digit gas, but he finally left the slider down and the Dodgers made him pay for it. Jackson Churio also left mid at bat, grabbing his hammy, and said it was cramping after the game, and that he expects to go for game four. But either way, LA's rotation is carrying this series. Snell's eight in game one, Yamamoto's complete game in game two, glass now solid in game three, and now they're one win from back-to-back World Series trips. And guess who's pitching? Otani, game four. Yeah. Good luck with that. Over in the ALCS, the Mariners flew home up 2-0, and then Toronto landed and brought a bat factory. Blue Jays won game three, 13-4, five homers. Shane Bieber did settle in after Julio Rodriguez's early bomb. And suddenly that series is now 2-1 Seattle. Seattle has always been about pitching. They have a lights out rotation, and their bullpen has been even better. But Polanco and Julio were doing damage. And now it's a series again. Got a big swing game incoming. And it's all fun and games to go over the playoffs, but both locals are out of it. Does not mean, though, that they are not without troubles. We'll start with the Yankees and we'll talk about the presser post-mortem between Boone and Cashman and the bigger picture. Because this is where the frustration for all Yankee fans lives. The team announced that Anthony Volpe did have shoulder surgery for his partially torn labrum in his left shoulder, not his throwing arm, but it's still a minimum four months before he can even swing a bat, and probably can't dive for at least six. Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone both said that they still view him as the 2026 starting shortstop once he's healthy. But look, they didn't do this kid any favors. And I'm not out on him. He's 24, he's got huge shoes to fill with Jeter, even D. But they let him grind through the pain. And maybe it's a little bit on Volpey. Maybe he said, Yeah, skip, I'm good, I'm good, and just didn't tell them how bad it actually was. But they let him grind through it, and he gets booed when he makes error after error after error. And he's clearly compromised. And nobody tells the fans what's going on. Not that they need to be in the loop with when he takes a piss or not, but if the kid is making errors left and right and leading the league in errors at one point, it might behoove the franchise to just say, hey, he's got some shoulder pain, he's got some this, that, and the other. So the fans lay off him a little bit, but no, they don't. So then the booze come out. It feeds the worst version of the Bronx. Then his confidence dips. Then he's up at the plate and he gets tight. And then he's swinging at pitches that he normally doesn't swing at. Or he's rolling over into double plays, and then the booze get louder. And it's just a vicious loop that never needed to happen in the first place. Cashman even admitted that post-op the damage was more severe than the scan showed earlier. So yeah, maybe the shoulder did affect him after all when you told us he was doing fine. And while we're on surgeries, Aaron Judge doesn't need elbow surgery. That's great. He was a joke this year, in the best way possible. He led baseball on average OPS, war, hit 53 homers, and dragged that lineup for months. Rodon has his elbow cleaned up and might miss the opener. Fine. But if this front office doesn't get aggressive around Judge, we're inching toward a really ugly legacy line. Best player of his era with no ring. You don't want that on his plaque in the Bronx. And the poll you guys answered this week backs it up. It was resign Bellinger and play the kids were your top two results. Cool. Add that to build a real bullpen, get a healthy rotation to June, and stop pretending duct tape is a roster strategy. Judge deserves a legit push, not vibes and hope, and we'll do our best. Our pivot from Soto was another pitcher that didn't show up in the playoffs. And an aging first baseman that had a great first half of the year and a shitty second half. I I like Judge. I hate the Yankees. I like Judge. He is a quiet leader. He's not afraid of the big moment. And his teammates look to him when they need guidance. But the rate that he's going at and the team that they keep putting around him literally just wasting year after year of his prime. He's maybe got two more years of elite status. Three, sure. And then it's the slow decline downfall. If the Yankees don't win a World Series in the next couple years, Judge will go down as Mike Trout. He'll go down as Albert Pujos. He'll go down as Donnie Baseball. All players that