The Falcons/Packers game was fun to watch last weekend, but it wasn't really the outcome I wanted. I'm not a Green Bay fan and I don't have a vendetta against Matt Ryan or Julio Jones. Quite the opposite, in fact. Both of those guys are on my teams.

And that's why I wanted Atlanta to lose; I don't want them getting too far ahead in their division.

One of the most frustrating differences between fantasy football and the real thing is the post-season. During our playoffs, the players might be dreaming of tee times and practice-free afternoons. During their playoffs, we're licking our wounds, spending our league winnings or jumping back into the game with some post-season fantasy contests. But when the games matter most, we're never all on the same page.

Unless, of course, weeks 15 and 16 (and even 17) mean a lot to the players. That won't happen if their teams are so far behind they're playing for pride, or so far ahead they're trying not to get hurt. So, in a perfect world, all the team would be within a game or two of each other, and give it their all until the fantasy season is done.

That perfect world, by the way, is the NFC East. All the teams have winning records, they all have significant fantasy contributors and they all have their eyes on the division crown. And with the way they beat each other up, that could be the case through the regular season. It would have been nice if Dallas had lost to Philadelphia Sunday night, but I don't want to be greedy. I'll just need them to lose a couple in the next few weeks.

The Falcons, on the other hand, are the only team in the NFC South with a winning record. But all the teams are still in the mix. I'd just rather see Atlanta at .500 to give Brees, Winston and Newton more hope of taking that division. But Green Bay didn't help; they could have been tied with Minnesota in their own division.

You might ask, isn't it a little early for this kind of team monitoring? Absolutely not. We're about halfway through the regular season. When teams start to fall behind, they look at the remaining games differently. Maybe they give rookies a little more work. Maybe they don't rush an injured player back so quickly. And all of a sudden, you don't have the team you thought you had.

Let's say that the Colts were 1-7 right now, and the Texans were 7-1. Let's also say that Phillip Dorsett was a Michael Thomas-type, and became a reliable target for Andrew Luck when Donte Moncrief got hurt. What would the odds be of Moncrief playing right now? Or even starting the rest of the season? See, I have Luck and I might need Moncrief down the road. Maybe even this week. So I want the Colts to be in the hunt for the division title, and I want the Texans to play poorly and let them catch up.

Or let's use an obvious example: Dallas. Is there anyone who would bench Dak Prescott for Tony Romo right now? No way. But what if they were struggling? Different story. Romo has backup value instead of starter value.

The longer you play fantasy football, the more you realize how little control you have over the game. You start the best guys and hope it works out. But there are so many factors working against you: Game circumstances, injuries, even poor clock management. And yes, even a team's record makes a difference.

As the season progresses, more teams will find themselves in a lost campaign, and that will affect their (and your) lineup decisions. Personally, I'm rooting for parity each and every week. Sometimes that means I'm rooting for teams I don't even like. But I want week 16 and (in some leagues) week 17 to really matter, and that's one way to accomplish that outcome. Let's hope the right teams win and lose this week.

Do you follow win/loss records, or do you just play your players? Have you been hurt (or helped) by a team winning or losing too much? Share your thoughts below.