Yes, I have re-acquired the coveted Dick Butkiss Tropy as the champion of the Monday Morning QB Fantasy Football League. It has been three years since the trophy has resided in my home. And the timing couldn’t be any better. The last time I won it, Olivia was the same age as Christien, and she had a blast putting poker chips inside the cup.
This is the 4th championship in 10 years that my franchise has won the trophy. Twice with the former owner, and twice myself. The first time I won was a back-to-back for the franchise where I would say 75% of the team was inherited from the previous owner. This time however, only 3 players remain from the previous owner….and NONE of them were in play on championship Sunday.
Considering that for the past 4 years I have drafted last, 3rd last, and last year I didn’t even draft at all, I can safely say that I have a distinct advantage over others on my scouting and my waiver wire activity:
Year 1
Vince Young
Greg Jennings (subsequently dropped the following year — I regret this everyday)
Santonio Holmes (2008 SuperBowl MVP)
Year 2
Matt Schaub (#1 QB in 2009)
Wes Welker (#2 WR in 2009)
Year 3
Joe Flacco (subsequently dropped due to scheduling issue….big regret)
Packers DST (#1 DST in 2009)
Waiver Pickups (all in their infancy)
Ryan Grant (just before being traded to GB where he flourished)
Tim Hightower
Fred Davis
Shonn Greene
Trades
Rudi Johnson for Tory Holt (both at the end of their careers, but Rudi was the difference when I won in 2006)
Brandon Marshall (traded for #1 in 2007)
Dallas Clark (traded for Kyle Orton, Visanthe Shiancoe and #1 in 2010 — regretting this trade?)
So, I appreciate the start I had by inheriting a top-notch team, but I have been able to re-invent it and stay at the top of the league in the span of 4 years. And if you ask me on a drunken evening, I should have won all 4 years I’ve been in the league.
OK, you can stop reading now. The remainder is being posted for historical reasons.
So, leading up to week 16, the grande finale, the website and the commish had me heavy favourites. Which is never a comfortable feeling for me. Yet, I had to admit that the matchups did favour me. Many of my opponent’s key players were already clinched and potentially resting, and the rest of his team, to be honest, was simply not as good as mine was almost at every position. For me, the *real* superbowl was the week before against my nemesis, which I recapped last week. But they play the games for a reason, and it was never a given.
But before we get to the final, here is a quick recap of the season in picture!
Week 1
I came into the season feeling quite confident….even though I had a team of no-namers…except for the #1 TE Dallas Clark. The kickoff week pitted me against a rival I’ve never beaten and with what appeared to be a stacked team. Well, that ended up not being the case as his team tanked due to various issues. It was nice to start off the season with a rare 100+ week….but oddly enough not the biggest week as the Power (the eventual #2 scoring team and the runner-up) showed how strong a team he had.
This week I played my historically consistent producers. I sat Brandon Marshall due to his holdout and figured he would start slow. It’s interesting to note I sat Hightower which I will end up doing quite a bit. Even though he ended up with more points than Jackson, I just couldn’t trust his consistency. Little did I know this year he was quite consistent. The eye-opener this week was the performance by the Eagles DST – I’ve never seen a total that high ever by a DST. Other noteables were Welker’s consisten 10+ and Holmes emergence as an elite WR.
Week 2
This was the only week where I managed my way out of a win….and against such a weak team (sorry Pat). I don’t know what came over me to start Hill over my stud Schaub, but I’ll never make that mistake again. Certain players are matchup proof and should never be tampered with. That would have made the difference. This loss hurt as it set me at 1-1 with some tough matchups on the horizon. Note Hightowers 10+ again and Dallas Clark’s massive game…I really miss this guy on my team. One interesting point: As happened all season, I consistently played the right DST each week….which was no easy feat considering I had the #1 and #2 DST in 2009. Often this was the toughest decision I had to make each week…and often it was the difference between a win or a loss.
Week 3
2nd loss in a row, and a tight one too. Thankfully, revenge is a dish best served cold. I didn’t make any mistakes this week, but the problem was that I had to play both Ward and Holmes…a problem I’ve been trying to rectify for months now: two WRs on the same team sucks. But, Welker has been out for 2 weeks now and I had no choice. Note Clarks great performance again. In a PPR league, receptions are paramount. Schaub has yet another stud game, quietly becoming a name on par with Manning and Brady in Fantasy world….but can he hold up injurywise? Check out Marshall, man did I steal that guy in a trade.