were dominant in their era, but couldn't get the hardware to back it up. Now from one slugger to the next, Queen's time and Pete Alonzo. Reports say that Boris is shopping seven years. I love Pete. Iron Man. 162 games again, 38 home runs, 41 doubles, 126 ribies. And by the way, he passed every is he still elite test that they put in front of him. But seven years for a bat first first baseman with declining defensive metrics? I don't know. That's a that's a tough pill for a team that says it wants to prioritize run prevention. There's a number where this makes sense. Shorter term, higher AAV, or five with a club option, or vesting triggers. I'd be aggressive to keep him as a Met, but not reckless. And I'll be honest, I could I could see him overplaying his hand again. He did the one-year prove-it deal detour last time and came back to City with his hat in his hand. And it wouldn't shock me if seven years or bus stance turns into okay, what's the best Mets friendly structure we can figure out once the real market shows up? There's Philly buzz, there's Red Sox buzz. Sure. They'll they'll kick the tires. But if the Mets don't blink on term, there's a path to a deal that keeps him in orange and blue and also doesn't bury 2029 through 2031 in buyer's remarse. Alright, that's the diamond. Dodgers on the doorstep. ALCS finally has a heartbeat. Yankees playing PR whack-a-mole and Mets. Staring down a franchise line in the sand with me. On the other side of the music, we're gonna run through a quick hodgepodge. A couple college football notes, big extension news, some quarterback storylines, plus a little NBA to set the table. NBAs around the corner season starts on Tuesday. Got some NYX noise, some lead tidbits, and who's already playing the leverage. Then answer that, yes, rolling the dice with race. We are off the Castanza cleanse and back to the picks with it. Keep it right here. You won't be mad you stay. So this is a little uh in-between quick hitter segment. Can't really put it with the fantasy segment, can't really put it with the MLB NFL segment. It's a little bit of both. So just a little bit of college football, quick little story here or there, and then some hoops because the season starts on Tuesday, and the next time we meet, the Knicks will have already played two games. So let's just let it rip. We're gonna kick it right off with college football. And Indiana just put a billboard on the moon that says Sig is our guy. Eight years, roughly$93 million, a buyout bump to$15 million, fully guaranteed if they fire him without cause. That's not just an extension. That is a full-on, I'm with you for life marriage. Kurt Signetti goes 10-2 in year one at Indiana, sneaks the Hoosiers into the college football playoff, then starts this season 6-0 with a top three ranking and a road win at Oregon, who are supposedly powerhouse animals. He gets on video and basically says, I plan to retire a Hoosier. Then the AD comes out and says that they're all in, not subtle, and the timing matters. Penn State, James Franklin just got canned. They're gonna throw money at anybody they can. Indiana just slammed the door on the Will Sig jump chatter and told the recruits and the portal transfers, you're not committing to a stopover. You're committing to a project that's funded and going to be here for a long time. It's the most un-Indiana football sentence of my lifetime. But they're 17-2 under Signeti and 11-1 in the Big Ten. I mean, that's that's real. And it's sustainable because they backed it with resources. So translation, if you were waiting for a wobble because it's Indiana, stop. It's not happening. They're building this program to last, and they're putting all their chips on the table with Signeti. Okay, let's swing to the NBA real quick, and we're gonna start with the Mavs because Jason Kidd pulled the old use New York as leverage classic, a tale as old as time. So the Knicks had interest in the offseason, and Dallas said no, we can't interview him. And boom, all of a sudden he gets a multi-year extension. Funny how that works out, right? I give credit to Kidd. I mean, he's 179 and 149. He's got a trip to the West Finals in 22, a trip to the finals finals in 24, and he gets his stars to buy in. That said, the league is a negotiation. And this is how you do it. Use the biggest media market to remind your owner what you're worth, get your deal, and go try to figure it out with Kyrie and AD. Now, the Knicks, two quick hits here. First, Malcolm Brogan. Well, he retires at 32 after nine years in the league. Rookie of the year in 