The Los Angeles Rams will face the Philadelphia Eagles in the Divisional Round. Here’s the latest fantasy football news and advice to help you with your lineups this week and moving forward, especially regarding QB Matthew Stafford.
Is Matthew Stafford Playing vs. the Eagles?
Stafford does not have an injury designation heading into the game this weekend. Barring any setbacks, he is on track to play vs. the Eagles.
We’ll continue to monitor the Rams’ 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 Matthew Stafford in the Divisional Round?
The Rams didn’t need Matthew Stafford to do much in the second half of last week’s dominating effort against the Vikings, and that suppressed his volume in a major way (27 attempts). He did, however, prove capable of executing a clear plan — if you trust Sean McVay to scheme up creativity, Stafford could clear 275 passing yards for the seventh time this season and pay off his very manageable price tag.
He threw for 243 yards and two touchdowns against the Eagles earlier this season, and that came in a 37-20 loss.
Is that his ceiling? In that game, Los Angeles was behind for the entire second half and got a vintage Cooper Kupp performance (11 targets and a touchdown). If all of those things fall into place, Stafford will finish as a viable place to save money but not a slate-breaker. There is far too much upside elsewhere at the QB position to target a road underdog playing outside in what could be a wintery mix of precipitation.
If I’m pivoting from the expensive quarterbacks this week, Stafford still ranks on a per-dollar basis behind Jared Goff and Patrick Mahomes.
Are you looking for start/sit advice for other players in your lineup? Read our Divisional Round Fantasy Start-Sit Advice Cheat Sheet for every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Matthew Stafford’s Fantasy Points Projection in the Divisional Round
As of Sunday, Stafford is projected to score 15.1 fantasy points in the Divisional Round. This includes 242.7 passing yards, 1.5 passing touchdowns, and 0.8 interceptions. It also includes 1.3 rushing attempts for 1.6 yards and 0 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 Eagles' Defense
With Jalen Hurts MIA and Saquon Barkley less explosive than usual, the Philadelphia Eagles still cruised to a Wild Card victory over the Green Bay Packers. Four turnovers helps, but this defense remains one of the more suffocating all-around units.
Philly had its third-highest rushing success rate of the season (71%), forcing Jordan Love into unfavorable down-and-distance situations. That allowed the Eagles' pass rush to tee off, with the Birds recording their third-highest non-blitz pressure rate (43%) this season.
There isn't a single statistical flaw in Philadelphia's defense, which ranks top 10 in every metric that encompasses the Defense+ grades (except for sack rate, where they're 15th). That makes them an incredibly dangerous threat to win the NFC, even without the top seed.
For more insight on all other team defenses, head to our PFN Defense+ Metric Analysis.
Matthew Stafford’s Fantasy Ranking
Our Weekly Consensus PPR Rankings are below — both positional and overall. They were last updated at 9:15 AM ET on Saturday, January 18. If you're in a Superflex league, make sure you check out our Divisional Round Superflex Rankings.
Divisional Round QB PPR Rankings
1) Josh Allen | BUF (vs. BAL)
2) Lamar Jackson | BAL (at BUF)
3) Jayden Daniels | WAS (at DET)
4) Jalen Hurts | PHI (vs. LAR)
5) Jared Goff | DET (vs. WAS)
6) Patrick Mahomes | KC (vs. HOU)
7) Matthew Stafford | LAR (at PHI)
8) C.J. Stroud | HOU (at KC)
Rams at Eagles Trends and Insights
Los Angeles Rams
Team: Through five weeks, the remaining four teams in the AFC were 1-2-3-4 in the conference standings. In the NFC, the Vikings were sitting atop the conference (5-0), while the Rams were tied with the Panthers in the basement (1-4).
QB: Matthew Stafford was a slow starter during the regular season (35th of 36 qualifiers in first-quarter completion percentage), but that wasn't the case against the Vikings (11/12 for 124 yards and a touchdown).
Offense: Even in the impressive win, the Rams struggled on third down (two-of-10) -- they've failed to convert over 25% of their third down opportunities in seven different games this season.
Defense: Only once during the regular season did the Rams record more than four sacks. Monday was a different story as they tied the NFL record for most sacks in a playoff game (nine).
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Fantasy: Cooper Kupp has earned just 10 targets on 87 routes run (five receptions) over his past four games.
Betting: Since their Week 6 bye, the Rams have played four games against playoff teams, scoring an average of 30.3 points in each.
Philadelphia Eagles
Team: Philadelphia won 14 games during the regular season, the fourth time in franchise history that they’ve won at least a baker’s dozen – they represented the NFC in the Super Bowl in each of the previous three seasons (2004, 2017, and 2022).
QB: Jalen Hurts posted a 69.6 QB+ on Sunday against the Packers, the third lowest since 2019 in a playoff victory (only Jimmy Garoppolo in 2021 and Trevor Lawrence in 2022 were able to advance despite a lesser grade).
Offense: The NFL average for points per drive is 2.06 – the Eagles haven’t been held under 2.00 points per possession since September.
Defense: The Packers scored 53.8% of their third downs on Sunday, the second-highest rate produced by an opponent against the Eagles this season, topped only by the Bengals (Week 8).
Fantasy: A.J. Brown turned 24 routes into just a single catch – his 0.42 yards per route run was the sixth-worst mark of his career. Safe to call that the outlier and not the norm, as this has been his best season in that metric (2.87).
Betting: The Eagles are 8-2 ATS since 2005 in non-Wild Card playoff games (six of those covers came by more than seven points).
