by Kevin Burton
One, point, zero, four. That’s all.
Late Monday I got a sixth team (out of eight) into the fantasy football playoffs by a margin of 1.04 fantasy points.
But I didn’t win a game by that margin, I won a season, or at least made the playoffs, by that little.
To illustrate how crazy close that was, a running back scores one fantasy point by gaining ten yards. So the difference for me between sixth place and playoffs, and seventh place and elimination was eleven yards gained by my running backs over the course of a 15-gane season. Less than one yard a game.
Or, you could say it this way. A lost fumble is worth -2 points. So one more fumble lost by one of my players over the whole season would have done me in.
This whole thing is a bonus, because I assumed only four teams would get into the playoffs from this league. That’s the way it was set up last year and I never even checked the league settings to see if it was the same. Not sure what made me check. But when I did, I was is seventh place and realized the playoffs were possible.
Then in week 14, I went into sixth place by ten fantasy points. As a result of Thursday and Sunday games this week, the lead increased to 14 points.
Both teams would finish with 9-6 records. So we would be going to total points scored as the tie-breaker.
That left Monday night’s game, Pittsburgh’s 28-15 monstrosity of a win over Miami. It was a game only a mother, and a fantasy player, could love.
My opponent had future hall of fame quarter back Aaron Rodgers left to play. I had the Pittsburgh kicker Chris Boswell. I’ve already mentioned how much emphasis I put on kick scoring (“Fantasy Playoffs: Happiness Is A Warm Kicker,” Dec. 12).
But Boswell was never in position to attempt a field goal Monday. So all I had were his four made extra points to help me. Those four points added to my lead, put me up 18. That’s all I had to work with.
God love him, Rodgers scored 16.96. He did throw two touchdown passes. He was good, not great, and mercifully for me, the clock hit zeros.
Cel-e-brate good times, come on!
So, in fantasy, there is a thing called a stat correction. Somebody, somewhere tabulated things incorrectly and the NFL, then the fantasy platforms, make an adjustment. If that happens in this case and it works against me, I will not be writing a post about it. You will know already because you’ll hear the screaming.
Two of my K&J Vipers players, Green Bay wideout Christian Watson and New Orleans running back and former Kansas Jayhawk Devin Neal both left their games early because of injury. That took potential points away from me.
This could not have been a much closer call.
My K&J Oneders team would have made the playoffs with a win, but it was bludgeoned last Thursday when Atlanta tight end Kyle Pitts scored 43 points against us. They lost their matchup by 74 points.
In my two win-and-in games, I’m glad the loss was so decisive I could shrug it off early, but the victory was an all-time thriller.
The guys on my favorite fantasy football podcast have said more than once that making the playoffs takes skill, but winning a championship involves a higher degree of luck.
Resting in that and my narrow victory with the K&J Vipers may be the highlight of my post-season though. I am favored to win only three of my six playoff games this week.
But whatever I get from here is gravy, and groovy. I can be content with six playoff teams.
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