Week 18 is here, and it is the final NFL DFS main slate of the regular season. We have a short two-game slate on Saturday which will feature the entire AFC North as the Cleveland Browns visit the Baltimore Ravens, followed by the Pittsburgh Steelers hosting the Cincinnati Bengals. 

 

 

 

But the Sunday main slate is one of the largest of the year. The remaining 28 teams will be available to us on FanDuel, while DraftKings will exclude the Sunday Night Football game between the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers. There are a lot of teams and narratives to consider for this weekend’s action on the gridiron.

Let’s take a look at the latest NFL DFS Week 18 D/ST Coach!

NFL DFS Week 18 D/ST Coach For FanDuel & DraftKings Fantasy

We had plenty of good options to target for the Week 17 NFL DFS main slate. The Philadelphia Eagles were the Play of the Week and they returned 19 fantasy points against the Dallas Cowboys and they now have nine takeaways in their last two games. 

Even the Las Vegas Raiders, as a value play, returned a dozen fantasy points and they’re a team that’s only allowed 37 total points in their last three games so they’re ending the season with some momentum. But they do have a tough matchup in Week 18, which we’ll get to shortly.

If you were able to pay up for the Buffalo Bills, they were able to return 13 fantasy points, but you could’ve also saved $1,000 on DraftKings for the Raiders for almost the same return. And the mid-range play, the Miami Dolphins, also returned 12 fantasy points. 

The only bad recommendation was the Tennessee Titans, but overall, it was a very strong week for the NFL DFS D/ST Coach.

 

 

 

NFL Week 18 Defense/Special Teams

We have a massive slate for Week 18, and this is always such a weird slate each season. Some teams have locked in their playoff spots and declared they’ll be resting some starters. 

That appears to be the case so far with the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles. Even Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills won’t play the whole game against the New England Patriots, who can lock up the top pick in the 2025 NFL Draft with a loss.

We also have five teams currently favored by at least 6.5 points and three of those teams are favored by at least 10 points. The implied game totals are all over the place as well depending on which teams still have something to play for and which teams might rest some starters.

Across all the pricing tiers we have you covered with the NFL DFS Week 18 D/ST Coach!

 

 

 

NFL DFS D/ST Top Tier Picks For Week 18

Tampa Bay Buccaneers - DraftKings: $3,600 | FanDuel: $4,900

The Bucs are the largest favorites on the slate at 13.5 points and the New Orleans Saints have an implied team total of about 15 points. It’s still early in the week, but the Saints don’t have much to play for aside from draft position.

Derek Carr, Alvin Kamara, and Kendre Miller didn’t practice on Wednesday so it’s still unclear if they’ll suit up to close out the season in Week 18. If they sit, that likely upgrades this matchup for Tampa because Spencer Rattler has been a disaster whenever he’s started for the Saints.

With the NFC South still on the line, you have to imagine the Bucs will be scoreboard watching to see how the Atlanta Falcons fare against the Carolina Panthers, but there’s a very good floor for this D/ST for the final week of the season.

Green Bay Packers – DraftKings: $3,400 | FanDuel: $4,600

The Green Bay Packers have locked up their spot in the NFC playoffs and they’ll be the third team to emerge from the NFC North. They’ll host the Chicago Bears, the lone team from the division that won’t make the playoffs.

It does seem as if the Packers might be short-handed this weekend, however. Jaire Alexander isn’t expected to play. Moreover, as of Wednesday’s injury report Zayne Anderson, Brenton Cox Jr., and Quay Walker didn’t practice.

But the Bears also enter this matchup having lost 10 straight games. Are they well rested? Yes, because they played on Thursday in Week 17. But the Packers do have a chance to improve their seeding with a win and a Commanders loss. 

It’s not much incentive but it’s better than most teams. And at the end of the day, it’s the Bears. Everytime I think they’ll turn it around offensively, they continue to put up duds and they have an implied team total of roughly 15 points this week.

 

 

 

NFL DFS D/ST Mid-Tier Picks For Week 18

Atlanta Falcons – DraftKings: $3,200 | FanDuel: $4,300

The Falcons still have the NFC South to play for, but they do need the Saints to beat the Buccaneers. It seems rather unlikely to happen, but the Falcons do have a shot after they came into this year with playoff aspirations.

We’ve noted in previous NFL DFS D/ST Coach articles that the Falcons have been blitzing at a higher rate to close out the 2024 season. In five games since their Bye week they have 21 sacks and they’ve held three of those opponents to 11 or fewer points.

