And so it ends.
I lost this week and it wasn’t close: 117-99, an 18 point victory that means he could’ve not played his quarterback (Aaron Rodgers) and still beat me by a point. The irony? Every single move that I made was a good one! Check it:
- Peyton Manning outscored Jay Cutler, 18-10.
- Vincent Jackson outscored the receiver he replaced, Amani Toomer, 12(!)-3.
- My running backs: Jones-Drew (played) - 18, Williams (played) 14, Tomlinson (sat) - 12, Jacobs (out injured) - 0.
- Pittsburgh DEF over Chicago - 10-5.
- I even made a good last minute call - Jason Elam was reported to have a gimpy leg so I dropped him for Rob Bironas of Tennessee. Bironas 14(!!), Elam 7.
So given all of that, how could I lose? Easy, in two parts. First, my opponent was a beast, led by Michael Turner’s 24. He sat an injured Marion Barber for Stephen Jackson (how’s that for depth), who went for 18. Randy Moss for 18. Baltimore’s defense for 11. The only player who could be said to really under-perform for him was Brandon Marshall with 4.
Meanwhile, my Roddy White went for 6, Terrell Owens added 3, and Jason Whitten chipped in 4. Not absolutely atrocious (well, Owens for 3 was sad) but typically not enough to sink me. This, of course, is why my opponent was the #1 seed this year.
So there you have it, my first year of Fantasy Football. I really learned a lot. The few moves I made supported by a lot of research were either good or neutral; anything intuitive killed me. I drafted far too many players that were a year or two past their prime, hoping they’d continue to stay healthy. One of those, maybe two, can be ok, but I lived and died by the injury report, more than others in the league. And, I learned that fantasy football is a lot of fun. 
I’ll be back; thanks for reading!
