This may come as a shock to you, but I'm occasionally wrong about plays in this column. Heck, one of the guys mentioned in this piece a week ago (Houston Texans safety Jalen Pitre) didn't even play in Week 10.
Um, oops?
Partly, it's the nature of this article. Living the Stream isn't about no-brainer IDP plays. It features players who either spend most weeks on fantasy benches or have spent most of the season on the waiver wire.
The bust rate on matchup plays is what it is—if they were sure things, they wouldn't be matchup plays to begin with.
It's also in part because of one of the dirty little secrets of fantasy football. Even the best analysts are wrong—a lot. We can do the work. The Research. Crunch the numbers. But at day's end, lineup recommendations are educated guesses.
But sometimes, one of those matchup plays hits huge—a towering 500-foot home run of week-winning IDP goodness.
And that happened last week, too.
After getting some run here last week, New York Jets edge-rusher Will McDonald IV went out and had himself a day against the Cleveland Browns—five tackles, four tackles for loss, five QB hits and four (count ‘em four) sacks. The third-year pro was tied for second in fantasy points among defensive linemen in The Godfather's Default IDP Scoring with Seattle Seahawks edge-rusher Demarcus Lawrence.
Lawrence returned two fumbles for touchdowns.
This isn't to say that this writer deserves an attaboy for being right any more than he deserves tomatoes upside the head for the many, many (many) times he is wrong.
It's to say that Living The Stream can work. You just have to take the good. Take the bad. Take them both and then you have…
You're welcome.
Week 11 IDP Matchup Plays
EDGE Bryce Huff, San Francisco (at Arizona)
After a multi-game absence, Huff was back in the lineup for the 49ers in last week's loss to the Los Angeles Rams, playing a 49 percent snap share. While speaking to reporters, head coach Kyle Shanahan said that getting the team's sack leader back is vital as the Niners try to keep pace in the NFC West.
"Yeah, huge need," Shanahan said. "Bryce has had a hell of a year. He probably had his best game, his last one, versus Atlanta. And then we've lost a couple of guys since then, too. So, getting him back was huge regardless, but especially after losing some guys, it's that much more important."
Huff didn't get home or even record a tackle against the Rams, although he did record three quarterback hits. Most importantly, Huff didn't reaggravate his hamstring injury, so the sixth-year veteran should see a bump in snaps this week in the best IDP matchup for edge-rushers with the Arizona Cardinals.
EDGE Travon Walker, Jacksonville (vs. LA Chargers)
It wasn't supposed to be this way for Walker in 2025—he was an IDP breakout candidate after hitting double digits in sacks each of the past two seasons. Nine games into the 2025 campaign, Walker is stuck on two sacks, although he told reporters that despite the slump, he isn't changing how he prepares each week or plays on Sunday.
"Personally, like I say, just continuously stick together and buy into the plan as far as what the coaches give us throughout the game, throughout the week," Walker said. "And just go out there and execute, do our job. Everybody has to look deep down inside and just continuously improve ourselves individually, and then come together collectively as a defense to execute the play calls."
Walker isn't alone in underwhelming in 2025—batterymate Josh Hines-Allen also has just two sacks for the season. But this week's visit from the Chargers sets up well as a slump-buster—the Bolts are short both starting tackles and have surrendered 34 sacks, tied for third-most in the league.
LB Devin Bush, Cleveland (vs. Baltimore)
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