Matthew Berry on Bo Nix being slept on, fantasy football playoff prep and best last-place punishments

Week 14 of the NFL season is here, which can only mean one thing: the fantasy football playoffs are approaching.

With most fantasy playoffs beginning Week 15, this is the last week to move up or down the standings before it's really time to put up or shut up. And while many fantasy managers may already have their playoff spots locked up, it's not a time to sit back and relax.

Now is the time to be thinking about injuries and playoff matchups, and developing a backup plan, as GOAT fantasy analyst and NBC Sports' Matthew Berry said in an exclusive interview with BetFTW.

"Earlier in the season with fantasy football, you're trying to grab players that might have upside. But as you head into the fantasy playoffs, you just kind of want to solidify your roster and make sure you have the backup," Berry said. "Especially to your running back, where there's a clear cut backup where you know that if something were to happen to Christian McCaffrey, you know Jordan Mason is going to be the starter and going to be very productive."

Sage advice considering that a few days after our chat, McCaffrey left San Francisco's game against the Buffalo Bills with a season-ending PCL injury. Unfortunately, Mason also landed on the injured reserve. Hope you grabbed the backup's backup too -- in this case, Isaac Guerendo.

But Berry isn't only helping fantasy managers headed for the playoffs. He teamed with Progressive to help losing managers with a different kind of backup plan. Below is our full conversation with more on that, how to prepare for the fantasy playoffs and Berry's favorite last-place punishments.

What keeps you and your team the busiest this point in the fantasy season?

MB: Fantasy football playoffs often start in Week 15 in most leagues, so Week 14 -- which is kind of win and get in week in many fantasy leagues ... six teams are on a bye [this] week and so ... we're sort of looking at that.

Obviously, we're always looking at injuries. Players and teams that have the best and worst playoff schedules upcoming, so you can sort of prepare, because we're kind of at that point of the season where you start looking towards: "OK, I know I'm making the playoffs, so now let me start looking at Weeks 15, 16 and 17." Or, "Hey, I'm not there yet, so let me start focusing on 13 and 14."

So, the short answer to your question is the playoffs. That's what we're looking for right now, is preparing for the playoffs.

Looking forward to the playoffs, is it best to have a lineup of players you trust no matter what? Or should you always be playing the matchups?

MB: I think it's somewhere in between, right? I mean, ideally you've got a team full of superstars that are all no-brainer starting. I don't care who they're playing, you're locking them in.

Usually, because of injuries, because of bye weeks coming up in Week 14, because it just doesn't work like that, you probably have at least a hole or two to fill. There's probably your flex spot. Your third wide receiver. Maybe you've been streaming defenses all year long. Whatever it is, chances are there's at least one or two spots on your roster where you're like, I got to just kind of play the matchups.

It's rare that a fantasy manager has a full lineup of nothing but rock solid, I don't care who they're playing, this guy's a fantasy superstar and he's starting for me no matter what.

I'm having my best fantasy season ever, but I feel like the rug is about to get pulled from under me. What are the keys to staying on top?

MB: Fantasy football can be a cruel mistress, right? And you you feel like things are going great and then all of a sudden something happens. It's a game played with an oblong-shaped ball made of leather. Weird stuff happens every single week. But I think attention to detail. Because there are so many people that'll be willing to jump immediately on the waiver wire. But being aware of all the news that's out there. Having alerts set up. I'll give a shout out to the Bleacher Nation fantasy app, which I have an ownership piece in, but they do the best alerts out there ... which is so crucial at this time of the year.

But that's what it is. I think it is having a backup plan, studying the matchups. You're playing chess now, not checkers. So, you want to look a couple of moves ahead. OK, not just who am I playing Week 13, but who am I playing Week 14. Who am I playing in the fantasy playoffs. Hey, I'm playing this person, and I don't need a tight end but the person I'm playing does. So maybe I'll go to the waiver wire and grab Will Dissly. Not because I need him, but just to block an opponent from taking him. Those kind of things.

