Those who play fantasy football know of two Super Bowls. There’s the game that’s played in early February each year to determine NFL supremacy. Then there’s the Super Bowl that really matters in your fantasy realm – fantasy football Super Bowl weekend.
When it comes to fantasy football season, Super Bowl weekend is actually Week 17, the final week of the NFL regular season. It can be a trying time for fantasy football owners, because many NFL teams will opt to rest star players if there’s nothing left to play for in the real standings. This can decimate a fantasy football player’s chances at FFSB (Fantasy Football Super Bowl) glory.
“Super Bowl” by Wikimedia is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
For example, if your fantasy football quarterback was Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers or Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs, then you were plumb out of luck. Both were healthy scratches during Week 17 of the 2020 NFL season. Hope for your sake you drafted a capable backup QB.
Regardless, the point we’re making here is that in the fantasy football world, the season concludes just as the most significant games of the actual NFL season are about to get underway. And that’s just plain wrong in all kinds of ways.
Luckily, there are methods to keep the fantasy football fun rolling through the legitimate NFL postseason. And even luckier for you, we’re going to share some of those ways with you right now.
Daily Fantasy Sports
Thanks to sites like DraftKings, FanDuel and Monkey Knife Fight, fantasy players can keep the games rolling right on through the NFL playoffs and into the big game itself via daily fantasy sports.
Here’s an option to explore: Get the members of your league together and sign up at one of the DFS sites. Then set up a tournament between the teams just like you would for your fantasy football league.
Prior to each round of the NFL postseason, conduct a draft. Each member of the league selects a DFS squad for that weekend’s games. Set your own rules like you would for your own league. For instance, don’t permit more than one team to select the same player.
Go head-to-head in games as you would during fantasy football season, or simply reward the team that collects the most points each week. As the NFL advances through Wild Card Weekend, the Divisional Round and conference championship games down to the Super Bowl, each week you’ll get together again and draft entirely new squads.
Best of all, your teams will also be entered to win prizes from the DFS site.
Play For The Future
The fantasy football season may have concluded, but there’s always next season. Rather than reward futility, why not try a different method to determine draft order for the following season?
No, we’re not suggesting that you institute a draft lottery like the NBA or NHL. No, our method is much more fun and enjoyable. And no conspiracy theorist among your group can complain that it was rigged.
“Thomas Davis Max Garcia, Charles Johnson Super Bowl” by Wikimedia is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Prior to the outset of the NFL playoffs – the real ones, not the ones in your fantasy world existence – get the members of your league together. Everyone drafts a playoff team roster – one quarterback, two running backs, two receivers, a tight end, a kicker and a defense.
That’s your team for the entire NFL postseason. As teams get eliminated, you lose that player’s contribution. But there’s no subs bench to fill in for lost talent. Likewise, if one of your players ends up injured, sorry about your luck.
On the other hand, imagine being the player who shrewdly saw the future and selected career backup Nick Foles as their QB in the season that he led the Philadelphia Eagles to a Super Bowl triumph over Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. You’d be talking that one up forever. This level of bragging rights never evaporates.
Compile points throughout the NFL postseason. At the end of the Super Bowl game, tabulate the totals. The team accumulating the most points earns the first pick in next year’s fantasy football draft, and so on down to the bottom-placed team, which will be drafting last.
It’s an entertaining and challenging way to earn a draft placing. And of course, you can choose to offer prizes for the winners as well.