I'll be the first to admit that playoff fantasy football doesn't appeal to me quite as much as the usual 16-week marathon, but that doesn't mean I don't still enjoy it. And coming off my most profitable fantasy season yet, I'm looking to make a great season even better. For better or for worse, I want to share my experience with you (no matter which category mentioned in the first paragraph you may fall under) in hopes that some of you can end this season on a definite high note.

In addition to owning one NFL.com team, I will be taking part in several money leagues with Fuzzy's Fantasy Football. My goal over the next four weeks will be to help each of you through your decision-making process as you attempt to boost your bottom line.

NFL.com

For a complete rundown of how players will score fantasy points for your team, click on the “Official Rules” link on the NFL.com entry page. However, much of the content immediately below is included on the “How to Play” page, so what I provide here should be more than enough to follow along easily.

The object of the game is to pick the players you think will perform best in their playoff matchup. Select one QB, two RBs, two WRs, one TE, one K and one D/ST. You will earn fantasy points based on their on-field performance during their game, and if your player's team wins, you will have the option to carry that player over to the next round, where he will earn a bonus point modifier to his score.

Before we get into the picks, let’s briefly review the rules and how we may use them to our advantage: 1) passing TDs are worth four points, so passing yards are valued more highly here than in the Fuzzy’s leagues I’ll discuss later; 2) all field goals under 50 yards are worth three points, which means we are more concerned about volume of field goals than distance – unless we can find a kicker who regularly converts from 50+; 3) this is a non-PPR format, which obviously favors the big-play threats; and 4) team wins are worth five points, so picking a “winning” defense is worth almost a touchdown and could be worth as much as 3.5 TDs if you pick a defense from this week and that team ends up winning the Super Bowl.

By now, I trust that you have a good sense of what to do in this format, so I’d like to talk briefly about some thoughts from the past weekend. With apologies to Atlanta and Baltimore fans, Seattle and Denver each did much more to lose than the Falcons and Ravens did to win. When a defense has surrendered just seven points and 108 total yards over the first 29:29 of the second half, the strategy to close out a win cannot be to play soft zone and let Tony Gonzalez run unchallenged down the field on successive plays when that same offense has two timeouts and 31 seconds left to get in position for a field goal. That is scared football. The fact that both throws were ones that most college quarterbacks could complete makes it even worse. Similarly, how bad are Rahim Moore’s ball skills? (This is hardly a shocking revelation to Bronco fans.) If a team is going to play soft, then how can you defend having a passing-game liability like Moore on the field in that situation? There are 4-5 safeties on all 32 NFL teams; the play Moore whiffed on is a play that every single pro safety should be able to knock down without fail.

But more than that, the above examples are just two instances where the better team lost because NFL coaches still subscribe to the belief that prevent defenses still work more often than not in this era of offensive football. Playing not to lose will almost certainly catch up to a team before all is said and done. Now let’s give a bit of credit: Atlanta and Baltimore each took advantage of their opponents’ numerous mistakes more often than Seattle and Denver did, which is why the Falcons and Ravens are still playing.

Quarterbacks
Matt Ryan/Colin Kaepernick/Tom Brady/Joe Flacco

Ryan deserves a ton of credit for being able to post the numbers he did against Seattle, even though his second interception helped pave the way for the Seahawks’ rally. Kaepernick was simply amazing against a Green Bay defense that has completely fallen apart over the last two years. Brady was his typical self, dissecting an overmatched Texans defense that hasn’t been the same since losing LB Brian Cushing and slot CB Brice McCain – two absences that really show up against a team like the Patriots. Looking strictly at the stats against Denver, Flacco regular-season road woes seem to take a back seat to his desire to be considered (and paid like) an elite quarterback with another banner playoff performance. However, just because he outplayed Brady in a similar spot last season doesn’t mean I expect it to happen again. While he’s not as bad as he is often made out to be, Flacco is easily the worst fantasy option of the four remaining quarterbacks considering the format.

The call: Colin Kaepernick. OC Greg Roman revealed after the win against the Packers that San Francisco chose to “throw opponents off” by limiting the team’s use of the Pistol formation over its last two regular season games in an effort to make future opponents believe the Niners had scrapped it. (Why would a team ditch an offense that scored 41 points in the rain at Foxboro in Week 15?) Regardless, it is back now and Atlanta’s defense isn’t any better bet to stop it than Green Bay’s was. To get right to the point, when you consider that Kaepernick’s floor in this offense is about three combined touchdowns, 60 yards rushing and 200 yards passing, he’s an obvious call for a team that got lucky Seattle didn’t advance. Don’t be surprised if the Niners roll against Atlanta and defeat the Patriots in the Super Bowl. The other reason I like Kaepernick is that – assuming the Niners win this week – both of his remaining games are indoors, which means there will be no muddy fields preventing him from showcasing his running skills.

Running Backs
Michael Turner/Jacquizz Rodgers/Frank Gore/LaMichael James/Stevan Ridley/Danny Woodhead/Shane Vereen/Ray Rice

I’m not exactly sure what happened to the Seahawks’ run defense in recent weeks, but I’m relatively sure the Seattle coaching staff is still looking for an explanation as to how it surrendered 162 yards rushing to the combination of Turner and Rodgers. It’s not going to happen against the Niners. Since Gore won’t be dealing with the same kind of foot sprain that compromised Marshawn Lynch, I’d expect that he will take advantage of the Falcons’ defense in the way I expected Lynch to last week. The emergence of Vereen casts doubt on just how dependent the Patriots will be on Ridley or Woodhead going forward. Rice is probably the best fantasy option of the bunch (outside of Gore), but he probably has the smallest chance of any remaining back to make it to the Super Bowl. With Bernard Pierce (knee) guaranteeing that he will play this weekend after being leaving early last week, Rice loses a bit more luster in this format.

