Who do you trust? Fantasy football playoff edition

I still can't put my finger on this fantasy football season. I guess that means it's been one crazy ride.

Hopefully, you've made your way through the landmines and injuries of the season and found the playoffs.

Looking back, I really lucked out this season in getting Robert Griffin III in all three of my leagues. It wasn't by design, it's just how it happened. And, he was drafted as my backup in all three leagues as well.

With RG3 leading the way, it should be no surprise that I made the playoffs in all three leagues.

Here's where I stand:

14-team straight redraft: Third place overall, second overall in scoring. I had Michael Vick as my starting QB but switched to RG3 after two weeks and didn't look back. I cut Vick last week and picked up Brandon Weeden as my backup. I've been putting up the points despite having Darren McFadden and DeMarco Murray on my bench with injuries for the second half of the season. Eric Decker has worn out his welcome; I just can't trust the guy at this point. I've had Jason Witten since the start of the season, and he currently ranks third at TE in our PPR format.

12-team, one keeper: Second place overall, first overall in scoring. I secured a bye Monday when the person I was battling with lost by three points. It helped that he had Santana Moss. Of course, the week before, I lost by 1.5 points with James Jones getting me zero targets. It's a PPR, so that really hurt. As for my roster, I entered the season with Calvin Johnson as my keeper. I then drafted A.J. Green and Rob Gronkowski with my first two picks. Not bad -- until Gronk got hurt. I picked up Philip Rivers and RG3 back-to-back during the draft, and I started Rivers in Week 1. After that, it's been RG3, baby.

8-team, five keepers: Second place overall, first in scoring. I was heavy on running backs, so I took Tony Romo with my first pick (drafted sixth, so Trent Richardson and Doug Martin were gone). I snagged RG3 soon after. I traded for Matthew Stafford midseason, so I've been going with him and RG3 as my two starters at QB. Otherwise it's been a heavy dose of Arian Foster and LeSean McCoy (Bryce Brown, too).

As I set my roster in one league and scan waivers in the other two since I have byes, I have my eyes on T.Y. Hilton, Danario Alexander, Knowshon Moreno, Vick Ballard and Jonathan Dwyer.

I'm forgetting about the likes of Decker, Denarius Moore, Jermichael Finley, Steve Smith, Jacquizz Rodgers (at least at home, check out his splits) and Shonn Greene.

Good luck this week.

Got a question? Follow me on Twitter @ green_rick.

2 out of 4 teams still going

Most fantasy football leagues are entering Super Bowl week.

If you're still going, congratulations for getting there. Good luck the rest of the way.

I have two of my four teams left. One is in the big game, the other is in the semifinals.

Here's what happened:

Redraft league (14 teams): I entered the playoffs 8-4-1 as the third seed. I lost my quarterfinal matchup by two points. I had DeMarco Murray at RB2 (LeSean McCoy the other) and would have won if he didn't get injured.

Redraft league (10 teams): Top seed at 10-4 with the top overall total in points scored. I was routed last week by a team with Reggie Bush (career day) and Lance Moore going off.

One-team keeper (12 teams): Went 8-5, good for third seed and second overall in scoring. Squeaked out quarterfinal win when Jake Ballard was tackled at the 1. Won my semifinal match by 6 points, thanks to Megatron going off for me and Eli Manning struggling for my opponent.

Seven-team keeper (8 teams): 11-3 overall, top seed, tops in scoring. Secured first-round bye. Play in semifinals this week.

1-1 last week, thanks to DeMarco Murray

It takes a lot of luck to win a fantasy football championship.

I was on both ends of it Sunday night.

In my one quarterfinal match, I was up four points at the end of the Giants-Cowboys game. My opponent and I did not have anyone on the Rams or Seahawks, so our battle was closing in a hurry.

For most of that Sunday night game, I was in control. Late in the fourth quarter, Jake Ballard caught a touchdown, narrowing my lead. My opponent had Ballard left, and still had a chance. On the Giants' final drive, Eli Manning hit Ballard, and he was headed for the end zone.

Thankfully, Ballard was tackled just short of a touchdown, saving me.

Earlier Sunday, in my other league, I had DeMarco Murray leave the game. I lost by five points. Had Murray not suffered a season-ending injury, I'm sure I'd be in the semifinals, especially when you look at what Felix Jones did in Murray's place.

That's how it goes in fantasy football.

Have any interesting tales? Post them in comments.

After 11 weeks in fantasy football, here's where we stand

We're getting down to crunch time in fantasy football. Many leagues have just two weeks left before the playoffs begin.

Here's a quick look at my four teams and where they stand:

One-player keeper. I'm tied for the best record at 8-3 and have the second-most points scored. If the season ended today, I'd be the top seed and have a first-round bye. Mike Vick has crushed me the past three weeks. I actually picked up and started Vince Young this past week. He didn't do much, but I squeezed out a win thanks to the Pats' defense. I'm relying heavily on Calvin Johnson, Vincent Jackson and Julio Jones. I have Antonio Brown as a backup at WR. At RB, I'm hurting. I'm mixing and matching with Shonn Greene, Willis McGahee, Mike Tolbert and Brandon Jacobs.

Seven-player keeper. I'm at 9-2, good enough for a one-game lead for tops overall. My team's been scoring at a pretty good clip, I'm first overall, 150 points more than second place. I took at hit at QB with Matt Schaub. I put in Ryan Fitzpatrick last week and have to scramble at that position. My real strength is running back where I have Arian Foster, LeSean McCoy and Matt Forte. At WR, I have Megatron and Roddy White, with Vincent Jackson as a matchup fill-in.

Redraft league. This team is interesting. I'm 6-4-1, which is third overall. I'm third in scoring but I'm first in points allowed. My tie came on a scoring change and I have two one-point losses. I've had Matt Stafford all season at QB, I picked up DeMarco Murray and have put him in the lineup faithfully and have gotten a lot out of LeSean McCoy. At receiver, I have DeSean Jackson and Hakeem Nicks, so it's been a bumpy ride there. I have the Texans defense and picked up the Patriots defense last week while the Texans were on a bye. We have just a four-player bench and I might keep both defenses the rest of the way.


Auto-pick league. This league drafted offline based on my pre-draft rankings. I'm in second place but first overall in scoring. I had Phil Rivers at QB but went away from him weeks ago in favor of Cam Newton. I have Ray Rice and Fred Jackson at RB, but I have Frank Gore and Ryan Mathews backing them up. I'll need to watch Jackson's injury.

Overall my teams have had success, but I know it can be short-lived. Everyone should still be working the waiver wire, as I will.

Good luck down the stretch. I'll post some thoughts on the week coming up later.