Looking Back at Memorable Performances of the 2025 Fantasy Playoffs

A trip down memory lane as the 2025 season comes to a close.

Estevão Maximo
Things I Loved 3 Days Ago

What an NFL season it’s been, huh? Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs actually missed the playoffs. Aaron Rodgers and Lamar Jackson headlined an entertaining winner-take-all affair as the Steelers edged out the Ravens to win the AFC North, thus resulting in John Harbaugh being let go after nearly two decades in charge—and let’s not allow the sour taste of the last two games in the Wild Card round to sour what was an outstanding opening weekend of playoff games. This having been a season to remember, we ought to look back and sift through some of the more memorable fantasy postseason performances of 2025.

Why Chase elite backs, when the Bengals’ Brown will do the trick?

Perhaps not the most interesting team in a traditional sense, the Cincinnati Bengals were a fascinating squad in the world of fantasy football. Loaded with some of the more fearsome offensive combinations in the sport, in Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase, the Bengals once again had their potential crushed by injuries—Burrow missed significant time, an all too familiar theme, and it cost the team dearly. The fantasy cost of Burrow’s absence to the Bengals’ top offensive weapons was lowered by the outstanding work of folk hero Joe Flacco, a man who showed up just slinging it to Chase to generate big numbers. Wins didn’t come as the Bengals went 1-5 with Flacco, but Chase produced at a very high level. Making a big deal out of competing until the end, despite the Bengals being dead in the water by the time of his return, Burrow led Cincinnati back to their offensive peak down the stretch—and a couple of tasty matchups provided none other than Chase Brown the opportunity to emerge as one of the stars of the fantasy football playoffs with two memorable performances versus the Dolphins and Cardinals.

Visiting the Dolphins in pristine weather conditions, both offenses had a field day, but only Cincinnati proved effective (winning the turnover battle 3-0), and surprisingly, down in the red zone, Brown ended up being the most effective target of Burrow. The Bengals’ young running back scored two touchdowns through the air on just four targets—the first of these touchdowns was no gimmick, as Brown cut back to elude Jordyn Brooks and jumped over Ashtyn Davis’ low tackle attempt to reach the end zone—one of the finest touchdowns of that week.

The following two scores might as well entail a thank-you card to the Dolphins defense, as it provided absolutely no pushback—the Fins D extended the red carpet for a ten-yard touchdown run and then left Brown wide open as he motioned out of the backfield for a quick route to the flat

A team that sleepwalked through the backend of the NFL season, getting their door blown off in four of their last five regular-season games, the Cardinals’ defense was a no-show against the Bengals in Week 17. Unlike in his previous affair, Brown didn’t manage to find the end zone through the air, and what prompted his outstanding performance was the volume of runs he had, seldom seen this season. Between Weeks 3 and 16, Brown only surpassed 12 rushing attempts four times, reaching the 100-rushing-yards mark just twice. Well, he saved his best for championship week, earning 22 of the Bengals’ 28 rushing attempts, securing 108 yards, and scoring a couple of touchdowns.

The fascinating part about this outstanding performance is that, depending on how harshly you want to judge the Cardinals, one could claim Brown’s damage came in its entirety in garbage time. By the time Brown found the end zone for the first time, the Bengals already held a 23-7 lead in the third quarter against a rather defeated Cardinals team; it could’ve been even better for Brown managers if not for the fact that one of Samaje Perine’s three rushing attempts came on a first goal at the one, leading to a rushing score.

A king-size meal for King Henry

Who doesn’t remember Alvin Kamara’s glorious Christmas game in 2020, torching the Vikings on his way to the second-most PPR points in the 21st century, trailing only Clinton Portis in 2003 against the Chiefs? Would it surprise you to know that’s the most PPR points anyone has ever scored without reaching 20 receiving yards? The definition of an all-purpose back, Kamara had himself a Derrick Henry game that day, with just three catches for 17 yards and all of his damage on the ground. This provides a nice segue to discuss the Ravens’ star back and his exploits on a glorious Saturday evening in late December against the Packers.

