1. Continue playing the Waiver Wire
Unlike the regular season, the waiver wire action in fantasy doesn’t stop after Week 13. You must stay away during the playoffs to give your team the best possible chance of winning the next matchup. While most of the time the waiver stars are gone due to their appearance earlier in the season, there are still some difference markers sitting on the wire who have a good chance of getting ahead given the shared opportunity. . Look for players who are replacing injured stars such as backup running backs or hot shot rookies who have for some reason eased up as the season progresses, but coaches are ready to take the training wheels like the NFL regulars. the season is reaching its climax. Never rest because it could cost you a fantasy football playoff win and it’s win or go home. In 2015, my friend picked up David Johnson from the Arizona Cardinals on the Wednesday before Week 15 of the season. For most leagues, including ours, this week is the semi-finals to decide who plays in the fantasy league championship. There are only 4 teams left at this point, so every mistake or success is magnified. Going back to Johnson, the Arizona running back ended up scoring more than 40 points to give my friend victory from the jaws of defeat as he was projected to lose by more than 30 before David Johnson’s game. It’s a reminder that the exemption cable always continues long after the regular season concludes.
2. Look at the pairings
Establishing lineups is usually a fluid activity, but it can be an awkward couple of weeks and that includes weeks in the fantasy football playoffs. Sometimes you may have two players who are side by side with each other in skill. That’s when you have to do some research, like for a business project. The investigation in this case is to look at the opponents that those players face during the week. The fantasy site has rankings of how those opponents have fared against the positions of those players, such as running backs and wide receivers. After determining the pairing to see if it is a strong, medium, or weak opponent, you can make an educated guess to see which one is starting over the other. Usually the correct play goes well, but sometimes it doesn’t go your way and you could have a situation where sending the wrong player to the bench could cost you a victory like in my case when I was playing for the fantasy championship in 2016. That brings me to my last key topic of how to navigate through these playoffs.
3. Luck
At the end of the day, sometimes (in fact, all the time) you need good luck to go your way and win a fantasy championship. The old adage “it’s better to be lucky than to be good” really applies in a homecoming or win situation like the playoffs. Your team could be strong all season long, making all the right moves, but then a bad week happens and suddenly your dream team is eliminated. That’s the cold truth about fantasy football. Sometimes you just need a little luck to fight your way through to win that elusive title. The underlying point of this final key aspect is simply to have fun, you cannot control how well your team performs on any given Sunday. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but be prepared for any scenario so that you can maximize your experience of playing in the playoffs.
The playoffs are a fun and exciting time. Sometimes playing in the playoffs is like navigating through a storm that’s hard to get out of. Hopefully these tips will give you a better chance of winning a fantasy title, as that is what we all look for when we play fantasy football.