Explaining the Playoff Ranks
Here are some factors to keep in mind when looking at my playoff upgrades and downgrades.
1. I’m defining the playoffs from Weeks 14-16. Yes, plenty of leagues use Week 13 or Week 17, but I have to go with the most popular format.
2. Most schedules even out; they don’t make that huge a difference. You usually have one good matchup, one average one, and one poor one or some variation of that. What I looked for is consistency in the schedule, or a pair of particularly easy or difficult matchups.
3. Make sure to differentiate between run defense and pass defense. The Saints are a fabulous matchup for quarterbacks, but play the run fairly well. The Colts are one of the toughest teams to pass on, but are an average run defense. The Vikings are the best at stopping the run, but can’t stop the pass. The Raiders are the opposite … and so forth.
4. Don’t go crazy trading for guys just because they have great playoff schedules, especially receivers. FootballOutsiders showed that QB and RB value changes significantly based on the opponent, but receivers don’t fluctuate nearly as much. These upgrades are useful information, but it doesn’t mean I’d trade Willie Parker for Earnest Graham.
5. To rate defenses, I use many sources. It winds up being some combination of fantasy points allowed-per-position, intuition, traditional yardage rankings, FootballOutsiders.com’s defensive rankings, and the rocks bouncing around my brain.
Comments
Gregg, how about the Bills passing game in the playoffs? Giants are a reasonably tough matchup, but you've gotta love Miami and Cleveland.
Posted by: Brian Garber | November 9, 2007 10:07 PM
Hi. Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes. the ones who see things differently - they're not fond of rules. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can't do is ignore them because they change things. they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do. Help me! Need information about: Tanning bed problems. I found only this - lotions Tanning bed. Plus when you get older you will be so wrinkley! People need to take this more seriously. Colorado springs divorce lawyer blog gordon. Thank you very much ;-). Sem'on from Kenya.
Posted by: Sem'on | August 18, 2009 03:38 AM