Week 4
Ouch. 1-3 now. And a loss to a team I respect the least. This was not a question of him beating me. It was a matter of my team seriously underperforming. This was the worst week of the season for me and left me feeling apprehensive. Nothing nice to say about this week. No TDs means no points in this league. I think this is the week where I realized that I should stop playing both Holmes and Ward.
Week 5
Make or break week. Against last years division champ. If I lose I need to start shifting focus and consider trading for draft picks. But I kept thinking…man, my team is too good to go 1-4. And, it did not disappoint. A convincing win that shook the foundations of the division. We’re now in bye-weeks so I had to play Hightower….and he continues to give me his 10+ pts. I’ll never understand why the sites were trashing Hightower so much. True, Beanie Wells is a better runner….but not necessarily a better results guy. I do need to consider whether Hightower has a future but that can be hashed out over the off-season. He was definitely a big help to me this year.
Schaub recovers from his one bad week and now that Welker’s back, life is good. Note Clarks consistent production. Unfortunately(?) at this point in time, I started to take a look at my QB situation and figured I need a backup. The news was that Hill was out the door, and although there were grumblings of V Young maybe starting again, I needed insurance. Also take a look at Marshall’s production. Why wasn’t I playing this guy? I have no idea.
Week 6
Big win at the right time. I consider my opponent’s team to the team to beat over the next few years. He has a lot of young, great talent and should be feared. Fortunately this week, most of his guys were on bye week. Maybe it wouldn’t have mattered as I raked just under 100 pts which is tough to beat. Schaub dominates again, and check out Welker’s and Ward’s stats. My WRs were by far the best corps in the league this year. I wasted a lot of points on the bench on DST….perhaps the only time I made an obviously wrong decision at that position. This week also begins the ‘don’t play a TE’ trend. With the team I had, and knowing my opponent was sitting a lot of players that week, I did not opt to fill in for Clark and hold out on Morgan one more week to see if he was going to take off.
Week 7
This week’s win put me above .500 at 4-3 and my second win of the season against last year’s divisional champ. This is the first week without Dallas Clark. I made what appeared to others to be a lopsided trade in my favour. I gave up Dallas “Mr. #1 TE” Clark for a 2nd string fantasy QB, a hit or miss TE and a #1 draft pick in 2010. At this moment in time, unless I do well with that draft pick, I’m thinking I’m the loser in this deal. But I needed a backup QB. Young is still off of the fantasy radar and Schaub hasn’t gone this far in a season without some sort of injury. At any rate, the loss of Clark did not hurt me this week thanks to Schaub, Welker and the Packers DST. Ryan Grant had a great week too. Such an underrated football player. This is also the week where I finally give up on Morgan and pick up a 2nd TE to prepare for Schiancoe’s bye-week coming up.
Week 8
Ouch! Forgot about this week. THIS week is the worst week of the season and drops me back to .500. Yet, as hindsight shows, THIS IS THE LAST TIME I LOSE THIS YEAR. A maddening loss for this reason alone: my opponent owns the 2 players that I should never have let go: Flacco and Jennings. Yet, again, hindsight is the only winner here. At the time, I didn’t really have a choice when I dropped them. Flacco was a victim of scheduling (I needed a QB that week) and I needed to drop either Holmes or Jennings a couple years back. The jury is out on which one is better than the other. This week was also a scheduling issue for me: Holmes, Ward and Welker were all on bye. I filled in with Floyd off the waivers but that wasn’t enough. It is interesting to note that this guy is probably going to be a great dynasty option. I eventually had to drop him, but he will be available for next year’s draft so there’s a good chance we’ll see him again.
Even though this week was a loss, I did pick up an RB that could be THE dynasty RB of the future: Shonn Greene. Not a great start that week, but he is a big piece of my future starting 2010. Note Hightower’s 10+ AGAIN!
Week 9
Queue the domination. An easy win against a weak opponent. Not a stellar week for me, but considering I played (again) a TE that didn’t play it was a nice win. The week I needed Hightower for a bye replacement and he doesn’t do well. Fortunately, Grant is moving into his “dominate late in the season” mode. That and my #1 WR corps coming through.
Week 10
The most anticipated regular season game for me. Against the historical powerhouse. And the guy I traded Dallas Clark to (why did I do that again?). Fortunately Clark doesn’t factor. Although Brady and Moss TEAR IT UP, he played his sentimental Seahawks DST and that was the difference. My team on the other hand played a balanced game and showed that you don’t have to have superstars to win. It also helped that Marshall was really taking off and Welker softened the blow that Brady delivered. This game was pivotal because our division was sooooo close. This helped me separate from the pack a little. It’s important to note that without making that trade earlier, I would have lost this game! Orton’s influence on the game made the difference.