17 and sixth man of the year in 23. He was going to be a steady reserve guard for New York under Mike Brown. Not exactly a headline grabber, but it does tweak their rotation calculus. Puts a little more on Brunson's shoulders in the early going and ratchets up the importance of everyone around him staying healthy and playable. The broader Knicks thing is the pressure that's going to be on them. Mets are out, Yankees are out. Jets suck, Giants maybe. This season there is so much pressure on the Knicks to be good. The city might explode if they come out and shit to bed early. The roster is expensive, and the expectation is win rounds, not vibes. Mike Brown walks in to fill Tom Thibodeau's shoes, who took this team out of the depths of hell, and he needs to walk in with a mandate, not a honeymoon. The East is kind of a two-horse race with all the injuries between Cleveland and the Knicks, but the scrutiny is going to be loud if they shit the bed early. And also need to recognize that the Bronson window is very real. It's about a four-year window, but it is a window. Plus, all the talks with Giannis coming here and what you'd have to give up, and it wouldn't just be a straight up Bucks next trade. It would be a three-team, four-team deal, multiple players, multiple picks. It's not there yet. Would I love to see Jalen Brunson and Giannis run a pick and roll and dominate? Yeah. They'd win a hundred games out of 82 played. But let's be honest, it's probably not going to happen. So where does that leave us as the season creeps in? Well, Dallas has stability with kid now, and New York has urgency. The Brogan news is a reminder that depth plans can change on a dime, and you need to have internal development ready to pop, or your one ankle tweak from overextending your stars into November. Quick hitter, all wrapped up. NBA season is around the corner, so we'll have plenty more to talk about sooner rather than later. Coming up next, I'll knock out a tight fantasy segment. Some injuries, some streamers, a little panic meter, and then we'll get to what you've been waiting for, rolling the dice with rice. No Costanza gimmicks this week. We're picking off the actual synopsis and matchups. Let's dive into some fantasy football first. Because if you've been rolling with me and taking my advice on what to do, you're probably doing pretty well in your fantasy leagues, considering I'm doing pretty well in all my fantasy leagues. So we'll start with the matchups to attack for week seven. And there's a lot of quarterback injuries out there. So if you're streaming a quarterback, the green lights this week are pretty straightforward, to say the least. Aaron Rodgers versus Cincinnati is a sweet spot you might want to pay attention to. The Bengals are middle of the road overall, but they're giving it up through the air. And Rodgers doesn't need his legs to get there either. If Flacco keeps Cincy competitive, Rodgers is set up for a clean, streamable line on a nice Thursday night. If you're in a deeper hole, Bryce Young against the Jets is gross to think about, but the matchup is actually friendlier than people realize. New York has been tagged for multi-touchdown pass games. And Bryce just posted three scores in a low volume outing. He's shown that he can pop against soft coverage. So if you're in a desperate hold-your-nose 14 to 16 team or league, he might be worth a play. Running backs, well, sticking with Thursday, Jalen Warren versus the Bengals is where you should probably look. Cincinnati has been bleeding fantasy points of running backs by a wide margin. And even if Warren's usage isn't perfect or he splits time, the matchup smooths it out. Plug him in as an RB2 or a flex and don't overthink it. At wide receiver this week, Cortland Sutton against the Giants is your green neon. We are open for business sign. New York is good up front, but there you are also top three in yards and receptions allowed to receivers this year. And Sutton's role has been volatile, but this is a feed the hot hand spot. He's a high-end wide receiver too with wide receiver one upside this week. Don't overthink it. As far as tight end streams go this week, uh the board is pretty light, but sticking with that Jets Carolina game, Mason Taylor versus Carolina. Look, I get it. Attaching yourself to the Jets passing game is a cry for help, to say the least. But the Panthers have been a turnstile to tight ends this year. With Garrett Wilson sidelined, there are going to be a bunch of targets that need to be filled. If you're scraping waivers for a tight end, Taylor