If you were an unlucky owner who faced a Cowboys fan starting all their favorite players in week 5, you had to be watching the Sunday night contest in week 6 with a permanent smirk on your face. The same guys who buried you under an avalanche of points last week -- Tony Romo, Dez Bryant and Jason Witten -- seemed to be a lot slower, a lot less focused and a lot less interested in racking up stats against a division rival. Sure, they won the game, and that's all that matters in the NFL. But what about you? Why did they have to fill up the stat sheet when they faced you, only to roll over for this week's opponent?
Last week, Bryant goes off for 141 yards and two touchdowns; this week he settles for 26 yards and no scores. Witten gets 121 yards and a score last week, but just 27 yards this week. And then there's Romo: Shattering records with 506 yards and five scores in week 5, but settling for about a third that total and just one touchdown in week 6. On the other hand, he did have one interception in each game so there's a bit of consistency there. The point is, sometimes it seems like the schedule dishes out the worst kind of luck to your team. Who faced Andy Dalton on Sunday, when he remembered he's a playoff quarterback? Who got torched by Jimmy Graham this season, only to watch someone else catch him when he does absolutely nothing? Even the great Peyton Manning had more turnovers than touchdowns on Sunday. Why does that always happen to someone else? It doesn't. Over time, it evens out. And it really does, kind of. It's just that you remember the games where someone blows your team out more than the times you caught a break you didn't really deserve. It happens to everyone. Really. Remember when Tom Brady and the Patriots were breaking records on their way to a 16-0 regular season record? He threw for more than 4,800 yards, 50 touchdowns and just eight interceptions. And when the fantasy playoffs started, Brady "torched" the Jets for all of 140 yards and an interception in week 15. Maybe you were the owner who caught one of the biggest breaks in fantasy playoff history. It was a few years ago, but plenty of folks dodged a bullet that time. Or how about when Steve Smith amassed more than 100 catches, 1500 receiving yards and a dozen scores in 2005? In week 16 -- kind of an important week for most fantasy leagues -- Smith catches one pass and gets himself ejected. I remember that one clearly, because I sure could have used a full game from him that day. Goodbye Steve, goodbye title. But I bet my opponent that day has run into some bad luck of his own, and he might not even remember the good luck that helped him become a champion eight years ago. We remember the bad beats, the last-minute losses and the tough breaks. But make sure you remember the ones that went your way, too. You're not cursed. You just have selective memory. I know a guy who lost in one league when Peyton Manning purposely didn't run in a touchdown so he could run out the clock a few years ago. I mean, the score was there for the taking, and the ever-smart Manning went for a slide and the guaranteed win instead. And that cost this owner a title -- in a total points league. He can't even blame it on the schedule. Thousands of points were scored over the season, and that play made the difference. That owner has a shelf full of fantasy football trophies, and you know there was some serious luck involved in winning some of those. But it's the one that cost him that he remembers. Maybe that's human nature. Well, you need to fight it. Once a game is over, it's over. If you're not going to remember the times you caught a break, forget the times you missed out on one as well. The season is less than half over. Somewhere out there, teams that are 1-5 right now are poised to go on an epic run and make the playoffs. Teams that look hopeless are going to find their footing. They're going to catch some amazing breaks on their way to a trophy. But they're not going to dwell on how unfair the schedule is, how much bad luck they had to overcome, or why players seem to always have career games against them. That's why I let those things go. That loss by 1/10th of a point a few weeks back? Totally forgotten. That Darren Sproles fumble at the end of week four that cost me a win? Couldn't tell you a thing about it. I don't replay that in my head at all. My last-minute decision to start Brian Hoyer the week he said farewell to the 2013 season? Did that even happen? I don't recall. No, sir. Okay, maybe I still have a long way to go. But I can tell you what I tell myself: You don't control the schedule. Luck evens out. Sometimes I'm the one who catches the big breaks, while other owners lament how unfair this game can be. And all that is true. I just hope you listen a little better than I do. Good luck this week.
It's easy to remember the times you were demolished by a player during a career game. Do you also remember when luck was improbably on your side? Share your stories below.