Through sweat, tears and watching countless hours of football, the time has finally come for the much-anticipated fantasy football playoffs.

Luckily I was able to make the playoffs in all three of my leagues. Hopefully at least one of these teams will pull through and win me a year of bragging rights over my league mates.

Here are some things that you can do to best prepare your team for success in the playoffs.

Listen to absolutely no one other than yourself when making decisions on whom to sit and whom to start.

At this time of the year, you have to make your own decisions, otherwise the blame for your loss will be attributed to someone else.

Trust your gut instincts, whether that is to ride your mid-season waiver wire pickup or to sit your first-round draft pick.

Do not let the advice of so-called experts play into your decision making for such a crucial decision at a critical time.

With that being said, I will provide some random and potentially beneficial food for thought in the form of statistics.

Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson rushed for 153 yards on Sunday. This was Johnson’s third 100-yard rushing performance in his last four games. CJ also had two scores for the first time since Week 5 in 2010.

Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow is 5-0 in his last five games, with four of those wins coming on the road. During that stretch, Tebow has yet to throw an interception.

Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch has totaled 456 rushing yards, 79 receiving yards and five touchdowns in his last four games.

Top overall pick and Carolina Panthers rookie quarterback Cam Newton wrote his name in the history books on Sunday. Newton now has the most rushing touchdowns by a QB in a single season with 13. Interestingly enough, Newton also leads all players this year in rushing touchdowns.

Entering Sunday, San Francisco kicker David Akers led all kickers in total points. On Sunday, he kicked four more field goals, all four of which occurred inside 36 yards.

New England Patriots running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis has 156 carries so far this season. Miami Dolphins running back Reggie Bush has 155.

There are seven tight ends in the top 20 receivers for total receptions: Jimmy Graham (New Orleans Saints), Tony Gonzalez (Atlanta Falcons), Rob Gronkowski (Patriots), Jason Witten (Dallas Cowboys), Fred Davis (Washington Redskins), Brandon Pettigrew (Detroit Lions) and Kellen Winslow (Tampa Bay Buccaneers).
Graham is second in the league in receptions behind Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker. Gronkowski has the most receiving touchdowns in the league with 13.

Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson is second in the league in both receiving yards and receiving touchdowns.

Cleveland Browns wide receiver Greg Little and Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green are tied for most receptions by a rookie with 50.

Of those quarterbacks who have thrown at least 400 passes, only four have fewer than 10 interceptions: Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay Packers), Colt McCoy (Browns), Joe Flacco (Baltimore Ravens), and Tony Romo (Cowboys).

The Indianapolis Colts give up the most points per game (29.8), while the San Francisco 49ers give up the fewest (13.4).

Hopefully you came out victorious this week. If not, you and your team are probably still reeling from a backbreaking loss.

Some injuries occurred this weekend that could affect your team’s chances of going forward.

If you were rejoicing at selecting Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick on draft day, you are probably severely disappointed thus far. The quarterback broke a couple of ribs in Sunday’s loss to the Arizona Cardinals.

If you have other options, start them with his status in doubt and shaky play as of late.
San Francisco 49ers running back Frank Gore has looked good lately but was hampered by both knee and ankle issues this week. Gore was on the sidelines during stretches of the game, so check the injury report later in the week.

Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Sidney Rice suffered a concussion this week, and his availability for the upcoming week depends on whether he passes the mandated concussion tests. If he doesn’t, give a slight upgrade to the other wide receivers on the Seahawks.

The Denver Broncos are hurting badly at running back right now, with both Willis McGahee and Knowshon Moreno leaving the field on Sunday. Relatively unknown Lance Ball picked up the slack and toted the rock 30 times for 96 yards.

Here are some players I am higher on this week:

Oakland Raiders running back Michael Bush’s stat line from Thursday against the Chargers was 30 carries for 157 yards and a touchdown and three catches for 85 yards.

With the Raiders in first place in the AFC West and Darren McFadden still hobbled, expect the Raiders to heavily lean on Bush going forward.

Don’t look now, but Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch is starting to find a groove. He has had a touchdown in five straight games and has gone over 100 yards in the past two.

His matchup next week against the St. Louis Rams is rather cushy, so do not shy away from beast mode any time soon.

In a deeper league, use Houston Texans running back Ben Tate. While he is essentially a backup to Arian Foster, he still gets a decent amount of work as the Texans aim to keep Foster fresh.

Quoting one of my favorite childhood movies, “The Sandlot:” “Heroes are remembered, but legends never die.” Be a legend by keeping your fantasy season alive.

As an Indianapolis Colts fan, it was brutal to watch even one millisecond of the game on Sunday night against the New Orleans Saints.

However, from a fantasy perspective, I was giddy, as some of the Saints put up monster numbers against my favorite team.

In week seven, there were many quarterback changes that resulted in anemic point totals for some quality players. These situations make the waiver wire that much more intriguing for finding quality help.

Quarterback Tim Tebow looked awful for the first 55 minutes of the Denver Broncos’ game against the Miami Dolphins. He looked unstoppable in the last five.

With Tebow, you never know what you are going to get, aside from solid rushing totals. The rushing yardage makes a world of difference, and Tebow can be a borderline starter in the shallowest of leagues because of it.

Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson is struggling more right now than most Butler students are following Homecoming weekend.  Johnson has a single 100-yard game this season.

This week, Johnson squares off against the match up-friendly Colts. If Johnson doesn’t break the century mark this week, feel free to cut all ties with this first-round bust.

With Minnesota Vikings rookie QB Christian Ponder earning his first career start on Sunday versus the Green Bay Packers, running back Adrian Peterson looked absolutely unstoppable, rushing for 175 yards.

More surprising was the emergence of Michael Jenkins as Ponder’s favorite target. Jenkins’ stat line was three catches for 111 yards and a touchdown. Ponder is fully utilizing Jenkins’ height, making him fantasy-relevant again.

Dallas Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray ran wild, rushing 25 times for 253 yards and a touchdown. I try not to put too much stock in one game, but Murray seems like the real deal and has a favorable match up against the Philadelphia Eagles this week.

With another strong performance, Murray could be included in a Maurice Sendak picture book.

Lastly, the injury bug bit multiple marquee-name players this week. Monitor Darren McFadden, Beanie Wells, Tim Hightower, Earnest Graham, Marshawn Lynch and Peyton Hillis.