Perfectionist, meet fantasy football

For the hopeless perfectionist, there is a chance to realize your life-long dreams of being the best. It is in the world of fantasy football.

Even when the Patriots shut out the Titans and clearly looked like one of the best teams in the NFL, there was no way for Belichick to know for sure that he was the best. He could correctly surmise that other teams might have tried to stop the Patriot attack. What if there was an objective way to know which team, on a week-to-week basis was the best?

Enter fantasy football. Most leagues go with head to head scoring. It doesn’t matter what the rest of the league does. If you outscore your opponent, you win. Every once a while you play the what-if game with other teams, especially upcoming opponents.

The ultimate feeling is getting the high score for the league. If you outscore every team in the league, you know that you are the best. It doesn’t matter who you played. You would have defeated the Patriots, the Browns, and even the Saints.
In my local keeper league, I did just that last week. Due to the second consecutive six-team bye week, scores were lower across the board. Thanks to some garbage-time passes to Zach Miller, I exceeded 100 points for the second straight week. No one could defeat my total. I was champion. It’s a good feeling.

Yeah, I know, being the top scorer in week 8 pales in comparison to leading in week 16, aka championship week. Give me a break. I just met my 2008 victory total by moving up to 4-4 this week. I have a winning streak, which hasn’t happened since 2007. If Matt Forte could just play the Browns or Lions every week. . . yep, the team’s not perfect.

After last week’s 1-3 overall fantasy result, my teams rebounded to go 3-1. All of my teams are at or above .500. My cumulative record is 21-11. I might make the playoffs in all four leagues. It’s not perfection, but it will do.