Living the Stream: IDP Matchup Plays: Week 4

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly things can go sideways in life—and fantasy football.

Three weeks into the season, plenty of IDP managers are reeling. When New York Giants edge rusher Brian Burns tore his ACL last week against the Tennessee Titans, it knocked a second top-10 edge rusher out of action. Jordyn Books of the Miami Dolphins and Carson Schwesinger of the Cleveland Browns were both drafted as top-10 linebackers—and currently rank outside the top-40 at the position in The Godfather's Default IDP Scoring. Defensive backs have done defensive back things—the top-10 at the position looks like exactly zero people expected.

It never fails. One minute, you're paddling along happy as a clam. The next, you're trapped in an inflatable boat in raging rapids with psychotic Kevin Bacon.

Saw The River Wild on a flight for free. Still felt ripped off.

The thing is, it's not like any of this is new. IDP managers face this type of adversity each and every season. Big-name players come out of the gate slow. Guys get hurt. Very few fantasy squads make it through the season without experiencing trials and tribulations. Those who overcome them have success. Those who succumb to them do not.

You have to be willing to pivot. Make moves. Be bold. Fight to the bitter end. Give Kevin Bacon what he has coming.

You have to be willing to Live the Stream.

Now grab an oar and let's get to it.

Week 4 IDP Matchup Plays

EDGE Nick Herbig, Pittsburgh (at Cleveland)

It's not that often that a team pays its third edge rusher $25 million a season. But that's the case in Pittsburgh after the Steelers signed Nick Herbig to a four-year, $100 million contract extension. While speaking to reporters, Herbig credited T.J. Watt with helping him get paid, while insisting that he's only getting started making quarterbacks miserable.

"I will say he did take that part of my game to the next level. Fair. 100%," Herbig said. "I met T.J. my sophomore year, and then he was showing me those drills and stuff, and then kind of just took off from there. To me, it's just a start. I'm 24. I'm still young, going on Year 4. So, this is just a start, you know."

In the short term, at least, Herbig is behind Watt and Alex Highsmith on Pittsburgh's depth chart, and he's still searching for his first sack of the 2026 season. But even as a third wheel, Herbig has seen a snap share north of 50 percent this season, and no team in the AFC has allowed more fantasy points to edge rushers than the Browns.

EDGE Kayvon Thibodeaux, NY Giants (vs. Arizona)

More than a few folks expected the Giants to trade Thibodeaux heading into the final year of his rookie deal, but the G-Men stood pat. Now that Burns is out for the season, Big Blue is no doubt happy they didn't—as backup plans go, you could do a lot worse. While addressing the media, Giants head coach John Harbaugh said he's confident Thibodeaux will step up, and the New York pass rush will get back on track.

They're going to have to, for sure," Harbaugh said. "And, I mean, they've been playing a lot. Abdul especially has been playing a ton. And Kayvon's been playing a lot. So, it's not going to be a problem for Kayvon to play more snaps. What we need to do is get on track up front in terms of the pass rush. It's always a chess game. We've got to find our next couple moves to get ourselves to the quarterback."

Thibodeaux admittedly hasn't played especially well when on the field this year—against the run or the pass. New York has one sack for the season—as a team. But this week sets up well for the Giants to get going—Cardinals quarterback Jacoby Brissett was dropped 43 times in 2025—fifth-most in the league.

LB Kain Medrano, Washington (vs. Indianapolis)