Fantasy Playoff Schedules: Best and Worst

In most leagues, Weeks 15 through 17 are the money weeks for fantasy football. That’s even more true when you’re competing in a top-heavy best ball tournament like Best Ball Mania VI, where a strong playoff run can turn you into a millionaire overnight.

One problem: It’s very hard to forecast who’s going to score the most fantasy points in Weeks 15, 16, and 17 when we’re drafting in the summer. Last year in this article, I noted that the Lions were projected to be one of the highest-scoring teams in football but pointed out they had merely average team totals in a Week 16 matchup in Chicago and a Week 17 game at San Francisco.

Detroit scored 34 points in Week 16 and 42 points in Week 17.

Still, with how important those money weeks are, it’s worth trying to quantify which teams have the best and worst schedules during those games. You don’t want to go overboard and completely ignore everything besides Weeks 16 and 17, but it’s useful to be aware of each team’s matchups during those weeks, possibly to use as a tiebreaker if torn between two players.

So let’s break down each team’s schedule during the fantasy playoffs. First, we’ll quickly walk through the best and worst playoff schedules.

BEST SCHEDULES DURING THE FANTASY PLAYOFFS

1. New Orleans Saints – It’s none other than the New Orleans Saints who are projected for the most points in Weeks 15-17 relative to their implied output during their first 14 games. This doesn’t mean the Saints project for a lot of points in those games; they are implied 31st in scoring in Weeks 1-14 and 26th during the fantasy playoff weeks. Equally important is the fact that the Saints are 6.4-point underdogs on average in Weeks 1-14, but they’re only forecasted to lose by an average of 1.2 points per game during the money weeks. The Saints get home games versus the Panthers and Jets in Weeks 15 and 16, respectively, followed by a road bout in Tennessee on fantasy championship weekend. That means New Orleans has zero bad-weather games in the fantasy playoffs with two home dome games, followed by a road outing in mild Nashville. We don’t know who the Saints will start at QB in Week 15. It’s reportedly an open competition ahead of Week 1 between Tyler Shough, Spencer Rattler, and Jake Haener. It’s no lock that whoever starts in Week 1 will still be starting in Week 15, making stacking difficult. Shough should be the favorite to start the most games given how poorly Rattler and Haener played last year and Shough’s Round 2 draft capital (and advanced age). Whoever it is will get an ideal matchup at home against the worst defense in football last year in Carolina. Alvin Kamara notched 228 carries in his age-29 season in 2024 and remains one of the most-involved RBs in the league in the pass game. With only Day 3 pick Devin Neal added as competition and Taysom Hill potentially out all season coming off an ACL injury, Kamara, if healthy, will have a nice setup as the lead back for the 1.5-point underdogs in Week 15. The Saints are actually favored by 1.5 in Week 16 against a stingier Jets defense, but a home dome game as favorites still sets up well for Kamara. Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed benefit from an above-average game environment, too. Weeks 15 and 16 are the Saints’ two highest implied team totals of the season. New Orleans’ team total dips back under 20 in Week 17 against the Cam Ward-led Titans, but they are still smaller underdogs (3.5), and weather usually isn’t a big problem in Nashville. The Saints undeniably have a good schedule during the fantasy playoffs, but it’s important to remember that they still rank 26th in projected scoring during these weeks. It’s not like they’re suddenly expected to turn into a juggernaut, but the matchups are better than average.
2. Washington Commanders – Washington is on here for one reason: They have the highest implied team total in Week 17 — by more than two points. They’re implied for 28.0 points in Week 17, while the next-closest team (Cincinnati) sits at 25.8. A home game against Dallas (as 5.5-point favorites) presents a perfect game environment for Jayden Daniels, Brian Robinson Jr., Terry McLaurin, Deebo Samuel, and the rest of the Commanders’ offense.
3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Tampa Bay is eighth in expected scoring in Weeks 1-14 but third in Weeks 15-17. They get a