AxeElf 787 Posted November 5, 2019 Week 9, 2019, will go down in the annals of Axe Elf lore as the week of one of the most epic wins in the storied history of Axe Elf's epic wins. The setting: An 18-team, $125 PPR league with 14 starters, 12 bench slots, and 1 IR. The game: Axe Elf's 6th-place Sons of Overtime team, with a 5-3 record and the 5th-most points scored (avg 159.70 ppg), versus the 5th-place PassionofBoston team, sporting a 6-2 record and the 7th-most points scored (avg 157.77 ppg). Axe Elf's starters: QB1: Matthew Stafford QB2 (Superflex): Derek Carr RB1: Carlos Hyde RB2: LeSean McCoy RB3: Alfred Morris WR1: Cole Beasley WR2: Cody Latimer WR3: Jakeem Grant WR4: Steven Sims, Jr. TE: Demetrius Harris Flex1: Chris Moore Flex2: Scotty Miller K: Dan Bailey DST: New York Giants Axe Elf's bench: QB: Mike Glennon (0 pts), David Blough (0 pts) RB: Devonta Freeman (bye), Joe Mixon (bye), Derrius Guice (IR), Brian Hill (bye) WR: Cooper Kupp (bye), Dede Westbrook (out), Devin Funchess (out) TE: Austin Hooper (bye) K: Randy Bullock (bye) DST: Cincinnati Bengals (bye) PassionofBoston's starters: QB: Philip Rivers RB1: Ryquell Armstead RB2: Matt Breida RB3: Gus Edwards WR1: Jarvis Landry WR2: Julian Edelman WR3: Antonio Callaway WR4: Deebo Samuel WR5 (Superflex): Devin Smith TE: Hayden Hurst Flex1: Wendell Smallwood Flex2: Alexander Mattison K: Jason Sanders DST: Tennessee Titans PassionofBoston's bench: QB: Matt Ryan (bye), Matt Schaub (bye), Nick Mullens (0 pts), Cooper Rush (0 pts) RB: Kerryon Johnson (IR), Latavius Murray (bye), Chase Edmonds (out), Ito Smith (bye), Devine Ozigbo (0 pts), Spencer Ware (FA) WR: Robert Woods (bye), Ted Ginn, Jr. (bye) TE: Tyler Higbee (bye) Neither team left a single point on the bench. Between our two benches, we had 15 players on bye, 5 more who were out injured, 4 backup QBs who didn't see a snap, 1 free agent RB, and another 4th-string RB who didn't get on the field. On our two starting rosters, we had 10 players between us who each scored 3.5 pts or less, including 5 players who scored 0.6 pts or less (3 of which were shut out entirely). Despite our average points scored being some 50% more for each team, the pregame prediction had it in Axe Elf's favor, 110.24 to 104.73. Obviously the biggest key to success was the fact that I was still able to start 2 QBs who both had outstanding days, while his 2nd big gun, Matt Ryan, was on bye. It helped even more that his Philip Rivers threw up a 14.7 pt clunker with 0 TD passes, and I also got an unexpectedly nice performance from Carlos Hyde in the early London game--but his TD-losing fumble cost me an additional 8 points that I thought I would probably need. After all, my opponent had already jumped out to a solid lead on the basis of 19.2 points from Deebo and Breida on Thursday night, while I was just happy that Alfred Morris didn't get shut out after a 4 yard run for 0.4 fantasy points. On top of that, Hyde's solid 14.0 pts were nearly canceled out by the surprise 11.5 from my opponent's Ryquell Armstead. Nobody else on my team even reached double digits, and even normally-solid LeSean McCoy laid a steaming 1.9, while my opponent got 26.7 points between Browns' WRs Landry and Callaway, and even Gus Edwards got into the end zone. By the time Julian Edelman had planted his 16.9 on me Sunday night, I was down by more than 10 pts, 116.10 to 105.95, with my Cody Latimer and Giants DST left to play on Monday night against his Devin Smith. My fate rides on one of the worst DSTs in the league against one of the best offenses, and a WR who's had 6 catches since September. The projected final score now showed me losing 118-something to 114-something. I got a little shot in the arm when Devin Smith was declared inactive for the Cowboys, however. Now my opponent was done, sitting on 116.10; I only need to score 10.2 pts for the win. When Dak Prescott threw an INT to my defense on the first play of the game, I was beyond excited--and yet disappointed that they didn't return it 10 more yards for the TD. Oh well... points. And then... amazement of amazements... Cody Latimer catches his first TD of the season, and suddenly, I'm ahead! But not so fast... my total score reflects the "points allowed" by the Giants up to that point, and as Dallas kept on scoring and scoring... my point total kept on going down and down... and when Dallas reached 30 points in the middle of the 4th quarter, I was behind again, 116.10 to 116.05. That's right, it looks like I'm going to lose this clash of the titans by five hundredths of a point. And then... miracle of miracles... on the Giants' final drive of the night, Cody Latimer catches a 7 yard pass--his second catch of the game with 4 minutes to play--and I'm back on top, 117.75 to 116.10! Now, only 2 things CAN NOT happen. Cody Latimer CAN NOT fumble on an end-around or hook-and-lateral where he doesn't score a catch but gets penalized 