Fantasy Football Leagues Should Change Postseason Seeding Rules as NFL Also Mulls Adjustment

Lamar Jackson scored more fantasy points than any other quarterback in NFL history in 2024.
Lamar Jackson scored more fantasy points than any other quarterback in NFL history in 2024. / Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images

The National Football League is always trying to evolve its guidelines and rules. We saw that this season with the “dynamic” kickoff (although it didn’t seem to work), and a new report suggests that a change could be coming that would affect the way playoff teams are seeded.

According to CBS NFL insider Jonathan Jones, the NFL plans to examine this topic.

"The NFL will take another look this offseason at potentially changing the playoff format," Jones said. "Maybe, top four teams in win percentage get a home game, instead of division winners."

If this rule change were implemented this season, where three teams played or are playing on the road despite having better records than their opponent, the seeding would look like this:

AFC

1. Kansas City Chiefs
2. Buffalo Bills
3. Baltimore Ravens
4. Los Angeles Chargers
5. Houston Texans
6. Pittsburgh Steelers
7. Denver Broncos

The only change in the conference would be that the Chargers would have hosted a playoff game against the Texans, which might have helped them advance (they lost in Houston), though the Rams home game was moved because of the wild fires in California and so too would have been the Chargers game.

NFC

1. Detroit Lions
2. Minnesota Vikings
3. Philadelphia Eagles
4. Washington Commanders
5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
6. Los Angeles Rams
7. Green Bay Packers

Based on this change, the NFC would have had a much bigger impact, as the Vikings would go from the five-seed to the two-seed. They would have hosted the Packers in the Wild Card Round. The Eagles, who would move to three, would host the Rams, and the Commanders would have had a home game against the Buccaneers (it didn’t matter, as they won in Tampa Bay anyway).

Personally, I’m all for this sort of change. Winning games is the whole focus of sports, and teams shouldn’t be punished for playing in a good division or benefit from playing in a bad one. What’s more, I think similar rules should be implemented in fantasy football leagues.

Fantasy Football Playoff Seeding

If there is one complaint about our great hobby, it’s that luck is far too prominent. Also, the regular fantasy season doesn’t always reflect how good or bad a team was during the first 14 weeks. While winning is obviously very important in fantasy football, we’re also trying to score as many points as possible … and our fantasy teams can’t play defense in the weekly matchups.

That’s why, much like in the NFL, fantasy commissioners must evolve their leagues.

Simply using the final regular-season standings to determine postseason teams and the seeds isn’t fair, because it doesn’t always reflect which teams were actually the best. As I said, we can’t play defense in fantasy football, and teams that score a ton of points in the regular season but have bad records based on sour luck should still be rewarded.

For example, in the Dirt Podcast Show League, a team scored the most points but went 6-8 and finished seventh in the standings. In my opinion, that team is one of the best (if not the best) in the league regardless of its record, and it should have earned a postseason berth.

If you’re a commissioner or a frustrated fantasy manager who scored a ton of points but had a less-than-stellar record because of bad luck, I have some solutions for you to consider in 2025. Here are some alternatives to traditional (and outdated) postseason seeding rules.

Scott Fish Fantasy League Rules

If you’re a fantasy football nut, you know all about Scott Fish Bowl and all the great work Scott does to kick off the fantasy season and earn some dough for charity. While the regular year is based on head-to-head matchups, the postseason is all about points. Half the league makes the playoffs based on a mix of record and points, and each team gets the average of what it scored in the regular season plus what it scores in each week of the playoffs. The teams that score the fewest points are eliminated each week until a champion is crowned. This sort of rule rewards those who had point-scoring success in the regular season.

Final Seed Based on Points

For those fantasy managers who argue that head-to-head wins are more important than points can use this rule to make the final playoff seed more interesting. The top five teams based on standings would make the postseason, so head-to-head success remains prominent, but the last seed would be the team that scored the most points but wasn’t in the top five in the standings. This was the case for me in one of my leagues, as I scored the most points but finished seventh in the standings. I was rewarded for scoring a ton of points and earned a playoff berth.

Commissioners can also take this one step further and allow the top four teams in the standings to make the playoffs, and the two highest-scoring teams not in the top four in the standings to secure the final two postseason berths. I like this sort of rule a bit better.

High Stakes Fantasy Playoff Seeding

The high-stakes world knows the importance of scoring points, and it’s reflected in their postseason seeding. The top seed is the team with the best record. The second seed is the highest-scoring remaining team. The third seed has the next best record, the fourth seed has the next most points, and so on for the fifth and sixth seeds. I would argue that this is the best way to get the best six teams into the postseason while helping to limit “luck.”

FLEX League Postseason

There are a lot of fantasy commissioners out there who simply won’t change how teams are seeded. That’s fine. But in that case, there’s still a way to use a non-traditional rule to have the best teams advance in the playoffs. No matter how you come to your final postseason teams, the head-to-head aspect isn’t used in the playoffs. Instead, the teams that score the most points in each round advance. Let’s say you’re in the semifinals, and the team you played scored the most points while your team had the second-most points. In traditional leagues, you’d be out. But in FLEX League rules, you would still advance. This eliminates luck.

That sort of rule would be in effect throughout the playoffs until a champion is crowned. That might mean that the same two teams could face off in back-to-back weeks, but if those teams scored the most points, this rule suggests they deserve to move forward.

Final Thoughts

There are always going to be arguments for and against going away from traditional rules in fantasy football. Some would say that even in real sports, the better team doesn’t always win. But again, teams play defense in real sports. This isn’t real sports … it’s fantasy. And because it’s fantasy, we need to do everything we can to limit luck and reward success.

As the NFL appears to be considering a change based on this CBS report, fantasy fans and commissioners should also consider a move towards making the regular season matter and giving the best teams a chance to earn a postseason berth and win a championship.


Published
Michael Fabiano
MICHAEL FABIANO

Michael Fabiano is a fantasy football analyst for Sports Illustrated. His weekly rankings and Start 'Em, Sit 'Em articles are must-reads for fantasy players. He is also the co-host of the Fantasy Dirt Podcast on SI. Before joining SI in August 2020, he worked for CBS Sports, NFL Network and SiriusXM. He also contributes to Westwood One Radio. Fabiano was the first fantasy analyst to appear on one of the four major TV networks and is a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association Hall of Fame.