As anyone who has watched Fantasy Football Happy Hour this week or follows me on Instagram knows, I am in Orlando, Florida.
The reason is that, as you may also know, both of my twin daughters do competitive cheer. They work their asses off at it and practice an ungodly amount each week. But the world of competitive cheer is, well, competitive and my daughters cheer for our local team, a team from a town of like 30,000.
By “local team” I mean one that is volunteer and put on by the town or school. The coaches are all parent volunteers who have “real jobs” and they take all comers. If you want your kid to do competitive cheer, all you gotta do is sign them up. This team supports the junior high football teams and does other community events. They are local cheerleaders and all that that entails.
This is in contrast to “professional All-Star” teams that are put together for the sole purpose of competing in these competitions. They cost significant money to join, have private gyms, are coached by professionals, and are able to pull in kids from all over their respective state (and further, honestly). On top of all that, they can pick and choose who they want to have on the team. In other words, if a child isn’t any good, they don’t have to accept the child or they can divert them to a lower level.
I have no issue with those types of teams – my daughters have both played for teams like that in the past and likely will in the future. It’s just that it’s not an even playing field.
At least that’s what I think. But luckily my daughters and her teammates and coaches don’t think like I do.
They won their local competition against neighboring teams. Then they finished first in the state of Connecticut. And then they placed in the New England Regionals, and so, yeah, here I am in Orlando, proudly wearing my Cheer Dad hat and T-shirt, ready to watch the Cheshire Junior Cheer Team compete for a national title.
It’s been an incredible journey.
This is actually their second straight trip to Nationals after finishing fifth in the entire country last season! That was an incredible accomplishment for a small local team from a small town comprised mostly of my daughters’ longtime seventh-grade friends. This year, they are in a higher division and on a totally new team, consisting of a large combination of sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students under a lot more pressure.
The truth is that obviously I hope the team wins, but honestly, just getting here to Nationals is such an accomplishment. It’s been a great trip. There was a kick-off party on Wednesday night at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure, where they closed the park and just opened it up to the finalists and their families (so no lines), and of course the girls had a magical time. There have also been practices and dinner parties and time at the pool between the competition – for them, it’s a week with their best friends in Orlando. It’s core memory stuff and it’s been amazing to be here for it.
Which leads me to a sappy note. I’m here for all of it. Like, in person. With my wife. Which is an incredible luxury for me because not everyone is lucky enough to be able to take off from work and fly down to Orlando. But, I am, and it’s thanks to NBC. Look, I do a daily live show. I have rankings and this column due every week. All things that would be (and have been) disrupted by me being in Orlando, especially for a week. And especially for this week, as I am due in Kansas City this weekend for Football Night in America and DraftKings. However, when I mentioned to NBC that the girls had made it to Nationals again, there was never any question if I could go or not. They’ve been incredibly flexible, accommodating, and most importantly, encouraging. No side-eye glances or, “Ok, I guess, if you have to…” None of that. All my bosses were just like, “Obviously you should go. Go! We will figure it out over here.”
So, seriously, thank you NBC Sports!
At any rate, if you’re interested in how they do, follow me on social media or watch Fantasy Football Happy Hour next week. Which leads me to a plug that you can catch Fantasy Football Happy Hour every weekday LIVE at Noon ET on YouTube. Of course, it’s also available on Peacock, NBC Sports NOW, and wherever you get your podcasts. And every Sunday morning we do Fantasy Football Pregame from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET on Peacock and the NFL on NBC YouTube channel.
Before we start, a quick reminder – any Utilization stats you read below come from Dwain McFarland and his incredible Utilization Report on FantasyLife.com.
Let’s get to it.
Thanks as always to my producer Damian Dabrowski for his help at various points in this column. Here we go.
Here are the 10 Facts You Need to Know Before Week 14:
1. Over their last four games, no team in the NFL allows passing touchdowns at a higher rate than… the Arizona Cardinals.
1A. No quarterback in the NFL has a higher touchdown rate than… Arizona’s Week 14 opponent, Matthew Stafford.
2. In Joe Burrow’s first game back from injury, the Cincinnati Bengals ranked fifth in pass rate over expectation.
2A. Over the last four weeks, no team in the NFL has a lower pressure rate than… the Buffalo Bills.
2B. So, you’re telling me Joe Burrow will have a clean pocket in a game where he gets to throw to Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins (he is on track to return this week), and has to face against Josh Allen? Noted.
3. Since Week 9, the New Orleans Saints allow the third-most rushing yards per game to opposing running backs.
3A. The Saints have also given up a rushing touchdown to an opposing running back in five of their past six games.
3B. In Bucky Irving’s first game back last week, he had 81% of the Buccaneers’ RB rush attempts and 100% of the goal-to-go attempts.
4. In the two full games Chase Brown has played with Joe Burrow this season, he has had 45 touches.
4A. And a 15% target share.
4B. Of the seven running backs who have gotten at least 15 touches against Buffalo this year, five of them have scored at least 16 fantasy points.
5. Don’t look now, but Kyle Monangai has four straight games with a rushing touchdown.
5A. He’s gotten 71% of the Bears goal-to-go rush attempts in that stretch.
5B. He’s now had back-to-back games with over 50% of the team’s running back rush attempts.
5C. He’s been one of my better calls from the Love/Hate after the NFL draft.
6. Only one team this season plays man coverage at a higher rate than the Detroit Lions.
6A. No wide receiver has more receiving yards against man coverage than… George Pickens.
6B. Since CeeDee Lamb returned from injury, George Pickens is the seventh-best wide receiver in fantasy football.
6C. He’s had a 27.8% target share in that stretch.
7. Over the past three weeks, the 13th best wide receiver in fantasy football has been… Jakobi Meyers.
7A. He’s averaging 15.9 PPG.
7B. He’s had a 23% target share during that time frame.
7C. This week’s opponent, the Indianapolis Colts, have allowed at least 90 receiving yards to a wide receiver in three straight games.
7D. Sauce Gardner is not expected to play for Indy.
8. Since he joined the New York Jets... Adonai Mitchell has a 30% target share.
8A. He’s gotten an end zone target in all three games.
8B. Over the last four weeks, Miami allows the seventh-most fantasy points per game to opposing wide receivers.
8C. I have him at WR30, so let’s not get crazy, but at the start of the year did I think I would be talking about Adonai Mitchell in Week 14? No sir, I did not.
9. Since Week 7, Kyle Pitts has a 23% target share.
9A. That’s the fifth-highest of any tight end during that stretch.
9B. Only two teams allow more receiving yards per game to opposing tight ends than the Seattle Seahawks.
10. Brenton Strange has double-digit fantasy points in each of his last four completed games.
10A. He’s had an 18.7% target share in those games.
10B. On the year, the Colts allow the fourth-most fantasy points per game to opposing tight ends.
10C. Parker Washington is banged up.
