2021 fantasy football playoff rankings

There are many different ways to play fantasy football during the playoffs but if you need to choose a team for the entire playoffs and stick with those players, you need a good set of playoff rankings to help you out. The longer a player lasts in the playoffs, the better you’ll do, so strategy takes on a different approach in playoff fantasy football.

These rankings are based on .5 PPR scoring.

Playoff predictions strategy

For playoff rankings, the most important aspect is accurately predicting who wins each playoff game. That, is of course, nearly impossible, but the closer you are, the better your team will likely be. If we go by the odds, these are the teams and how many games they will likely get to play:

Kansas City Chiefs (3), Green Bay Packers (3), Buffalo Bills (3), New Orleans Saints (3), Baltimore Ravens (2), Pittsburgh Steelers (2), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2), Seattle Seahawks (2), Chicago Bears (1), Los Angeles Rams (1), Washington Football Team (1), Indianapolis Colts (1), Cleveland Browns (1)

These numbers are if the favorites win each game and we know that’s not going to happen, so to separate yourself, you’ll need to take a few risks. This season we get a bit of a wrinkle, as there are only two teams with a bye in the first round, whereas their are usually four. That puts teams like the Bills and Saints into an extra game and, if they can get to the Super Bowl, four total games.

So, do you want a possible three games from Patrick Mahomes or a possible four games from Josh Allen? The extra game might not materialize for any team if the Packers and Chiefs play in the Super Bowl, but it does give your team a lot of upside if you end up getting four games from a good chunk of your fantasy playoff team.

Non-Chiefs favorites

My favorite non-Chiefs teams to make it to the Super Bowl are the Bills, Ravens and Buccaneers. With the NFC looking like the weaker of the two conferences, the Buccaneers would be my favorite of the group to get to four games.

Above, I gave you the games played projections if matchups went to the favorite and here I’ll give you games played based on my likely flawed predictions:

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4), Buffalo Bills (4), Kansas City Chiefs (2), New Orleans Saints (2), Baltimore Ravens (2), Pittsburgh Steelers (2), Seattle Seahawks (2), Green Bay Packers (1), Chicago Bears (1), Los Angeles Rams (1), Washington Football Team (1), Indianapolis Colts (1), Cleveland Browns (1)

If you feel like the Buccaneers and Bills don’t match up in the Super Bowl, then these rankings might not be for you. I believe you need to set yourself apart in playoff leagues and that means going out on a limb. I probably wouldn’t pick Washington to win it all, but I can see scenarios for the Bucs and Bills. I still like the Chiefs, but so will a lot of people in your league. Make a plan. Take a stand. Win or more likely get demolished.