History will remember the 2025 Ravens season as the last of the John Harbaugh era, the one where Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers outlasted Lamar Jackson and the Ravens in a Week 18 battle for the AFC North crown. For me, the 2025 Ravens season will be remembered as the one when Derrick Henry tried to answer the question: how many points can a running back humanly score without catching a pass?

Visiting the Packers in a battle of backup quarterbacks as Tyler Huntley and Malik Willis had to fill in for Jackson and Jordan Love, the Ravens decided to exclusively run the ball, and it worked. Anything over 20 rushing attempts is something you take notice of for a single player, but what is the appropriate response when one man takes the rock 36 times?

Quite literally, Baltimore’s only method of moving the ball down the field was via the run, as Huntley earned a very conservative 106 yards through the air, going 16 for 20. Henry took the expression ‘one-man show’ to a whole new level, scoring four touchdowns on his 36 attempts, responsible for the vast majority of the Ravens’ 307 yards on the ground.

None of this was done on a whim or to cater to the heroic efforts of an individual. Baltimore needed every bit of that performance to handle a Packer offense that earned over 350 yards, led by Malik Willis, reflecting rather poorly on the Ravens’ defensive efforts.

Christian McCaffrey and Bijan Robinson—they’re pretty good

In the famous, or perhaps infamous, words of former Cardinals Head Coach Dennis Green: “They are who we thought they were.” All the analysis in the world to predict favorable matchups and breakout candidates will often take a backseat to outstanding players having outstanding performances in the biggest moments. For the definition of many fantasy playoffs this season, that involved Christian McCaffrey and Bijan Robinson doing what we’ve come to expect out of these outstanding all-purpose backs.

Coming back from a long-term injury at age 29, McCaffrey naturally raised the slightest of skepticisms about just how much of his former self would return and what kind of workload he could handle. It took one week for the Niners to illustrate there were no concerns regarding their superstar back with Kyle Shanahan feeding him the ball a whopping 31 times in a closely contested, low-scoring win over the Seahawks (22 carries and 9 receptions).

Move ahead to the last two weeks of the fantasy postseason, and while McCaffrey had reinserted himself as one of the better players in the game, his impact on the ground, exclusively, had had its ebbs and flows. Across his first six appearances this season, CMC only ran for more than 60 yards once. Yet, he left the best for the end.

History will remember the Indianapolis Colts as a team that folded spectacularly due to injuries down the stretch, wasting what looked like an incredibly promising campaign with seven consecutive losses off a bye. I, for one, will remember the Colts and Philip Rivers, in particular, as key pieces of a magnificent CMC performance in Week 16. The Niners needed every bit of CMC’s 112 rushing yards and two touchdown receptions to keep an Indy offense that put 27 points up on the board at arm’s length. A more mediocre performance, and CMC probably gets a lighter workload in such a key game.

One week later, a date with the putrid Bears rush defense that allowed 5.0 rushing yards per attempt this season presented CMC with the opportunity to have his best game on the ground since October of 2023. The Bears’ run defense conceded 140 yards on 23 attempts to the Niners’ running back.

The Falcons’ failings this season have many responsible parties, but Bijan Robinson isn’t among them. Apart from losing a few rushing scores to Tyler Allgeier, the Falcons’ star back did everything to live up to his breakout 2024 campaign, including taking many steps forward with his impact in the passing game. Robinson’s 79 catches (second on the team) for over 800 yards allowed him to lead the league in scrimmage yards (2298).

Featured heavily in a close win against the Cardinals in week 16, Robinson was targeted a team-high 11 times, accounting for nearly half of the Falcons’ yards in the air with seven catches for 92 yards and a score. When fantasy managers needed him the most, as the Falcons played host to a Rams team with MVP-hopeful Matthew Stafford in week 17, the Falcons came out guns blazing to take a commanding 21-0 lead thanks in large part due to Robinson’s phenomenal efforts, including a 93-yard score to seal that three-touchdown lead—it was Robinson’s longest run since joining the league.

Facing a defense that, nine times during the regular season, held the opposing team to under 100 rushing yards, Robinson by himself nearly topped 200, going for 195 on 22 attempts.

 

 

Photo by Nick Wosika, Ric Tapia | Adapted by Parker McDonald (@CarbonFoxGFX on Twitter/X)