'Tis the season for second guessing. As we head into the final week of the NFFC regular season and start gearing up for the playoffs, it’s time for wondering what might have been. Brian and I find our team in the thick of our league’s race for cash, but I can’t help wondering what might have been…
I should have started Jamal Lewis in Week 9 instead of playing the last ditch hunch that Lamont Jordan was getting a chance. Of course, that was the week Jamal went off for four touchdowns and over thirty points. I should have guessed that Brandon Stokley was going to have good games in Week 7 and Week 11. I should have started the Lions Defense in Week 9 over the Steelers after the Lions had a strong Week 8 and were on a roll.
I should have paid better attention to my back-up TE on the bye week. The good news is that Brian convinced me to go with Kellen Winslow on draft day. And then we picked up Donald Lee as our back up and a good flex option. I’m certainly not sorry about either of these choices, but they both have the same bye week. Unfortunately, we waited until after Week 6 to pick up a fill in for Week 7. We ended up with Marcus Pollard, a complete lox. Even worse, Pollard was hurting in Week 7 and put up a goose egg. We lost that week by a score of 126.45 to 124.75.
Yes, you’re reading that right. We lost by less than two points. If we had picked up anyone with a pulse, we would have won the week. And if we won that week, we would now be only one game back going into Week 13. We would still have a shot to win the whole darn thing. Instead we’ve got a solid chance to place third. Week 7 with Pollard was just one bad decision, but it’s one that may cost us the season.
As fantasy players, we spend most of the December and January thinking about the one move that could have made a difference that could have yielded a different potential outcome for the season. My point is that fantasy football is filled with lots of should-haves and could-haves. But you never hear about the fantasy player saying, “Frankly, I was pretty lucky.” I thought Ernest Graham might be a good pick up, but I got him before Cadillac Williams got hurt for the season. I didn’t realize Graham would be the number one back for Tampa Bay. Boy was I lucky!” This happened to our team. Or, you don’t hear, “Man, Shane Graham was the entire Cincy offense today. The high-flying Bengals offense couldn’t get into the endzone. Graham was the offense. He kicked seven field goals. The dude was on fire. I really caught a break there.”
This also happened for us. It’s true. We won the week because of the kicker. And of course, what we all think a lot about is how we were wronged or robbed. “How could Peyton Manning only produce 6 fantasy points? He’s Peyton ‘Effin’ Manning. I don’t care what he did the Colts. He absolutely killed my fantasy team. He pulled a Grossman.” So for one week at least, I’ll be woman enough to admit that success in fantasy football is one part hard work, one part intuitive feel, and one part luck.
With one week to go in the NFFC regular season, our league is still very competitive. It’s likely that the points trophy is locked up by a team named All In. Brian and I are 48 points back. Barring a miracle, it seems like too much to make up in one week. The head-to-head title is currently locked in a tie. Our creativesports team is currently third in points. It looks like we may land in the money, so not a terrible season, although not an altogether satisfying one either. I still have a sense of what might have been or what I should have done… On a final note, the NFL should be embarrassed about the NFL Network. As I write this article, I am contemplating the prospect of going alone on a weeknight to a sports bar so I can watch Green Bay take on Dallas for the NFC game of the season.
As a woman, the thought of going to a sports bar by yourself is not that appealing. But that’s what it’s come to. That’s what the NFL has driven us to. It’s either that or miss the game because I’m one of the roughly 70 million households with television sets that don’t get the NFL Network. And think about this. If the Patriots are going for perfection in final week of the season, most of you won’t be able to watch the game. It’s on the NFL Network. So if you don’t live in one of the home markets, there’s a good chance you won’t get to see history being made. The NFL Network doesn’t seem to care. That’s sad. Good luck to all. I hope you make the playoffs and finish in the money (unless you’re in my league).