Sometimes you can do everything right, and it still turns out wrong. If you had the first pick in the draft, there's a good chance you drafted Adrian Peterson. That would have been a safe choice, and one which rewarded you with more than 1,200 yards and 10 touchdowns. Looking back at the uncertainty in the first round, that was a pretty good decision.
Later in the draft, you might have chosen Rob Gronkowski, gambling that you could wait him out until he was ready to produce for your team. That move would have taken a good deal of patience, since he seemed to linger on the cusp of being active for several weeks before finally taking the field. But Gronkowski's first six games back were pretty productive, with just one bad outing. Heading into the fantasy playoffs, that owner might be feeling good about a solid, patient strategy.
Probably not this week, though. If their playoffs started in week 14, their off season probably starts in week 15. Injuries to both Peterson and Gronkowski derailed many fantasy teams at exactly the wrong time. All their owners had to show for week 14 was a few points and a lot of disappointment.
That's more than Reggie Bush owners can say, though. He was good to go until pre-game cold-ups (hard to call it a "warm-up" in that blizzard). Bush slipped and fell right out of the starting lineup. Unless you were really on top of things, you saw a guaranteed zero on your playoff roster.
How can a season that was going so right look so wrong after one weekend? It's frustrating, but that's the game. In an effort to mimic the NFL -- imperfectly, I might add -- we usually put all our chips in the center and let everything ride on one week's worth of games. And if things go right, you get to do it again the next week, and maybe the week after. If not, you're left wondering what you could have done differently.
In many cases, the answer is "nothing." Sometimes the right move looks wrong in hindsight. But at the time, with the information you had, it was the right call. So don't even think about berating yourself because you started Matthew Stafford over Jason Campbell. And if Josh McCown sat on your bench while Nick Foles played around in the snow, let it go. That wasn't really a bad call. In one game, anything can happen.
You know that, of course. But the playoffs amplifies every catch, every yard, every touchdown and every decision that denies you those things. Unless you were really torn between two players (not just "thought about" starting both of them) you were never getting those points, anyway. The best you can say is they weren't in your opponent's lineup.
And even if you made the wrong call, so what? How many right calls did you make to get to the playoffs? If you're expecting to be perfect in a game you don't really control, you'll be disappointed a lot. You can point to one decision and say it cost you a win, but the truth is that there were a number of calls you made, right and wrong. The decision-making process you used for that one is similar to the ones you used for the others. Throw out one bad call and you probably have to toss a number of good ones, too. Either way, it just wasn't your day.
So if you lost this past weekend and your title hopes are dashed, you have my condolences. But look at it this way: You didn't get fired the next day, like Gary Kubiak did. You're not destined for the unemployment line, like Mike Shanahan. You won't have to endure public shame on local radio, you won't have to move your family to another city and you won't have to accept a demotion just to stay in your preferred field of unemployment. You're going to be mocked by your buddies, you missed out on a few bucks and that's about it. Your contract has already been extended, coach. Your team is keeping you as long as you want to be there. This isn't your job, but you do have job security.
Besides, you probably made sensible moves but got burned anyway. Maybe you recall previous seasons where you saw it happen to an opponent and you reaped the rewards, and maybe that will happen again next year. Or not. That's part of the game, and part of the fun. Take it in stride. You watched those snowy games from the comfort of your own home, and your favorite chair is still waiting for you. That beats a difficult press conference and a near-miss with frostbite, doesn't it?
What decisions burned you (or your opponent) this weekend, or in years past? Share your thoughts below.