Schein 9 NFL Week 9:

Jayden Daniels had the HOLY COW WOW moment of the NFL season on Sunday. That was special and sensational for long-suffering Washington football fans. One of the greatest endings ever.

Unless you had the Bears -2 like I did!

 

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I’m a salty Yankees fan. And taking Cedric Tillman out of my DFS lineup at 12:52 p.m. cost me 700 bucks. But my son Theo managed to win money again in DFS, only to wake up Tuesday morning to a loss in season-long fantasy thanks to Tyronne Tracy’s fourth-quarter touchdown.

Sports. You gotta love ’em. Unless you hate them.

Here are our midweek musings.

1. Wacko for Flacco

On Monday’s sizzling edition of “Make it Rain with Adam Schein” on VSIN, we went off on Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson tapping out of the game against the Texans. Simply put, that cannot happen if you are the quarterback and leader of the team. The act was bad. The soundbite we played from Richardson was even worse. As bad as his sickly completion percentage, that is — 44%, also known as the worst among qualified quarterbacks since Akili Smith (Akili Smith!!!) in 2000. Yikes. 

Even before Sunday, Joe Flacco gave the Colts the better chance to win. Richardson on the road against a Brian Flores defense on Sunday night with the Vikings coming off two straight losses was a recipe for disaster. Flacco gives the Colts hope and a chance to win. If Flacco played on Sunday in Houston, the Colts absolutely would’ve won. That waste now looms large because … 

2. No Diggity, there’s doubt

Stefon Diggs is done for the season with a torn ACL. Brutal for the Texans and the star receiver. Diggs is a free agent at the end of the season. Houston’s next opponent on a short week is the Jets, fresh off the embarrassment of losing to this year’s Dick MacPherson-esque version of the Patriots. The Jets are favored in this one. Then Texans have the Lions before visiting the Cowboys. Plus, they are in Jacksonville (never a gimme game), at the Chiefs and host the Ravens on Christmas. 

Houston has stockpiled a lot of wins but hasn’t looked like the true Super Bowl contender I imagined in preseason. And remember, the great Nico Collins is still out. This news combined with the Colts actually playing their best quarterback, it suddenly makes the AFC South much more competitive down the stretch.

3. Russ cooking 

Good news! I hit our “Make it Rain with Adam Schein” best bet on Monday’s show with Pittsburgh -6.

Bad news! Wow was I wrong on Mike Tomlin turning to Russell Wilson.

Wilson has been really strong the last two weeks. I don’t regret my take. Wilson was dreadful for two years in Denver. Justin Fields was winning. But Wilson has made his coach look great.

Now I loved the Steelers’ Under on wins this season. Before anyone starts mentally cashing future tickets on the Steelers, check that second-half schedule after they return from their bye, starting with Jayden Daniels and the Commanders in Week 10. It’s a brutal second half. The Steelers have outperformed all of my expectations and deserve a ton of credit. They lead the division. But they aren’t my pick because …

4. Vintage Ravens

How about Eric DeCosta doing Eric DeCosta things with the incredible trade on Tuesday for Panthers receiver Diontae Johnson? The rich get richer and more explosive for the stretch run. Johnson gives the Ravens more ways to win. And heck, with the way the defense has played in losses, they might have to outscore teams come playoff time. I love Baltimore to win the AFC North. And despite the loss against Cleveland, which was very much about the Browns, I still trust the Ravens team and organization.

5. Famous Jameis 

Last week on “Make it Rain,” we passionately defended Browns fans for cheering when Deshaun Watson left the Week 7 game with an injury. They were happy to get their enthusiasm back after Watson stole their joy with his play and character in addition to the proverbial robbing of the team with the worst contract in sports history. Remember this team made the playoffs last year with Joe Flacco! And Jameis Winston gave the Browns fans the jolt of the week with 224 passing yards and three touchdowns. Watson didn’t have a 200-plus-yard game or lead Cleveland to 20 points all year! And Watson hitting Cedric Tillman for a late touchdown and the defense holding on and not letting Lamar Jackson score was a beautiful moment, punctuated perfectly by an emotional Andrew Siciliano on the Browns’ play-by-play, calling the game the Sunday after iconic play-by-play voice Jim Donovan died. Of course, it was against the Ravens, the former Browns.

It was a feel-good win, but don’t overreact. It was a perfect storm with the sports gods smiling.

The tough, buttoned-up, well-coached Chargers come to town on Sunday. Justin Herbert is finally healthy and has joined the party. Ladd McConkey has become everything we said he would be as a rookie. Chargers -2 is the play.

6. What’s Love Got To Do With It?

The answer to this age-old question is, well, nothing, so take the points with the Lions. Grab Detroit -3 now. Or wait to see if Packers QB Jordan Love is playing and either way, still grab it. I think Matt LaFleur is superb, true coach-of-the-year material. He’s always been a winning gem. This year has been extra special with Love playing YOLO ball, Love getting hurt and turning Malik Willis into something and LaFleur finding ways to win. Running back Josh Jacobs has been superb. The defense is vastly improved. But this is a rough one. I think the Lions just scored again. They are truly amazing in every phase, including coaching. Green Bay is brilliantly coached. Detroit is brilliant while punching you in the face. And based on the eye test, they are clearly the best team in the NFL right now. 

7. Big Chief Veach

It’s like we can copy and paste from the Schein 9 last week. The Chiefs are undefeated but hardly perfect. So GM Brett Veach makes a trade with the singular objection of winning another title and completing the first three-peat in Super Bowl history. Pass rusher Josh Uche is this week’s menu item after the perfect pickup of DeAndre Hopkins to catch passes for Patrick Mahomes last week. This team is a winning machine and we are still waiting for that Mahomes explosion. The Bucs visit K.C. on Monday night without Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. This is not a fair fight. I’m still annoyed about the Raiders’ backdoor cover on Sunday. I won’t get spooked for Monday night. I’ll lay the points with K.C.

8. Fried Fish

Miami is cooked. The Dolphins have a roster problem and a coaching problem. We loved them to miss the playoffs in the preseason when Tua Tagovailoa was healthy. Mike McDaniel might be from the same tree as Kyle Shanahan, Matt LaFleur and Sean McVay, but it’s a dead branch. The Cardinals won and covered as predicted here because they have a better coach and quarterback. Next up is Buffalo in lovely Western New York. Bills spanked the Dolphins in Week 2. Buffalo has handled success and prosperity very well. The Bills rocked the Seahawks in Seattle for a terrific road win and cover. Love Buffalo and Josh Allen -6.

9. Rise Up

Is it too early to congratulate the Falcons on winning the NFC South or right on time? They just completed the season sweep of the Bucs, who are all banged up. The Saints can’t function. The Panthers are the worst team in the NFL. Atlanta was terrific against Tampa and at 5-3, they are clearly superior to the 3-4 disjointed, poorly put together Cowboys. I want to see the Falcons win at home. Raise the bar. Atlanta has every matchup in this game. Show you are capable of not just making the playoffs but winning playoff games.

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