We all know that fantasy football is very different than the real game. Still, if you had to pick an NFL team that best resembles a fantasy team, who would it be? The Randy Moss-era Patriots, when they were burying opponents under and avalanche of points? The Kurt Warner-led Rams, the Greatest Show On Turf, and fertile ground for fantasy draft picks? How about the current Broncos, who are scoring a bunch of points week in and week out as Peyton Manning chases the single-season TD record he lost to Tom Brady?
I don't think it's any of those. If I had to pick a team to most resemble a fantasy squad, it would be the New York Giants. Forget liking the team itself, or hating them because you support a division rival. They act like a fantasy team with real helmets.
Sometimes the Giants play like a bunch of guys thrown together at a random draft where the owner has been drinking. The pieces don't always seem to fit right, and the pieces that should fit tend to look out of place anyway. They underachieve, frustrate their fans and sometimes aren't even competitive in games they should win. And then they go out and win a couple of championships like it's nothing. Sounds like a fantasy football team to me.
The Giants started out 0-6 and should have been eliminated already. Instead they're just two games out of first place after a four-game winning streak. The Giants could win the NFC East and make the playoffs. And then what? Are you sure they'd lose to the Lions or the Seahawks? Couldn't they beat the Saints if things break right? They could reach another Super Bowl. Eli Manning could play against his brother, and which one of those guys is a clutch playoff quarterback? Is it so hard to imagine the Giants winning another title?
Or they could lose a bunch of games, finish in the division cellar and put everyone in their organization back on the hot seat. Nobody knows who is going to show up on Sunday. Just like a fantasy team.
So what's the point of that exercise? Fantasy owners should be more like the Giants. When they started out 0-6, they didn't give up. How many owners do you see start 0-4 and abandon their team? They're missing out on the opportunity to turn things around, go on a winning streak and threaten to make the playoffs. And if that happens, just like the Giants, any fantasy team can win the whole thing once they're in the post-season. How many times does the very best team win your league? Just as often, it's probably a squad that snuck into the post-season, caught some breaks and knocked off a heavily-favored team in the Super Bowl. Sound familiar?
You only have a couple of games left in the regular season. Maybe you need to win out, have a bunch of other team lose and somehow get by on a tie-breaker. And even if you somehow made it, your team isn't that competitive and is never going to beat the other playoff teams. So what's the point?
The point is: The Giants. Teams that have no business making the playoffs sometimes make it. And they win games when they're there, too. So why not your team? In fantasy football, great teams can easily fall into a losing streak, giving you a path to the playoffs. A missed throw here, a goal-line vulture there and a star has a terrible game. And with the concussion protocol, players can be removed as a precaution for the rest of the contest. No matter how remote your chances seem, you have to put yourself in position to take advantage if a few bounces go your way. Make last-minute trade offers, work the waiver wire and make lineup decisions like it was week 2. Maybe it all falls your way, you end up with that last seed and you win the title.
Or maybe you don't. Maybe you miss out altogether and your season ends with some consolation bracket nobody follows. Maybe the Eagles or the Cowboys win their division and nobody remembers the 6-10 Giants. Who knows?
I do know that the schedule in fantasy football is a random event that you don't control. You can't stop your opponent from scoring and they can't stop you. You're just hoping you match up well with the team you've been assigned that particular week. And if those random match ups work in your favor for the next few games, your disappointing season could become a magical one. The best team doesn't always win in fantasy football, and that's a good thing if you don't have the best team. Hopefully yours comes out ahead this week and next week, when it really counts. Good luck.
Do you have any stories of being (or being beaten by) an inferior team that shouldn't even have been in the playoffs? How did things turn out in the end? Share your stories below.