IDP Matchup Plays: Living the Stream: Week 14

This is the last week of the fantasy football season—literally, in most leagues. It's also, figuratively speaking, just about the last week of the year IDP managers want to Live the Stream.

Fantasy managers in a must-win situation (as so many are) don't want to plug holes in their boats with Flex-Seal. They want reliable weekly starters. Individual defensive players who have demonstrated time and again this year that they will post a number. Guys who won't let them down in a matchup that may well determine if they play on or not.

But as I found out as a kid when Santa didn't bring me the AT-AT I explicitly asked for (multiple times), we don't always get what we want.

Some IDP managers wouldn't even be in the position they are had they not struggled streaming plays for weeks to compensate for injuries or players who haven't met expectations. Quite a few others are dealing with the fallout from the second Byepocalypse—Week 14 features six teams on bye.

That was nice of the NFL.

So, like it or not, many IDP managers are Living the Stream in Week 14.

Hey, if the guy in the commercial can ride a screen-door boat across the water, we're golden, right?

Right?

IDP Matchup Play: EDGE Leonard Floyd, San Francisco (vs. Chicago)

It's been a down year for the San Francisco 49ers, largely because of the onslaught of injuries that have besieged the team. However, there have been bright spots as well, including the play of veteran edge-rusher Leonard Floyd, who is just off the team lead in sacks after 13 weeks. While speaking to reporters, head coach Kyle Shanahan credited Floyd's non-stop motor with his success in 2024.

 "Yeah, his motor's been, he's like that every day in practice," Shanahan said. "Especially for a guy like whatever year it is, 10th or something. To be able to go that hard in practice every day, I don't get how he can keep it up. You could always see it on tape; he's got such a good motor on tape. He knows no other way. He loves playing football, he keeps it very simple, he likes to come out there every day. He goes hard as he can. In the games, he just cuts it loose and he kind of took over in that way, and I think he's a real inspiring guy to watch."

The Bears mark the third former team that Floyd will have faced this season, and he has been hot of late, piling up nine tackles and 3.5 sacks over his past three games. It's not news that some rookie quarterbacks tend to get sacked a lot, and Chicago's Caleb Williams has been dropped more than any other quarterback in the league this year—49 times.

IDP Matchup Play: EDGE Alex Highsmith, Pittsburgh (vs. Cleveland)

Two weeks ago in Cleveland, the Steelers were stunned by the lowly Browns—in part because the team's pass rush was held in check. After a month-long absence, Highsmith is expected to rejoin that pass rush for the rematch in the Steel City, and Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin didn't try to hide his excitement at the idea of having a full complement of edge rushers while addressing the media.

"It's pretty exciting, isn't it?" Tomlin said. "You can't run out of rush men, particularly in December." So, it's exciting. Make no mistake, there's enough work for all parties involved, and we're excited about sorting that out as we prepare."

Nick Herbig has had his moments with Highsmith out, and the Steelers acquired veteran Preston Smith at the trade deadline in part because of Highsmith's injury woes this season. But from all indications, the fifth-year veteran will be a full-go when the Steelers take on the only team in the NFL that has given up 50 sacks on the season in 2024.