I should have known that week eighteen was going to be a weird one after checking my Fantasy Football lineup for my championship finale, and reading that Jayden Daniels was only projected to play the first half at most.

The good news was that the list of free agent quarterbacks available was plentiful. I could go with starters from Kansas City, Buffalo, San Francisco, or even Philadelphia.

The bad news is those starters were Carson Wentz, Mitch Trubisky, Joshua Dobbs, and Tanner McKee.

Let’s just say that when your Fantasy Championship is reliant on either Bailey Zappe or Joe Milton III, your team is in trouble.

I mean, losing the final game to an opponent that starts Derrick Henry or Bijan Robinson is one thing. But I lost to Patrick Taylor Jr and Emanuel Wilson.

My argument for having a Fantasy Football League over before week eighteen – Jarrett Stidham outscored Josh Allen, Jalen Hurts, and Pat Mahomes combined last Sunday.

I could have started Tanner McKee, Patrick Taylor Jr, Emanuel Wilson, Jordan Akins, Kayshon Boutte, Greg Dortch, and Ronnie Rivers – and not only would I have won my Fantasy League – I would have won them with a roster that even Gemini AI doesn’t recognize.

Seattle’s Gino Smith would have been a decent pick if available. Smith ended up making an extra $6 million dollars in incentives by completing 70% of his passes for the season, throwing for over 4300 yards, and leading the Seahawks to ten wins.

Credit via Wikipedia

Tampa Bay’s Mike Evans ended up making $3 million in incentives by catching a meaningless pass on the last play of the game to go over 1,000 yards for the season.

Von Miller made $1.5 million in incentives by recording his sixth sack of the season early in the first half before exiting the game.

I’m guessing that Joe Milton III didn’t reach any incentives in his New England Patriot’s contract on Sunday. Unless he gets paid for costing the Patriots the first pick in the draft, or getting the coach fired. I guess Robert Kraft likes his club without Mayo.

Credit via Mass Live

To no one’s surprise, look for Mike Vrabel to be named the next coach of the New England Patriots once the team satisfies the Rooney Rule of interviewing coaches of color. Unless Jerod Mayo’s exit interview counts.

The Tennessee Titans will now have the first pick in the draft, followed by Cleveland, the New York Giants, and then New England. Looks like Shedeur is the only ten I see.

Cam Ward, the quarterback out of Miami, looks to go to the Browns with the number two pick. Ward may have quit on his team at halftime of the Pop-Tarts Bowl, but at least he didn’t quit on the Browns like Deshaun Watson did years ago.

That means Travis Hunter should end up with the New York Giants, playing both defensive back and a little wide receiver. Looks like either way, no one is throwing a good pass anywhere near his direction anytime soon.

More surprising than Jerod Mayo getting fired by New England or Jacksonville dismissing Doug Pederson. The New York Giants KEPT both GM Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll. Schoen let Saquon Barkley walk away, released Daniel Jones, and Daboll went 3-14 this season. Travis Hunter may be able to play two positions, but adding QB, Coach, and GM is probably pushing it.

Credit via Yahoo Sports

Kind of racist that the firing of coaches, including Jerod Mayo, immediately after the NFL regular season is called Black Monday. Credit to Las Vegas owner, Mark Davis, for firing Antonio Pierce – on a Tuesday.

And what’s with the Chicago Bears requesting to interview Mike McCarthy? McCarthy has been a mess in Dallas, but apparently winning a Super Bowl back in 2010 keeps his name on the short list. Keep in mind that in 2010, McCarthy was starting a 27-year-old Aaron Rodgers, and Caleb Williams was starting the fourth grade.

The league should be interviewing new schedule makers after that debacle that was week Eighteen. I thought we got rid of the last Preseason game.

The Titans, Browns, Jags, and Raiders were all trying to tank.

The Panthers, Jets, Bears, and Patriots were all trying to tank, but sucked at it.

The Bills, Eagles, Chiefs, and Rams were all resting starters.

Leaving just two games on the entire schedule that featured competitive teams with anything at stake.

The games were so bad in the final week, that I found myself turning on Amazon Prime Video and Netflix to NOT find NFL games.

Don’t get me wrong. I am thrilled that the Broncos destroyed the Chiefs, 38-0, to secure their first playoff spot since 2016. But Kansas City used players so far down on their depth chart, that some of them needed scuba gear.

Late in the fourth quarter, I’m pretty sure I saw the waterboy playing at linebacker – and his name wasn’t Bobby Boucher.

Credit via Medium

Images via griffindailynews, Wikipedia, masslive, yahoosports, medium

Alan Tapley The Athletic Supporter

Alan Tapley is an educator, author, and blogger who has lived just outside of Boulder for the last twenty years.  His published work includes two novels, two children’s books, a series of cartoons in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, and multiple sports related articles. His love for family and the state of Colorado is only matched by one thing, his passion for sports.  The first baseball game he ever attended was at Wrigley Field, before there were lights.  At the final Bronco game at the old Mile High, he allegedly cut out a piece of his seat in the South stands.  But regardless of being here for the Avalanche’s last Stanley Cup, the Rockies only World Series appearance, and all the Broncos’ Super Bowl Victories, his wife never fails to remind him that he wasn’t at the University of Colorado in 1990, like she was.  The year the Buffs football team won the National Championship