Week 1 Fantasy Points Left on the Field Sep 10, 2008 | More

Much like NFL teams leave points on the field by coming up just short of scoring on a given play, fantasy teams suffer similar fates when players come up short on the field. These fantasy points left on the field are important to realize because it shows the amount of points a particular player had the potential to score. The focus here will be on near-TDs from inside the redzone concerning fantasy-relevant players, but will also include some missed opportunities from outside the redzone as well.

In fantasy, as well as in life, it’s all about opportunity. Looking at every game in Week 1, these players could have scored more points than they actually did:

Washington at New York (Giants)
Kevin Boss - In the 1^st quarter with 1^st and goal at Washington’s 6-yard line, Eli Manning overshot an open Boss in the endzone.

Brandon Jacobs – In the 1^st quarter with 1^st and goal at Washington’s 1-yard line after Jacobs had been bulldozing the ‘Skins defense, what does Coughlin call with the salivating, 6’4”, 260+ LB beast in the game? A bootleg with the ill-footed Manning, who somehow juked himself into the endzone. Jacobs owners had to be livid.

Detroit at Atlanta
John Kitna, Calvin Johnson – Kitna threw an incomplete pass deep to Calvin from the Atlanta 21 midway through the 2^nd quarter that could have resulted in a TD. Then midway through the 3^rd quarter, Atlanta was called for pass interference in the endzone on a pass targeted for Calvin. It could have been a humongous day for C.J.

Kevin Smith/Rudi Johnson – One of these guys was in on the 1^st and goal from the 1 that was the result of the just-mentioned pass interference on C.J, but instead, Kitna hit Fitzsimmons for a 1-yard TD pass.

Michael Turner – Believe it or not, this guy could have had three TDs if it wasn’t for a holding call on Roddy White early in the 4^th quarter from the Detroit 7.

Cincinnati at Baltimore
Nothing of note

Seattle at Buffalo
Lee Evans, Trent Edwards – Edwards had a pass broken up in the endzone intended for Evans late in the 1^st quarter from the Seattle 21-yard line. This could have been a TD. Evans threw a key block on the next play to spring Lynch for a TD. Edwards and Evans then almost connected early in the 2^nd quarter for what would have been about a 40-yard gain and maybe even a TD, but it was broken up by the Seattle defense.

Courtney Taylor, Matt Hasselbeck­ – Matt overthrew Taylor on a deep pass on that might have resulted in a 43-yard TD early in the 2^nd quarter. He again overthrew Taylor in the middle of the 4^th quarter that might have resulted in a 30+ yard gain.

On the same drive, Hasselbeck missed J. Kent in the back corner of the endzone, and then completed a pass the J. Carlson who was stopped short at the 2-yard line. This was followed by a false start penalty that set them back to the 7-yard line. Two passing plays were then called that went incomplete to J. Kent and Taylor respectively. Strangely, a running play for Julius Jones was called on the following 3^rd and 7 that was stopped short at the 3-yard line. Going for it on 4^th down, Hasselbeck’s pass went through the hands of Kent. All kinds of points were left on the field on this drive.

New York (Jets) at Miami
Jerricho Cotchery, Brett Favre – Late in the 1^st, Favre missed on a short pass to Cotchery from the Miami 13-yard line. Then early in the 2^nd, Favre missed Cotchery on a deep ball from the Miami 22-yard line that might have gone for a TD.

Laveranues Coles – A couple of short connections between Coles and Favre went incomplete within the redzone on two different drives. The looks from Favre in the redzone are good to see for Coles owners.

Ted Ginn, Chad Pennington – Chad missed Teddy on a couple of deep passes in the game that could have been big gains, as well as on the last play of the game that resulted in an interception. The ball was intercepted at the NYJ 8-yard line, so Ginn might not have scored anyway. To top it off, Ginn was called for pass interference.

Kansas City at New England
Dwayne Bowe, Brodie Croyle/Damon Huard – Bowe left a lot of points on the field, starting with a deep miss from Croyle from the NE 22-yard line late in the 1^st quarter. He then missed what would have been at least a 20-yard pass from Huard midway through the 4^th quarter that resulted in an interception by E. Hobbs. Then on the last drive of the game, Bowe dropped two passes from Huard with KC trying to score from the NE 5-yard line. One of them was a sure TD, and would have resulted in a spectacular fantasy performance from Bowe.

Tony Gonzalez, Damon Huard – Gonzo and Huard couldn’t connect on the last drive of the game with KC trying from the NE 5-yard line.

Wes Welker, Matt Cassel – Welker and Cassel couldn’t connect on a deep pass from the KC 19 midway through the 4^th quarter.

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