Consider this your fantasy football lesson for the day: How to win a fantasy game by the narrowest of margains against a worthy opponent:

First, make sure to start a runningback who will score zero points. Thanks to Willis McGahee’s goose egg, I gave my competitor a false sense of hope and security.

Second, encourage one of your opponent’s players to score zero points. Doing so almost doubles your competitor’s anxiety. Thanks for obliging, Heath Miller.

And finally, well, hope and pray that your measily point total will be enough. Sometimes, Lady Luck will smile upon your fantasy team.

That is exactly how The Hazean’s team in the blogger hung on for a win in week 9. Despite scoring only 76.58 points in week 9, it was just enough to brush past the team from Fantasy Football Fools, who registered 74.94 points. Talk about a nailbiter!

Four players carried the team with double-digit efforts. Jay Cutler and Tim Hightower led the way with 18.48 and 17.3 points, respectively. Reggie Wayne and the Titans defense both scored 11 points.

McGahee’s zero-point effort certainly hurt the overall point total, especially considering that Kevin Smith, who scored 12.3 points, was on the bench. Regardless, a win is a win and it keeps The Hazean within the playoff projections after nine weeks:

With four regular season fantasy weeks left before the first round of the playoffs, it goes without saying that — for a 5-4 team — every game now is so critical to each blogger’s shot at the postseason.

My 5-4 team battles Curveballs for Jesus’ 5-4 team this weekend in a must-win for both squads. Stay tuned, this is going to get interesting!