NFL playoff pool ideas.
Five ways to run one.

An NFL playoff pool is a game a group plays alongside the playoffs: an office, a family, a group of friends. There are five common kinds.

Four of them are about picking teams. One is about picking players.

Create a League

The five kinds, side by side

Pool	What you pick	How long it lasts
Bracket pool	The winner of every playoff game, before the first one kicks off	All four rounds, on one set of picks
Pick'em pool	The winner of each game, one round at a time	All four rounds
Confidence pool	The winners, ranked by how sure you are	All four rounds
Squares	A square on a grid. The numbers are drawn for you	Usually one game
Playoff fantasy football	Eight NFL players every round	All four rounds, and nobody is knocked out

Bracket pool

Everyone fills in the whole playoff bracket before Wild Card weekend, picking the winner of every game through the Super Bowl. It's quick to run. The catch is that the picks are made once, so a couple of early upsets can leave people with nothing to root for.

Pick'em pool

Everyone picks the winner of each game, a round at a time. People stay involved longer than with a bracket, because every round is a fresh set of picks.

Confidence pool

A pick'em with one more decision. You rank your picks by how sure you are, and a correct pick is worth more the higher you ranked it.

Squares

A ten by ten grid. Each square ends up with one number for each team, and a square wins when its numbers match the last digit of each team's score. There's nothing to pick, which is the appeal. It's usually run for a single game.

Playoff fantasy football

Instead of picking teams, everyone picks players. Each round, every member sets a lineup of eight from the teams still playing: a quarterback, two running backs, two wide receivers, a tight end, a kicker and a defense. Points come from what those players do on the field.

On PlayoffBlitz there's no draft, and each player can be started only once, so the last round is as close as the first. Nobody is knocked out. The whole group is still playing during the Super Bowl.

Which one fits your group

You want it over in one sitting: a bracket pool or squares.
You want something new to do every round: a pick'em, a confidence pool or playoff fantasy football.
You want everyone still in it at the end: playoff fantasy football. Points add up, so one bad week doesn't finish anyone.
Your group doesn't follow fantasy football: they don't need to. If they watch the playoffs, they can pick eight players.

Running the player version

The playoff fantasy football page explains the four weeks. If it's for work, read the office football pool page, and how to run a playoff fantasy football league walks the commissioner through setup.

Playoff pool questions.

What is an NFL playoff pool?

An NFL playoff pool is a game a group of people plays alongside the NFL playoffs. Everyone makes picks, the picks are scored as the games are played, and the best score at the end wins.

What kinds of NFL playoff pools are there?

The common ones are a bracket pool, a pick'em pool, a confidence pool, squares and playoff fantasy football. The first four are about teams and final scores. Playoff fantasy football is about players.

What is an NFL playoff bracket pool?

In a bracket pool everyone picks the winner of every playoff game, all the way to the Super Bowl, before the first game is played. The most correct picks wins.

How does a playoff fantasy football pool work?

Each round, every member picks a lineup of eight NFL players from the teams still playing and scores points for what those players do. On PlayoffBlitz each player can be started only once, and the highest total after the Super Bowl wins.

How many people can be in a playoff pool?

It depends on the pool. A PlayoffBlitz league has no limit, and the league fee is the same for six people or sixty.

Run the player version.

Create a playoff league, send the invite around, and set your first lineup before Wild Card weekend.