Five Strategies To Help You Win In Fantasy Playoff Leagues

January 9, 2021

If you're playing in playoff fantasy football leagues, these strategies will give you a leg up on your competition and help you make better lineup decisions.

If you won a fantasy football title in the regular season and are looking for more hardware, or if you want redemption after a bad year, the fantasy football season isn't over just yet. You can add to the excitement of the NFL playoffs by assembling a team of your own in an attempt to win extra cash or good old-fashioned bragging rights amongst your friends.

As if 2020 wasn't wacky enough, this year's NFL postseason will have a new twist. Instead of six postseason teams per conference, there will be seven. That means just two teams (one per conference) -- the Chiefs and Packers -- will have first-round byes in the wild-card round.

Just like with fantasy leagues during the regular season, knowing your league's scoring settings and roster requirements is of utmost importance. Is your playoff league a one-and-done league, salary cap format, normal snake draft or best-ball setup? Is it point-per-reception scoring, half-point PPR or six points per passing touchdown? Fantasy playoff strategy will depend on the specific settings in your league, but here are a few that will put you ahead of your competition.

1) Decide which teams you like to make a deep playoff run

If you're convinced that a particular team will make it deep into the postseason, then it makes sense to have at least a few players from that squad. You won't need to worry about that if you can reset your roster for each week of the postseason -- mainly salary cap setups.

In best-ball formats -- where you set one lineup at the beginning of the playoffs and ride it out until the Super Bowl -- the winning team will be the one without many players that aren't eliminated in the wild-card and divisional rounds. So choose wisely.

Here's the schedule for wild-card weekend:

1. Indianapolis Colts (No. 7 seed in AFC) @ Buffalo Bills (No. 2 seed in AFC)
2. Los Angeles Rams (No. 6 seed in NFC) @ Seattle Seahawks (No. 3 seed in NFC)
3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (No. 5 seed in NFC) @ Washington Football Team (No. 4 seed in NFC)
4. Baltimore Ravens (No. 5 seed in AFC) @ Tennessee Titans (No. 4 seed in AFC)
5. Chicago Bears (No. 7 seed in NFC) @ New Orleans Saints (No. 2 seed in NFC)
6. Cleveland Browns (No. 6 seed in AFC) @ Pittsburgh Steelers (No. 3 seed in AFC)

In leagues that reward multipliers for each week your player advances, you'd receive double the points in the divisional round, triple the points in the conference championship and quadruple the points if your player advances to the Super Bowl.

That makes stud players on the Chiefs and Packers particularly attractive. While they won't garner points this weekend because they'll be on bye, you're guaranteed to receive double the points when they play their first game in the divisional round. For superstars like Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, Davante Adams, Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce, the thought of doubling or tripling their points sounds really nice.

2) Quarterbacks reign supreme

Quarterbacks typically score the most fantasy points, regardless of format, so they become even more vital to your team's success in a four-week playoff format. In normal postseason snake drafts, the QBs should all come off the board first.

In leagues where you must start at least one player from each team in a best-ball format, finding the right quarterback is absolutely paramount. At the most important position, you'll want your quarterback spot to be maximized to the fullest.

In those setups, you'll certainly want to pick a QB that you think has a fighting chance to make it all the way to the big game, which would allow them to play in three or four games, depending on whether they have a first-round bye, thus maximizing your potential points. The signal-callers with the top seeds -- Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, Josh Allen, Drew Brees -- will likely be the most attractive this year.

3) Choose key players on potential losing teams

This strategy is especially important in salary cap and one-and-done leagues. In these setups, you'll live to fight another week, so choosing a player whose team gets eliminated won't cost you as much.

Don't avoid an entire team just because you are convinced that they won't advance past the first round. Instead, your goal should be to capitalize on great matchups, even if you aren't sold on that team moving past wild-card weekend.

Basically, it's all about the matchups and potential game flow. For instance, even if you've made up your mind that the Bills will beat the Colts on Saturday, don't shy away from rookie running back Jonathan Taylor, who finished the regular season as the No. 6 fantasy RB in PPR leagues, in salary cap formats. He's coming off a 253-yard, two-touchdown performance and Indy will likely try to control the clock to keep a high-scoring Bills offense off the field.

Not many folks are giving Washington much of a chance against Tom Brady and the Bucs. With the WFT likely forced to throw the ball in that matchup, there might be nice value in taking receiver Terry McLaurin or pass-catching running back J.D. McKissic in salary cap leagues. Finding value on teams that are being overlooked is key. Zig when others zag.

4) Play the matchups

We all have had to make tough decisions on a weekly basis in season-long leagues, and it usually always comes down to the matchups. As you look to maximize value in salary cap and one-and-done leagues, it's all about the matchups.

The Rams and Steelers had two of the best overall defenses in the NFL in 202o. With the Seahawks offense struggling and quarterback Russell Wilson slowing down after an MVP start in the first half, he's probably being faded by most. I certainly wouldn't bet against him in the postseason and at home, even without the 12th man on his side.

Can the Browns offense survive without head coach Kevin Stefanski (COVID-19) and beat Pittsburgh two consecutive weeks? Don't rule out Cleveland offensive skills players such as Nick Chubb, Kareem Hunt or Jarvis Landry as contrarian plays in case they spring the upset.

The Bears, the seventh seed in the NFC, probably aren't getting a lot of love against the No. 2 seed in the Saints. Running back David Montgomery has been THE offense in recent weeks. No. 1 receiver Allen Robinson II could see plenty of targets if Chicago falls behind early. Consider them as sleepers.

5) Pair a quarterback with his top receiver

This strategy is often successful in season-long leagues as well, and it makes more sense for those playing in a total points or multiplier leagues. If you're confident that a specific team will advance deep into the postseason, pairing a quarterback-receiver combination could yield big results.

The best combinations this year include Patrick Mahomes-Tyreek Hill/Travis Kelce, Aaron Rodgers-Davante Adams, Josh Allen-Stefon Diggs and Tom Brady-Mike Evans. Those combinations could easily be the difference if their team advances to the Super Bowl.

In salary cap or one-and-done leagues, a less popular combination of Ryan Tannehill-A.J. Brown, Drew Brees-Michael Thomas or even Ben Roethlisberger-Diontae Johnson could get it done, even in a losing effort if it's a high-scoring affair.

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