I have played a lot of fantasy sports in my life. Every season, I play baseball, football, basketball, hockey, and some other fringe sports. But I have never seen something like what I saw this weekend in my Fantasy Football league championship. I lost 208-207, but the score is just the beginning of the oddity.
First of all, my league has a couple strange rules. We play a two-week championship, including Week 17, when strange things tend to happen since many teams have already locked in their playoff seed. Also, the scoring rules are a little skewed. Quarterbacks, for example, get a point for every 10 yards, instead of the traditional 25. And we have a coach slot, where a team can get up to 10 points for a win AND lose 10 points for a loss.
Also, remember that Sunday was New Years Eve, so I had to follow the late action on my phone from Times Square amidst a large and raucous crowd. This including several of the 4:00 PM games and the Bears/Packers season finale at 8:30.
Two games really sum up the day. The Bengals, who needed a win along with a Denver loss (in a late game) to clinch the playoffs, were playing against the Steelers. Late in the 4th quarter, with the game tied, Carson Palmer (my quarterback), hit Chris Henry for a 47 yard pass. Excellent! With our rules, this gets me 4 points closer to victory. Except now the Bengals are on the Steelers’ 20 yard line and will kick a field goal instead of letting Palmer air it out. So after cheering for the Bengals all game, I am suddenly praying that the Bengals miss the kick so Palmer can get more chances in overtime.
Last week, the Bengals lost on a botched extra point. That was the long snapper’s fault. This week, it was the kicker’s fault: Shayne Graham missed the field goal try, sending the game into overtime. Sweet! But it was not to be. The Steelers won the coin toss and Santonio Holmes scored on the first drive. Palmer never touched the ball in overtime. A small opportunity cost for me, but it left Cincinnati out of the playoffs.
Meanwhile, in Dallas, even more interesting things were afoot. My opponent had Tony Romo as his quarterback, but I had Cowboys’ coach Bill Parcells on my squad. I had counted on the easy win, but the lowly Lions were beating Dallas. With 16 seconds to play, Romo scrambled for a touchdown that would have put the Cowboys a 2-point conversion away from the tie… but he was stopped at the 2-yard line. Awesome; I saved six points by Romo not getting a touchdown… but it was 4th and goal, and it sealed the win for the Lions. Parcells loses 8 points.
Clearly, the potential 16 point swing for Parcells could have been the difference maker, except the Dallas loss had some other effects. In Philadelphia, the game was underway, but the Cowboys now no longer had a chance to catch the Eagles for the division. Brian Westbrook, who happened to be on my opponents’ team, was removed from the game after scoring only two fantasy points. And I guessed that the Eagle defense, who I opposed, would not try as hard in the meaningless game. For the first time I can remember, I cheered against the Eagles. That must have been bad karma, as they played well and earned my opponent 12 points.
All told, I went into the night game with a slim lead, and only Donald Driver left to play for my opponent. But the first touchdown pass of the game went to Driver, and he performed just well enough for my opponent to sneak off with that 208-207 win. I checked the next morning to make sure there were no miscalculations – the Jets Defense actually tipped a field goal that didn’t earn me “blocked kick” points.
In the end, I am disheartened by the loss. But it is definitely a great story to tell.
Dave’s Team: Week 16
SLOT STARTERS OPP STATUS PTS
QB Carson Palmer, Cin QB P @Den 23-24 F 30
RB Larry Johnson, KC RB @Oak 20-9 F 19
RB/WR Cedric Benson, Chi RB @Det 26-21 F 4
WR Andre Johnson, Hou WR Ind 27-24 F 4
WR Derrick Mason, Bal WR P @Pit 31-7 F 1
TE Desmond Clark, Chi TE @Det 26-21 F 3
D/ST Chiefs D/ST, KC D/ST @Oak 20-9 F 19
K Neil Rackers, Ari K @SF 26-20 F 6
HC Saints Coach, NO HC @NYG 30-7 F 10
TOTAL POINTS: 96
Opponents: Week 16
SLOT STARTERS OPP STATUS PTS
QB Tony Romo, Dal QB Phi 7-23 F 22
RB Tiki Barber, NYG RB NO 7-30 F 8
RB/WR Brian Westbrook, Phi RB P @Dal 23-7 F 12
WR Donald Driver, GB WR P Min 9-7 F 9
WR Plaxico Burress, NYG WR NO 7-30 F 11
TE Heath Miller, Pit TE Bal 7-31 F 7
D/ST Bills D/ST, Buf D/ST Ten 29-30 F -3
K John Kasay, Car K @Atl 10-3 F 3
HC Ravens Coach, Bal HC @Pit 31-7 F 10
TOTAL POINTS: 79
Dave’s Team: Week 17
SLOT STARTERS OPP STATUS PTS
QB Carson Palmer, Cin QB P Pit 17-23 F 37
RB Larry Johnson, KC RB Jac 35-30 F 33
RB/WR Brandon Jones, Ten WR NE 23-40 F 5
WR Andre Johnson, Hou WR Cle 14-6 F 1
WR Ronald Curry, Oak WR @NYJ 3-23 F 4
TE Tony Scheffler, Den TE SF 23-26 F 11
D/ST Jets D/ST, NYJ D/ST Oak 23-3 F 19
K Neil Rackers, Ari K @SD 20-27 F 4
HC Cowboys Coach, Dal HC Det 31-39 F -8
TOTAL POINTS: 106
ROUND 2 TOTAL: 207
Opponents: Week 17
SLOT STARTERS OPP STATUS PTS
QB Tony Romo, Dal QB Det 31-39 F 42
RB Tiki Barber, NYG RB @Was 34-28 F 43
RB/WR Brian Westbrook, Phi RB P Atl 24-17 F 2
WR Donald Driver, GB WR P @Chi 26-7 F 8
WR Plaxico Burress, NYG WR @Was 34-28 F 2
TE Heath Miller, Pit TE @Cin 23-17 F 0
D/ST Eagles D/ST, Phi D/ST Atl 24-17 F 8
K John Kasay, Car K @NO 31-21 F 5
HC Ravens Coach, Bal HC Buf 19-7 F 9
HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE: 5
TOTAL POINTS: 124
ROUND 2 TOTAL: 208
