NFL Week 17 begins and so does the Fantasy Football Championship. For some, like many Sugar Plum Fairies, this is a euphoric time, with dreams of hoisting a trophy dancing in your head. For those less fortunate, it felt like the Nutcracker had done its job. There's nothing worse than having stud players who fought through a 14-week regular season to get you to the playoffs fall short when it matters most.
In a season dominated by running backs, it was a disastrous week in the first round of the playoffs. Saquon Barkley is currently trying to break Eric Dickerson's single-season rushing record, but he disappointed everyone with just 65 yards in Week 15. Derrick Henry, Devon Ashen and Tuba Hubbard all did the same thing. To make matters worse, as if to make fun of the players who were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, they all had dominant performances in Week 16, making the owners the stars of the repechage bracket.
The running back wasn't the only tormentor. Sam Darnold, Kyler Murray, Matthew Stafford, and Brock Purdy all struggled in Week 15, and to add insult to injury, Josh Allen went from hero to zero in Week 16. Some may want to throw Jalen Hurts under the bus as well, but at least his failure was injury-related. The rest have absolutely no excuse. The strong matchups and momentum carried over from the previous week were tossed into the back bin, waiting to be ignited.
That dumpster is also home to several wide receivers who were active throughout the regular season but disappeared once the fantasy playoffs began. Cooper Kupp is currently living on milk cartons, Amari Cooper is doing the same, and Darnell Mooney, one of the most valuable picks in the 2024 fantasy football draft, has been living on milk cartons for the past two weeks. I spent a lot of time asking these two if I could sleep with them. Jerry Jeudy got the rug pulled from the rug with the Browns' quarterback change, but if you see Jauan Jennings around, please kindly tell the fantasy community that you're done with him.
Do you want to bet on the NFL?
That's a cruel way to destroy the fantasy football world. The regular season is a really tough season. Week after week, you scratch and claw your way through waivers, endure premature injuries, and when you finally get to the big dance, you can't even boogie with the guys who got you there. Start studding, they say? My heart hurts. It really hurts my heart. The best thing you can do now is sit back and hope the hurt fades enough so you don't miss them in next year's draft. They also can't hurt you this much, can they?
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