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Benching your late playing D when you are ahead (1 Viewer)

Dirty Weasel

Footballguy
Let's say you play in a league where D's can score negative points. All your opponents players have already played and you are winning by 1 point, but you still have your defense in a late game. You are guaranteed the win if you bench your D. Smart or cheap move to bench them?

 
bad move - I'll take every point I can get.
Maybe you misread it. In my scenario, you do not need any points from your D to win, as you are already ahead and your opponents team has no players left (and the only player you have left is your D). If they score negative points, you will lose.
 
I think it's ok to do that.

It's like kneeling down to run out the clock. You're ahead late in the 4th and you have the ball. It gets the win without risk. Sure you could make a play, but there's always a chance your D fumbles and his team runs it back for a winning score.

 
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Let's say you play in a league where D's can score negative points. All your opponents players have already played and you are winning by 1 point, but you still have your defense in a late game. You are guaranteed the win if you bench your D. Smart or cheap move to bench them?
What if the stat service corrects an error and you end up tied or down? There's some risk there. If it was more of a difference I would say go for it unless there is a rule against it in your league.
 
This happened in my league two weeks ago. One owner had a very narrow lead going into the MNF game (.8 pts) and his opponent had no players remaining. He left his defense active and, whaddayaknow, Cleveland doesn't suck against the Giants D. The negative one point for the Gmen cost him a victory. He lost by two tenths of a point.

 
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Yeah, I have tenn this week vs Indy and if I'm up close going into the game they will make their way to my bench.

 
This happened in my league two weeks ago. One owner had a very narrow lead going into the MNF game (.8 pts) and his opponent had no players remaining. He left his defense active and, whaddayaknow, Cleveland doesn't suck against the Giants D. The negative one point for the Gmen cost him a victory. He lost by two tenths of a point.
same thing happened in my league -- half point decision.winner had jamal lewis, picking up another point running out the clock, loser had toomer (0) and giants d (-1).what happens if you're tied on record for a playoff spot?wouldn't you want those points?if that's not a consideration, then go ahead and sit them -- who cares?I actually leave holes in my line-up fairly often.
 
Let's say you play in a league where D's can score negative points. All your opponents players have already played and you are winning by 1 point, but you still have your defense in a late game. You are guaranteed the win if you bench your D. Smart or cheap move to bench them?
imo, this is how you win fantasy football. The little things. I don't think it's unethical to bench your D. Someone else in this thread brought up the old ' taking a knee' thing in real games, which is a nice comparison. It's merely strategy. If someone in your league has a problem with it, tough.
 
In any league I commish failure to submit a complete lineup constitutes an illegal lineup, and that gets you a goose-egg for the week. I'm all for strategy, but the field stays level, and that kinda stuff don't help that happen.

You take a knee with 11 on the field, not 10.

 
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In any league I commish failure to submit a complete lineup constitutes an illegal lineup, and that gets you a goose-egg for the week. I'm all for strategy, but the field stays level, and that kinda stuff don't help that happen.You take a knee with 11 on the field, not 10.
So you'd be ok with a team starting a player who they know won't play?This completely depends on your rules. In a couple of my leagues not starting a DEF will get you the worst scoring D for that week. Prevents anyone from benching one unless it's a bye week and they really don't want to make a WW move.
 
In any league I commish failure to submit a complete lineup constitutes an illegal lineup, and that gets you a goose-egg for the week. I'm all for strategy, but the field stays level, and that kinda stuff don't help that happen.You take a knee with 11 on the field, not 10.
So you'd be ok with a team starting a player who they know won't play?This completely depends on your rules. In a couple of my leagues not starting a DEF will get you the worst scoring D for that week. Prevents anyone from benching one unless it's a bye week and they really don't want to make a WW move.
"OK" isn't the word I'd use, but if they choose to take a zero at a position due to a bye or what have you and the rules don't explicitly forbid it then I can live with that. Incomplete lineups (because you pulled a DEF, K, Whatever) after your opponent's team has already played (and maybe lost points if only because a Defense/Kicker/Whatever played at 1 instead of 4) I can't. It's chickenblank at best and shady at worst, and that dog flat-out don't hunt in any league I run.
 
It's not in the spirit of the game. You know that, or you wouldn't have started a thread about it. Don't do it.

 
It's not in the spirit of the game. You know that, or you wouldn't have started a thread about it. Don't do it.
Hey Fred, I respect your opinion or I wouldn't respond to you. However, the Patriots last year did many things that a lot of old football historians would consider "not in the spirit of the game." Like throwing TD passes on 4th down up by 30 or 40 points late in the game, bringing in Brady in the 4th quarter to throw his 6th TD pass of the game after the backup was already in the game etc....One's fantasy football, one is real life football but as you can see there are hidden rules that we or many believe in.I agree with you, it's not in the spirit of the game to sit the defense, as I don't believe it's in the spirit of the game what the Patriots did more than once last year.
 
