The Buffalo Bills will face the New England Patriots in Week 18. Here’s the latest fantasy football news and advice to help you with your lineups this week and moving forward, especially regarding WR Amari Cooper.
Is Amari Cooper Playing in Week 18?
Cooper is not listed with an injury designation after being limited on Thursday and Friday with a back injury. Cooper should suit up but will likely see a short day.
We’ll continue to monitor the Bills’ injury report. You can also visit and bookmark our NFL Injury Tracker and Fantasy News Tracker for the latest updates.
Should You Start or Sit Amari Cooper in Week 18?
Cooper has played eight games this season with the Bills and six with the Browns — he’s run 89 more routes with Cleveland than Buffalo.
I have zero experience in NFL front offices, but given the low usage by a handful of Super Bowl contenders of the pass catchers they acquired around the trade deadline, I can’t help but think that we will be getting an unleashing of some sort during the playoffs.
But if Buffalo has slow-played things up to this point, why would they show any of their cards in a game that has no long-term meaning on anything?
Cooper’s 30-yard touchdown last week was a thing of beauty and has me more interested in his playoff fantasy stock than anything we see this week in what more than likely will be a brief outing.
Are you looking for start/sit advice for other players in your lineup? Read our Week 18 Fantasy Start-Sit Advice Cheat Sheet for every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Amari Cooper’s Fantasy Points Projection in Week 18
As of Sunday, Cooper is projected to score 10.3 fantasy points in PPR formats. This includes 3.4 receptions for 48.3 yards and 0.3 touchdowns.
Check out the free PFN Fantasy Start-Sit Optimizer for the latest projections and advice for your lineups this week.
PFN Insight on the Patriots' Defense
Of all the elements of Jerod Mayo's start as head coach, the decline in New England's defense will be the most concerning. After being a top-10 defense in each of the last three years, the Patriots have plummeted to the bottom three in 2024.
New England needed a solid defense to support its rebuilding offense, and that hasn't been the case. An inconsistent Chargers offense rolled to 40 points in Foxboro, leading to the Patriots' third-worst grade (64.2, D) of the season.
Overall, New England has ranked 20th or worse in 11 out of 16 games this year. Apart from the Week 10 outlier against the Bears, the Patriots haven't recorded a single-game grade higher than a C+ all season. That could change against the Bills' backups in the season finale, but it doesn't change the massive disappointment of the defense's 2024 output.
For more insight on all other team defenses, head to our PFN Defense+ Metric Analysis.
Amari Cooper’s Fantasy Ranking
Our Weekly Consensus PPR Rankings are below — both positional and overall. They were last updated at 7:00 AM ET on Sunday, January 5. If you're in a Superflex league, make sure you check out our Week 18 Consensus Superflex Rankings.
Week 18 WR PPR Rankings
1) Ja'Marr Chase | CIN (at PIT)
2) Amon-Ra St. Brown | DET (vs. MIN)
3) Justin Jefferson | MIN (at DET)
4) Mike Evans | TB (vs. NO)
5) Brian Thomas Jr. | JAX (at IND)
6) Drake London | ATL (vs. CAR)
7) Ladd McConkey | LAC (at LV)
8) Jaxon Smith-Njigba | SEA (at LAR)
9) Terry McLaurin | WAS (at DAL)
10) Malik Nabers | NYG (at PHI)
11) Tee Higgins | CIN (at PIT)
12) George Pickens | PIT (vs. CIN)
13) Davante Adams | NYJ (vs. MIA)
14) Courtland Sutton | DEN (vs. KC)
15) Jauan Jennings | SF (at ARI)
16) Jordan Addison | MIN (at DET)
17) DJ Moore | CHI (at GB)
18) Nico Collins | HOU (at TEN)
19) Zay Flowers | BAL (vs. CLE)
20) Tyreek Hill | MIA (at NYJ)
21) Jameson Williams | DET (vs. MIN)
22) Jalen McMillan | TB (vs. NO)
23) Calvin Ridley | TEN (vs. HOU)
24) Garrett Wilson | NYJ (vs. MIA)
25) DK Metcalf | SEA (at LAR)
26) Adam Thielen | CAR (at ATL)
27) Keenan Allen | CHI (at GB)
28) Jakobi Meyers | LV (vs. LAC)
29) Jayden Reed | GB (vs. CHI)
30) Marvin Harrison Jr. | ARI (vs. SF)
31) Josh Downs | IND (vs. JAX)
32) Quentin Johnston | LAC (at LV)
33) Jaylen Waddle | MIA (at NYJ)
34) Michael Pittman Jr. | IND (vs. JAX)
35) Romeo Doubs | GB (vs. CHI)
36) Darnell Mooney | ATL (vs. CAR)
37) Jerry Jeudy | CLE (at BAL)
38) Khalil Shakir | BUF (at NE)