is a hope for the best logical dart. Also, two quick context notes to keep you honest. Sam Darnold has been awesome in real football, but Houston's pass defense is elite. I'd avoid that matchup if you can. And Devonta Smith at Minnesota, the way that the defense is erasing wide receiver twos right now, you need a contingency if your roster is deep enough. Last one, Rasheed Rice is back for Kansas City. You don't need to big brain this, don't need to galaxy brain it. He is their yards after catch magnet. He practiced, he's playing. Fire him up as a wide receiver two, wide receiver three, and let the role settle in as the weeks stack on. Moving on now to the fantasy football panic meter. Actionable, not theatrical. DJ Moore with the Bears is a 10 out of 10 panic. He's trailing Roma Dunze in the pecking order, and honestly, he could keep leaking snaps as the season progresses. If I have the chance, I'm packaging the name value while it still carries any weight at all. Try and flip him with a uh with a sweetener for a usable wide receiver too. Kenneth Walker, Seattle, it's an eight out of ten panic. He's he's the better runner for sure, but this is also for sure a committee, and it's not changing. I would treat him like a volatile flex. If you can move him for a true lead back, same thing, somebody biting off the name value for like I don't know, Ja Cori Krosky, do it. Otherwise, just play the spike weeks and live with the dips. Sticking with running backs, Alvin Kamara and the Saints, seven out of ten on a panic. The usage is kind of trending the wrong way as of late, and Keandre Miller is starting to steal some carries. Trade rumors are swirling, so depending on if he does get moved, where he ends up, maybe it might be worth holding on to him. But if you can land a steadier weekly floor in a guy like Rashad White or someone along that line, I might take that. And the last running back I want to talk about is Travis Etienne, Jaguars. I got him at about a five out of ten on the panic meter. I would say chill. The volume is still there. Uh if you can use him as a respectable piece to go fishing for a ceiling swing, say Etienne Plus to maybe chase a Brees Hole kind of guy if the Jets Chaos creates an opening. I don't hate it, but you don't need to move him. You'll be okay with holding Pat. Last but not least, Jacoby Myers. He's at a 10 out of 10 on the panic meter if he stays on the Raiders. Geno Smith has looked terrible. And once Brock Bowers is fully up to speed, it's just gonna get tighter in the target share market. So move off if you can. If you can't, he's a matchup spot start until he does get traded. If he does get moved to maybe the Giants, for example, then I'll end up seeing a lot more volume. But as it stands, not great. Okay, that's your fantasy breakdown for week seven. Let's take a deep breath, breathe in the good, exhale the bad, and let's get ready to gamble. The roll in the dice with rice week seven picks. They are here and here they are. So last week we did a little gimmick. We did the uh Costanza go opposite of everything I think pick. And we went three for two. Not bad. We got off the schneid. Feeling a little confident now, and we're back to trusting the read of the games. So let's get right into it, shall we? Game one. Eagles at Vikings. Eagles minus two and a half. This is a classic bounce back spot. Philly got embarrassed in prime time by a division rival that's now just kind of finding their footing. Minnesota is a mess. J.J. McCarthy's ankle is still a problem, so it's still everyone's favorite Prince Harry doppelganger, Carson Wentz. Jordan Mason has been fine stepping in for Aaron Jones, but they haven't really been able to take the top off the defense the way that Justin Jefferson is supposed to. Lay the points with the grown-ups, Eagles minus two and a half. Game two. Patriots at Titans. And we're going Titans plus seven and a half. It's at seven right now by the hook. A bunch of you wrote in are the Pats for real. Minus seven and a half is a lock of the week. In the immortal words of Lee Corso. Not so fast, my friend. Tennessee just fired the coach. New voice, new juice, and you know how this movie goes. The interim wins the first game. Always. And then the hangover hits. Meanwhile, the Pats are coming off back-to-back wins. One of them a big divisional win over Buffalo. This is a textbook trap 101 game. I will gladly take the touchdown and the hook. Titans plus seven and a half. And last but not least, game three, Cowboys at Commanders. We are going to be going over 54.5. I know it's a high number. It seems high. But let me tell you something. