Don becomes the first #7 seed to win a championship in 2006
Heading into the 2006 post-season, there were plenty of story lines. The league had two 10-win teams, Molly and Burrier…the former taking the scoring title, while the latter earned the top seed (back then head-to-head still mattered). We also had one division ready to dominated, as the Jersey Division that featured Molly, Colby and Masterson, all teams that finished in the top-four in scoring. Meanwhile, Bob, ready to prove his 2004 title was no fluke, rebounded from his 3-10 season to win eight games. Of course there was me. I had rallied from a 3-5 start to win five of my last six, earning the weekly high score three straight times (weeks 9-11) to win my first division in over three years. Of course the one person we were not talking about was Don.
Fact is, there was no reason to talk about Don. Who was he? What had he ever done? Five seasons of Robioland football and he hadn’t even won a playoff game. He was a threat to no one. It was surprising to even see him here in the post-season.
This is a guy who lost his first-round keeper, Domanick Davis (RB HOU) to an ACL tear before the season even started. Throughout the whole year, he never was able to replace him, instead going three-wide with Terrell Owens, Javon Walker and Keyshawn Johnson. At first though, it looked like a brilliant strategy. Don stormed out of the gate, winning five of his first six games, producing two weekly high scores. However, things came crashing down as he would drop five of his next six, producing two weekly low scores. He only squeezed into the post-season when he beat 1-11 David on the season’s final weekend.
He earned the #7 seed, despite the fact he only finished 9th in scoring. Sure a #7 seed had reach the finals the previous season (Colby), but Colby was a good team. He was 4th in scoring in 2005. The fact is, no team lower than a #4 seed had ever won the title, so what chance did a #7 seed, who finished 9th in scoring, have?
Well, I guess that’s why we play the game.
In the Quarterfinals, both 10-win teams fell victim to the upset. Burrier fell to Masterson, as Don took care of business against #2 seeded Molly. It was Don’s first career post-season win. Meanwhile, Robio (the #3 seed) was the only higher seed to walk away from the first round a winner, beating Griff and #5 Bob beat #4 Colby.
Now heading into the semis, the highest seed (#3 Robio) would take on the lower seed (#8 Rob M), while #7 Don took on #5 Bob. In the first game, I easily took care of business against Masterson. In the second game, Don made the decision to ditch three-wide and put in recently added Sammy Morris into the lineup. Morris struggled, scoring just 116 points, but Bob’s team failed to show up and Don won a low-scoring contest, 1,211-1,007.
And just like that, the finals became a family affair. It was three-time champion Robio vs. two career playoff wins, Don.
On paper, I clearly had the better squad. Head-to-head I would have beaten Don 10 of 15 times in 2006. Over our last eight weeks heading into the title game, I would have beaten Don seven out of eight times. Even when you just looked at the positions, I had the advantage based on past numbers.
At quarterback, I had Drew Brees (second-team All-Robio) vs. an inconsistent Marc Bulger. At running back I had two top-10 backs, Rudi Johnson and Willie Parker, while Don had just Willis McGahee, who sat just outside the top-10. I also had the better tight end (Crumpler > Shockey). Don did have the advantage in defense (Steelers over the Patriots) and at wide out (Terrell Owens/Javon Walker > Plaxico Burress/Donte Stallworth), although my pair had played great down the stretch.
Of course for Don, what would he do about that flex position? Would it be Sammy Morris again or would he go three-wide? How about none of the above.
Don grabbed Ron Dayne off the waiver wire (this is pre-auction). The former Heisman Trophy winner had been a bust in the NFL, but over the last month, he was playing great. Heading into the title game, he had scored 162, 272 and 224 fantasy points playing for the Houston Texans. Yet, no one picked him up…until Don did in the final week.
My problem heading into the weekend was match ups. I didn’t like any of mine. As for Don, I liked his, especially the Dayne pick up. The CBS Guru had me as a slight favorite, but in my predictions I had Don the favorite.
Sadly for me, the guru was wrong and I was right. The game wasn’t even close.
Don cruised to victory, nearly doubling me up, 1,617-844.
He did that despite getting -8 points from Jeremy Shockey and zero points from his place kicker, Josh Scobee. Don relied on just two players to lead him to victory.
Marc Bulger had a career day. He completed 25-38 passes for 388 yards and four touchdowns…giving Don 592 fantasy points. Meanwhile, recently acquired Ron Dayne had what would turn out to be his greatest day of his entire career. He rushed for 153 yards on 32 carries, scoring twice. Bulger and Dayne alone would have beaten my team.
For good measure, Willie McGahee hit 242, while Javon Walker, Terrell Owens and the Steelers D scored 158, 102 and 165 respectfully.
As for me, my squad laid an egg, producing the least amount of points in the post-season by a Robio team.
Drew Brees scored 132 fantasy points in a 30-7 Saints win, while Willie Parker scored just 32 points (13 carries, 29 yards) in a home loss to the Ravens. Between my two receivers, my tight end and my place kicker, only Plaxico Burress broke 100 (scoring 168). He caught just one pass, but it was a 55-yard touchdown. Daute Stallworth hit just 96 points, while Crumpler scored just 72 and Jason Elam got 60 points. Only Rudi Johnson showed up, scoring 276 fantasy points, but it wasn’t enough to make up for my eight-point performance by the Patriots D.
Just like that, Don proved that anyone can win three games to end the season. No matter what your seed. In fact, Don would end up winning the title a second time two years later as the #7 seed again. The league would never be the same again.
The following year, the higher seeds would fail to crash the title game, as a #5 seed (Matt) would beat a #7 seed (Calderon). In 2008, #7 seeded Don would win that second title, then in 2011, #7 Bob would win his third title beating #3 seeded Burrier.
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