Bear Down
It was December 15, 2014. Monday Night Football at Soldier Field. The 5-8-0 Chicago Bears were taking on the 5-8-0 New Orleans Saints in a barn burner of a matchup. 60,996 people packed Soldier Field with millions more watching all over the world. But in The League!, there were 12 managers with their eyes glued on a different matchup. Da 4-9-0 Hairy Bears were in a barn burner of their own, trailing the 6-7-0 Time to Say Goodbyes by 2.16 points in The League!’s 2nd Relegation Bowl.
Time to Say Goodbye was all but a spectator at this point. His entire team had played and had done all he could do to live another day. Da Hairy Bear was all but done as well, with one slot left to go. Defense. Da Hairy Bear’s defense was all that was left to decide who would be a part of the 2015 season. Da Hairy Bear was carrying two defenses going into monday night’s matchup - the Chicago Bears and the New Orleans Saints.
On paper, the Saints defense was the obvious choice. Both defenses at the time were terrible and in the bottom 5 of almost every category statswise. Why anyone would have one of these teams on their fantasy roster was a head scratcher, let alone both of them. Ultimately though, Brees is not someone you want to tangle with when relegation is on the line. Moeller either didn’t get that memo or was too drunk on the Bear’s kool aid because the pick was in…The Chicago Bears defense was locked and loaded in his lineup.
The 1st quarter started off not that bad for Da Hairy Bear as it ended with zero points on the board. As soon as the 2nd quarter started though, things took a turn. The Saints scored immediately and ended the 2nd quarter with another touchdown to go into halftime 14-0. At this point, Da Hairy Bear was leading Time to Say Goodbye 124.42-119.08.
DEFENSIVE FANTASY
POINTS AT HALFTIMEBEARS D l SAINTS D
14 Points 0 Points
1 Sack 3 Sacks
1 Fum 2 INT
7.5 Points l 35.5 Points
The 3rd quarter saw an onslaught of more Saints points and nothing from the Bears. Still though, Da Hairy Bear was hanging on by a slim 3.84 point lead going into the 4th quarter as the Saints lead the Bears 24-0. One more Saints touchdown and it was all over for Da Hairy Bear.
All in all the 4th quarter was quiet. Very quiet. The League! was watching the clock tick tick tick tick tick away as it looked more and more like Da Hairy Bear was going to pull this off. Trailing 24-8, the Chicago Bears had the ball on their own 29 yard line with 3:37 left on the clock. 3rd and 2. Cutler gets the first down! But the Bears are called for offensive pass interference, which is later offset by a personal foul against the Saints. 3rd and 2 again…Cutler is sacked for 6 yards. It is now 4th and 8 at their own 23 yard line with 2:55 on the clock. Trying to mount a comeback, the Bears go for it and fail to convert. You can feel the momentum shift in favor of Time to Say Goodbye.
The Saints now have the ball with 2:47 on the clock at the Bears 23 yard line. A field goal at this point does nothing for Time to Say Goodbye. All the Bears need to do is keep them out of the end zone for a Hairy Bear victory. It is now 3rd and 2 with 1:47 left on the clock. The Saints hand the ball off to Ingram, and that’s all she wrote. He breaks a 15 yard run to get into the end zone, bringing the Bears defense down to 1 fantasy point for the night and giving Time to Say Goodbye a 119.08-117.92 victory
Final Defensive Fantasy Points
Points
The Bears Defense ended with 1 fantasy point, compared to the Saints defense with 22.5 fantasy points
Da Hairy Bear made his choice at defense with his heart instead of his head. Unfortuntaely for him, it was the wrong choice. The Saints defense went on to put up 22.5 fantasy points that night, which would have given Da Hairy Bear a 139.42-119.08 victory. Instead, this went down as the closest Relegation Bowl in League! history and sent Da Hairy Bear packing.
Time to Say Goodbye went on the next year to win The League!.