When benched players bring bad losses

Andy Behrens makes a fantasy manager with Tony Pollard on his bench feel even worse than he already does after this loss.

Video Transcript

ANDY BEHRENS: Yeah, it's that time again. This right here is the segment that, honestly, you don't want to be a part of. If you're mentioned in this piece right here, things probably didn't go your way because this is where we talk about the most gutting, nightmarish losses in your fantasy life. This right here is Fantasy Bad Beats.

Folks, if you needed anything from any Steelers on Monday night in a great setup against Cincinnati, you probably didn't get what you were looking for. We heard from hundreds of you with bad beats associated with Ben Roethlisberger who was--

[BUZZER]

--largely terrible, JuJu Smith-Schuster who was largely terrible.

[BUZZER]

Maybe started the Pittsburgh defense and you were just assuming that against Cincinnati and Ryan Finley you were going to get, I don't know, 10, 12, 14, 20 points, something good.

[BUZZER]

You got almost nothing. So it was a brutal Monday night, but our worst beats this week don't even come from the Monday nighter.

[RECORD SCRATCH]

How about someone who left Tony Pollard on the fantasy bench?

[GASP]

You had the wherewithal to add Tony Pollard or to roster him for the entire season as the understudy to Zeke and you didn't play him--

- Huh?

ANDY BEHRENS: --when he got a spotlight match-up and a full workload and scored two touchdowns, including one of the most sensational touchdowns that we've seen all season.

Let's look to Chris. Chris writes in. Oh, oh no. "Negative defense and Pollard on the bench." It's a whole smorgasbord of bad, actually, for Chris.

[LAUGHTER]

Chris started Irv Smith who dropped a touchdown pass. Made a good decision on Russell Gage. He had a day. Poor Chris is going up against Darren Waller, and he fought all the way back to within a fraction of a point. But the San Francisco defense goes negative, in large part--

[WA-WA]

- --because they're facing Tony Pollard, who-- oh, there he is, right there on the bench-- could have slid into any number of flex spots or running-back spots. He was in a blow-up position, and he did indeed go supernova against San Francisco. Huge game for him, over 130 total yards, two touchdowns, and there he is, not active for poor Chris. So that's a rough one.

But I got to say the worst one I think I saw this week actually comes from a consolation bracket. Folks, I don't think we've ever discussed a consolation bracket in this segment, but now we have last-place punishments on the line, and oh my goodness. Dank's Dope Team takes a loss to the Steel Curtain.

Why did they take the loss? Because CJ Beathard-- Niners quarterback CJ Beathard hits Kendrick Bourne with a late, useless, meaningless in real life Hail Mary. Kendrick Bourne gets a long score. Steel Curtain pulls out a victory. And by virtue of that victory, Poor Dank's Dope Team has to go into the last-place punishment game. Loser of this thing actually has to staff a lemonade stand with a little sign that says that they suck at fantasy football, which, I got to say, maybe you kind of do.

- Ha, ha.

ANDY BEHRENS: Although you've got Stefon Diggs here. You got Deshaun Watson. You made up-- you got Aaron Jones on a team that is potentially facing a last-place punishment. That, my friends, is a brutal beat.

Folks, I got to thank you all for sharing your terrible fantasy stories with us all season. It has been my pleasure to bring a series of gutting defeats to you all.