Kicked in the balls

That's exactly how I felt after the game last night. It was brought up in the forums this weekend that people would rather have a terrible week and have no chance at making the cut, than get close to the cut only to see someone pass you at the end or just come up short. I agreed then, and it hits home now.

The final cut line was 153.50 and my Jim Beam team finished a mere 2.4 points behind at 151.10. I decided to watch the game at my local hangout, the Grafton Bowl and Sports Bar, so I didn't do a live game blog, but here's a recap of my night...

The game starts and I have butterflies in my stomach awaiting an emotional night. The Giants open the game with an 85 yard drive which eats up almost 10 minutes of the first period. Definitely not the start I wanted since Steve Smith only accounted for 12 or 13 of those yards. No problem. Washington has the ball now and I can rack up some points on the weak secondary of the Giants.

Oops. It didn't matter who was playing in the secondary as the Giants D-line took over and dominated the first 3 plays. A sack and 2 incompletions later, and Campbell was off the field favoring his left shoulder. This could be a longggggggg night.

On their 2nd drive, the Giants march down the field again and once again Ahmad Bradshaw runs it in for the score. Now I have another team to contend with for the top 15 as 1st class to vegas suddenly jumped into contention with the quick 17 points from bradshaw. The good news is that Washington will now have to air it out. The bad news is they had to keep Campbell upright.

JC completed a few passes in the next drive, but penalties nullified them. The 4 play "drive" ended with a 1 yard pass to the Midget on 3rd and 10. We're half way through the 2nd quarter and I have less than 2 points. At this point, I turned to one of my friends and said "Campbell's not even going to make it to half time at this rate."

Just when I had begun to realize that it wasn't going to happen, a short Steve Smith TD gives me life. He was up to 9 points and with Washington having to throw the ball, I got my first bit of adrenaline and actually felt like I was in the game.

Campbell then got some protection and moved the ball a little. However, another sack ended the drive. I didn't think Campbell could take much more pounding. The o-line definitely couldn't protect him, so when would the coaching staff realize this and go to some max protection plays?

After yet another Giants score, the Skins got the ball with a few minutes left and down 24-0. This definitely meant some passes for Campbell. Unfortunately, he got sacked again on his sore shoulder and this time it knocked him out of the game. I now realized the lights were about to go out on my FFOC season and it wasn't even half time. To add insult to injury, on the very next play, Todd Collins hits Santana Moss for a 50 yard play as he gets time that Campbell never did. Eventually the half ended with the worst fake field goal attempt I've ever seen. Jim Zorn should have been fired at half time for that call alone! Little did I know that this play would have a huge impact in the final 15.

At half time, I'm just hoping that the training staff can duct tape Jason Campbell's non throwing shoulder together so he can play in the second half. There's a shift change at the Grafton Bowl and Goody arrives with bad news. He said that Phil Simms was informed that Campbell is done for the game. Then Suzy Colber comes on the air and updates us that Jason Campbell is done for the game. OK...time to drink!

Just as the prongs of the fork start to pierce my skin, I see #17 under center for the first play of the 2nd half! The skins mix in some runs with short passes and actually put together a great drive. Campbell gets over 70 yards and a TD pass on the drive getting him up to 7 points for the game. I now have hope with plenty of time left.

The Giants then go 77 yards for another TD without Steve Smith being involved. As Manning throws his 2nd TD, I wish that I listened to my friend Chad who said I had steel balls trusting my fate with Jason Campbell instead of Eli Manning. I never truly considered playing Manning against the #4 ranked pass defense over Campbell, so that decision doesn't bother me.

Time to rack up some more yards and hopefully another TD....or you can throw a pick 6 on the first play vaulting Beasts II above the cut line and making my job tougher. With the score now 38-6 and Campbell with a dislocated shoulder, I assume this will be his last drive of the game, so I need some points in the worst way. He puts together another TD drive which puts me right on the cusp. However, Mason got tackled at the 1 preventing me from getting 4 key points to put me above the cut line and instead Ganther vultured the 1 yd TD. I had another chance to gain some much needed points as they went for 2, but once again, they ran the ball. Damn you Sherm Lewis! That's what you get for calling my friend an angry drunk in Green Bay 10 years ago!

At this point, I get updates from my brother and friends watching the live cut line on FFOC.com saying that I'm now only 4.24 points away from the cut line and I have a full quarter to do it! It's at this point where I'm feeling golden again and the butterflies are back.

I finally get a stop out of the Skins defense, but then a fight breaks out. Break it up! Break it up! Oops...Haynesworth decides to start throwing hay makers like he's Butterbean and the yellow kerchiefs start flying. Way to go moron! Thankfully the Giants scored on the next play. I was teased slightly as I could only see the '2' on Manningham's jersey as he went into the endzone and I thought it was Steve Smith. It's ok. I still have plenty of time to get the 4 points I need.

Campbell starts the next drive with a big 20 yard run, and I'm so close to the top 15 now that I can smell it. You really don't want to know what that cut line smelled like, so I'll spare you the details. After a few completions, I get the text that I'm within a point and need only 20 more yards passing. Then Campbell gets sacked making it 2nd and long. Two bad throws makes it 4th and 20. They go for it, and he throws another interception. Not only do I lose a point, but the team that's just ahead of me is Beasts II who gains a point for the interception. Double Doh!

The Giants have it wrapped up, so they put in Carr. I figure the skins can stop them, but I also had a feeling that Campbell's night was over. Why risk further injury in this blowout? On 3rd down, Steve Smith catches another pass, but gets tackled after a short gain. Any points help at this point. Campbell comes back out with over 5 minutes left and I only need a few measly points. I told the bartender to get the bottle of Jim Beam ready.

A few quick completions rack up 20+ yards, and I figure that I'm once again within a point of the cut line. Then yet another sack and a few more incompletions and my stomach sinks. The entire time, I'm thinking to myself...Dom Capers cost me! (The Steelers last second TD not only cost my beloved Packers a victory, but it also cost my team 3 key fantasy points as I had the Packers DST)

The Giants get to 3rd down an must pass. Smith is in the game, but the pass goes to Hixon for a first down. Game over. Victory formation for Beasts II. Time to throw up for me. The texts start pouring in asking if I made it, and I have to inform everyone that I came up just short.

Everyone who just missed the cut line can play the 'what if' game, and I will do that in my next blog. However, despite all the little plays here and there, the only play/decision that haunts me is Ben Roethlisberger to Mike Wallace capping an 86 yard drive in 2 minutes with 1 time out. To make it even worse, ESPN has to keep showing the play a hundred times a day to remind me of it. I think I'll start watching the Oxygen channel for the rest of the week!