Week 18 Fantasy Football Defense Rankings: Eagles DST Back In The Top 10

Michael Fabiano | 1 Minute Ago

The Philadelphia Eagles defense faces the Washington Commanders in Week 18. / Amber Searls-Imagn Images

Welcome to Week 18 and the fantasy football championship (for those of you who are bold enough to make this your final week). Let’s talk about the challenges ahead. 

The NFL slate doesn’t include a Thursday night game. Instead, it features two games on Saturday. The Carolina Panthers face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at 4:30 p.m. ET with the winner taking the NFC South title (unless the Falcons win on Sunday, then the Panthers claim it either way) and the No. 4 seed in the conference. At 8 p.m. ET, the San Francisco 49ers host the Seattle Seahawks in a battle for the NFC West championship and the No. 1 seed in that conference. Obviously, these games are huge.

The difficulty in playing in Week 18, of course, is the number of players who won’t play. We already know that Justin Herbert and other Chargers starters won’t play this week, which affects the fantasy value of the team’s defense. This also makes the Broncos players (their opponent this week) more attractive as potential fantasy starters. 

The Packers are likely to rest players too, affecting their defense, since they are locked into the No. 7 seed in the NFC. That’s unfortunate, because this unit would otherwise be a nice streamer against Max Brosmer and the Vikings' lackluster offense this week.

Other teams will do the same thing, and some of those players won’t even be known until Sunday. Again, this is the challenge of playing fantasy in the NFL’s final week.

With that said, here are my complete fantasy football defensive rankings for Week 18 of the NFL season!  Be sure to check back daily for updates!

Week 18 Fantasy Defense Rankings

RK	Player	TM	Opponent
1	Texans	HOU	vs. IND
2	Bills	BUF	vs. NYJ
3	Broncos	DEN	vs. LAC
4	Patriots	NE	vs. MIA
5	Eagles	PHI	vs. WAS
6	Jaguars	JAC	vs. TEN
7	Rams	LAR	vs. ARI
8	Vikings	MIN	vs. GB
9	Chiefs	KC	at LV
10	Buccaneers	TB	vs. CAR
11	Saints	NO	at ATL
12	Packers	GB	at MIN
13	Steelers	PIT	vs. BAL
14	Seahawks	SEA	at SF
15	Ravens	BAL	at PIT
16	Bengals	CIN	vs. CLE
17	Bears	CHI	vs. DET
18	Panthers	CAR	at TB
19	Raiders	LV	vs. KC
20	Falcons	ATL	vs. NO
21	Lions	DET	at CHI
22	Browns	CLE	at CIN
23	Cowboys	DAL	at NYG
24	Dolphins	MIA	at NE
25	Colts	IND	at HOU
26	Titans	TEN	at JAC
27	49ers	SF	vs. SEA
28	Giants	NYG	vs. DAL
29	Chargers	LAC	at DEN
30	Cardinals	ARI	at LAR
31	Jets	NYJ	at BUF
32	Commanders	WAS	at PHI