Undefeated - NFL v. Fantasy (1 Viewer)

[tikitime]

I think this topic is cribbed from Bill Simmons. I was having a debate with someone about this topic, that going undefeated is harder to do in fantasy because of sheer luck and chance. I have been doing fantasy now for nearly 20 years, an average of 2-3 leagues a year, and nobody has sniffed undefeated the whole way through. Are there people here that recall being in leagues, only where everybody was trying and paying attention, where someone went the whole way through without a loss or tie? How often? Obviously only happened once in the NFL, so roughly 1 in 1200 teams. I'd wager that fewer than 1 in 100 leagues have someone go through the whole year without a loss.

 

[Kitrick Taylor]

I've been in one redraft league for nearly 20 years, and another dynasty league for 8. Both are very competitive leagues made up of a group of friends.

In the older league which is redraft, I went 12-0 to start the season last year. Week 13, I was matched up against the worst team in the league. I lost. I did go on to win the league title a few weeks later however.

That was by far the closest anybody has come to being undefeated in all of my leagues.

 

[footballnerd]

Haven't seen it yet, from what I remember, usually the undefeated teams after 6 weeks are not the strongest and more based on luck of schedule, which eventually runs out

 

[Don Quixote]

Definitely easier in dynasty. I have one dynasty team that has not lost since around Week 10 of 2009. I have never personally seen it in redraft though.

 

[shnikies]

I think this topic is cribbed from Bill Simmons. I was having a debate with someone about this topic, that going undefeated is harder to do in fantasy because of sheer luck and chance. I have been doing fantasy now for nearly 20 years, an average of 2-3 leagues a year, and nobody has sniffed undefeated the whole way through. Are there people here that recall being in leagues, only where everybody was trying and paying attention, where someone went the whole way through without a loss or tie? How often? Obviously only happened once in the NFL, so roughly 1 in 1200 teams. I'd wager that fewer than 1 in 100 leagues have someone go through the whole year without a loss.

It's definitely harder to go undefeated in fantasy. Like you said, a lot harder to control your luck in fantasy football.

 

[ldizzle]

In our league we had someone go undefeated to the championship. Then i beat him.

 

[GCP]

20 year redraft league. No team has ever gone undefeated.

 

[Ted Lange as your Bartender]

Closest I ever saw was in a 12 team redraft in 2004. Guy rode the Culpepper/Moss combo to a 13-0 regular season record only to lose in the playoff semi-final. A 7-6 team ended up winning it all. Crazy game this is

 

[CalBear]

I think this topic is cribbed from Bill Simmons. I was having a debate with someone about this topic, that going undefeated is harder to do in fantasy because of sheer luck and chance. I have been doing fantasy now for nearly 20 years, an average of 2-3 leagues a year, and nobody has sniffed undefeated the whole way through. Are there people here that recall being in leagues, only where everybody was trying and paying attention, where someone went the whole way through without a loss or tie? How often? Obviously only happened once in the NFL, so roughly 1 in 1200 teams. I'd wager that fewer than 1 in 100 leagues have someone go through the whole year without a loss.

Once in the past 10 years we had someone go undefeated with two ties. It was the highest-scoring team in the league, but one of those victories was the 11th best score for the week. One of the ties was in the playoffs, broken by "home-field advantage."It's important to be good, but it's good to be lucky.

 

[Raiderfan32904]

I think it can be done, but you have to be very, very lucky. Last year, I went 13-1 and eventually won the championship, but lost one week around week 9, when my stud lineup collectively crapped the bed in one crapfest of a week and wound up with the low score for the week. A total abberation I thought, but with the luck of fantasy football I could mine through the data, and find that the reality is at least a couple of weeks I had gotten lucky.

 

[OnTheReg]

If I ever went undefeated and won the title in my big money league, I'd probably retire. Could not get better than that, and I would never stop annoying my friends with that fact for the rest of my life.

 

[bonesman]

I've seen perfect championship seasons in my lifetime in fantasy football. I have not seen perfect championship seasons in my lifetime in the NFL. The NFL is more difficult.