2 points for a fumble or some crazy thing like that--and the Cowboys CAN NOT score again. The Giants' drive continues, though, and it's starting to look like I'm home free--even if the drive stalls and the Cowboys get the ball again with less than 2 minutes remaining, they're just going to kneel down a few times to end the game, right? And then... horror of horrors... Daniel Jones fumbles on the very last play of the game. FALL ON IT! Two Giants miss the ball. A Cowboy eschews falling on it to end the game and picks it up instead... and runs toward the end zone! TACKLE HIM!!! Oh no... he scores! The Cowboys now have more than 35 points, and over 35 points allowed is another -2 for my defense. Looks like I'll lose by 0.35 points after all. BUT...!!! November is the month of Thanksgiving, and apparently points scored by a defense do NOT count against the opposing defense as "points allowed"--so the Giants DST keeps the points they have earned, and Axe Elf thankfully notches a pivotal 1.65 point win!!! I am thankful for everyone's contribution. If Cody Latimer has just one catch tonight instead of two--I lose. If Cole Beasley doesn't catch his TD (he has 1 other reception for 6 yards)--I lose. If Steven Sims, Jr. doesn't score 2.2 points--I lose. Even without McCoy's tragic 1.9 point output--I lose. And if Demetrius Harris and Jakeem Grant (both of whom were picked up off the barren waiver wire to complete my lineups the past two weeks) hadn't combined for a decent 11.8 points between them, I wouldn't have even been close. This was truly an amazing win. Six teams will make the playoffs in this league, and four teams will get paid ($1100, $650, $325, $175). I am now in 5th place with a 6-3 record, and only one more team above .500 on my remaining 4-game schedule. I have about 75 more points scored than the 5-4 team in 7th place, so that's basically a 2-game lead over any team NOT currently in the projected playoff bracket, and every other team from 8th place down is now 4-5 or worse. So this win pretty much puts the Sons of Overtime into the playoffs, barring a complete collapse--but the bye week from hell is now a classic victory in my rear view mirror, with the unlikeliest of unlikely winning rosters ever. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Frozenbeernuts 1,652 Posted November 5, 2019 I didn't read any of it but congrats! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
posty 2,296 Posted November 5, 2019 Funny thing is that you typed all of that up and no one will read it because no one cares about your fantasy team except you... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stonewall 647 Posted November 5, 2019 Well, I did read it and can appreciate those type of narrow FF victories......the kind where a plethora of factors intertwine in an owners favor to give him the narrow victory. Heck, I think it's those types of victories that keep me coming back each year. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AxeElf 787 Posted November 5, 2019 3 hours ago, stonewall said: Well, I did read it and can appreciate those type of narrow FF victories......the kind where a plethora of factors intertwine in an owners favor to give him the narrow victory. Heck, I think it's those types of victories that keep me coming back each year. Yeah, but it's one thing when those kind of narrow victories happen with normal rosters. This one was kind of cranked up to 11 because of all the players we both had on byes and injury reports, and therefore, all the scrub players we had to start between us--players that will never sniff a roster in most fantasy leagues--which made the "narrow victory" scenario rest on things that no one else in the fantasy world even cared about--like Scotty Miller's TD reception being nullified by a Buccaneers' holding penalty, or Steven Sims' lone 12 yard reception, or that last 7 yard reception by Cody Latimer... It was such a crappy game (out of 18 teams, we had the 16th- and 17th-highest scores of the week), and yet it was such an amazing game, with every detail of every scrub's performance coming into play. Rarely are the divine and the profane so intimately intertwined. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stonewall 647 Posted November 5, 2019 31 minutes ago, AxeElf said: Rarely are the divine and the profane so intimately intertwined. You should meet my ex..... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KC Deuce 1 Posted November 10, 2019 I would hate this type of format personally; not a fan of starting players that may never see the field. And not enough starters for everyone to have a starter as a backup? Well . . . good luck. I imagine you would spend a heavy amount of time tracking EVERYONE in the NFL. I am in a PPR league that uses IDPs; not everyone is a fan of that. So to each their own. Congrats on the win! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
