How does playoff fantasy football work? Why the 2023 season isn't over yet

The 2023 fantasy football season has officially come to an end for traditional leagues, but that doesn't mean the season has to be over. Playoff fantasy football is a growing trend that has become much more popular in recent years. It's run similar to regular fantasy leagues, such as in roster spots and scoring formats, but has some major differences in strategy.

It's important to remember that less than half of the player pool is available in playoff leagues compared to traditional season-long formats. This is due to only 14 teams making it to the NFL Playoffs instead of the full 32 teams competing during the regular season. Due to the fewer player options, most playoff leagues max out at eight fantasy teams, as opposed to 12 teams for regular leagues.

Playoff leagues host a standard snake-style fantasy draft for all teams involved to build out their rosters. One of the biggest twists in this format, and what requires additional strategy, is that when teams are eliminated from the NFL Playoffs, their players are also no longer available in the fantasy leagues. Managers must draft accordingly, targeting players on teams they believe will make a deep postseason run.

If a manager loads their team with players who are eliminated early, they may not be able to submit a full roster by the time the Super Bowl comes around. This can result in missing out on a ton of fantasy points, making it difficult to compete for a league championship. The bye weeks are another major factor, as this year, the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers won't play during the Wild Card round.

This factor also makes for interesting strategic choices. The Ravens and 49ers have been the two best teams in the NFL this season, so they have many fantasy football stars as well. Managers will likely target some of them for better odds of making it to the Super Bowl, but they will need to fill their spots in the starting lineup with other options during Wild Card weekend.

Strategy is what makes fantasy football so much fun and what has made it rapidly grow in popularity over the years. This trending playoff format probably requires even more strategy than traditional season-long formats and adds an eliminator factor to it. This contributes to its growing interest in recent years as fantasy football continues to expand and evolve as a whole.

How is a champion determined in playoff fantasy football?

Super Bowl LVII trophies

Unlike traditional season-long leagues that often use head-to-head scoring formats, playoff fantasy football leagues are usually played with rotisserie scoring settings. This means that each team in the league sets a starting lineup for each round of the NFL Playoffs and scores points in the same way as a regular-season league, but they aren't directly facing off against one opponent.

Instead, their scores are totaled each week and added together at the conclusion of the Super Bowl, with managers being able to set a new lineup each week if they choose to do so. Waivers and trades are also available each week as they are in traditional leagues. Whichever team accumulates the most total fantasy points combined across the four rounds of the NFL Playoffs from their starting lineups will win their league championship.