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So you finished up your fantasy football season at 5-10 thanks to drafting Ricky Williams instead of Clinton Portis, Donovan McNabb instead of Peyton Manning, Doug Jolley instead of Daniel Graham and Peerless Price instead of Anquan Boldin.
However, you don't have to start planning for your fantasy baseball draft just yet.
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Time to save a little bit of face, fantasy football failures. And for those
of you who were lucky and skillful enough to make your league's playoffs, make
some money and win some titles, you can continue to ride the wave of good fortune.
Your fantasy season does not have to be over just because the NFL's regular
season is over. You can still invest some time and money into a playoff fantasy
football league.
So what are some ways to get a leg up on the competition in these playoff fantasy leagues? Glad you asked. Here are some tips:
1. Predict how you think the playoffs will turn out: Stick on your special "Jimmy The Greek" hat and deduce which team is going to win each game. Go all the way through the playoffs. Figuring out who is going to end up in the Super Bowl and who is going to end up knocked out in the first round is a huge help when it comes to deciding which players to draft for your playoff fantasy team.
2. Draft players on teams you think will play more than one playoff game: This is why predicting which teams will go deep into the playoffs is so important, especially if your predictions are correct. Most playoff fantasy leagues do not allow you to redraft every playoff round. You are stuck with the players you chose at the beginning of the postseason, and if their teams get eliminated early on, well, tough cookies.
We all know Clinton Portis is excellent. The man is always a threat to run for 150 yards and a couple scores no matter what defense he is up against. But if Denver gets rubbed out of the playoffs by Indianapolis this weekend, Portis is only going to give you one game's worth of stats.
Now think about Green Bay's Ahman Green. The Packers host Seattle this weekend, and we all know how the Seahawks play when they are on the road - like a CFL squad. So it seems likely that Green and his teammates are going to play a second game. So if you think Green and Portis are equal fantasy-wise but you believe Green Bay has a better shot of advancing in the playoffs than Denver does, you have to rank Green ahead of Portis on your cheat sheet.
This rule is more of a tiebreaker for two players of equal or similar fantasy value than what should be the deciding factor in who to draft in each round of your playoff draft. You may think Marc Bulger and his St. Louis Rams could get upset in the playoffs. That does not mean you select Anthony Wright ahead of him when it is your time to snag a quarterback.
3. Pay attention to matchups: Before you draft a player, project what kind of defenses he is going to be going up against. If you are going after a running back, double-check to see if his first game is against a team with a Swiss cheese run defense. If you are in the process of drafting a wide receiver, see if you can find out how much success he has had in the past against the secondary he is going against in his first playoff game. This will definitely help you with your decision making.
Also, note how different the numbers are for a player when he plays at home and when he plays on the road if you can. A great example is Tom Brady, whose numbers at home this season are abysmal compared to with what he has done away from home. You know New England has home-field advantage in the AFC throughout the playoffs, so Brady's fantasy value should be adjusted accordingly and take a hit.
4. Make weather count for something when putting together your draft list: The weather outside is not frightful for the time being, but it could be as the playoffs progress. You have to rank quarterbacks, receivers, tight ends and kickers a tad lower if they are going to be playing games on the East Coast. The best way to stifle a great quarterback or an elite receiver is not with an amazing defensive effort, it is with a blizzard or a 10-degree day with 30-mph winds. Therefore, players at those aforementioned positions on New England, Philadelphia and Green Bay should be slotted a little lower, along with players on visiting teams that might be headed to those places for playoff contests.
Hopefully these tips will help lead you to dominating your playoff fantasy football league. If not, so be it. There is a ton of luck involved as it is with fantasy football. Playoff fantasy football is 1,000 times more about luck than skill, intelligence or strategy, simply because it is played over a four-week period, not a 17-week period.
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