The New England Patriots will face the Buffalo Bills 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 DeMario Douglas.
Is DeMario Douglas Playing in Week 18?
Douglas is not listed on the injury report this week, so barring any unexpected setbacks, he is on track to play this weekend.
We’ll continue to monitor the Patriots’ 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 DeMario Douglas in Week 18?
Douglas made the type of play last week that you love to see for so many reasons. Drake Maye identified the defense as being offsides, quick-snapped, and took full advantage of a free play in launching a pass down the middle of the field.
Douglas adjusted mid-flight, clearly expecting the ball after also seeing the defense jump, and made a diving 36-yard touchdown catch. The play, the read, and the connection.
Chef’s kiss.
Only time will tell if Douglas establishes himself as Khalil Shakir to Maye’s Josh Allen, but single moments like that are certainly encouraging. That said, that reception accounted for 78.3% of Douglas’ receiving yards for the day, continuing a trend that has seen him held under 65 receiving yards for 10 straight games. We are talking about a slot receiver with just one top-25 finish this season.
Douglas is a long way away from being a lineup lock, but I think he’s an interesting PPR add in the later rounds next season as a bet on the trajectory of this offense. He’s a WR4 for me this week and not one that I’m seeking to play just yet.
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.
DeMario Douglas’ Fantasy Points Projection in Week 18
As of Sunday, Douglas is projected to score 11.5 fantasy points in PPR formats. This includes 2.9 receptions for 68.7 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 Bills' Defense
We always thought this would be a rebuilding year for Buffalo's defense, and so far, it's proven to be the case. After finishing as a top-seven defense in each of the last three seasons, the Bills have dropped to 18th this year.
But after a pair of abysmal games defensively against the Rams and Lions, the Bills followed up their Week 16 stifling of the Patriots with an even more dominant performance vs. the Jets in Week 17. Buffalo's 78.4 (C+) grade was its sixth-best of the season.
Removing the Tyrod Taylor-led touchdown drives in garbage time, the Bills had the best Defense+ grade over the first three quarters of any defense in Week 17.
For the season, Buffalo has had a strong run defense (fifth in EPA per rush) but a leaky pass defense (25th in EPA per dropback). Dominating the AFC East cellar-dwellers doesn't prove that the pass defense is fixed, but it's a nice palette cleanser before potential playoff matchups against the likes of Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes.
The offense is operating at such a high level that the bar to clear for the Bills' defense is lower than it would be on nearly any other team. Buffalo has met that threshold against lesser competition but will be challenged in the playoffs to help the Josh Allen-Sean McDermott era reach its first Super Bowl.
For more insight on all other team defenses, head to our PFN Defense+ Metric Analysis.
DeMario Douglas’ 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).