Andy Close
There I was Monday night, my hopes at a fantasy football championship slim, trailing by over 40 points and needing a big performance from Bills’ quarterback Josh Allen, as well as a few chipped in from Buffalo kicker Tyler Bass.
Are you the type of fantasy player that lives and dies with every snap? I’m not, which is why I had Monday night’s Bills-Patriots game on as little more than background noise.
Allen wasn’t going to go off like that, not against the Patriots and Belichick on the road.
Well let me tell you, on the night the Patriots officially passed the torch to Allen and Sean McDermott, the torch was passed to me as fantasy football champion – again.
I’m not going to lie, it feels good to be on top. I feel like I’m a member of Bills mafia, which is partying like it’s 1995.
Alright, so I wasn’t playing fantasy football at that time (how old do you think I am!) but I am old enough to vaguely remember those great Bills teams.
This Bills team, like that one, resembles a fantasy football dynasty build by yours truly, filled with elite playmakers, starting at the quarterback position.
With each throw and each run this season, Allen made me look like a genius (which, of course, I am).
I can’t take all the credit, however. Much like the NFL, fantasy football relies somewhat on the incompetence of others (you know who you are).
That second quarter was a thing of beauty, as Allen dropped dime after dime to Stefon Diggs, looking like Jim Kelly and Andre Reed.
I don’t know what was more impressive, Allen or me picking Antonio Gibson off the scrap heap at the start of the season.
Alas, my work at halftime wasn’t quite complete. Allen obliged, throwing a pair of TDs to Diggs, with Bass booting the extra points to secure my fantasy title.
I felt like jumping through a table, though not available to me except the one in my kitchen.
The transition to contender this season has been a smooth one for Allen and the Bills, much like my move to insert Diontae Johnson into my lineup after Jarvis Landry had COVID-19 exposure.
Both the Bills and myself – ahead of the curve.
And to all you suckers out there who lost your fantasy titles, well, as Happy Gilmore’s hockey coach would say, better luck next year.
And to the Bills – congratulations, but I’ll be rooting for the Steelers in the playoffs!