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Dallas loses games, but they score every week. And that defense can't stop a nosebleed. Washington is coming off a brutal Monday night football loss on a last-minute field goal, thanks to a Jaden Daniels fumble. They're going to scratch and claw to get right at home. Dallas is going to score, and Washington is going to punch back. Points, points, points. Over 54 and a half. As for the locals, Panthers at Jets, I hate to say it, I'm taking Panthers minus one and a half. The look ahead opened up at Jets minus one and a half and got bet hard the other way. And I actually tend to agree with the market on this one. That London, quote, performance on offense was unwatchable. Now with Garrett Wilson out, the only real wide receiver option. And for whatever reason, they just refused to showcase Brees Hall, which is wild if you're trying to juice a trade market. Yes, the Jets defense stabilized a little bit with Jermaine Johnson coming back, but I think we're staring at 0 and 7. Give me the Panthers minus 1.5. And Giants at Broncos. Well, I hate to say it. I think both New York teams are losing this week. Give me the Broncos minus 7. Denver's defense is a problem. By a wide margin, they're the best unit going right now. They got 30 sacks through six weeks on pace to smash the single season record. Sean Payton scheming in the mile high thin air against a rookie quarterback with three games and multiple trips to the blue tent. That's a rough recipe. If Denver jumps out early in this one, the kid's going to start to press. He's going to start to force some throws, and this could get sideways quick. I'm taking Broncos minus seven. So quick recap of the card. Eagles minus two and a half. Titans plus seven and a half. Cowboys, commanders over 54.5, Panthers minus 1.5, and Broncos minus 7. If you're feeling frisky, the lotto ticket parlay plays out to 25 to 1. Look, we're not here to retire. We're here to just have some fun on a Sunday, right? Okay, that's just about it. Said all I need to say. Hopefully our picks hit and we make some money this weekend. That's about as good a spot as any to land this plane. Let's wrap this thing up. I appreciate you guys rocking with me. Today we hit it all. Locals first, Giants coming off that Eagles win and walking into a buzzsaw in Denver's thin air. The Jets offense face planting in London and the whole Breeze Hall trade cloud hanging over Forum Park. We recapped the week six trio of games. Ravens spiraling, Chiefs Lions with the zero penalty eyebrow raise, and Bills looking mortal versus the Falcons. Then we looked ahead to the week seven watch list. Rams Jags with the injury intrigue. Dolphins Browns with McDaniel's seat getting so hot. And Bucks Lions as a get-right test in Detroit. We talked a little bit of leadership, Tua owning the room after a misstep, J.D. Daniels taking the blame like a pro. And Cam Ward trying to steady the ship in his rookie season. Swung through some baseball. Dodgers up 3-0 in the NLCS and ever closer to a back-to-back World Series appearance. Yankees front office mess with Volpe's shoulder. Judge another year without a ring. And Pete Alonzo negotiation game. Pay the man, but not at seven years or bust. Fantasy-wise, we targeted matchups you can actually exploit this week. Rogers, Warren, Sutton, Mason Taylor, and then set a realistic panic meter for DJ Moore, Kenneth Walker, Kamara, Etienne, and Jacoby Myers. And of course, last but not least, locked in, the roll in the dice with rice picks. No Costanza gimmick this week. Just reads we like. If you enjoyed what you heard, do me a favor, follow and subscribe, rate the pod, and share it with a friend who argues about sports way too much and doesn't know what the hell they're talking about. Make sure you hit the Instagram, that's at Rice on the Radio. For the Wednesday mic check. Every week we put out polls, you guys vote on them, and I take the pulse of the people and incorporate it into the show. Because, like I've said since the jump, this show is nothing without you guys listening. I might know ball, but if you guys aren't listening, then I'm just talking to a wall. Feel free to write into the mailbag anytime you guys want to. Drop your hottest takes. You might make the show. Anyway, as always, tell someone you love them today. Be good to people, and spread some good energy out there. I am Ian Rice. This has been episode thirty-five of Rice on the Mics. Same time, same place next week. Take care.