One thing to be wary of in this matchup is that Bryce Young has played better of late since reclaiming the starting quarterback job for the Queen City Kitties. But even in his last three games he’s thrown two interceptions and fumbled four times (two were lost). 

I will also note that the Falcons are eight-point favorites, but the Panthers still have an implied team total of 20 points. I do like this play, but not enough to list them as the Play of the week.

Seattle Seahawks – DraftKings: $2,900 | FanDuel: $3,900

I’ll be brief with this entry because it is another D/ST going against a playoff team that’ll be resting some starters. The Seahawks are also well rested after their ugly 6-3 win over the Chicago Bears in Week 17.

The Los Angeles Rams have announced that Matthew Stafford will rest in Week 18 as the team has already locked up the NFC West division. Jimmy Garoppolo will get the start in his place with Stetson Bennett backing him up.

Seattle does have an up-and-coming secondary that can make some noise in the coming years. But for this matchup on Sunday the Rams do have an implied team total of roughly 16 points and the Seahawks are 8.5-point favorites on the road.

 

 

 

NFL Week 18 DFS D/ST Value Picks

New York Giants – DraftKings: $2,400 | FanDuel: $3,200

We are all very aware that the New York Giants are in shambles. You can make the argument that they’re probably the worst team in the league. And yet, they might not even end up with a top five draft pick if they manage to win this game in Philly.

The Eagles have announced they’ll be resting some starters. They’ve locked up the second seed in the NFC playoff picture and they can’t improve upon or lose that spot. So why risk getting your starters hurt?

Is the Giants D/ST any good? No, but they did force three takeaways against the Colts last week but still allowed 33 points. But for this game they’re only three-point underdogs on the road and the Eagles have an implied team total of 20.25 points. I do anticipate the Giants will be a popular value play on both sites so they may be better suited for cash games than tournaments.

Las Vegas Raiders – DraftKings: $2,300 | FanDuel: $3,300

The Los Angeles Chargers have locked up their playoff spot in the AFC, but we should have an idea by Sunday morning, or even Saturday night, if they may rest some starters. 

The Pittsburgh Steelers play the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday and that game looms large for the AFC playoff hunt. If the Steelers win, then the Chargers can’t do anything to leapfrog them and earn the fifth seed. A Steelers win would also end the Bengals season.

So if we find ourselves in a scenario where the Bolts may rest a few starters then the Raiders are back on the table for the second week in a row. As we mentioned earlier, the Raiders have allowed just 37 points in their last three games and in five straight games they’ve returned at least six fantasy points so there’s a reasonable floor at this price tag.

They’re currently 4.5-point underdogs and the Chargers still have an implied team total of 23 points. So, keep an eye out with Saturday’s games to determine if the Raiders are worth rostering on DraftKings and FanDuel.

 

 

 

NFL DFS D/ST Fades For Week 18

Indianapolis Colts – DraftKings: $3,300 | FanDuel: $4,000

Simply put, this defense isn’t very good and for this AFC South showdown against the Jacksonville Jaguars, neither team has anything to play for at this point. The Colts defense has allowed 24+ points to each of their last seven opponents, and they didn’t get a sack nor force a turnover in a 45-33 loss to the New York Giants in Week 17.

And if we’re looking for “ceiling” plays for DFS, the Colts have returned over 12 fantasy points just once all season. They are five-point favorites at home, but you just get the sense there are potentially more affordable plays with more upside.

 

 

 

NFL DFS Week 18 D/ST Play Of The Week

Denver Broncos – DraftKings: $3,000 | FanDuel: $5,000

We’ve rolled with the Broncos a few times as the Play of the Week in this article so why not ride off into the sunset with them once more? The Broncos host their division rivals, the Kansas City Chiefs, and the defending Super Bowl champions will be resting plenty of their starters.

That likely explains why the Broncos 10.5-point favorites giving the Chiefs an implied team total of about 15 points, one of the lowest on the slate. We should also keep in mind a few factors. For starters, we love targeting this defense because they pressure and blitz at a high rate. Despite giving up 30 points in Week 17 to the Bengals, they still managed to collect seven sacks. 

And when these two teams met back in Week 10, they sacked Patrick Mahomes four times, and the Broncos probably should’ve won that game. The Broncos also control their own destiny. If they win, they’re in the playoffs as the seventh seed in the AFC so I’m expecting a rather dominant performance against Kansas City’s B-team on Sunday.

 

 

 

NFL DFS Week 18 Defense/Special Teams Projections