Wild Finishes, Flying Fists and a Pick’em Race I Need to Fix

The Eagles left the door open, the Broncos won without settling much, and Niko somehow gained ground on me when I went 3–1. Welcome to another completely normal week of football.

Episode companion: This article reflects our October 13 recording. Pick’em records are entering the episode’s draft, and fantasy recommendations preserve our discussion before Thursday’s Seahawks–Broncos game.

Benchwarmers, I went 3–1 in pick’em last week and still lost ground. That feels like a pretty good explanation of how this football weekend went.

You could make the right call for most of a game and watch it disappear in the last few seconds. You could win a division game and leave with almost as many questions as you brought into it. Apparently, you could also finish an entire football game and decide that was the appropriate time to throw a punch.

Niko and I had plenty to get into on Episode 293 of The Far End of the Bench. And since this was my birthday episode, I would have appreciated him letting me enjoy that 3–1 week for five minutes before reminding everybody he went undefeated.

No such luck.

The Eagles gave Jacksonville one more chance. That was enough.

The finish in Jacksonville was ridiculous. Jake Elliott puts Philadelphia in front with a 48-yard field goal. Then comes a 53-yard return, one second back on the clock, and Cam Little hitting from 57 to win it.

As someone who picked Jacksonville, I appreciated the rescue. If I’m looking at it from the Eagles’ side, I’m asking why we were even in that situation.

Philadelphia let Jacksonville hang around. The offense did not finish the job, and then the kickoff coverage gave the Jaguars the exact opportunity they needed. You can spend all week talking about talent. Eventually somebody has to execute the assignment that ends the game.

Niko came at this from the coaching side: keep the returner in front of you, stay disciplined, and understand what the situation requires. Everybody wants to make the play. Sometimes making the play means doing your job well enough that somebody else can finish it.

The Eagles have enough talent to matter. My concern is how often we keep coming back to the same conversations about game management and finishing. At some point, those mistakes become the reason a talented team goes home early.

Giants–Commanders: everybody gets a piece of this one

Washington had a 27–13 fourth-quarter lead. Jameis Winston brought the Giants back. Then overtime turned into a collection of chances neither team could finish.

A missed field goal. A fumble. A sack with the clock becoming the biggest opponent on the field. They ended up at 27–27, and I don’t think either side should feel particularly satisfied.

We talked about responsibility here because it is easy to pick one person and stop thinking. The quarterback has to know the situation. The offensive coordinator has to get the offense organized. The head coach has to oversee the whole thing.

Being a defensive head coach does not excuse you from knowing what your offense needs to do with the clock. That is your football team.

These are the games you remember in December when you start explaining all the different ways your team can still get into the playoffs. You had an opportunity to make that math easier in October.

Bills–Rams was the kind of chaos I can get behind

Buffalo and Los Angeles gave us the entertaining version of a game nobody could put away. Josh Allen and Matthew Stafford got the offenses rolling, the Rams had a potential winning field goal blocked, and Buffalo came out of overtime with a 37–34 win.

Puka Nacua caught 17 passes. Seventeen. We’ll get back to him when we hand out awards, because that deserves more than a passing mention.

The Rams’ record makes it easy to write a dramatic headline, but Niko pushed back on treating them like a team that cannot compete. Fair point. They were right there with Buffalo, and a few difficult results do not erase the players they have on offense.

You still have to win the games. But if we’re evaluating what a team can become, I want to look at how it is playing and who it is playing, too.

Broncos–Chargers: take the win, then fix the problems

Denver beat the Chargers 23–17. A division win counts, and nobody needs to apologize for taking it.

But did that game make you feel significantly better about the Broncos’ offense?

Bo Nix finished with 123 passing yards. Justin Herbert had 121 on the other side. This was hardly two quarterbacks trading haymakers, and Denver still left us talking about missed opportunities, protection, and an offense that needs to find some consistency before the fourth quarter.

Niko had plenty to say about the tackling, especially at linebacker. And I get it. A big celebration after one play does not make the next missed assignment disappear. With the secondary stretched thin, the guys in front of it need to make the routine plays consistently.

There were positives. Nik Bonitto and Zach Allen came up in that conversation for a reason. The defense gave Denver a chance, and the Broncos took it.

The question now is whether they can clean up the fixable things quickly enough. Winning buys you a little breathing room. It does not do the work for you.

The Bengals handled business, even if my fantasy matchup suffered

Joe Burrow threw four touchdowns in Cincinnati’s 31–24 win over Miami, and Ja’Marr Chase gave us the kind of one-arm touchdown catch that makes you stop whatever else you’re doing.

Unfortunately, enjoying a Bengals win gets complicated when Burrow and Tee Higgins are on the other side of your fantasy matchup. I want the offense to score. I would also appreciate it spreading that success around in a way that does not ruin my Sunday.

The larger point is that Cincinnati took care of a game it needed to win. Niko called it a confidence-building opportunity, and that is fair. You do not get extra credit for finding a way to struggle against an opponent you should beat.

I still want more consistency against the run. But in an AFC North that gives you chances to stay involved, a road win and a productive day from Burrow are things you can build on.

Greenlaw and Jackson: being available is part of helping your team

Dre Greenlaw’s headbutt of a helmetless Ernest Jones and Alaric Jackson’s postgame punch at Bradley Chubb brought us to the same question: what are you accomplishing?

