Week 18 Fantasy Football D/ST Who Should I Start? Chargers, Eagles, Falcons, Dolphins and Broncos
Comparing five fantasy D/ST groups in action Sunday in the last week of the NFL season.
The D/ST groups for the Los Angeles Chargers and Philadelphia Eagles are showing up often on our FantasySP “Who Should I Start?” tool. That means fantasy owners are comparing them to each other and a few other teams often when trying to decide who to start in the last week of the season.
That makes them good subjects to investigate further to determine their fantasy outlooks. Let’s look at the Chargers, the Eagles, and some of the teams they are being compared to most to identify which units are the best fantasy options.
I used stats from NFL.com and our FantasySP defensive fantasy rankings and will reference those numbers often. The full rankings for all five teams are listed at the bottom.
Los Angeles Chargers @ Las Vegas Raiders
When Pittsburgh lost to Cincinnati Saturday night, it made this game mean something. The Chargers can move into the fifth seed with a win and bump the Steelers to No. 6. That’s important because the fifth seed heads to Houston in the first round of the playoffs while the sixth team has to play in Baltimore.
LA will surely put everything into winning this game, and they have the benefit of playing one of the worst teams in the league. Aidan O'Connell, Alexander Mattison, Ameer Abdullah, Jakobi Meyers; these are the guys leading the offense for the Raiders. Only Brock Bowers is a true impact player.
The Chargers have allowed the least points per game, and the Raiders have scored the fifth-least points per game. Vegas has also allowed the fifth-most fantasy points per game to opposing defenses. There’s not a much better matchup than Las Vegas.
Philadelphia Eagles vs. New York Giants
The only question here is who plays for Philadelphia. The Eagles have locked in the No. 2 seed in the NFC and will sit some players (including Saquon Barkley, who is just 100 yards short of the all-time single season rushing record). It’s reasonable to assume most of Philly’s best players won’t see much of the field.
That affects their top line, but the matchup against the Giants is cushy. Drew Lock is playing, setting New York with a low ceiling before the game even gets going. They have scored the second-least points per game and given up the third-most fantasy points per game to opposing defenses.
On a normal week, the Eagles would be a top-five fantasy defense without question. With lesser players likely to play major snaps, they lose some of their ceiling and floor, though, bringing them down a notch.
Fantasy Advice: Start the Chargers over the Eagles
Atlanta Falcons vs. Carolina Panthers
Another team looking at a tasty matchup, the Falcons need to beat the Panthers and have the Bucs lose to New Orleans in order for Atlanta to win the NFC South. With everything to play for, the Falcons will come out ready to go, posing a test for Bryce Young.
At the beginning of the season, this would have been the best matchup around. Young was terrible in his first stretch of 2024 and was benched for veteran Andy Dalton, who made the team look passable, if not explosive. When Dalton was hurt in a car crash in October, Young took over again and looked much more like a guy who was drafted first overall.
Carolina is still a below-average offense most weeks. They are tied for the sixth-fewest points scored, and the Panthers have allowed the 12th-most fantasy points per game to opposing defenses.
Atlanta’s defense is near the middle in a lot of metrics, including points allowed, yards per pass attempt allowed, and yards per rush attempt allowed. This looks like an OK defense against an offense that has looked very OK recently.
Fantasy Advice: Start both the Chargers and the Eagles over the Falcons
Denver Broncos vs. Kansas City Chiefs
Kansas City has the top seed locked up and will sit starters, including Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce. There isn’t a real way to have a grasp on what KC will look like on offense; remember when Matt Flynn threw for 480 yards and six touchdowns in relief of Aaron Rodgers at the end of the 2011 season?
This is more about the Broncos, who have a high-level defense. Denver has allowed the third-least yards per rush attempt, eighth-least yards per pass attempt, and fifth-least points per game. The defense is the reason this team might be headed to the playoffs.
With backups playing against a great defense that needs to win to make the postseason, Denver is likely to come out fully locked in. This looks like a good situation for the Denver D to flourish.
Fantasy Advice: Start the Chargers over the Broncos, but play Denver over the Eagles
Miami Dolphins @ New York Jets
We’ll finish with one more team that needs to win to stay alive. Miami’s only way into the playoffs is to beat the Jets and have the Broncos lose to the Chiefs. Things don’t look too good, especially with Tua Tagovailoa missing this game.
Miami’s defense holds up their end of the deal, though, ranking in the top 10 in least points per game, yards per pass attempt, and yards per rush attempt allowed. They might get set back if the offense fails to move the ball, but the Dolphins’ defense will give everything they have against a below-average offense.
Aaron Rodgers might be playing his last game. He has been worse than average this year, and the team has flailed to just four wins. Their defense is a solid unit, but New York’s offense is brutally ineffective at times. Every D has the chance at fantasy value against the Jets, a common theme over the past decade.
It’s hard to tell how this game will go, but the matchup is in favor of Miami’s defense. They are a solid group who can excel in the season’s final week.
Fantasy Advice: Start the Chargers over the Dolphins, but play Miami over the Eagles
Full Team Rankings
- Los Angeles Chargers
- Denver Broncos
- Miami Dolphins
- Philadelphia Eagles
- Atlanta Falcons
