Ray Charles may not have imagined fantasy football managers when he wrote the song “If It Hadn’t Been for Bad Luck,” but a good number of these people think they’d have no other luck right now.
Week one is barely in the rearview mirror, but the sting of victory snatched from the jaws of defeat is still very fresh. Maybe even a little raw. That’s the purpose of this article, to address it – and it will be every week throughout the fantasy season.
We’re calling out the fantasy football community for everyone’s Week 1 bad beats. Call it partial group therapy. A group hug. Even a little screaming in the night. We’ve all had those bad defeats so subtle they hurt like a paper cut with salt on it.
This is to let everyone who has had a bad defeat know that they are not alone.
Some took issue with Tyreek Hill’s huge play (39 fantasy points). Others had a big lead, only to have the ground pulled from under them by the Dallas D. Aaron Rodgers suffered a season-ending injury on the opening plays of Monday night’s Jets-Bills matchup, sapping the energy from most of the game. But then the excitement returned with the release of Xavier Gipson, overtime punt return touchdown that gave the Jets some joy on an otherwise rough night, while also dumping water on their expected 1-0 fantasy starts.
It’s time for us to commiserate over our shared misery. Just remember that there are 16 more weeks if anyone hopes to make it to the fantasy title games. Be happy that you suffered this bad loss now and hopefully it will be just a memory by the time the playoffs come around.
Not everyone liked the walk-off punt return
Let’s kick things off with @FrankLunaNJIt’s a tale of woe. Having to watch events unfold in nearby East Rutherford, NJ, with Gipson destroying the dream of an undefeated season in week one. To think that Frank spent the entire draft season getting Josh Allen, then had him throw three interceptions and lose a fumble in his debut in 2023. That hurt enough, even if he had the lead in overtime on Monday Night Football.
That Gipson return stepped on his toes and loosened his grip on fantasy glory, but at least there’s a great story attached to it.
@FrankLunaNJ he wasn’t the only one who could change the outcome of a fantasy game with overtime. Perhaps @JoshuaJWord stepped on a crack or collided with a black cat. To lose by that margin, well, ouch!
Fallout from the Giants’ disappearing act
@rcarver777 got a double whammy from the bad-beat experience of the Giants debacle, destroying its Week 1 vibe. In one corner, his Big Blue team was defeated by the Cowboys by putting up 40 points (thanks in large part to the Dallas D putting up the second-largest fantasy score of the week – yes, a D/ST!). .. and Dak Prescott didn’t account for a single touchdown.
In the other game, Big Blue (sensing a trend) painfully had to watch as the Giants D/ST (-1!), Dalvin Cook and Dallas Goedert were the anchors for a starting unit that rushed Aaron Jones for two touchdowns and 24.70 fantasy points. Only to then lose to a team with a leading scorer in Jason Sanders going 14, while their kicker had a goose egg.
Richard, we feel for you. Time to look at Week 2. Don’t look back. It just hurts back there.
Lineup decisions went badly
This gives @OAK89 it’s the classic bird-in-hand (Dalton Kincaid) throw for two into the bush (Isaiah Likely), only to have his opponent pick up Kincaid. That 3.7-point difference brought enough pain to rival any country song. HEY @OAK89 we were there. She keeps making moves. If you follow the analysts here at Yahoo, chances are you’ll make more winning moves than ending up here again.
Falling due to an absent manager
Oh, this hurts. Fall on a team with one player on IR, one on PUP and one suspended. Apologies @Kmill_3.
Even when things go well, they go bad
Yes, when ranking Dallas DST, most would expect it to win. Unless he’s up against Tyreek Hill, who was the only human being to outperform the Cowboys’ defensive unit. @Jesse_ochodos you’re right, it hurts. Keep in mind that El Burro Guero is probably the most original team name in this article. With this bilingual creativity, the wins are bound to come. Greetings!
Moving on to week 2
Now that we’ve had a moment to process our frustration and misery, it’s time to tighten the thread of renunciation and start making commercial offers.
Fortune does not favor the idle. It’s the bold ones who claim the championships. So everyone, be bold! But more than anything, enjoy the process. We’ve been waiting for these games for a long time and let’s remember this when the MLB playoffs come around and we complain about the cold.