Fantasy Football Playoff Schedules: Best & Worst (2024)

Isn’t it amazing how the NFL can turn even a schedule release into an event and lock us in as fans? The excitement and speculation has officially begun, and there are some fun games to look forward to in 2024-25.

We have a Super Bowl rematch, a Harbaugh bowl, a Caleb-vs-Jayden game, and some players returning to cities where they spent a significant amount of time (Saquon Barkley, Kirk Cousins, Russell Wilson, etc).

As fantasy football players, a big part of analysis is looking at fantasy football playoff schedules. The right draft choices can be the thing that leads to victory or defeat come week 15. Let’s see who won and lost the fantasy football playoff schedule lottery.

Best & Worst Fantasy Football Playoff Schedules

Fantasy Football Playoff Schedule Winners

Bijan Robinson (RB – ATL)

Best & Worst Fantasy Football Playoff Schedules

Fantasy Football Playoff Schedule Winners

Bijan Robinson (RB – ATL)

When asking the question about playoff ease, the Falcons are going to be the first place people look. Robinson should be at the top of the list. The sky’s the limit for him, as he comes out from under the Arthur Smith rock.

In weeks 15-17, the Falcons play the Raiders, Giants, and Commanders. All three of them were 21st or worse in team rush defense last season. The Giants were also tied for an NFL-worst 24 rushing TDs allowed.

All the other Falcons

Robinson is my favorite, but these three opponents struggled in pass defense as well. By the time week 15 rolls around, Cousins should be completely in sync with all of his weapons, so he, Drake London, and Kyle Pitts are looking mighty fine for playoff fantasy football.

Jonathan Taylor (RB – IND)

Taylor is another RB that stands to benefit from the schedule at playoff time. He lost seven games to injury last year but still garnered a 60% snap share for the season. That’s significant with how Zack Moss played. Moss is out of town now, so it’s conceivable we see Taylor revert to his 2022 form when he saw a 70% snap share and 69% opportunity share.

The Colts play the Broncos, Titans, and Giants (who we discussed already) in weeks 15-17. The Broncos were even worse than the Giants in rush defense DVOA. Tennessee floundered in the second half in rush defense, allowing the ninth most rushing YPG from week 9 on.

Ja’Marr Chase (WR- CIN)

First of all, you don’t need me to sell you on Chase. He’s as a shoo-in to go among the top five overall picks and the WR1 in some circles (mine). He also has an incredibly interesting schedule during the fantasy football playoffs.

Week 16 looks awful against the Browns, who were the top-ranked pass defense in 2023 and project to be there again. Chase had two very pedestrian games against them (5-39-0, 4-19-0), but it bears mentioning that Joe Burrow was not the QB for one of those games.

In weeks 15 and 17, Chase and the Bengals face the Titans and Broncos, who ranked 25th and 31st respectively in coverage grades according to PFF. The Broncos also gave up 29 receiving TDs last season.

Fantasy Football Playoff Schedule Losers

Najee Harris (RB – PIT)

The Steelers wound up with a brutal schedule in general (as did almost the entire AFC North), but Harris gets a particularly rough go in weeks 15-17. The Steelers will be playing the Eagles, Ravens, and Chiefs for that stretch. All of them were top-15 rush defenses or better (the Ravens also gave up an NFL-best six rushing TDs last year).

Game scripts against these teams do not set up favorably for Harris. Jaylen Warren (if anyone) would be the guy to fire up here out of the Steelers’ backfield.

Malik Nabers (WR – NYG) & Wan’Dale Robinson (WR – NYG)

The Giants fan in me hates bashing them, but I have to call a spade a spade here. The NY offense is going to be suspect unless Daniel Jones/Drew Lock surprise us, and the week 15-17 schedule doesn’t help.

The G-Men will take on the Ravens, Falcons, and Colts. Baltimore and Atlanta ranked as top-8 or better pass defenses last season. The Ravens also led the league in both sacks and pressure rate, which could be a nightmare for the Giants’ passing game.

Matthew Stafford (QB – LAR) & Puka Nacua (WR – LAR)

This seems like a recipe for backlash given how Puka was everyone’s darling last year, but his playoff schedule has to be mentioned. It’s smooth sailing if he can get to week 17 for a home matchup against the Cardinals. However, to do so, he’ll have to navigate his way through two road matchups against the 49ers and the Jets – both top-10 in PFF coverage grades.

The Jets only allowed 168.3 passing yards per game (only the Browns were better) and 19 receiving TDs. Both the Jets and Niners were in the top-10 in pressure rate, which will make life difficult for the statuesque Stafford.