This season has seen some obscene games pop up out of nowhere. For example, in week 5 when I lost to Kaiser by 750 points despite Will Fuller dropping 452 points, which was his only game over 100 points in the first 11 weeks – but at least I played him. We saw Trigger beat Jones during Rivalry Week behind 570 points from Jamal Adams, and Trigger beat me in week 3 behind 400 points from Mike Evans. But what happens when you don’t start that guy? What happens when Tevin Coleman goes off for 358 points on Steve’s bench? Well, in that case, he still held on to beat Kaiser.
Your GM skills can put guys on the roster, but your coaching skills still have to control who plays. Here are some of the worst coaching decisions through the first 11 weeks of the season…
7.) BE A MAN HOGAN (2197) vs. The Tim Brady’s (2094)
Kyle left some points on the bench here, but he didn’t need to make the right call on all of them. While Montgomery over Mack, and Kirk over Gallup would have been the right calls, this really comes down to defense.
By starting Vander Esch at the D spot, and benching then Dolphins Safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, The Tim Brady’s cost themselves 130 points and a narrow victory over BE A MAN HOGAN.
6.) BE A MAN HOGAN (2096) vs. The Quasars (2090)
In week three, the first matchup between the Sanchez brothers, where everyone was still dreaming of playoffs, John scored a narrow 6 point victory over his baby brother. Now 6 points is pretty negligible, so a guy on the bench who provided a +10 isn’t gonna be enough to qualify for this list, but in this case, there is a clear swap to make.
Following three years of relative success since entering the league, Stephen decided to ride that Goff train for all it’s worth. And while they both shit the bed in Week One, Goff certainly outperformed his backup in Week Two, but this particular week, it was Tampa Bay’s Jameis Winston who left 428 points on the bench, dwarfing the 257 put up by Goff in the starting lineup.
This would have meant a 171 point swing and a tough loss could have been a big victory and perhaps changed the course of Steve’s entire season.
5.) BE A MAN HOGAN (2098) vs. Sc4_Skippers (2223)
Starting the season out requires feeling out your team, and always results in some tweaks. That’s no different here, where, on his way to a 9-2 start, Jones left 1148 points on his bench. Despite this, he still secured the win, and that W erases a lot of mistakes. So the error here lies instead with John Sanchez. With one simple change, he could have taken advantage of Jones’ poorly selected lineup.
Despite ending 2018 with almost 40 fewer tackles, Deion Jones got the start at LB over Jordan Hicks. This move is especially out of character for John who has historically always tried to exploit the Lions. If you remember, back in week one, Hicks’ Cardinals were playing Detroit. Deion finished the week with 80 points, while Hicks poured in 230 on the bench.
If you switch them out, it’s a 150 point swing and results in a 1-0 start for BE A MAN HOGAN.
4.) Red Bank Mallrats (1891) vs. Murphy Inn-ies (1805)
The freshest matchup on the list (to date) is the week 11 rematch between Kronner and Jason. The Mallrats came in more than 350 points below projections but still managed to eke out an 86-point victory, despite a negative performance from their kicker. The Murphy Inn-ies however also under-performed.
This one came out to sentimentality, as Jason chose to start both Miles Sanders AND Carson Wentz, who were going up against the NFL’s #1 Defense in New England, rather than be forced to root against his hometown 49ers (who he claims to hate) and start Kyler Murray and Kenyan Drake.
This decision was good for a net loss of 134 points – which was about 47 more than he needed for the win.
3.) C Tan vs the World (1987) vs. Sc4_Skippers (2114)
In a Week Five matchup between two of our own ‘Original Six’ teams, Jones is the recipient of yet another favor from across the aisle. This time it was Commissioner Tansuche who shit the bed. Jones pulled out a 127 point win with Dalvin Cook and Tom Brady leading the way. The ageless Tom Brady. It seems our coaches had similar thoughts here – go with the guy who is 100 years old. And while it worked out for Jones with Brady, it worked less well for Chris who started senior citizen, Frank Gore.
Gore actually outperformed his paltry projection (71) with a meager 79 point turnout. Meanwhile, chilling on the bench, Raiders rookie Josh Jacobs and his 91-point projection scored two TDs on his way to a 258 point output, which was totally wasted.
C Tan, perhaps scared of the Bear’s overrated defense, overthought it and cost himself a 179 point trade and a Win over the Skippers.
2.) TIM! (2261) vs. BE A MAN HOGAN (2231)
Boy, John Sanchez sure does show up on this list a lot, and this one has to hurt, snatching Defeat from the Claws of victory and losing to the lowly TIM! team.
This one is pretty cut and dry – John chose the wrong Chargers half-back. Despite showing absolutely no reason to he should be trusted up to that point, BE A MAN HOGAN marched out Melvin Gordon III and his stupid haircut over Austin Ekeler. Eckler had his worst game of the year in Week Six against the Steelers, and that got him benched here.
The result, Gordon scored only 59 points in a 30 point loss, while Eckler benched his 240 and swallowed a loss to TIM!
1.) C Tan vs the World (1947) vs. Nacho Team (1839)
Mistakes were made. Lots of them. By Dave.
Of the six players on Dave’s bench, four of them should have been starting. That’s almost as bad a job as you can do. And I gotta say, Nacho Team doesn’t get too much credit for making the “Start Mahomes over Stafford” call. When in doubt, Bench the Lions – which is what he did right. Stafford and Marvin Jones stay on the bench. As for the other four guys, they would have provided an additional 392 points in a game that was lost by only 108…
Those are the 7 most egregious errors made in coaching so far this season, or are they? Did I miss one? What is your biggest coaching regret of 2019?
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