It’s official..without question, my 2019 is the greatest season this league has ever seen and ended in the only fitting way possible, a championship. Yet, before I heap a ton of praise upon myself, let’s recap the game and let’s not forget the final to fall.
THE GAME
In the end, the game wasn’t even close. Things got off to a bad start for Rich on Saturday, a day he needed to build himself a big lead. Instead, Hopkins was held to 24 yards (46 fantasy points) The Pats D, who was capable of scoring more than the offense they were facing, were fine, but not amazing. They forced no turnovers and scored 156 points. At the end of the night, Gurley did manage a pair of goal line scores, but was held to 48 yards and finished with 217 fantasy points.
Three players down and Rich only led 419-0.
Early on Sunday, it looked like it might be a low-scoring slugfest. Lamar Jackson had just 16 fantasy points in the first quarter of his 1pm game and when he did finally throw two touchdowns to end the first half, they both landed in the hands of Mark Andrews, Rich’s tight end.
However, in the second half of the early games, my squad blew it wide open. Lamar finished with over 100 yards rushing and scored 514 fantasy points, while my starting receivers combined for 298 yards, each scoring 332 fantasy points.
By the time the 4pm games got rolling, I had a lead of over 500 and CBS had me at about 79%. Calderon’s only shot was to have Russell Wilson produce a boss game at home against an inferior foe. It sure started like one, as he had 80 fantasy points on the game’s first drive. However, the Cardinals somehow crushed the Seahawks and Wilson scored just 46 more points. Ball game.
THE FALLEN
Rich Calderon walked into season with high expectations, thanks to the league’s top trio of keepers that featured Nick Chubb, Adam Thielen and DeAndre Hopkins. Because of this, he took some risk early in the draft. Some failed miserable (Antonio Brown), some didn’t help much (Aaron Rodgers), while some finally got going at the end (Todd Gurley). Yet, Rich overcame, thanks to solid picks later in the draft (Mark Andrews, Russell Wilson), plus a trade for Stefon Diggs that was so one-sided, it was illegal in 48 states.
With all that, he managed to produce his greatest regular season ever and based on my “season ranking” math, his second greatest seasons ever, after producing a record tying 12 victories, averaging over 1,550 points per game (the fourth most ever). He easily lived up to any and all preseason expectations, but in the end, there was one obstacle Calderon couldn’t get over….Robio Murray.
Rich would suffer just two defeats all season…His nine-game winning streak to begin the year came to an end thanks to Robio. And lastly, he suffered his second straight title game defeat, thanks to Robio.
Looking ahead, Calderon will get the 11th pick in the draft, but his keepers won’t be quite as sexy. Both Hopkins and Thielen enter back into the draft pool. This leaves Nick Chubb for one more season in the 10th round. In category one, there’s Diggs in the fourth, but don’t sleep on Derrius Guice. Yes, he failed to finish a second straight season, but in the brief moment he did play, he played pretty well.
THE CHAMPION
Heading into the season, I felt good about my squad. I had the quarterback I wanted, fall to me in the 7th round. I took him there so he could be my category one keeper. I was also excited about my backfield, with James Conner, a player I gave up half my team in 2018 to land, plus the first overall pick, Zeke Elliot. My only real concern were my receivers; Robert Woods and Julian Edelman.
Some impressive early victories were followed by a couple of decent defeats. After losing to Michael in week three, despite scoring over 1,600, I scored just 1,381 in a defeat to Masterson. That game would be the low point of the season. I would never taste defeat again.
I would go on to win 12 straight games, tying myself for second longest streak in league history (just two back of the current record) and sitting alone as the longest winning streak to end a season.
I would go on to crush the all-time scoring record for a regular season (1,675 PPG) and my 27,433 total points beat Bob’s old record by 1,934 points. I became the first person to score over 1,500 in 10 regular season games and my 13 total for the full year is three more than the next guy on the list. Sadly, I missed Neatock’s playoff record of 5,684 points by just 20.
Anyhow, based on the math I do to determine the greatest team ever, where I take into account points scored, wins, scoring crowns, top seeds, playoff production, games over 1,500 and even record against the top half of the league, Bob’s 2014 was the best with 377.6 points. My 2019 team? They got a score of 417.2 points.
The best part about this title, besides the fact it ends five years of misery in this league for me, is how I got it. I had keepers; Conner, Aaron Jones and Kupp. I had the top pick of the draft (Elliot) and overall I drafted well. Engram was solid for me at tight end, while my 7th round pick proved to be the League MVP.
Once the season got started, I didn’t have a ton of add/drops. I added a couple of DSTs I started, but other than Will Lutz, who proved to be a first-team All-Robio kicker, I didn’t do much on the wire. However, I dominated in trades.
Thanks to Colby, who like me the season before, panicked early, I was able to get the league’s top wide receiver for Robert Woods and T.J. Hockenson. Michael Thomas would end up breaking the all-time receiving record for a single season.
Two weeks later, Bob offered me Melvin Gordon and Tyler Lockett for Aaron Jones. The Packers back was great all season, but Gordon produced when I needed him (once Conner got hurt) and Lockett, along with Engram help me land Julio Jones. Add in the Ravens DST, who I got from Matt, my eight-player title team featured none of the players I kept, but instead, just two players I drafted and six players I added later, including five players who I traded for throughout the season. Those five players scored 1,118 points in the championship game.
So, congratulations to myself. My fifth career title now puts me back on top all by myself.
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