The call: Stevan Ridley (x2) and Frank Gore. As far as I’m concerned, there is no shame in sticking with Ridley despite Vereen’s huge game since it is entirely possible that it was Woodhead who was likely in line for his role before his early injury. Ridley is still the back to own in this format given the fact he is the top option in the red zone again now that Rob Gronkowski is out for the rest of the season. Gore is another easy pick for me since I cannot see the Falcons or Patriots focusing their gameplans on stopping him now that Kaepernick has emerged as such a devastating offensive weapon.

Wide Receivers
Roddy White/Julio Jones/Michael Crabtree/Wes Welker/Brandon Lloyd/Anquan Boldin/Torrey Smith

Anything can happen on a given NFL weekend, so I feel somewhat disingenuous for not seriously considering half of the remaining field. It’s not as if White, Jones, Boldin and Smith can’t all produce enough in one game to make it worth my while, but none of them play on the most complete team remaining in their conference. And when it comes right down to it, I’d just as soon lock in the likely Super Bowl participants this week as opposed to two weeks from now.

The call: Wes Welker (x3) and Michael Crabtree. Welker has been a no-brainer for me since the start, but I wish I had made the move to Crabtree last week after wrestling to play him over Demaryius Thomas. Still, Crabtree has been nothing short of a fantasy machine since shortly after Kaepernick took over the starting job. Assuming the Niners defeat the Falcons and face the Pats in the Super Bowl, it is entirely possible that Crabtree’s stiffest competition over his final two games will be Aqib Talib. While Talib has played well following his trade from the Bucs, neither he nor Alfonzo Dennard was a match for Crabtree in their regular season meeting.

Tight Ends
Tony Gonzalez/Vernon Davis/Aaron Hernandez/Dennis Pitta

It seems as though I get burned every time I dare take a chance on an “injury risk”. With that said, no player offered anything close to the upside Gronkowski did at this position, so I can rest easy even though my gamble did not pay off with him. When looking at the available choices, I have left to choose between what I believe will be one game from Gonzalez and two from Hernandez. In this non-PPR format, there is some temptation to choose Gonzo in what may be his swan song, but common sense tells me I’d be much wiser going with the player who is the better bet to play two more games.

The call: Aaron Hernandez. Even though it didn’t really manifest itself against Houston, it’s hard to hold the fact that Hernandez didn’t score against him simply because the Pats likely gameplanned Gronkowski as the primary red-zone option all week long in practice. With a week to adjust, it wouldn’t be the least bit surprising to see Hernandez return to the Gronk-like role he took on later in the regular season for New England.

Kickers
Matt Bryant/David Akers/Stephen Gostkowski/Justin Tucker

This decision was made last week and I have no interest in changing it. Gostkowski and Bryant strike me as the best options this week, but the 2x qualifier makes this choice rather easy.

The call: Stephen Gostkowski (x2).

Defense/Special Teams
Falcons/49ers/Patriots/Ravens

Even with a healthy John Abraham, I wasn’t going to give the Atlanta defense much chance to stop San Francisco’s offense. With him limited or possibly even out this weekend, I cannot realistically consider the Falcons an option. I expect Atlanta’s offense to have the same kind of offensive success as Green Bay did, which makes the Niners a low-upside play, even though they probably still have two games left to play. The Patriots almost always seem to be a good option at home, so although they have their issues – and despite the fact I don’t expect them to win the Super Bowl – they make a lot of sense this week (especially if Flacco remembers he is supposed to struggle on the road). The Ravens do not match up particularly well against any of the three remaining teams, so I’m comfortable in removing them from consideration.

The call: Patriots. Considering I was less than impressed with their effort against Houston, this is an uninspired choice, but one that presents the greatest upside (thanks to Flacco). It is also quite possible New England ends up winning the Super Bowl, which would end up giving me 15 points (five points this week for a team win, 10 points (5x2) if the Pats capture the big prize two weeks from now.

Fearless predictions for my selected team:
Kaepernick: 230 passing yards, two passing TDs, 65 rushing yards, one rushing TD (29 fantasy points)
Ridley: 70 rushing yards, one rushing TD, 10 receiving yards (14 x 2 = 28 points)
Gore: 120 rushing yards, one rushing TD, 25 receiving yards (20 points)
Welker: 90 receiving yards (9 x 3 = 27 points)
Crabtree: 80 receiving yards, one receiving TD (14 points)
Hernandez: 85 receiving yards, one receiving TD (14 points)
Gostkowski: three extra points, three field goals (12 x 2 = 24 points)
Patriots DST: 24 PA, two sacks, two turnovers and a team win (10 points)

Projected Total: 166 fantasy points
Week 1 Total: 73
Week 2 Total: 155

Fuzzy’s

Many of the scoring parameters used above apply here as well, with the key differences being that Fuzzy’s uses PPR scoring and there are no bonus point modifiers or team-win points. Kickers get four points for field goals between 40-49 yards and six points for 60+ while all TDs are worth six points. Your goal is to pick the highest-scoring lineup each week with no strings attached. Additionally, each owner is asked to select a tiebreaker every week which will be used to break any ties following the Super Bowl. Fuzzy's leagues contain no more than 50 teams in a league whereas most other major sites employ a one-man-against-the-world approach. As a result, 20% of the entrants into Fuzzy's playoff leagues will - at the very least - recoup their entry fee, with first through ninth place receiving a nice return on investment for their troubles. Follow this link for a complete list of the rules.

Position Requirements: 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE, 1 K, 1 Defense/Special Teams

Since I will be playing with several teams with Fuzzy’s this season, I’ll simply list my teams below and present a brief overview on my overall thought process. Depending on how strongly I feel about matchups in a given week, I may use the same lineup in more than one league.

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