If your league rules allow it, then there is nothing wrong with it.

Don't sweat it.

It is still a calculated risk in not playing the defense, a stat change could cost you a victory.

 
Let's say you play in a league where D's can score negative points. All your opponents players have already played and you are winning by 1 point, but you still have your defense in a late game. You are guaranteed the win if you bench your D. Smart or cheap move to bench them?
You play IDP rather than team D and you don't have this problem.
 
Let's say you play in a league where D's can score negative points. All your opponents players have already played and you are winning by 1 point, but you still have your defense in a late game. You are guaranteed the win if you bench your D. Smart or cheap move to bench them?
What if the stat service corrects an error and you end up tied or down? There's some risk there. If it was more of a difference I would say go for it unless there is a rule against it in your league.
This exact issue happened in one of my leagues a few years ago. One team was winning by 1 or 2 points on Monday morning with his QB facing a tough D on MNF. His opponent had no more players left, so he benched his QB to avoid the possibility of losing points. (for INTs, fumbles, etc.) By Tuesday morning, though, the stats had changed for one of his players on a play that included a fumble being advanced for a bunch of yardage. (Yahoo was notorious for scoring these plays incorrectly.) He wound up losing the game on the stats change, when he would have won by keeping his QB in.Despite this risk, though, I still think it's a viable strategy and, as long as your league rules don't require a full lineup submission, there's no problem using it.
 
Let's say you play in a league where D's can score negative points. All your opponents players have already played and you are winning by 1 point, but you still have your defense in a late game. You are guaranteed the win if you bench your D. Smart or cheap move to bench them?
You play IDP rather than team D and you don't have this problem.
I play IDP and any player on O can score a negative, so the scneario would still be the same.But I agree with who said it is a calculated risk.As chances are if you will probably still win, and who knows, you may be able to use the extra points the Team D or player would have given you for a tie breaker.
 
bad move - I'll take every point I can get.
Maybe you misread it. In my scenario, you do not need any points from your D to win, as you are already ahead and your opponents team has no players left (and the only player you have left is your D). If they score negative points, you will lose.
Total points for the league. I have made/missed the playoffs by under 5 points a few times the last couple of years.
 
have to start a complete lineup. no D= illegal lineup. Nut up and start the D
This isn't true in all leagues. I play in one league that requires a complete lineup (no bye-week players), but every other league I'm in allows you to "start" whoever you want, whether they're injured, on bye, or whatever.
 
I honestly don't understand the people who are saying that this is outside the spirit of the rules, chicken####, etc. Maybe my mindset is off-base, but it seems to me that this is a clever, heads-up play. The point of this game is to score more points on any given week than your opponent. If benching your D locks up a win, I say do it, assuming of course that your league has no explicit rule about this. If an opponent did this to me, I'd tip my hat to the guy. Good for him for paying attention.

 
Most of my leagues force a complete lineup. If your league allows it then go ahead. I had one league a few years ago where the commish wanted interesting scoring so a D could get a lot of points for a shutout but lose a lot too. Most Ds wound up with negative points each week. After a couple of weeks it became evident and I dropped my D for the year and never looked back.

 
I did the same in H2H baseball.. If Sunday night I was up and had a pitcher going in the night game which could cost me ERA/WHIP with no gain I would bench him.. I think its called bing a good manager trying to win. Like one person said its like taking a knee running out the clock..

 
have to start a complete lineup. no D= illegal lineup. Nut up and start the D
Does a bye week "work" in your league?
Neither would work in my league. You MUST start a defense and it is not allowed to be on a BYE.
:thumbup: My league works the same way. Our defensive team scoring end up negative more often than not so getting a zero is a good thing.So if you start a defense on a bye, you will be "awarded" what ever the worst team defensive score is for that week
 
I think it's a perfectly acceptable-- but dangerous-- strategy. As others mentioned, if it's that close a stat change could cost you the game if you don't get any points from your D. Also, many leagues have total points as one of the tie-breakers for the playoffs. Many times it comes down to tie-breakers, so I'd rather score as many points as possible.

I guess it depends on how D is scored in the league. If there's a realistic chance of getting a few negative points, you might consider sitting them.

 
In any league I commish failure to submit a complete lineup constitutes an illegal lineup, and that gets you a goose-egg for the week. I'm all for strategy, but the field stays level, and that kinda stuff don't help that happen.You take a knee with 11 on the field, not 10.
The various leagues I play in have different rules on this, but the most competitive league has a special rule to force complete lineups - starting a player/team on bye results in the worst player in the NFL (not just among active rosters, but the worst possible score) to be substituted that week in place of that player. Submitting an incomplete lineup (not starting someone for a slot, whether through error or intentionally) invokes this same penalty. As this league has defenses that only score points on defensive scores (+3 for a interception return or fumble return for TD), but that scores - 3 pts per TD and -1 per field goal allowed, being forced to take the worst D score of the week is usually devastating to a team's scoring for the week.
 