39) Rashod Bateman | BAL (vs. CLE)
40) Rome Odunze | CHI (at GB)
41) DeMario Douglas | NE (vs. BUF)
42) Wan'Dale Robinson | NYG (at PHI)
43) Jalen Coker | CAR (at ATL)
44) Dontayvion Wicks | GB (vs. CHI)
45) Xavier Worthy | KC (at DEN)
46) Olamide Zaccheaus | WAS (at DAL)
47) DeAndre Hopkins | KC (at DEN)
48) Nick Westbrook-Ikhine | TEN (vs. HOU)
49) Hollywood Brown | KC (at DEN)
50) Amari Cooper | BUF (at NE)
51) Brandin Cooks | DAL (vs. WAS)
52) Parker Washington | JAX (at IND)
53) Marvin Mims Jr. | DEN (vs. KC)
54) Tim Patrick | DET (vs. MIN)
55) Kayshon Boutte | NE (vs. BUF)
56) Ray-Ray McCloud III | ATL (vs. CAR)
57) Marquez Valdes-Scantling | BUF (at NE)
58) Devaughn Vele | DEN (vs. KC)
59) Andrei Iosivas | CIN (at PIT)
60) Calvin Austin III | PIT (vs. CIN)
61) Jalen Tolbert | DAL (vs. WAS)
62) Ricky Pearsall | SF (at ARI)
63) Michael Wilson | ARI (vs. SF)
64) Joshua Palmer | LAC (at LV)
65) Keon Coleman | BUF (at NE)
66) Tre Tucker | LV (vs. LAC)
67) Jalen Nailor | MIN (at DET)
68) Elijah Moore | CLE (at BAL)
69) Jamison Crowder | WAS (at DAL)
70) Xavier Legette | CAR (at ATL)
71) Kendrick Bourne | NE (vs. BUF)
72) KaVontae Turpin | DAL (vs. WAS)
73) David Moore | CAR (at ATL)
74) Adonai Mitchell | IND (vs. JAX)
75) Demarcus Robinson | LAR (vs. SEA)
76) Mike Williams | PIT (vs. CIN)
77) Malik Washington | MIA (at NYJ)
78) Alec Pierce | IND (vs. JAX)
79) Allen Lazard | NYJ (vs. MIA)
80) Tyler Lockett | SEA (at LAR)
81) John Metchie III | HOU (at TEN)
82) Robert Woods | HOU (at TEN)
83) Darius Slayton | NYG (at PHI)
84) Van Jefferson | PIT (vs. CIN)
85) Troy Franklin | DEN (vs. KC)
86) Mack Hollins | BUF (at NE)
87) Tutu Atwell | LAR (vs. SEA)
88) Kevin Austin Jr. | NO (at TB)
89) Dante Pettis | CHI (at GB)
90) Luke McCaffrey | WAS (at DAL)
91) Xavier Hutchinson | HOU (at TEN)
92) Ryan Miller | TB (vs. NO)
93) Greg Dortch | ARI (vs. SF)
94) Lil'Jordan Humphrey | DEN (vs. KC)
95) DJ Chark | LAC (at LV)
96) Michael Woods II | CLE (at BAL)
97) Cedrick Wilson Jr. | NO (at TB)
98) JuJu Smith-Schuster | KC (at DEN)
99) Devin Duvernay | JAX (at IND)
100) Justin Watson | KC (at DEN)
101) Tylan Wallace | BAL (vs. CLE)
102) Jahan Dotson | PHI (vs. NYG)
103) Josh Reynolds | DEN (vs. KC)
104) Ryan Flournoy | DAL (vs. WAS)
105) Trey Palmer | TB (vs. NO)
Bills at Patriots Trends and Insights
Buffalo Bills
Team: With a week to spare, the Bills set their franchise record for touchdowns scored in a regular season.
QB: Josh Allen completed 77.8% of his third down passes against the Jets on Sunday, a good sign after struggling in such spots over his three games prior (45%).
Offense: Buffalo has cashed in all of their red zone trips into touchdowns in four of their past five games (three-for-three against the Jets on Sunday).
Defense: The Bills allowed just 1.4 points per drive on Sunday. They are 12-1 this season when allowing no more than 3.0 points per drive (season average: 2.05).
Fantasy: James Cook entered 2024 with four rushing touchdowns – he now has three separate three-game stretches this season in which he’s run for four scores.
Betting: Unders are 6-2 in Buffalo’s past road divisional games.
New England Patriots
Team: The Patriots have lost 11 regular season games by 17+ points since Tom Brady left town after 11 such games in the 16 seasons prior.
QB: Drake Maye’s rookie season hasn’t had much in the way of results, but there have been enough glimpses of promise for this fanbase to be excited about the future – he has a higher average QB+ in games 7-10 of his career (76.6) than Justin Herbert did (75.0).
Offense: The Patriots have turned the ball over in eight straight games – they’ve had a streak like that in three straight seasons (from 2014-201, they had two such streaks).
Defense: Over their past four games, New England has allowed opponents to pick up 53.7% of third downs. That’s a high rate as it is, so when you consider that teams are six-of-six on fourth down over that stretch, this is a struggling unit (over this stretch, 24% of third down stops by New England have been erased by a fourth down conversion).
Fantasy: Rhamondre Stevenson had three games in the first month of this season with 80+ rushing yards AND a score – he has three games with EITHER since.
Betting: New England hasn’t covered a long rest spot since Week 14 of 2022 (0-4-1 ATS over that stretch).