I knew Peyton Manning couldn't help himself. Knew it! Peyton was on a hot streak. He had never been a more efficient quarterback than he had over the last couple of weeks. Take a load off, and hand the ball to C.J. Anderson. It's all he had to do.
But he couldn't resist. He couldn't resist the chance to prove to the world he's the best quarterback in the world. We saw how that ended up.
Manning threw four interceptions which doomed the Broncos. And also ended the season for legions of fantasy enthusiasts.
We talked about fantasy rules changes a lot this time of year. (Because it isn't March Madness yet.) One rule I wish we could add (but know we can't) would be the ability to pull your quarterback. Many of you had a solid lead after Manning's second touchdown to Manny Sanders. Only to watch him squander it with a patented Manning interception.
(If this wasn't a case of Peyton Manning doing Peyton Manning things because he's Peyton Manning, I don't know what is.)
But how cool would it have been to bench Manning in the second half before he pulled a Manning? You get your points and then bench him. But alas, you had to suffer with the Broncos fans.
It was like the finale of "Sons of Anarchy." You knew how it was going to end. You just didn't know how. At least Manning performed his scene without a green screen. Though it seemed like scripted Manning fare.
Manning managed to hurt the Broncos' playoff chances. (Well, he being the quarterback does that.) He limited C.J. Anderson who once again ran well. He also gave the Patriots home-field advantage through the playoffs. Not a bad night's work for Manning.
Let's see what the rest of you had to say.
Again, here was Manning unable to cede power to Anderson. It cost the Broncos. It cost you. I hope you can recover.
That's a tough break. But isn't that what makes fantasy football fun? No? Right. Winning makes fantasy football fun.
We always have your back here!
I hope Toby Gerhart wasn't available. I know one fantasy Hall of Famer who would have won his league if he had picked up Toby and played him over Donte Moncrief.
Your name was already on the trophy. Oh no.
That's the worst. The D gets you.
Oh boy. At some point you had to know your luck was going to run out.
To the final whistle!
Did you really think John Fox was going to do the right thing to kick the field goal? Not when Manning had another chance to throw a pick.
That's not cool.
I love Jeremy Hill. You know this. I might go first-round with him next year. But I hope he has an ADP of the third. So I can go RB, WR, Hill. Just don't tell Jimmy Koh.
Kickers! Am I right?
We have our, uh, winner.
No wait, that's the walk-off.
You know my feelings on bragging. But hear me out on this. When you kids ask me on Monday if your player will score enough points for you to win, the answer is always yes. Why bum you out? This is why my projections on the Monday show are always so high. You're pot-committed at that point. What good is it going to do for me to tell you how much Peyton is going to play. Who knows, he could have surprised us. A long-shot, sure. But he could have.
A couple of things here as we close the #MondayNightmare one last time. Thank you for playing along. I appreciate you. Your stories are hilarious. Heartbreaking, yes. But hilarious. It also helps to know I'm not alone in getting ruined on Monday night.
Don't be strangers. We can make fun of RAW on Monday nights. We can play #HashtagWars via @Midnight too. Fantasy baseball is fun. Fantasy golf is amazing. March Madness. Plus we can also look ahead to fantasy football in 2015. I mean, if we have to.
In short, have a good winter, stay cool and KIT.
