Fantasy Football Week 14 Thread - Playoffs!

Each week we’re setting aside this time slot to provide a forum for fantasy football conversation. Bring your questions about who to start / sit in the comment section. We’ll also grade trades and listen to how great your team is - seriously, no one else is going to do that. Let’s help each other win our leagues to ensure bragging rights around the neighborhood.

For some of us, the playoffs start this weekend. I play in four leagues with different groups of people and am happy to report, I made the playoffs in all four leagues. Two of those leagues start play this week with the format of the top two seeds getting byes with the #3-#6 teams playing this week. I will be playing this week...as punishment for predicting a victory last week against Patti in the Official WCG League. Oh well, live and learn.

The playoff race turned out to be a good one in the official league. The #6 seed came down to the wire and the #2 seed was won in the last week. When the dust settled, Ken the Den Master secured that last playoff spot over Lester. Ken will face off against fellow writer Jacob Infante. Jacob (team name - Cruz Control) will be hoping for big games from Todd Gurley and DeAndre Hopkins while Ken (team name - Decatur Staleys) is going to need some of that Russell Wilson magic fairy dust. Most of you probably watched Wilson do Russell Wilson things against the Eagles on Sunday night and I’m convinced that he’s now the #1 fantasy quarterback for the playoffs. He’s in that rare form that he seems to spin up to. If you’ve managed to make the playoffs with Wilson as your signal caller, I think you’re in good shape - and yes, I’m saying this despite his tough matchup against the Jaguars this weekend.

The other quarterfinal game pits the Peanut Punchers, my wonderful squad, against that of a faithful reader, John, team name Rage Against Shaheen. My team is built around the wide receiver position, trying to take advantage of the 0.5 PPR format. The Punchers roll with Julio Jones, AJ Green, Brandin Cooks, and Mike Evans in the flex (and of course, Alvin Kamara as my RB1). Rage Against Shaheen counters with a more balanced squad led by LeSean McCoy and Michael Thomas.

My philosophy with fantasy playoffs is to take pride that you got there - that’s the skill of this game - and enjoy it if you are lucky enough to win in the playoffs. A great season in fantasy football can be undone by facing a team with a random explosion of points or a conspiracy against your team to injure all your players. In my other playoff game this week, I’ll be missing Rob Gronkowski, who deservedly will sit out this week, and have at least 3 injuries I need to monitor. So...cross your fingers for Cameron Brate?

Good luck to everyone in the playoffs this week. Let’s hear it below how your regular season went and what your playoff prospects look like.