You can be a talented player and still put your team in a terrible position by losing control. Greenlaw’s suspension and appeal were part of our discussion at recording time. Whatever happens with the disciplinary process, the football point is straightforward: your teammates need you available.

Jackson’s punch was even harder to understand because the game was over. Chubb deserves credit for not escalating it.

Niko also checked me when I got carried away questioning the Rams’ fight. Los Angeles had competed all night and nearly won. He was right. One player’s decision after the whistle should not erase the team’s effort during the game.

Fantasy boom and bust: pay attention to opportunity

Jaylen Warren made this part easy for me: 101 rushing yards, 87 receiving yards and two touchdowns. That is 188 yards from scrimmage, with the ability to hurt a defense both ways.

Niko’s boom discussion included Christian Watson and Matthew Golden in Green Bay, plus Isaiah Likely. The useful part of those conversations is figuring out where the touches and passing opportunities are going. A name on your bench does nothing for you until the offense gives him a role you can use.

We also talked about Travis Kelce coming out of the bye and the upside of having multiple productive tight ends available.

On the bust side, Herbert’s 121 passing yards and late turnovers were a rough combination. Niko raised concerns about Omarion Hampton’s opportunity alongside Kimani Vidal. That is a workload question to watch, rather than a reason to assume a permanent change has already happened.

Fantasy football will humble you fast if you keep starting the role you imagined in August instead of the role a player actually has now.

College rankings: how much have we actually learned?

Six weeks into the college conversation, I want the rankings to reflect what teams have shown us. The name on the helmet can only do so much work.

We talked about Georgia at the top, Texas moving down, and Oregon and LSU losing room for error. We also looked ahead to Indiana–Ohio State and the problem Jeremiah Smith creates for a defense.

Niko’s argument on Smith went well beyond “really good receiver.” He sees a player with the traits to belong in the conversation with the truly special ones, and he thinks that should matter in the Heisman discussion.

My question was about the voters. Do they actually reward that, or do we spend the season praising a receiver before handing the trophy to a quarterback anyway?

That is the distinction. You can agree on how good Smith is and still disagree about how the award race will play out.

Oregon gave us a very different quarterback conversation. The offense had been built around Dante Moore, and Dylan Raiola’s opportunity after Moore’s injury did not go the way the Ducks needed. Brock Thomas coming in and giving them a chance made the situation even harder to ignore.

Recruiting hype does not complete the next pass for you. We had more to say about that in the awards.

For the longer college football conversation, check out The Morning After.

Pick’em: 3–1 should feel better than this

Here are the actual records entering this draft:

We went a combined 7–1 last week. Great for the show. Less great for my attempt to catch Niko, because the gap still grew.

I took the Rams first because I like the bounce-back spot, and Niko admitted that was a pick he wanted. I followed with San Francisco, Green Bay and Kansas City. The Packers’ passing game against Dallas was a matchup I liked, and I was comfortable backing the Chiefs at Arrowhead against the Chargers.

Niko opened with Buffalo, backed Drake Maye and New England, and reluctantly took Indianapolis over Tennessee. His Baltimore pick came with an important condition in the conversation: the expectation that Lamar Jackson would return. That was an expectation at recording, not a confirmed availability report.

Those are our winners, without point spreads attached. Now I just need mine to help me close the gap.

Start/sit: the decisions we actually debated

These were our calls at recording. The Thursday recommendations are included as part of the episode recap; use current availability and kickoff times for any remaining lineup decisions.

One point worth getting right from the segment: Niko was not telling people to bench JSN for Kupp. JSN was the automatic start. Kupp was the player he thought people might actually be debating. We also mentioned Rashid Shaheed as another option in that matchup.

That is the point of doing start/sit. Telling you to start the best player on your roster does not solve the decision you’re staring at on your phone.

Player of the Week: Warren and Puka earned these

My pick: Jaylen Warren. Those 188 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns helped Pittsburgh beat Indianapolis 34–22. When you can produce a 50-yard rushing score and an 80-yard receiving score in the same game, you have earned the recognition. He was a major reason that offense worked.

Niko’s pick: Puka Nacua. Seventeen catches on 24 targets is an absurd amount of involvement. Stafford kept looking for him, and he kept delivering. Niko also had a personal appreciation for the performance after Puka helped turn a fantasy deficit into a win.

When your quarterback keeps coming back to you in a game like that, it says plenty about the trust you’ve earned.

Benchwarmer of the Week: Jackson and Raiola

My pick: Alaric Jackson. Throwing a punch after the game creates a problem for your team after the result is already decided. You gain nothing, and now everybody is talking about your decision instead of the game you just played.

Niko’s pick: Dylan Raiola. The gap between the recruiting expectations and the performance against UCLA drove this selection. Oregon needed him to answer the call after Moore’s injury, and instead Thomas came in and gave the Ducks a better chance.

That is a harsh week. It is also what makes the position so demanding. Your reputation gets you attention; your next series has to give the team a reason to keep you out there.

Come argue with us

Which pick’em board are you taking? Are the Broncos getting closer to figuring it out, or are we having the same conversation after every win? And how far does Jeremiah Smith have to go before the Heisman conversation fully catches up?

Watch or listen to Episode 293, follow @FeOTBpod, and tell us where we got it right or completely missed it. If you’re finding us through All Gloves Off Sports Media, welcome to the bench.

And yes, Niko made sure the suit-mile fantasy punishment video came up again. Apparently going 4–1 afterward does not erase the footage.

Episode 294 brings our Nuggets season preview. Until then, come sit on the far end of the bench.