Fantasy Football Playoffs Begin- What to do if you got in?
First of all, if you made the playoffs in your fantasy football league congratulations! Fantasy football is a fun game to play and now you’ll get a few more times to play it. You are playing a game that has a pretty long history (Played since1962. See the last part of this article) and this is something that is fun.
With that in mind, and coming from someone who is in the playoffs with you, let’s break down a few key things you can do to go for the title!
Part A. Play the Match-Ups
If you are in the playoffs you know how to do this, right? You should be leery to play a WR vs the Jets, you should be content to play someone else against the Browns… etc. But in the playoffs it can be more about the “hot hand”. Zeke against the Chiefs feels good. So does Jamir Gibbs against the Broncos. Check out a more “holistic view” in Part B.
Wm. Glasheen USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
No More Loyalty
If you are a Terry McLaurin owner or a Justin Herbert owner it might be time to jump ship. Same with James Conner. Adam Thielen might just be too old. Fantasy is a cruel place sometimes.
Good for you for picking player X in round 11 and he was the steal of your draft: if he is scoring goose eggs now it doesn’t matter. Move one. And play the match-ups. (Next Point) Check you waiver wire- again- and look to see if anyone was dropped a few weeks ago that has boom potential (Drake London anyone?)
What hot hand is out there? Could Derrick Henry win some people one more league, one more time?
Related: Packer Star Questions the Team’s Culture
Part B. Play the Match-Ups
Some overall games to look at, based-off Vegas over/unders in Week 15 are:
Washington vs LA Rams (50 points) and Saturday Detroit vs Denver (48 points). So Vegas, the “eye in the desert”, predicts those games could be high scoring. If you have someone in one of those games, you play them (minus poor Terry).
Here, you just need to slow down, pause a little, and verify that you want player X to play against defense Y.
We know, at this point in the season, who the best defenses are and how the best offenses are. If you don’t know how the best defenses are here they are again…
- Ravens (19 TD’s allowed and 284 yards give up a game)
- 49er’s (21 TD’s allowed and 300 yards given up a game)
- Jets (24 and 299)
- Browns (33 and 263)
- Cowboys (28 and 289)
Against the five defenses your offensive player does not have as good of a chance to score or gain yards. That doesn’t mean they can’t score or that they won’t grab yards, it just means that if you are questioning start/sit decisions for two equal players, play the guy who doesn’t go against one of these five teams.
Try “Blocking”
You probably don’t need a back-up tight end anymore. You also might not even need a back-up quarterback. So before you totally do this, and maybe “jinx yourself”, remember if a “hand cuff” back is out their (the back-up to a star) then grab em. Again, it is called “fantasy” for a reason
Guys only have value if they have value now. If that means keeping someone else from you opponent who could need them, well, then, block them out. A classic example this week is Ty Chandler. If you have room for him, grab him. Especially if your opponent had Alex Mattison.
In Conclusion
Fantasy football originated in 1962, conceived by Oakland Raiders limited partner, Wilfred “Bill” Winkenbach, along with journalist Scotty Stirling and businessman Bill Tunnell. That’s a long time ago. Now listen to how they thought of it:
The concept took shape during a road trip, where the trio envisioned a game where participants could draft real NFL players and compete based on their statistical performance. Initially known as the “Greater Oakland Professional Pigskin Prognosticators League” (GOPPPL), it became the first organized fantasy football league.
Taken from fantasy pros
How cool is that! Now get out there, set those line-ups, relax and enjoy the postseason!
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