1. Continue to play the Waiver Wire

Unlike the regular season, the waiver wire action in Fantasy doesn’t stop after Week 13. You need to keep pushing yourself throughout the playoffs to give your team the best possible chance of winning the next matchup. While most of the time the stars on waivers are long gone due to their early season appearance, there are still some difference-makers sitting on the wire who have a good chance of breaking out given the opportunity to share. Look for players to fill in for injured stars, such as backup running backs or rookies who, for whatever reason, have slacked off as the season has progressed, but the coaches are ready to take the training wheels as NFL regulars. the season is reaching its climax. Never rest because it could cost you a win in the Fantasy Football playoffs 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 semifinals to decide who plays in the fantasy league championship. There are only 4 teams left at this point, so every miss or hit is magnified. Getting back to Johnson, the running back from Arizona ended up scoring 40+ points to hand my friend the victory from the jaws of defeat, as he was projected to lose by 30+ before the David Johnson game. It’s a reminder that the waiver wire always continues long after the regular season concludes.

2. Watch the matchups

Setting rosters is usually a fluid activity, but it can be a pain in the neck for a couple of weeks and that includes weeks in the fantasy football playoffs. Sometimes you may have two players who are neck and neck in skill. That’s when you have to do a bit of research like for a project in business. The investigation in this case is to look at the opponents those players face during the week. The fantasy site has rankings of how those opponents have fared against those players’ positions, such as running backs and wide receivers. After determining the pairing to see if it’s a strong, medium, or weak opponent, you can make an educated guess to see which one is starting over the other. Usually the right move works, but sometimes it doesn’t go your way and you could have a situation where benching the wrong player could cost you a win, like I was playing for the fantasy championship in 2016. That brings me to my final key issue 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 good” really applies to a win-or-go-home situation like the playoffs. Your team could be strong all season, 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 bit of luck to make your way to that elusive title. The underlying point of this last key aspect is to just have fun, you can’t control how well your team performs on any given Sunday. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but be prepared for any scenario so you can maximize your playoff playing experience.

The playoffs are a fun and exciting time to be. Sometimes playing in the playoffs is like sailing through a storm that’s hard to get out of. Hopefully these tips will give you a better chance of winning a fantasy title, since that’s what we all look for when we play fantasy football.