The Impossible Playoff Run That Wasn’t
A chronicle of fantasy football’s wildest ride.
It all started with Matt Jones.
Saturday, September 3, 2016: Draft day.
Host of the event as commissioner and last year’s champion, setting up the draft board, I felt confident. League mates began to arrive with their cheat sheets, entry fees and sheepish grins. A serving of buffalo wings later, we were off.
The first round went mainly as planned. Looking back on it, seeing Adrian Peterson, Todd Gurley and DeAndre Hopkins go so early seems downright laughable, but, hey, that’s fantasy. With the fifth pick of the draft, I selected Julio Jones. In the second round, I took Le’Veon Bell (more on him later). Then Eddie Lacy, Brandin Cooks, Demaryius Thomas, Jarvis Landry, Frank Gore and Golden Tate.
The plan was to land two top-tier running backs in the first three rounds, then go wide receiver heavy. I was satisfied with Bell and Lacy (whoops) and thrilled that I had also managed to land Julio Jones. In hindsight, I wish Lacy would’ve been sniped from me, because had he not been available with my third round pick, I would have been all over Mike Evans. But, hey, that’s fantasy.
I wanted Amari Cooper instead of Brandin Cooks in the fourth, but overall, I was happy with my first eight picks. It wasn’t the best team I had ever drafted, but with proper ownership, the squad could most certainly find the promised land again.
Then came round nine.
I was higher on Matt Jones than most. I knew that he wasn’t the best running back to ever grace the league, but he appeared to be serviceable, and in fantasy football, running back is the most volatile position; finding yourself a workhorse back in the ninth round — albeit not the most talented one — could pay dividends down the road. So I took Jones.
Fast-forward to before week eight. Off a fumble and less-than-one fantasy point performance, Jones appears to have a concerning knee ailment. As an informed owner, Rob Kelley immediately comes to mind. Would I have known Kelley’s name had I not drafted Jones? Would I even be aware of Washington’s backfield situation? Who knows. Still, I credit my pickup — or at least the speed at which I picked Kelley up — to the drafting of Matt Jones.
Cut to week 11. I’m 4–6. Not looking good. To make matters worse, I’m down 18.4 fantasy points. I have Rob Kelley, he has Latavius Murray. Not looking good.
After a short football hibernation (unfortunately, life requires actions other than the frivolous consumption of the gridiron game), I check in to Sunday Night Football. TV on and stats in my hand, I see that Kelley has put up a solid game. Nearing seventy yards and having found the end zone twice, I could hardly ask for any more production. But it wasn’t enough.
My playoff aspirations dwindling, I watched Kelley be handed the rock, his power running style icing away the Packers. Two yard gain. Another carry. Screaming at the television, I pleaded for another touchdown as Kelley scampered sixty-six yards to the four-yard line. Previously resigned to the consolation bracket, my heart was now beating out of my chest; I hoped Kelley wasn’t too tired to go back into the game. He wasn’t. Touchdown.
Latavius Murray’s 9.2 points on Monday Night could not make up my opponent’s 13.3 point deficit. I stayed alive.
Week 12: I win again and am now 6–6. The two teams I could realistically catch were both 7–5. A little math told me that if I won out and one (or both) of the 7–5 teams lost out, I would make the playoffs. It’s important to note that I needed both of those scenarios to happen because my Points For total — the league’s tiebreaker — was far below my competitors’.
Luckily, week 13 provided me with a match up against one of those 7–5 teams. After serving me so well throughout the season, Drew Brees broke his 60 game streak of throwing a touchdown pass; seven points. Greg Olsen continued his downswing after a blazing start; three points. I took a risk with Sammy Watkins; 3.8 points. Not the types of performances you look for in a must-win match up. My highest scorer was my kicker. I lost.
At 6–7, I could only catch the 7–6 four seed. But then I remembered the Points For tiebreaker: I had a whopping 67.9 fewer fantasy points than my only ticket to the playoffs.
My season was all but over.
I began reflecting on the year, what had gone wrong: I had traded away Brandin Cooks, LeGarrette Blount, Frank Gore and Golden Tate for Alshon Jeffery, Greg Olsen and Jeremy Maclin. Ugh. I had passed on putting a waiver claim in for Jordan Howard because I didn’t want to drop anyone. Terrific. And of course, Eddie Lacy. Fantastic.