We have a lot of heavy-hitters on bye in Week 14. Who are some of the players managers should look to pick up, especially at quarterback?

MB: I will say that since Shane Waldron has been let go as the offensive coordinator of the Bears and Thomas Brown has taken over the play-calling the last [three] weeks, Caleb Williams has looked better ... So Caleb Williams has started to put up some nice fantasy numbers. Drake Maye, although Drake Maye is on a bye in Week 14.

For some reason, Prince, and I don't understand this, but Bo Nix is not rostered in 100% of leagues. And I don't know how many weeks this guy has to put up a top-10 finish, but for whatever reason, he's not there. So we've been talking about him for six weeks now 'til we're blue in the face, but still people for whatever reason just don't believe in Bo Nix. So, he's out there as well.

You know, I will say that Aaron Rodgers is out there, and Aaron isn't great, but the schedule is not terrible and Aaron Rodgers is good for like, probably two touchdowns and 225 a game. I'll also mention Will Levis.

I will say, because we're here thanks to my friends at Progressive, as you head into the fantasy playoffs, it's important to have a backup plan. As anyone that had Brock Purdy last week knows, Purdy goes down, he's not going to play in that game against the Green Bay Packers, and so it's important to have a backup plan.

So, whether it's a running back, a wide receiver, or a fantasy quarterback, especially as you go to the playoffs, one of the big things we've talked about fantasy-wise is having that advice. Is getting the backups to your superstars so that if something were to happen to one of your stars, you have that backup plan.

Tell me more...

MB: Hopefully a lot of people are having great seasons like yourself, Prince. But not everyone is. Whether it's injuries, whether it's a performance that has been disappointing... Whatever it is, bad luck sometimes happens and there are people out there who are in the bottom half of their league, right? And so my friends at Progressive want to help those people out. They want to try to make the season a win for them, even though their fantasy season hasn't gone the way it should.

So what they've announced and I'm helping promote is the fantasy backup plan sweepstakes. So this is very cool. Again, as we just talked about how important it is to have a backup plan, not only in fantasy football, but in life. Fantasy backup plan. All you have to do if you're in the bottom half of your league, you just go to fantasybackupplan.com and you upload a screenshot of your league standings where you're in the bottom half of the league standings. And everyone that does that is gonna be eligible to win a piece of $59,000 in prizes.

Do you have a favorite fantasy punishment?

MB: Yeah, I have a handful...I'll give you a couple. I wrote my book, Fantasy Life, a while ago, and I met these guys in Omaha, Nebraska, and they call themselves the tattoo league. And, now, there's a lot of leagues that do this, but these guys were the first, and I was like, you're kidding me. The loser of the league has to get a tattoo. Not a henna tattoo, but a permanent rest-of-your life tattoo. Chosen by the winner?! Like that's crazy...

By the way, the loser of the league that year in the tattoo league after I put him in the book and talked about him a lot, the loser of the league ended up having to get a Matthew Berry tattoo... So there's some poor kid walking around Omaha, Nebraska, with a big tattoo of my face on his leg.

I'll give you two other quick ones that just immediately popped into my mind that I thought were really clever. One is this salary cap league or some people call it an auction league where you start with $200 of fake money. But the loser of the league had to go to a street corner and perform as a mime, and couldn't leave until he had gotten $200 in actual money that he would then use so that he could be full at the auction. And if he left before that, whatever he left with was what he would have at the auction or at the salary cap draft to to acquire players that year. And he was not allowed to tell anyone that it was a fantasy football punishment.

And the other one that I thought was really funny. You know how like in grade schools, they have those eight-foot basketball hoops? So what this league did is they went to a grade school where there was an eight-foot hoop, and the loser of the league had to stand under the hoop while everyone else in the league dunked on him and just posterized him. And they shot it in slow motion. It's on YouTube. They shot it in slow motion, they added music to it and then they all took posters of it.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Matthew Berry on Bo Nix being slept on, fantasy football playoff prep and best last-place punishments