One thing I've learned about fantasy football; never take anything for granted. One of our "NFL Fantasy Live" producers, Dylan, was up by three points headed into Monday night with Andrew Luck on his side. He went up against Danny Woodhead and Reggie Wayne. Dylan thought he had it in the bag.
And really, who among us wouldn't? Even if Wayne had a huge night, it's not like he would exclusively get all of the points. Go ahead and count it.
Uh yeah, how do you think this one ended? A late-game interception to ruin all of that. Although, in a weird twist of fate, it was the usually clutch Luck who couldn't get it done in the final minutes. If I had to guess this one was going to end with an interception, I didn't expect it from Luck. Seriously, if one team exemplified the Monday Nightmare, it was the Chargers.
But it was just that kind of night.
Luck recently had been given "must-start" status by most. And he went into this game against the team that had given up the most fantasy points to quarterbacks this season. But in a week when Peyton Manning and Tony Romo were outscored by Mike Glennon and Nick Foles, something strange was going to happen.
Luck ended up with just 7.98 points in standard leagues. He'll take the headlines away from Trent Richardson, who once again failed to deliver. Richardson is headed into "bust of the year" territory.
The running back is started in 91.5 percent of leagues, more than Doug Martin, Alfred Morris, Knowshon Moreno, Maurice Jones-Drew, Darren McFadden and Stevan Ridley. On the season, Richardson has fewer points than BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Danny Woodhead, DeAngelo Williams, Andre Ellington, Pierre Thomas, Bilal Powell and Joique Bell.
Oh, and to let you know you're not alone, Dylan, I lost to Nicole Zaloumis because Keenan Allen couldn't haul in Philip Rivers' pass at the end of the first half. I had spotted Nicole a big lead headed into Monday night (thanks to Larry Fitzgerald being on my bench) and I needed just a few more points to get past her. Luck was not on my side. I only share this to let you know it happened to a lot of us.
Now it's your turn. You're among friends here. Consider this one big group for fantasy broken dreams. Please share your story with others, you'll feel a lot better when you do. Just like these fantasy enthusiasts.
Whoa, now that's a little too far. I feel your pain, but let's think about this one.
Play along on Twitter @adamrank
