As Herm Edwards once said, repeatedly,
“You play to win the game…” There’s no such thing as style
points in the NFL, or in Fantasy either. At the end of the day, you’re chasing
W’s. It doesn’t matter how you win; it just matters that you win.
Getting to the playoffs requires
winning enough games, but winning a Championship is a totally different
beast. You can’t just win enough games; you need to win them all.
That means that you are going to have to make some difficult decisions –
decisions which you might not have had the courage to make earlier in the year.
It might take benching a superstar
with a bad matchup, or starting a player that you just picked up that week.
Whatever it is, don’t be afraid to make the uglier but smarter play.
Take for example, Patrick Mahomes.
Nobody is going to give you bonus points for starting him against the Patriots defense
this week, or against the Bears in Week 16. If you have a legitimate second
quarterback with an awesome matchup, don’t be afraid to roll with him instead.
The same goes for the Patriots’ and
Bears’ defenses. Sure, they might have helped carry you to the playoffs, but
you don’t owe them anything. They should be on your bench when they face off
against KC in Weeks 14 & 16.
Your lineup might not look as good on
paper, but trust your gut. Go with the guys who you feel give you the best
chance to win that week. Forcing players with terrible matchups into
your lineup isn’t going to make you feel any better about losing, so you might
as well go for the win. Winning ugly feels a lot better than losing pretty.
