Week 2 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 2 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. It’s time for us to commiserate over our shared misery.
A life lesson in bad beats?
Bad jokes are painful. Difficult to digest. But can they be a life lesson?
Case in point, my Familia league had a father-son matchup: Manny Arredondo Sr. vs. Manny Arredondo Jr. They picked next to each other and even took Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen back-to-back in our draft.
Well, the two quarterbacks each played great games, with the father-son tilt too close to call on Sunday. Sure enough, the fantasy matchup came down to the final game of “Monday Night Football,” with a late catch by Elijah Moore making the difference for father outliving son.
In my family league, grudges between father and son collide. My first Manny Sr outlived Manny Jr at an Elijah Moore reception. Bad beat life lesson for Manny Jr.’s 21st birthday. pic.twitter.com/XFxmvOYwLi
— Jorge Martin (@jorgemartin17) September 19, 2023
With Manny Jr. about to turn 21, this could bring with it a future lesson. Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose. Sometimes a harmless game means extra chores. Now go mow the lawn, Junior!
That wasn’t the only bad loss in a week where the NFL’s injuries really came home to roost. Nothing more painful than Nick Chubb’s season ending with a horrific knee injury. Greetings on the return to health.
We spread the word for some bad beats and you delivered some doozies.
reply to this tweet with a photo of your toughest fantasy loss this week 🫤
— Yahoo Fantasy Sports (@YahooFantasy) September 19, 2023
The big comeback is just around the corner
Going into Monday Night Football, @_DukeFan89 had a pair of players – Chris Olave and Miles Sanders – who could put up some points. They did, but not enough. And that’s even though the losing team had Puka Nacua putting up 30.10 in a FLEX position while the winning team had Darnell Mooney sporting a goose egg.
Joining the furious return of “Monday Night Football” was @kpickkkk, who saw Deshaun Watson take on the Steelers and even jumped out to a slight lead midway through the fourth quarter. That’s when TJ Watt had other ideas, sacking Watson and causing a fumble that he picked up for a touchdown. The negative points from the fumble were the difference between the loss of 0.2. Ouch, by the @kpickkkk handle, does that mean you’re a Kenny Pickett fan? Well, the Steelers won.
I was fighting for my LIFEEEEE for those Watson points until the last play of the match. When I finally recovered, he fumbled the ball in Q4 leaving me to lose 0.2 points this week….🥴 pic.twitter.com/jApPtx9NAM
— Kylee Pickrell (@kpickkkk) September 19, 2023
Monster points… on the bench
How the last FLEX spot can be a cause for nervousness on Sunday mornings before making those last minute roster decisions. We all did it, trading two players pretty much right up until the first Sunday games started. Then it becomes almost immediately obvious that the wrong decision has been made.
Ask @GLargaespada after leaving Raheem Mostert (25.20), Brian Robinson (27.90), Tyler Lockett (21.90) and Gabe Davis (18.20) on the bench for Isiah Pacheco and his 7.5 points. To be honest, @GLargaespada was chasing the Chiefs/Jaguars’ highest over/under of the week with Pacheco. Sound thinking sometimes turns out to be wrong. Your consolation prize is having a cool Garth avatar from “Wayne’s World”. It will have to be “celebration, excellent” another week.
Since misery loves company, @mtiburon is here to raise his hand on whether he can successfully get Kyren Williams off the waiver wire. Then Williams and his 25.0 points sat down, only to lose by 21. Yes, the 49ers matchup looked daunting, and who knew that at halftime of the first few games word would get out that Cam Akers was inactive and would bring Williams in the spotlight? Raise a glass to the NFL truly being an updated league. Hint, start Williams this week. 😉
Another bench game that needed to be addressed @levy_ross, who watched on “Thursday Night Football” as D’Andre Swift did his best Undertaker impression by rising from the depths of the bench in Week 1 to explode for 25.60 fantasy points against the Vikings. Just to be on his bench. There’s a prevailing feeling that when the decision is made to start Swift or Alexander Mattison this week, the decision will be made really quickly.
Pretty, pretty, pretty, close enough
Thanks to @palmerjoe for having a pretty funny team name: Herb Your Enthusiasm. Larry David would approve, as long as the roster isn’t 0.04 points smaller. Chubb’s final run seems to make the difference, being more painful for the winning team. The consolation prize is having a quarterback tandem of Justin Herbert and Daniel Jones that should put up 50+ points in many weeks. He’s “nice, nice, nice, good enough.”
Consolation prize for the renegade
No one would blame @Shelley_Rodgers for not wanting to tweet this subtle loss, then her husband @markrodgers29 did the honors of the house. Looking at Shelley’s Twitter bio, she’s all Pittsburgh. So the end result of “Monday Night Football” had to be a nail-biter. Maybe play “Renegade” when setting up your fantasy lineup to ease the pain.
The name game
In a battle of incredibly original team names, Mason Rudolph needed that Pittsburgh fumble-sack-recovery touchdown to defeat Silence of the Rams by fractional points. And that also happened with Mike Evans and Davante Adams combining for nearly 50 points for the underdog. Maybe a nice Chianti will make the loss easier to swallow.