How to Use playoff in a Sentence

playoff

1 of 2 noun
  • Just look at both playoff games so far.
    — Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 7 Jan. 2026
  • The top eight teams make the playoffs.
    — Ryan Finley, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Oct. 2025
  • The top eight teams make the playoffs.
    — Ryan Finley, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Oct. 2025
  • This was a playoff-type game — high stakes.
    — Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 8 Apr. 2026
  • Chiefs were one-and-done in playoffs.
    — Parker Gabriel, Denver Post, 12 Oct. 2025
  • Dallas has a long way to go to be a playoff team.
    — Jon MacHota, New York Times, 6 Oct. 2025
  • At this point, the Chiefs are not in a playoff spot.
    — Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 3 Nov. 2025
  • At 2-6, their playoff hopes are not quite dead yet.
    — James Brizuela, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Oct. 2025
  • To break through that second round of the playoffs.
    — Brendan Connelly, Boston Herald, 19 Oct. 2025
  • Force wins, never more so than in the playoffs.
    — Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 26 May 2026
  • Insert a joke about the new playoff salary cap here?
    — Corey Masisak, Denver Post, 21 Sep. 2025
  • This is the 15th playoff game the team will have played.
    — David Troy Outkick, FOXNews.com, 19 May 2026
  • Not quite playoff-caliber loud, but loud all the same.
    — Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, 22 Sep. 2025
  • What teams surprised the most in the first week of the playoffs?
    — Dan Albano, Oc Register, 18 Feb. 2026
  • Robertson isn’t bad in the playoffs, per se.
    — Shayna Goldman, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2026
  • The coach recalled a goal-line stand at the end of a playoff game.
    — Thomas Lake, CNN, 12 July 2024
  • The Tigers are on pace to earn a first-round bye in the playoffs.
    — Cody Stavenhagen, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2025
  • Both teams are headed to the playoffs.
    — Darren Lauber, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 11 Feb. 2026
  • And just knowing if that is this team, we are built for the playoffs.
    — Kansas City Star, 4 Feb. 2026
  • Blown away by a string of playoff losses, love was no longer in the air.
    — Gordon Monson, The Salt Lake Tribune, 1 Sep. 2022
  • The playoffs offer a life raft.
    — Troy Renck, Denver Post, 15 Apr. 2026
  • Pine has outscored its playoff foes 24-0.
    — Buddy Collings, The Orlando Sentinel, 11 Feb. 2026
  • Most of them have to do with teams that could be in the playoff race, but not all of them.
    — Doug Lesmerises, cleveland, 8 July 2022
  • See the full playoff bracket here.
    — Alex Kirshner, New York Times, 19 Oct. 2025
  • Through the air, their pass-catching group is one of the worst in the playoffs.
    — Austin Mock, New York Times, 7 Jan. 2026
  • When were the Flyers in the playoffs last?
    — Kaitlyn McCormick, USA Today, 28 Apr. 2026
  • The Texas high school boys soccer playoffs are here.
    — Colby Gordon, Austin American Statesman, 18 Mar. 2026
  • The Texas high school girls soccer playoffs are here.
    — Colby Gordon, Austin American Statesman, 18 Mar. 2026
  • The Bruins are not a playoff lock.
    — Fluto Shinzawa, New York Times, 14 Jan. 2026
  • As well as a desire to get the team back to playoff contention.
    — Marc Topkin, The Orlando Sentinel, 11 Feb. 2026

play off

2 of 2 verb
  • Then, she’s played off of that.
    — Bobby Burack Outkick, FOXNews.com, 22 Apr. 2026
  • So, of course, the video would play off of that.
    — Maddie Lee, Los Angeles Times, 9 Apr. 2026
  • Should Ware just play off the bench?
    — Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 20 Dec. 2025
  • The two sports play off each other.
    — Patrick Z. McGavin, Chicago Tribune, 27 Aug. 2025
  • The changeup played off of that.
    — Jeff Fletcher, Oc Register, 3 June 2026
  • Herro played off the bench in his first game in over a month.
    — Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 21 Feb. 2026
  • That bass would play off of the horn rhythm that was already set up.
    — Jonathan Bernstein, Rolling Stone, 14 Apr. 2026
  • When the box is lit, the acrylic pieces shine and play off each other.
    — Heide Janssen, Oc Register, 15 Mar. 2026
  • Take a play off and everyone will find out.
    — Edgar Thompson, The Orlando Sentinel, 3 Apr. 2026
  • Each of them gives the other something to play off of.
    — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 29 Oct. 2025
  • The songs play off the imagery of ice falling.
    — Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 15 Feb. 2026
  • Rackets are solid and balls can be played off of walls.
    — Dj Siddiqi, Forbes.com, 26 Jan. 2026
  • Threw the ball really well, made some plays off point.
    — Lawrence Dow, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 22 Sep. 2025
  • Menefee said his bill would play off that precedent.
    — Jeremy Wallace, Houston Chronicle, 30 Apr. 2026
  • Herro played off the bench in his first game in nearly a month.
    — Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 7 Jan. 2026
  • One of his biggest learning points was how to play off the puck.
    — Steve Conroy, Boston Herald, 9 Apr. 2026
  • There were two big plays off of it and two other sacks that happened off of it.
    — Steve Galluzzo, Los Angeles Times, 22 Apr. 2026
  • For now, Jovic is playing off the Heat’s bench.
    — Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 31 Dec. 2025
  • Swing the ball from one side of the floor to the other, play off the catch and punch gaps off the bounce.
    — Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 19 Apr. 2026
  • Many of the jokes played off the inane truths of the work environment.
    — Chris Koseluk, HollywoodReporter, 13 Jan. 2026
  • Landry also played off the ball some in base personnel.
    — Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 14 Oct. 2025
  • That was a great play off the rush by them and just a heads-up play by Lindy to send it over to me.
    — Steve Conroy, Boston Herald, 18 Jan. 2026
  • Some teams simply won’t want to invest a high draft pick on a player who may play off the ball.
    — Austin Mock, New York Times, 18 Feb. 2026
  • That left Powell playing off the bench for the first time this season.
    — Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 15 Mar. 2026
  • Lue said Collins’ play off the bench helps space the floor and results in rolls to the basket.
    — Janis Carr, Oc Register, 6 Apr. 2026
  • Ball can obviously play off the ball and be a shooter.
    — Roderick Boone, Charlotte Observer, 26 June 2026
  • The 6-4, 241-pounder can play off-ball linebacker and on the edge.
    — Dan Duggan, New York Times, 25 Apr. 2026
  • The natural center has done well to adjust to left wing and can still make plays off the walls.
    — Fluto Shinzawa, New York Times, 8 Jan. 2026
  • Barham played off-ball linebacker and as a stand-up rusher in college at two programs.
    — Jim Barnes, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 27 Apr. 2026
  • The name, Gold Squad, plays off of Hertz's gold-and-black logo.
    — Jamie L. Lareau, USA Today, 28 Aug. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'playoff.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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