 

[Warrior]

lol...I went undefeated in my first season ever, all the way to the championship. I think it was '06? Whatever year Palmer broke out as a stud QB. I've been hooked ever since.

QB - Palmer

WRs - Steve Smith, Chad Johnson, Reggie Wayne, can't remember others

RBs - LT, SJax (didn't do that well), Ricky Williams, can't remember others

TE - Antonio Gates

We won the championship when I benched SJax for Ricky Williams and beat the Shaun Alexander owner. Best fantasy decision I've ever made - it was extremely against the grain at the time.

*Edit: Just checked and Yahoo still has the team under the 'All time' tab of our league! Great memories, looking back at that team.

 

[Warrior]

lol...I went undefeated in my first season ever, all the way to the championship. I think it was '06? Whatever year Palmer broke out as a stud QB. I've been hooked ever since.QB - PalmerWRs - Steve Smith, Chad Johnson, Reggie Wayne, can't remember othersRBs - LT, SJax (didn't do that well), Ricky Williams, can't remember othersTE - Antonio GatesWe won the championship when I benched SJax for Ricky Williams and beat the Shaun Alexander owner. Best fantasy decision I've ever made - it was extremely against the grain at the time.*Edit: Just checked and Yahoo still has the team under the 'All time' tab of our league! Great memories, looking back at that team.

Haha, it still has our draft results saved too! For anyone who is curious what a 2005 draft (first round) looked like, here you go!Round 11. Peyton Manning(Ind - QB)2. LaDainian Tomlinson(NYJ - RB)3. Daunte Culpepper(Det - QB)4. Randy Moss(Ten - WR)5. Shaun Alexander(Was - RB)6. Jamal Lewis(Cle - RB)7. Corey Dillon(NE - RB)8. Donovan McNabb(Min - QB)9. Priest Holmes(KC - RB)10. Willis McGahee(Den - RB)11. Deuce McAllister(NO - RB)12. Tiki Barber(NYG - RB)

 

[comfortably numb]

I did in our inaugural 16 team IDP dynasty league in 2007.

Whenever the last undefeated team loses every year, I have a drink.

 

[Dizzy]

At risk of incurring a, “Cool story bro”… I’m going to throw this out there.

Our league’s co-founder went 14-0-1 during our inaugural season back in 1993 (18-week season, 2 bye weeks). Best anyone has mustered since is 2 losses (typically it's 3 or 4).

Our league still has all the original Owners and I write an article or two each season based on things that have happened in our league over the years. Just so happens that this past weekend I “flash-backed” to our only undefeated season and looked at each week (yes, I still have every weekly newsletter, draft report, nasty-gram, etc.).

-- Three times that season his team would have lost to every other team in the league… except for the one he was playing THAT WEEK.

--He had one stretch in mid-season where he scored 5 points BELOW the league average for three consecutive weeks, and still won 2 plus the infamous TIE in week 5.

--So after week 4, I get a phone call from another Owner… he really wants NYJ WR Rob Moore (even though he’s sporting a broken hand)… so he offers me SDC WR Anthony Miller. I jump on it, and the next week (week 5) he’s playing Mr. Undefeated… Rob Moore posts a goose egg, and Anthony Miller travels to Seattle and goes 10 for 132 with a garbage time TD. They tied (with no tie-breaker in place that season).

--More on the tie. Mr. Undefeated went into MNF down by 1 point with Irving Fryar… Fryar had 1 catch for 19 yards. ONE YARD away from the “perfect season” of 15-0-0.

Mr. Undefeated lost (to me) in Stooper Bowl I that season 68-66. He sat Jerry Rice (week 18) on MNF because he thought the 49ers would rest him… but Rice caught 2 or 3 TD passes (I think he set a record that night… perhaps the all-time TD reception record).

On the NFL side; my brother is a lifelong Dolphins fan… so you can imagine how much “HOW MANY TEAMS HAVE GONE UNDEFEATED?” moments I’ve had to endure.

Both are incredibly hard to pull off IMO… and both require a fair amount of luck, although obviously more-so in fantasy than the real deal.