Week 11
A big point total. I didn’t think I needed it but the worst team in the league showed up to play. Balanced attack wins out again. Welker, I can’t say enough about him…..except that he will be sorely missed next year with his torn ACL/MCL. What a blow that is!
Week 12
Always a tough match against the team that beat me 3 weeks in a row last year to oust my run at the championship. Vengeance is mine this year. Thanks to having picked the right defense. With this win I secured a playoff spot, which at the time was in doubt in my mind.
Week 13
The last week, the only implication is who I will play. With a win and an Birdhawks loss I secure a win and play Denniphins, which would be a much better matchup than XYX given the matchups his players have next week.
I held my end of the bargain, but Pat’s team lost a heartbreaker that results in a matchup against XYX. I hope my team didn’t peak on this week. I had great balance with my defense leading the way.
Week 14
The 1st week of the playoffs. The bane of my season. In the past, either I’ve won or I’ve been ousted in the first round.
This time around, pure domination. XYX had a game that would normally top out anybody, but this week the timing couldn’t have been better. Note Marshall’s unbelievable outing. I cannot think of a higher score ever achieved by a WR in this league. In reality as well, Marshall set an NFL record with 21 receptions in a game. In a PPR league such as this, that equates to a monster of a game. Add in the fact that Schaub, Grant and Welker go off too more than offsets the weak outings from the rest of the crew. I needed everything too given that his Raven crew was going against the lowly Lions which amounted to good outings by Flacco, Rice and Mason….but not good enough. Now onto the semis where I have never lost in the past.
Week 15
The rematch of the season. Again, this is the team that won my division and has almost the same point total as me.
Yet, putting all the eggs in one basket approach is the downfall. By Monday morning I had a slim 5 pt lead. The Pats had a bad outing and it reflected in Brady’s and Moss’s poor outings and Maroney’s avg outing. The key error made by Birdhawks was that he went with his heart and played his beloved Seahawks defence instead of the logical Pats defence. That was his undoing. Because I played the best players I logically could and they provided me solid but not stellar outings. Thanks to Schaub’s emergence as a #1 Fantasy option and Marshall’s good followup to his previous monster and the Eagles great outing (thank God I chose them over the Pack this week) I was a slim leader going into Monday night.
Ahhh, Monday night. Birdhawks has his kicker to go, I pull off a surprise roster move and play the unproven Davis over Shiancoe. And going into Monday night I am glad I did. Without the move I’m 7 pts ahead without any counter attack. A kicker is expected to easily get 7 pts.
Read my playoff week #2 blog for how that game unfolded….obviously in my favour as I went onto the finals.
Week 16
Rematch! I can’t believe I’m playing the Power again. 4 years ago I squeaked by him to win my 1st title.
This time around: utter domination. This game was never even close. But beforehand, there was no way of knowing. Due to a last second injury I had to swap out Jackson for Hightower. Without being glued to the Internet, I wouldn’t have caught this and been in serious trouble.
It turned out all the decisions I made (except for TE) were spot on. Within the 1st hr of the games, I had a lead that could never be reeled in by the Power. In the 1st hr of the game, Schaub had already thrown for 2 TDs, Grant had rushed for 2 TDs and Welker was off on his usual tear. On the other side of the fence, Power had fallen to the end of season ‘sit the stars’ syndrome. Reggie Wayne played only the 1st quarter before being benched to preserve for the playoffs. Tony Gonzalez gets injured within the 1st hr of the games. His usual Raven’s dominance was being held in check by Big Ben. Drew Brees, the #1 Fantasy scorer was having an extremely mediocre game…..because the Saints are also playing it safe for the playoffs. That amounted to a very low outing by the Power.
A little bit of a let down as I was hoping to be on edge right down to the end of the MNF game as he still had a kicker to go. But it was not to be and I was able to comfortably watch the games from the 4:00 spot onwards.
So, a championship to me! Can’t wait for the trophy so that Christien can play with it. Olivia was very small too when I won my first title and she loved to put poker chips into the cup. I can’t wait.
Let’s break down the overall finish to put things in perspective on how dominant a season I had. I was at the top of all the numbers except for winning the regular season division: