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Do your craziest fantasy victories match up with these?

Every point scored by our fantasy football teams — whether they come in the noon games Sunday or at the end of the Monday night game — counts the same. Of course, it's the points that come in the Sunday night or Monday night games that get us off our couches jumping for joy or screaming in agony.

So what are the craziest moments from your fantasy football career? The last-second, end-of-game play that propelled you to a miraculous victory ... or a crushing defeat?

Email me your best — as well as your votes for the end-of-year awards — and we'll print some next week.

In the meantime, here's a look at some of the most fantastic finishes I've either heard of or been a part of:

8. Bears beat reporter Bob LeGere's son was going to be eliminated from the postseason as soon as Saints kicker Garrett Hartley notched his second point in a Monday night game at Seattle three weeks ago. And of course, it never came, as Hartley — on a team that averages 25.6 ppg — kicked just 1 extra point in a 34-7 loss. “He just couldn't believe it,” LeGere said of his son.

7. In 1995, late in a championship game that my friend led by fewer than 6 points, Niners RB Derek Loville secured his title when he kept a Vikings defender from returning a fumble for a touchdown. My friend's opponent owned the Vikings' D ... and in an odd twist of irony, my buddy actually had Loville in his starting lineup!

6. In 2011, Giants QB Eli Manning was directing a frantic, last-minute drive against the Cowboys and his final pass put him at exactly 400 yards. It gave me an 83-82 playoff victory in a game where I would have lost the tiebreaker had Manning finished with 399 yards.

5. I'm sure many people were affected by Ravens place-kicker Justin Tucker's wild night this week, but none more so than a former commissioner of mine who came back from a 30-point deficit to take a 1-point lead on Tucker's 61-yard bomb. He also had Lions QB Matthew Stafford, however, and when Stafford threw an interception on the next play, this crazy fantasy semifinal was suddenly deadlocked. The Commish prevailed thanks to winning the tiebreaker on more bench points. The losing owner also had Arizona's Larry Fitzgerald, who was tackled 1 yard short of the end zone on one of his catches. “This one will hurt for approximately five years,” wrote that owner on Facebook.

4. In a Week 6 game in 2008, I trailed 67-66 going into a Monday night game with no players remaining. My opponent owned the Giants defense. No chance, right? Well, there was one wild and improbable possibility and it happened: New York allowed 35 points to the Browns, which is minus-3 points in that league, and didn't record a single turnover or sack. So I won 66-64. I reached the title game that year, but without that win, I don't even qualify for the playoffs.

3. How many of you remember ex-Bears QB Henry Burris? Or can recall any of his THREE career TD passes? None of you, right? Well, I can. The fateful pass came in the waning moments of a 27-9 Bears loss on MNF to Miami in 2002. The TD toss went to Marty Booker, who I was playing against in a playoff semifinal. It beat me by 5 points ... and I still vividly remember bolting up from my desk at work, doing one lap around our island and sitting down, temples pulsing, head pounding after a gut-wrenching loss. Thanks a lot, Henry.

2. Daily Herald copy editor Michelle Holdway will never forget how she lost the Herald's 2000 title game. She needed just 3 points (50 yards in that league) out of Rams WR Isaac Bruce to win it all. Bruce had 36 yards at halftime, then on the last drive of the game, Kurt Warner hit him square in the chest for what would have been at least a 15-yard gain. “And he drops it,” Holdway said. “That was a $400 drop.”

1. In a 2007 championship game, Chargers RB LaDainian Tomlinson was closing the gap on my team as San Diego was crushing Denver. With our game tied at 105-105 and Tomlinson at 107 yards, he was pulled from the game in the middle of a drive. This was the first year we implemented the “homefield advantage rule” where the better seed (me, in this case) received 1 bonus point in case of a tie. One more carry and I was likely toast. It's a title I'll never, ever forget.

My teams: Both squads were blasted by clearly superior teams, with my auction squad falling 80-45 and my regular team getting absolutely blitzed by Jamaal Charles, Eddie Lacy and Justin Tucker. Final score: 180-84. Ugh.

Good bets

ŸBears QB Jay Cutler at Philadelphia. If Dallas beats Washington earlier Sunday, the Eagles will have nothing to play for, making it even easier on Cutler and the high-flying Bears. (Can't believe I just typed “high-flying” and “Bears” in the same sentence).

ŸRavens QB Joe Flacco vs. New England. Ryan Tannehill (312), Jason Campbell (391) and Case Keenum (272) — not exactly a murderer's row of QBs — combined for 975 passing yards the last three games against the Pats. Maybe the $120 Million Man can earn his money this week.

ŸSkins QB Kirk Cousins and WR Santana Moss vs. Dallas. An owner in my auction league sent me an email Tuesday saying: “I don't think I can do it, but for a half-second I thought about whether I should start Kirk Cousins vs. the Cowboys instead of Drew Brees at Carolina.” Yes, that is insane. But Cousins (381 yards, 2 TDs) looked great at Atlanta and now gets the Swiss-cheese defense known as the Cowboys.

ŸChargers QB Philip Rivers and RB Ryan Mathews vs. Oakland. You did see what Jamaal Charles did last week to the Raiders, right? And the week before, when the Jets (16.1 ppg in all games other than the one vs. Oakland) put up 37? Ride your Chargers to the house.

ŸNiners RB Frank Gore vs. Atlanta. Since Week 8, only four teams have allowed more fantasy points to RBs than the Falcons.

ŸSteelers RB Le'Veon Bell at Green Bay. Feature backs have amassed an astounding 787 yards from scrimmage against the Packers in the last four weeks, including a whopping 310 by Detroit's Joquie Bell (128) and Reggie Bush (182).

ŸJaguars RB Jordan Todman vs. Tennessee. It looks like Maurice Jones-Drew will sit again, making Todman (158 YFS last week) an excellent play.

ŸBengals WR Marvin Jones vs. Minnesota. He disappeared for three straight games, but Jones (8-108-2 last two) is playing more of late and is a great WR3 against a Vikings squad that allows the most fantasy points to WR/TEs.

ŸBroncos WR Eric Decker at Houston. Denver is about to bounce back in a big way.

ŸPats WR Julian Edelman at Baltimore. Few, if any, wideouts are hotter than Edelman (37-414-4 last four).

Bad bets

ŸPatriots QB Cam Newton vs. New Orleans. He'd be tough to sit because this game could be high-scoring, but Newton (7 TDs last four; under 210 yards four of last six) hasn't looked good for a while.

ŸLions QB Matthew Stafford vs. New York Giants. If the Giants don't mail it in, I think Stafford finishes with about 260 yards, 2 TDs and an interception. Not bad, but hardly inspiring.

ŸFalcons RB Steven Jackson at San Francisco. Hope you've enjoyed Jackson's last-season run (5 TDs last four). He's no more than a risky flex play against the stingy Niners.

ŸCardinals WR Michael Floyd and RBs Rashard Mendenhall and Andre Ellington at Seattle. There's a chance one of these guys might hit double-digit fantasy points, but which one? Too risky against an opponent like this.

ŸVikings WR Greg Jennings at Cincinnati. Maybe Jennings (23 catches last three) is worth a play in some PPR leagues, but I don't see much more than 65 yards against a Bengals squad fighting for the AFC North crown.

jdietz@dailyherald.com

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