ROB BECOMES THE FIRST PERSON IN THE 13-GAME ERA TO RALLY FROM A 1-5 START TO PRODUCE A WINNING RECORD
When do you throw in the towel? It’s a question we never want to face in a fantasy football season, but we’ve all been there. For those who start the season 1-5, the answer is an easy, as soon as possible.
Prior to 2012, 16 teams had started the season 1-5. Fourteen of those teams never came close to sticking a toe into the postseason party. Teams that start 1-5 on average finished with a .284 winning percentage.
In fact, prior to 2012 only two teams had ever started 1-5 and made the playoffs. The first was Calderon way back in 2003. He would win five of his final seven to finish at 6-8. He ended up in the post-season as the 8-seed, where he actually pulled a win out of his ass.
However, that was during a 14-game regular season. Starting into 2005, we switched to a 13-game regular season, which just made things tougher for those 1-5 teams.
Since 2005, teams that started 1-5, ended up with a .235 winning percentage. The only other person to make it back to the post-season was Burrier in 2011. However, he managed to do it thanks to a weak field, thus becoming the first five-win team to make the post-season (he finished 5-8). Like Calderon in 2003, he was able to win one playoff game.
Both Calderon’s and Burrier’s rallies were impressive, but neither were able to pull out a winning season. And let’s face it, with just seven games to go after a 1-5 start, it was hard to imagine someone doing it. Cue Masterson.
Coming off a brilliant 2011 season, great things were expected from Rob in 2012. He didn’t disappoint in week one, when he impressed the league with a 1,560 – 1,410 win over Molly. Dating back to last year, it was Rob’s fourth straight 1,500-point game.
However, something quickly went wrong. Romo wasn’t lightening it up, Chris Johnson was flopping and Julio Jones was inconsistent. Rob would end up dropping five straight games, twice failing to break 1,000 points. Things looked bad. He did try to make things better, by landing Cedric Benson and Willis McGahee, but both would be gone with season-ending injuries soon after the trade.
Yet, slowly….Rob began to rally. He produced some monster weeks, breaking 1,500 in three straight games. The final of the three games featured rookie Doug Martin breaking the running back single-game scoring record with 734 points.
Things were looking great. He was back in the playoff hunt and he had the two worst teams up next on his schedule. What could go wrong? Cue Masterson.
His team failed to show up and lost to Matt, 1,161 – 1,118. First, the defeat allowed Matt to tie Rob in standings. Second, it exposed a continues problem at the second wide receiver spot and at tight end (he traded for Dustin Keller prior to the game, but he did nothing). Rob now sat at 4-6, stuck in a three-way tie for the final two playoff spots (against Bob and Matt).
Luckily Jeff was the worst team in the league and was no competition, so Rob got back to his winning ways the following week. With Burrier losing, while both Bob and Matt won, Rob was now in a four-way tie for three playoff spots. Not bad considering next up were two games against two struggling teams, Molly and Robio.
Molly had dropped two straight heading into her match up with Rob and he was sure to make it three straight after he broke 1,500 for the fifth time that season. With the win Rob became the first person to turn a 1-5 start into a .500 record. More importantly, Burrier lost again (while Bob and Matt both won again). This put Rob one game up on Rich, plus he had a comfortable points lead at well.
The following week Masterson took on Murray, who had lost two of his best players and dropped five of his last seven. Rob won easily, 1436 – 813 and just like that, Rob became the first 1-5 team to end the season not only in the post-season, but with a winning record (in just 13 games), by winning six of his last seven.
Sadly, staying true to form, Rob’s luck ran out in the playoffs. By earning the sixth seed, he was stuck facing my preseason and post-season favorite (Eric) and it wasn’t even close. Lil’ E won 1,649 – 1,269.
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