But then, beyond the reflecting, reality dawned on me. I, Caleb Brunman, commissioner of the Cobba-Buckley Fantasy Football League, who had been to every championship in league history and won three of the four title games, was going to miss the playoffs.
I didn’t like the sound of that, so I kept hope alive. Were the chances that I would win, the four seed would lose, and I would outscore the four seed by sixty-eight points good? Absolutely not. But was it possible?
Anything’s possible.
On Thursday Night, the four seed, Team JWald, had Michael Crabtree. His 2.1 fantasy points provided me with a little optimism.
But then Sunday came. I had a few decisions to make.
- Drew Brees or Matthew Stafford? Brees had been racking up the points all year long for me. I wasn’t going to let one bad outing keep him on my bench in my final shot at the playoffs.
- Patriots D/ST or Falcons D/ST? Really, this decision came down to which of the two defenses was already on my team. New England’s D/ST had contributed some solid efforts in the past few weeks, so I held on to them. I also wasn’t convinced that the Falcons defense was good enough to play a great, complete game, even against the lowly Rams and their horizontal offense.
- What should I do with Julio Jones? One of my rocks throughout the turbulent fantasy season, his turf toe and late start time were problematic. I picked up Malcolm Mitchell to start should Jones be sidelined, but then decided to go with the rookie regardless of Jones’ situation; I was not going to let a decoy ruin my season when I need all the points — and upside — that I could get.
I ended up rolling out the following lineup:
QB: Brees
RB: Bell
RB: Kelley
WR: Thomas
WR: Moncrief
TE: Olsen
FLEX: Mitchell
D/ST: Patriots
K: Prater
End of the morning games: Robert Kelley, already a past savior, earned 14.8 fantasy points. Solid. Demaryius Thomas racked up an impressive 10–126 statline. That’ll do. Greg Olsen had has his best game since week nine, and Matt Prater got into double digits. All these showings were adequate and leading me to a victory in my week 14 match up, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Points For deficit between me and Team JWald.
Then I woefully realized that Donte Moncrief’s zero points were a product of ineffective play, not an afternoon game. Just what I needed.
Not to fear, though: Le’Veon Bell put up 47.8 points. Wait, what?
A top 10 performance this century got me thinking that I had a chance. I really had a chance.
With four players done after the morning contests, Team JWald had compiled 10.6 points. Crabtree’s 2.1, McManus’ and the Lions’ D/ST 4, and the injured Melvin Gordon’s 0.5 later, and…
I really had a chance.
Cue the late tilts: Team JWald’s Baldwin, Brate and Forte combined for 10.8, putting his total through seven players at a measly 21.7.
I didn’t just have a chance; I was in the driver’s seat.
All I needed now was a respectable performance from Drew Brees. He had hit double digits in every game except week 13’s match up and had exceeded 20 points in eight games; I would have been happy with 15.
Watching the game closely, I wasn’t worried about Brees’ slow start. Many times this season he had struggled early just to explode in the second half. But the clock kept ticking, and Brees’ point total wasn’t rising. Finally, elation and relief set in as the quarterback found Cooks in the end zone. Called back. Later on the drive, a field goal.
You have got to be kidding me.
Skip to the final drive of the game. Brees remains in single digits. But he’s led plenty of comebacks, right? A late game touchdown is certainly not out of the question. Interception. Brees ends the game with a season-low 4.5 fantasy points, potentially taking my season down with him. Not. Clutch.
Sunday Night showdown: Team JWald has first-year phenom Ezekiel Elliot. 10.7 points. I’ll take it.
End of day totals: The CBGB’s: 98.4. Team JWald: 31.4. I need Sunday morning pickup Malcolm Mitchell and the Patriots D/ST to outscore Tom Brady by one point to make the playoffs. Like this classic commercial says:
It all comes down to Monday Night.
I have to juggle work, my fantasy needs, and my Patriots fandom. Could all three get the attention they deserved? No way. Was I willing to sacrifice some work and sleep time to see my fantasy team reach the final four en route to a New England victory? You betcha.
Second Ravens drive of the night: Safety. Excited fist pump. Hope.
Third Ravens drive of the contest: Blocked field goal. A quickening heartbeat.
End of the first quarter: The Patriots lead 9–0 on a LeGarrette Blount rushing score. So far, so good.
