Top 7: Most Annoying Things In Fantasy Football

Fantasy football has evolved a lot in the last 10 years. Settings have pretty much solidified themselves. The first league I played in, we got a point for completions. We really didn’t know what we were doing. We started two quarterbacks too, though I must say that I am a firm believer in at least having the option to flex a second quarterback. If you only start one, that’s roughly 1/3 of the league’s quarterbacks starting each week depending on the number of teams in your league. It totally downgrades the position. Anyways, if you have been playing fantasy few more than a couple of years or have several teams, it’s almost certain that you have experienced the following worst things about fantasy football.

7. Injuries

This one has to make the list because it’s so frustrating, but the bottom is a good spot for it because everyone has to deal with it. Last year’s Tom Brady injury is probably the most famous in fantasy history: he was a first round pick in probably every draft, he was coming off 50 freaking touchdowns, and he had only played less than a quarter of a game before his season ended.

Luckily, those who were able to pick up Matt Cassel still had a shot, but this particular injury was the posterboy for why:

a. You should have multiple teams
b. You shouldn’t draft the same players in your multiple leagues because one injury can kill your ENTIRE fantasy season.

Injuries that happen after your league’s trade deadline or right before the playoffs are probably the only other ones that approach losing your top pick in the season’s first quarter, though guys who consistently show up on the injury report until 11:30 a.m. Sunday and guys who miss four or five games a season aren’t far behind.###MORE###

6. Losing because of a defense or kicker scoring tons of points

Your team does everything right. Your top guys score their 15 points, your quarterback(s) has a good week, your receivers get a couple of touchdowns…and you lose because last-minute free agent pick-up Joe Nedney has six field goals. Or you have a running back that scores four touchdowns, but lose because Minnesota sacks Brett Favre 14 times and returns two of his interceptions for touchdowns. Shouldn’t completions by called “intraceptions” by the way? Anyways, what makes kickers and defenses so frustrating is that each week, there is inevitably one that scores 15 or more points sitting on the free agent list. They’re completely random. A related frustration to this is when some totally random guy scores way more than he should, like that game a couple of years ago when Stephen Davis had three yards…and three touchdowns.

5. Losing with the second highest point total

No other fantasy sport is better for trash talking than fantasy football, and that’s of course because of the head-to-head matchups and the fact that the fantasy games are over in a span of 24 hours. But there are disadvantages to this set-up too. Your team blows up for 150 points (a lot in my league’s settings), but you happen to be playing the only other team with more than that. Meanwhile, some other d-bag won their game 67-60 (though being on the receiving end of this gift is one of the nicest things about this set-up). A cousin of this phenomenon is losing by a fraction of a point, which means that literally another yard or two in either direction would have won you that game.

4. Losing to a team that has several guys on bye weeks

These are the kinds of weeks that just makes you want to stop playing fantasy football altogether. Do you ever check out your team’s stats at like 2:30 on Sunday, with most of your guys going, and no one is doing ANYTHING at all. It makes you want to go Office Space on your computer, or possibly hang yourself, or perhaps even both. To top it off, you had penciled this week in as a win because the team your playing is short because they have six guys on bye weeks. I’m getting angry just typing this. Let’s move on.

3. Losing on Monday night

If you’re going to lose, it’s at least nice to know so on Sunday night, so your Monday isn’t ruined by wondering if Lee Evans will get the 112 yards he needs to beat you that night. Even worse is when you think you have it in the bag because your math tells you that Jamal Lewis needs 176 yards and three touchdowns…and he gets it (this happened in one of my leagues a few years ago…someone needed two touchdowns from J.J. Stokes to win the league, and got both of them). But the worst of all is when you are up by 1.72 points in the last possession of the game, your quarterback tosses an interception, and you lose two points, and the game.

2. Someone doesn’t change their team

Friendships can be hurt because of this one. You have scenarios to make the playoffs. You have to win, and another team must lose. The problem is, the team that must lose is playing someone out of the running, who doesn’t care, and is no longer checking his team. Because of that, injured players and guys who aren’t as good of a play sit in his lineup all week, and are never changed. That’s bad enough, but when said team wins because the players on the non-checker’s bench would have made it a loss, then that person is literally costing you money.

1. Playing the wrong guy

You debate all week on which guy to play, changing it several times. Five minutes before kickoff, you make your decision. It should be 50/50, but it’s more like a 95% chance that you make the wrong decision. Or so it seems anyways. Sure enough, two minutes into the game, your benched player has a 65-yard touchdown run, and your starter no longer has a kneecap.

The best example of this was two years ago, when Kevin Curtis, stashed away as a potential #3 starter or bye week starter on many nationwide benches, had 221 yards and three touchdowns in Week 3. This was twofold. Not only did everyone beat the crap out of themselves for not playing him, but then they were FORCED to play him the next week…when he had 21 yards. Happy Fantasy!

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