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For some of you, the playoffs start this week. For most of you, they start next week. For the select few who earned a bye, your path to the championship game likely begins in two weeks. The rest of you who didn't make the playoffs probably had something to do with bad luck or injuries (or both). Your chances for hitting pay dirt may have been derailed, but details must be learned to cash in next year. Hopefully, you have other leagues that fared better. For those of you with your eye on the prize, here are a few factors that reveal what it takes to win in the playoffs.
How To Win In The Playoffs
10 Key Factors For Advancing in the Playoffs And Winning a Championship
1. Balance - Have a balanced team where multiple players provide a consistent 20+ point total every single week. Most teams in the playoffs have three or more of these players who consistently provide these numbers. Consistency is the key to the stretch run. The big-game point performances are important, but it's the steady barrage of points from multiple players that will keep you alive each week.
2. Talent - Equally important as balance is having talented players who will give you that big point total that puts you over the top, even if you suffer a down week from one or two other players. A 30- or 35-point game from any given player is sometimes all that is needed to advance. Those performances tend to come from players ranked in the Top 5 at their position. Players like Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes II, Drake Maye, Jonathan Taylor, Christian McCaffrey, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Puka Nacua, Trey McBride, etc, can win a week for you by themselves. If your lineup includes two or more of these stud players, your chances improve dramatically.
3. Opportunity - You may not have one of the highest-scoring running backs or wide receivers in the game, but you can still get ample production from players who are thrust into action due to an injury, recent success, or both. We saw this front and center last year with Jonnu Smith and Jalen McMillan. Remember how clutch they were at this time last year?
Several players are returning from injury who were either active last week or are expected to return this week. Terry McLaurin, Joe Burrow, Jaxson Dart, Drake London, Tee Higgins, Dalton Kincaid, Darren Waller, Trey Benson, Omarion Hampton, and Jayden Reed could be a big help. Players who benefit from an injury, such as Jakobi Meyers, RJ Harvey, Isaac TeSlaa, or Adonai Mitchell, are ones to watch.
The return of Joe Burrow has ignited a fierce competitive nature in the Bengals locker room. With Burrow under center, the team feels rejuvenated and eager to prove their talent and ability. A boost in production seems imminent for the supporting cast, especially running back Chase Brown. Tee Higgins (concussion) is expected back in Week 14, Ja'Marr Chase is back, and he is ready to lock in his contribution to the team. The AFC North title is still a possibility due to uneven play from Baltimore and Pittsburgh. Don't count out Cincinnati just yet. As long as there is a glimmer of hope, the team will keep fighting, which is good for fantasy production.
4. Game Script - There is a degree of luck involved with the game script because it's difficult to accurately predict how a game will go from quarter to quarter. Will there be garbage yards in the second half of a blowout? Will the game be a back-and-forth battle involving two strong offenses or perhaps teams that are known for having defenses that give up a lot of yards and points, like Dallas, Cincinnati, NY Giants, Tennessee, and Washington? There have been a few high-scoring games this year where both teams' quarterbacks finished in the Top 10, and more are to come.
Week 14 features several matchups with expected production. Dallas at Detroit on Thursday night. Cincinnati at Buffalo, Pittsburgh at Baltimore, and Chicago at Green Bay. There are bound to be some good fantasy-producing, back-and-forth game scripts in those games.
Week 15 has more of the same. If Minnesota can figure out its quarterback situation, it has a positive matchup at Dallas. LA Rams vs Detroit is another one to exploit. Miami at Pittsburgh, Cincinnati vs Baltimore, and Seattle vs Indianapolis are also ones to watch for high production.
The biggest matchup in Week 16 may be the LA Chargers at Dallas, but that may hinge on Justin Herbert's injury situation. Miami vs Cincinnati, Green Bay at Chicago, and Philadelphia at Washington are also good matchups to exploit.
For Championship Week 17, it is difficult to ignore Dallas again. This week, Washington will host the Cowboys. If you saved Jayden Daniels on your roster, this is the time to use him. Arizona at Cincinnati is another one that could prove to be productive. San Francisco vs Chicago, Dallas at Washington, and Miami vs Tampa Bay all project as good matchups, but again, matchups are only part of the equation.
As the league continues to evolve and stronger offenses become more evident, favorable game scripts are becoming increasingly common. It's good to keep tabs on Vegas lines, particularly over/unders, as well as team totals. If an O/u is 46 points, but one team is slated to score 28 points and the other 18, it may not be a favorable game script for the offense on both sides. I'll touch on this a bit later in the article. It's difficult to have multiple players on your roster with pristine matchups, so those who do really need to come through for you when you need them.