Fantasy football is over, and fantasy football has begun.
The highs and lows of the regular season are replaced with playoff fantasy football, where you have a chance to field another team, continue your winning ways or make up for a lost campaign. Now, I wouldn't tell you not to play (I'll have a couple of teams myself), but I do want you to keep it in perspective. Every bad fantasy habit you have during the year needs to be put away for the post-season.
Fantasy football can make boring games seem exciting, and make meaningless contests important. Who else but fantasy players watch the end of blowouts or a match up between two teams whose players have tee times already scheduled for January? But that's the regular season. The real NFL playoffs should be interesting enough on their own. The players fight through injuries to make it this far, and they push themselves harder than they probably should. Jobs are on the line, aging vets are looking at a last shot at glory, and coordinators are getting a national stage to display their skills. A few of them will get promoted to running their own team, and a good performance here could get them a coveted interview.
Plus, it's the playoffs. All 12 teams believe they have a shot at winning the Super Bowl (even the Chargers). And why not? The "best team" doesn't always win. A lot of times they don't even make it that far. The Giants won a couple of times, and the Ravens won it all last year. The Cardinals nearly pulled it off a few years ago, too. Who thought they were one of the best teams when the playoffs started? So every player on every club is motivated to play.
That's kind of a switch from our own playoffs, isn't it? Some guys in your lineup weren't all that motivated in weeks 15 and 16. Their season was basically over, and they weren't too interested in keeping ours going. But now everyone cares, and you'll see some amazing efforts to get a victory. The games will be plenty compelling with or without fantasy football. So while you should play, I think you should play differently than you would during the regular season.
What does that mean? Well, you know how you're tempted to check stats throughout each game? How the first thing you look for after a great play is the number of the player who was involved? If it's Player A, you're happy. If it's Player B, you're bummed out. You want teams to score points, but only a certain way. And if your favorite team isn't in the playoffs, it's really all about the fantasy game and where you stand, regardless of who wins.
Well, don't do any of that during the playoffs. Set your best lineup, but don't worry about who does what, or where you stand until after the games are over. When cable networks are showing the same highlights over and over, go ahead and check on your team. But until then, just watch the games. Don't fret over who breaks out and who's left out. Enjoy football like you did before you had your own teams to manage.
There are more than enough compelling playoff stories to keep you interested in just the football part. And I don't mean the ones the media shoves down our throats in endless pre-game chatter. You understand football as well or better than they do, anyway. You know what's important. Give yourself the ability to just enjoy the contests without diluting the action by worrying about statistics. They won't change whether you're obsessing over them or not. They'll still be there in the morning, and you'll still have all the elation and frustration that goes along with them. You just won't have them during the games.
The more "hands-on" you are during the season, the more you might enjoy doing things differently for a few weeks. Give it a try. You have nothing to lose and plenty to gain. You can have the best of both worlds: Playoff football and a brand new fantasy team to support. Good luck this week.
Do you watch the playoffs differently than the regular season? How do you balance your fantasy fortunes and your enjoyment of the NFL playoffs? Share your thoughts below.