Bench the D and take the W every time. That's not a cheap move at all, and it applies to ANY position that can score negative points, not just the D. If your players get penalized for INT, fumbles, missed kicks, etc. then by all means take the win and focus on next week's moves.

 
Lineups should be frozen at the first kickoff to prevent this bush league activity (or if you prefer, Dirty Weasel move).

 
These sort of things should be brought up with the league before the start of the season. If there is no clear rule against it, then it should be allowed. Ethical or not, It's even worse to add or change rules mid-season.

 
have to start a complete lineup. no D= illegal lineup. Nut up and start the D
Does a bye week "work" in your league?
Neither would work in my league. You MUST start a defense and it is not allowed to be on a BYE.
Our league allows you to start a team on a bye if you have no other player on your roster to put in there, same of injuries. We do not force someone to spend money to fill a bye week.
 
In any league I commish failure to submit a complete lineup constitutes an illegal lineup, and that gets you a goose-egg for the week. I'm all for strategy, but the field stays level, and that kinda stuff don't help that happen.You take a knee with 11 on the field, not 10.
I'm pretty sure if you take a knee with 10 on the field, you still win. :banned:
 
Interesting that in the Shark Pool, where every "is this trade fair" question is met with a barrage of "Let owners manage their own teams", there would be so many demanding rules that take decisions such as sitting or starting a position out of the hands of the owners.

I guess manage the teams only refer to roster composition, not doing what you think gives your team the best chance to win a game on a given week. :goodposting:

Most starting postion rules in leagues are designed to punish inactive owners. I don't get the attitudes that demand that a team risk a W by forcing a start of an unfavorable matchup to comply. It wouldn't be an inactivity issue. Owners should be, assuming they are active, left to decide what is best for their team.

If there is no rule, this is a fine tactical move to ensure a W.

My $.02

 
In any league I commish failure to submit a complete lineup constitutes an illegal lineup, and that gets you a goose-egg for the week. I'm all for strategy, but the field stays level, and that kinda stuff don't help that happen.

You take a knee with 11 on the field, not 10.
The various leagues I play in have different rules on this, but the most competitive league has a special rule to force complete lineups - starting a player/team on bye results in the worst player in the NFL (not just among active rosters, but the worst possible score) to be substituted that week in place of that player. Submitting an incomplete lineup (not starting someone for a slot, whether through error or intentionally) invokes this same penalty. As this league has defenses that only score points on defensive scores (+3 for a interception return or fumble return for TD), but that scores - 3 pts per TD and -1 per field goal allowed, being forced to take the worst D score of the week is usually devastating to a team's scoring for the week.
I think that's the way to go, Mark. To answer the question after some thought.......no, it's not against the spirit of the game if the rules in YOUR league allow for it.

If your league wants to change the rule at the end of the year......do it. Then it would be against what YOUR league considers the rules.

You're doing nothing wrong by switching things in and out if you're allowed to. If you don't like it, you're welcome to your opinion and join leagues like it.

I personally don't really care either way, it's not a deal break for me if I'm going to pay money to get into the league.

I will say if I'm in a league, I'lll know the rules and if it's for money, and I'm up 1 point with my D to play and he's done and there's a possibility for me to go into the negatives, heck ya that D is getting benched if I have a D that's on bye week to replace.

You better make sure you KNOW that the scoring is accurate before you do something like that though as your defense is more likely to score points than not and scoring changes before they're official for the week do take place.

 
We can't get negative scoring from D or K in any league I play in. The closest situation I have had involves a receiver or a tight end in the MNF game when I'm already up. I leave them in even though I could legally bench them because I'm more worried that I'll need the points for tiebreakers at the end of the season than I am that they'll fumble and go negative.

 
This happened in my league two weeks ago. One owner had a very narrow lead going into the MNF game (.8 pts) and his opponent had no players remaining. He left his defense active and, whaddayaknow, Cleveland doesn't suck against the Giants D. The negative one point for the Gmen cost him a victory. He lost by two tenths of a point.
Same with my league. Manager had 6 point lead going into Monday Night...opponent was done for the week...Giants get smoked....he loses by a single point!
 
The simple solution to this problem is to have a rule where the worst score a player or defense can get is zero. Even if the scoring allows for negative points on certain plays (interceptions, fumbles, missed field goals, etc.), keeping the minimum score at zero makes sense to me.

This debate reminds me of leagues that give the #1 draft pick to the team with the worst record in the previous season, and then people complain win teams tank games at the end of the season. My response is always the same: If you don't want teams to tank games, don't provide such a huge reward (hight draft pick) for tanking games. In this case, if you don't want teams to have an empty lineup spot, don't provide such a huge reward (guaranteed win) for having an empty roster spot.

 
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Our league fines owners $5/position for empty line-up spots/players started on bye.

ETA---I'd eat the $5.

 
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