Fantasy football

The NFL has four weeks left in its regular season, but in fantasy football, the playoffs start now.

Head-to-head leagues such as the one I’m in typically begin the postseason after the 12th NFL game; this allows you three weeks for the playoffs, and also allows you to ignore the final week of the NFL season. Including the final week, particularly for the playoffs, is foolish and should not happen. You can’t count on a team that has already wrapped things up — like a division title or home-field advantage — to play its best players.

Last season’s Patriots team was a rare exception; the Pats were playing for an undefeated season. But if you have, say, Eli Manning or Brandon Jacobs, both members of the New York Giants, and the Giants have clinched everything going into the final regular-season game at Minnesota, are you going to feel confident playing them? Both could play only a quarter and then get yanked. Why would the Giants risk an injury heading into the playoffs?

That’s why the last week of the regular season, in both head-to-head leagues and overall point total leagues, should not be part of your season’s schedule. In my 12-team league, six squads make the playoffs. The top five won-loss records qualify, and the sixth spot goes to the remaining team with the highest overall point total (based on the thinking that if you have the most points, you probably have a pretty good team). In that spirit, if you finish with the high point total of the week, we reward the achievement with a weekly payout.

As for my squad, I finished tied for first and earned a bye this weekend, so I’m guaranteed a spot in the semifinals and need a pair of wins to take the title. We have a rule that there are no waiver moves allowed during the postseason, so I’m scrambling trying to balance out my roster before the playoffs begin this weekend.

I’m not thrilled with that rule (where was I when we voted on it?), but I’m playing by it, so I need backups at each position. Normally I wouldn’t carry a backup kicker or a backup tight end, but now, I need them. If my kicker (Matt Prater of Denver) pulls a groin or sprains an ankle and is replaced, and I don’t have a backup to insert during a playoff game and lose by a few points, then shame on me.

I’m clearing out space for Giants kicker John Carney, who is available because injured kicker Lawrence Tynes recently returned (it looks as though Carney is the man for the rest of the season). In addition, I’ve put in a claim on Daniel Graham as my tight end backup (I’m dropping the hardly-ever-productive Vernon Davis to make this happen). Hopefully Graham never starts for me; Tony Gonzalez is my starter, and he’s having the best fantasy season of any tight end.

My last move is at quarterback. I’ve been set all season with Denver’s Jay Cutler as my starter and Jacksonville’s David Garrard as my backup, but I’ve been reading about Garrard having “back issues” recently, so I’m figuring it’s best to go three deep at such an important position. I’m grabbing Gus Frerotte, Minnesota’s turnover-prone signal caller. I hardly trust Gus, but I also don’t trust one of my other quarterbacks staying healthy for another three weeks.

Ed Ryan writes about fantasy sports and betting for OT and can be reached at ed_ryan@globe.com