Week 1 was not what we expected.

This article was originally published on FarFromProfessional.com (9/13/23).

The first week of this new fantasy football season is officially in the books. If you got the win, congratulations. It’s nice to kick things off with a win. If you took a loss, don’t worry. The season is young; there is a lot of football left to play, so chill out, show some composure, and prep for Week 2. If you’re freaking out because you lost one or two players to injury, and now you’re scrambling like the New York Jets to re-write your entire offensive gameplan, go ahead and panic a little bit. No team owner wants to lose a player to injury, unless it’s a bum ass kicker. Fuck those guys.

The first week of the season is always unpredictable; teams are still finding their rhythm, so there’s a lot of sloppy football played. Guys get injured. Guys forget to show up. All of shit happens, and we are quickly reminded of how fast things can swing from thrilling to distressing. It’s chaotic. It’s amazing.

We welcome you (fantasy football) and all of your glorious and terrible things back with arms wide open.

In our league of record—Any Given Sunday (AGS)—my team, Rebel Scum, walked away with a comfortable win against a division rival (he who must not be named), so I feel good, but I should feel better. I expected a bit more from Justin Fields even though he hasn’t beaten the Packers yet. He was okay, but I cut Aaron Jones in the offseason to keep Fields, so I need some excellent return on my investment early and often.

A couple of my big guns—Austin Ekeler and Tony Pollard—had great games. I’ll need them to just keep on doing that all season long, but, lo and behold, Ekeler is banged up. His status for this week is “questionable.” Awesome. Injuries are part of the game as much as roster mismanagement and leaving points on the bench. The waters of the Fanta Sea are choppy, but a smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.

The waiver wire was ripe with talent to help your roster weather an injury to one of your starters, or maybe spark your lackluster offense. The AGS wire was hot last night. I didn’t burn a waiver claim; I skimmed the remains of waiver wire carcass, like a vulture, for something. I definitely need a better kicker because we voted to deduct a point for every missed field goal and extra point, and I had Graham Gano this week.

For a full update on how that went, along with some commentary from Rudy’s Replacements team owner Emmitt Smith and the defending champ, Ambassadors of Quan, check out our Any Given Sunday Podcast.