Don't you hate when you have a good year and face an inferior opponent in the playoffs, but they score some fluky touchdowns and you lose? Or how about when your opponent has some really inept performances but you still can't beat them? Or you get bounced in the first round because some kicker has an amazing game? How does this stuff ever happen?

Actually, it happens in fantasy football playoffs all the time. And we're seeing it happen in the NFL's playoffs, too.

There was plenty of it in the first weekend's games. Tennessee's Mariota-to-Mariota TD is something that would be a source of hilarity in your league, but I'm sure that Kansas City didn't find it funny. And while Keelan Cole didn't record a stat (and Blake Bortles barely did), the Bills still couldn't find a way to beat the Jaguars. And if it wasn't for Matt Bryant, the Falcons-Rams game could have played out very differently.

Everyone in Kansas City is so disgusted, they're ready to blow up a team that just won back-to-back division titles for the first time in team history. And you can probably understand how they feel. We all know what it's like to have a good team headed into the playoffs. Maybe not the best team you've ever had, but pretty solid and maybe riding a win streak. Fortunately, you draw a weaker opponent and have a great shot to advance. And then you watch while you somehow let the game slip away.

That's Kansas City in a nutshell. If it's frustrating for us, imagine what it's like for them. We're not happy for a day or so, and then the feeling kind of fades. Eventually we're ready to give it another try.

But for them, it's different. Jobs, careers and millions of dollars are on the line. And people are angry, too. Hundreds of thousands of people are angry. You see it in newspapers and hear it on the news, and you don't even want to go near the comment section of an online article. It won't go away in a few days, either. The draft, free agency and the entire off-season will be a lesson in how to react to yet another disappointing finish to the year.

And that was just Wild Card Weekend. There was a lot more action in the divisional round, and we recognized some of that, too. Every fantasy owner has a story about winning a back-and-forth game at the very end of a weekend. Maybe a late sack or garbage-time reception does you in, but the contest went down to the last second.

In a way, that was the Minnesota-New Orleans game. Both teams scoring, lead changes, and one team pretty much sure they had won. Then, something crazy happens and they're losers. The season is over. We've been there, and now the Saints are there.

Or how about a game where your guys showed up but it still wasn't enough? From a fantasy perspective, you couldn't ask for much more from Ben Roethlisberger, Le'Veon Bell or Antonio Brown. It's almost a shame to have Pittsburgh waste those performances (though Ben's turnovers were partly why they were in catch-up mode) but we've seen it, too. In both my leagues where the Todd Gurley owner made the playoffs, their team somehow lost despite his performances. They got what they wanted out of him and it still wasn't enough.

Then sometimes we get the equivalent of the New England-Tennessee game. The better team is easy to spot, and they win easily. Kind of boring, but it lends some cosmic stability to the competition. Like when the team with the most points has the best record actually wins your league. That has to happen sometimes, right?

Still, there is one important difference between our game and theirs. You can be the Mike Mularkey of your league (or the Hue Jackson, for that matter) and never get fired. There's no "moving on" from you. So while we don't get the spotlight or the money, we don't have the pressure or the consequences. We can relate to the disappointment but we won't share in the suffering. Even if we fall short of expectations, there's always next year. Kind of like Andy Reid, I guess.

There should be more similarities this weekend, and this year's Super Bowl is guaranteed to feature at least one team that has never won one. Your league can probably relate to that, too. Enjoy the games.

Have you ever had a Minnesota-type fantasy victory, or suffer a Saints-like defeat? Any predictions for the conference championship games? Share your thoughts below.