 

[Time Kibitzer]

I've seen undefeated teams a few times. Really, it depends on what kind of leagues you play in.

If you play in shallow redraft leagues, the chances of a team going undefeated is very slim as the variance of team scores week to week is huge, even for the best team in that league. In dynasty leagues it's easier to create dominant teams. Also, the larger the rosters/starting lineups in a league are the better chance of creating a dominant high scoring team, as the scoring variance is lower on a week-to-week basis the larger the rosters.

So to conclude:

Dynasty leagues => better chance of having undefeated teams

Bigger rosters/starting lineups => better chance of having undefeated teams

Smaller rosters => less chance of having undefeated teams

Redraft leagues => less chance of having undefeated teams

 

[The Real Hipster Doofus]

Definitely easier in dynasty. I have one dynasty team that has not lost since around Week 10 of 2009. I have never personally seen it in redraft though.

Say what? What kind of league is this?

 

[rocketsauce]

Went undefeated in 2005 in my 12 team Re-Draft PPR.

LT, Steve Smith, maybe Drew Bledsoe? They all blend together after awhile. (Edit: Oh yeah, PPR Machine Lamont Jordan was my RB2!)

Almost blew it all, won the championship by 6 points.

So yeah, I've seen it done. But I believe that's the only time. And yeah, the NFL is more difficult, considering it hasn't happened in my lifetime.

 

[Donsmith753]

I feel like I've got a real chance this year. 16 team dynasty in its second year. There's one other team that's. 6-0 and we meet in week 8, I won't have any qb that week (Rodgers and freeman on bye) and he's missing forte and McFadden. If I can get past that I don't see anyone beating me until the playoffs.

 

[Don Quixote]

Definitely easier in dynasty. I have one dynasty team that has not lost since around Week 10 of 2009. I have never personally seen it in redraft though.

Say what? What kind of league is this?

My Zealots classic dynasty team (12 team/53 man roster leagues). I've got Brady, ADP, R.Rice, A.Johnson, Jennings, Austin, Britt, Witten, J.Graham, among others. There's definitely a degree of luck involved, but my team is pretty stacked.

 

[belljr]

I've been in one redraft league for nearly 20 years, and another dynasty league for 8. Both are very competitive leagues made up of a group of friends. In the older league which is redraft, I went 12-0 to start the season last year. Week 13, I was matched up against the worst team in the league. I lost. I did go on to win the league title a few weeks later however. That was by far the closest anybody has come to being undefeated in all of my leagues.

Almost the identical same thing for me. Was 12-0 playing the worst team. My league scoring avg is probably around 100. I lost something like 58 - 53. Just 2 really crappy weeks by both of us. I won the championship but that week still stings.

 

[Mr. Know-It-All]

In one league - now in it's 19th season, the best record ever was 11-2 (it has happened 4 times). In another league (in it's 8th season), the best record was 10-3 (happened twice). Is it possible? Yes, but it would require an extraordinary amount of good fortune between bye week coverage and minimal injuries (or fortunate pickups for injured players).

 

[ldizzle]

I think this topic is cribbed from Bill Simmons. I was having a debate with someone about this topic, that going undefeated is harder to do in fantasy because of sheer luck and chance. I have been doing fantasy now for nearly 20 years, an average of 2-3 leagues a year, and nobody has sniffed undefeated the whole way through. Are there people here that recall being in leagues, only where everybody was trying and paying attention, where someone went the whole way through without a loss or tie? How often? Obviously only happened once in the NFL, so roughly 1 in 1200 teams. I'd wager that fewer than 1 in 100 leagues have someone go through the whole year without a loss.

It is hard in both cases, but i would think you would compare a dynasty league with the NFL to be on a more level playing field. there are probably many redrafts where someone has a good draft and they win it all that year. In dynasty you keep the same guys and get rookies each year, like the NFL. I would say it is harder in the NFL. The league has been around for nearly 46 years and we have only seen 1 team do it and i team come really close. extremely difficult. in fantasy if you play in a league where people arent as competitive that makes it easier as well. Its hard either way, i think NFL is tougher.