The Kansas City Chiefs cost me a fantasy football game
It’s the most ludicrous thing you can say about sports. That
an athlete or a team’s inability to perform well is somehow detrimental to the
status of your fantasy team. Athletes are meant to play – well or poorly – in the
real world, not on your computer screen. Yet, every week, unhappy fantasy
owners tweet at these players who let them down, and sometimes get an earful in return. So no, I’m not upset that the Chiefs defense allowed
Terrelle Pryor to score his first touchdown of the year and cost me the
game, because the Bills actually won and that’s honestly all that matters. I’m
just a little bummed that I went into Monday night leading by 11.2 points and
wound up losing by 1.8. Whether it’s fantasy or real life, not being able to
hold onto a manageable lead never fails to hurt.
--- Blue Monday ---
Knowing I was going up against Aaron Rodgers meant I had my
work cut out for me. Despite throwing for less than 300 yards for the first
time all season, he balanced that out with four touchdown passes for 23.1 total
points. Just another ho-hum day for probably the best QB in the league right
now.
Christian McCaffrey didn’t do much for Carolina and Tarik
Cohen had an almost identical stat line for Chicago, but LeGarrette Blount’s
beastly day for the Eagles was wasted as he was benched for the game.
T.Y. Hilton and Eric Decker barely even showed up on Sunday,
but only one of them was actually a starter for Team 10. Michael Crabtree was
an actual no-show because of an injury to his chest and lungs, and Byron’s failure
to take that into account wasted at least 6.9 more points from DaVante Parker
(or the 10.4 Kelvin Benjamin produced). But the most productive wideout,
starter or otherwise was the one who beat the Clowns.
Terrelle Pryor and Washington had a Monday Night date with
the Chiefs. He entered the game with 10 catches for 116 yards and zero
touchdowns in the first three games of the season. He only caught three passes
in Kansas City, but he made them count, as he racked up 70 yards and reeled in his
first touchdown in a Washington uniform. His 13 points vaulted Team 10 to 4-0,
coincidentally the same record the Chiefs now hold thanks to their win two
nights ago.
--- Clownin’ around ---
That the Bills defense had to play superbly and the offense
had to be spotless if they were to even think about competing with the 3-0
Falcons on Sunday. Not only did they help themselves, but they even got a trio
of favorable calls from the officials, not the least of which was Tre'Davious
White’s pick-up six on what I honestly believed to be an incomplete pass.
Tyrod Taylor was efficient. Less than 200 yards passing but
he threw one touchdown and didn’t commit any egregious turnovers.
LeSean McCoy bounced back to have a better day, more than
doubling his total rushing yards from the previous two weeks.
Andre Holmes and Zay Jones were invisible again. Jordan
Matthews was nearly irrelevant, save for the touchdown pass he was gifted by
Taylor. Kaelin Clay’s only noteworthy play was a penalty that I feared would
swing the momentum back to Atlanta. Luckily it did not.
With a tight end (Charles Clay) and a running back (McCoy)
leading the team in receiving so far this season, it could be excused that the top
three wideouts have a combined 254 yards and three touchdowns thus far. But I
won’t excuse it. It’s a sign of deficiency and eventually opposing defenses are
going to be able to figure out how to shut down Buffalo’s only two offensive
weapons and it’ll be gloom and doom for the Bills and the tears of the Clowns
will taste like salty facepaint.
The defense and special teams both had monster showings
though, and were the biggest reasons the Falcons lost their perfect record.
Stephen Hauschka’s leg has been a bright spot, as he knocked through two field
goals from beyond 50 yards less than two minutes apart to put the Bills on top
for good.
I left -0.2 points on the bench. That’s pretty swell in my
book.
--- Reaction in a gif ---
Like I said, I’m disappointed that the Clowns lost, but I’m
much happier with the 3-1 record the Bills now hold.
There are still 12 games left, so it’s best to remain cautiously optimistic, but if the
offense can catch up to the defense, we’re all set.
--- Next time out ---
The 1-3 Bengals will host the Bills on Sunday. Cincinnati’s
only win came this past weekend against the hapless Cleveland Browns, who are
well on their way to yet another lost season. Cincinnati was shut out in Week
One and only averages 16 points per game, and now they’re tasked with going up
against the NFL’s best defense, which has only allowed 54 points to opposing
offenses so far.
The 2-2 Clowns will be squaring off against Kevin
Salvatierra’s 0-4 Miami Ballers. Matt Ryan will be recovering from Week Four
loss on the bye, so it looks like Alex Smith will get the nod to start at QB. The
more-reliable Broncos D will also be on the bye, but Seattle shredded the Colts
to register 22 points this past week. Still, they’ve been nothing like the
Seahawk defenses from the Super Bowl years, sporting a minus-4 two weeks ago in
Tennessee.
Matthews is out for the next month or so, so Kaelin Clay will be inserted into the flex position. We'll see how that goes.
--- Prediction ---
I don’t see any reason to be threatened by this team, and,
whether it’s Dolphins, Redhawks, Marlins, or Ballers I tend to live by the saying 'Muck Fiami.'
Clowns stomp the Ballers and win handily, 96-69.
Editor's Note: Matt Birt is a former Buffalo Bills employee
and possibly a future one as well.