Next Patriots drive: TOUCHDOWN MALCOLM MITCHELL.
It’s happening. It’s really happening.
A New England interception of Joe Flacco later, and the Patriots D/ST begins to creep into the high teens. At halftime, the score is 16–3. Mitchell and the D/ST have combined for 24.2; Brady has 11.1. Everything is going right. I even receive a text message from the league’s top seed congratulating me on my historic run and looking forward to an exciting postseason match up.
Thirty minutes away from perhaps the craziest playoff berth in fantasy history, I sit in eager anticipation as play resumes.
Jump to 6:43 remaining in the third quarter: The mood has changed. Two careless special teams errors and the Ravens have pulled within six of the Patriots. The D/ST’s points total is going in the wrong direction. (If only I had gone with the Falcons D/ST, which totaled 26 fantasy points.) Brady has thrown a touchdown pass to Martellus Bennett. Mitchell has lost a yard.
6:35 left in the game. My once comfortable lead has turned into a 0.4 margin over Team JWald. Brady has the ball, and I know that that likelihood of more fantasy points coming out of the Patriots D/ST, should they come back on the field, is low — in fact, they probably have a better chance of losing fantasy points.
I feel stuck, hopeless. To come so close to exalting to the playoffs in the wildest of scenarios, yet fall short, would be the most painful of defeats. Could I really lose after all I had gone through to get to this point?
There was no late Kelley touchdown to be had; Bell had done as much as he could do. The only thing that could save me was fate, a playoff destiny.
Did that destiny exist? No. Moments later, this happened:
Via a beautiful Tom Brady pass, Chris Hogan walked into the end zone, untouched, as I muttered aloud: “Bye bye fantasy.”
And just like that, it was over. There was no ensuing pick six, no miracle sack-fumble-touchdown combination. My playoff hopes were dashed, but that failure wouldn’t keep me down.
Because that was one hell of a run.
So, what did we learn?
- Fantasy football is the most fickle of all mistresses. She’ll hand you hope on a silver platter and then pull the tablecloth out from under you as you set the tray down. But that’s what makes fantasy fun, isn’t it?
- Fantasy football is a weekly game, but never lose sight of the year-long prize, especially if it means winning tiebreakers to win it! But seriously, it’s a weekly game, so draft a suspended Bell in the second round. He might just lead you to the playoffs all by himself.
- More than being a weekly game, fantasy football is a fun game — but not by itself. After my defeat, I was quick to engage with my league mates over the wackiness that had just transpired. We all enjoyed talking together, playing the what-if game, and recounting the events that had unfolded, because we did it together. More than a team vs. team fight to the death, fantasy brings people together.
- Sometimes, there’s nothing you can do. Could I have made up the few points I ended up missing out on the playoffs by throughout the course of the season? Without a doubt. Heck, I could’ve made them up this week alone! But what happened, happened, and it happened for a reason. And that’s life.
- But that doesn’t mean you should ever give up. Retain whatever hope you possess and use it to motivate yourself to do great things. Unlock your potential and succeed. Because you can.
I’m getting a little philosophical, aren’t I? Better end this article by angrily stating how I could’ve made the playoffs and listing the excuses as to why I didn’t. If only I had started Stafford over Brees; my Wi-Fi went out! Watkins or Coleman over Moncrief; I got some bad advice! I knew I should’ve picked up the Falcons D/ST; I just didn’t because Julio was out!
Just kidding, no excuses here. But did my quarterback and one of my wide receivers really combine for 4.5 points in a must-overcome-a-67.9-point-deficit game? Seems crazy, but, hey, that’s fantasy.
Until next time, good luck in the playoffs! Follow me on the Fantasy Life App @cb and on Twitter @CBRetweet.
The Fantasy Life app is the best sports community app to talk fantasy football, basketball, baseball, hockey, soccer, WWE, MMA, Nascar, golf, eSports, or anything else you would hear about at a sports bar. Find or post funny memes, polls, GIFs, or join chats about your teams. Matthew Berry (ESPN, The Talented Mr. Roto), the face of fantasy football co-founded the app as a place for fans to chat about sports, get fantasy advice, or find sleepers for your team. Find Matthew on the app @matthewberry
Download the iPhone or Android app at fantasylifeapp.com. Also available in the App Store and Google Play.
