There’s only one week remaining in the 2024 NFL regular season. While there are still quite a few teams fighting for a playoff spot or jockeying for seeding, a number of teams essentially have nothing to play for this weekend and are sitting their best players.
From the teams that have locked up a top seed to the squads that have already been eliminated from the playoffs, let’s examine who is resting their starters in Week 18.
NFL Teams Benching Their Starters in Week 18
The following teams are planning to sit their starters during the final week of the season.
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs have already secured the No. 1 seed in the AFC, and they have decided to rest their starters. Since Kansas City will have a first-round bye week, their players will get a nice two-week break until their next meaningful game.
The following players have been ruled out or doubtful for Sunday’s road game against the Denver Broncos:
- Patrick Mahomes
- Travis Kelce
- Chris Jones
- Trent McDuffie
- Isiah Pacheco
- Jawaan Taylor
- Jaylen Watson
- Nick Bolton
- Kareem Hunt
- George Karlaftis
- Justin Reid
- Drue Tranquill
- Mecole Hardman
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles have secured the No. 2 seed in the NFC, so they are resting many of their key players. Even with Saquon Barkley just 101 yards away from breaking Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record, he’s sitting out Sunday’s regular-season finale.
The Eagles have made the following players inactive for Sunday’s game against the New York Giants:
- Jalen Hurts
- Darius Slay
- DeVonta Smith
- A.J. Brown
- Nakobe Dean
- Saquon Barkley
- Zack Baun
- Lane Johnson
- Jordan Mailata
- Landon Dickerson
- Jalen Carter
Los Angeles Rams
While it initially seemed that the NFC West would come down to the Week 18 matchup between the Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks, the Rams actually clinched the division in Week 17 due to the strength-of-victory tiebreaker.
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Now, the Week 18 matchup doesn’t hold much significance for the Rams (beyond determining whether Los Angeles is the No. 3 or No. 4 seed in the NFC, which head coach Sean McVay recently said doesn’t matter).
The following Rams have been ruled out for Week 18 against Seattle:
- Matthew Stafford
- Cooper Kupp
- Puka Nacua
- Kyren Williams
- Alaric Jackson
- Kevin Dotson
- Rob Havenstein
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are locked into the No. 2 seed in the AFC, so they are expected to rest many of their starters.
Bills head coach Sean McDermott revealed that Josh Allen will start the contest (to keep his streak of consecutive starts alive), but Mitchell Trubisky will take over shortly after.
While McDermott said they want to win the game, he stressed the importance of “making sure we’re as fresh as possible coming out of this week and [as] healthy as possible.” He also said this would be an opportunity to evaluate a number of practice squad players.
The Bills have made the following players inactive for today’s game against the New England Patriots:
- Amari Cooper
- Terrel Bernard
- Dion Dawkins
- Taron Johnson
- Christian Benford
- Greg Rousseau
- Ed Oliver
- DaQuan Jones
San Francisco 49ers
Unlike the other teams on this list, the San Francisco 49ers have been eliminated from the playoffs. After last year’s Super Bowl appearance, the Niners have dealt with a ton of injuries to key players, and it has greatly impacted their season.
From Christian McCaffrey to Brandon Aiyuk to Javon Hargrave to Nick Bosa to Trent Williams to Jordan Mason, San Francisco has had star-studded injury reports for much of the year.
Prior to Sunday’s road game against the Arizona Cardinals, the 49ers ruled out several players due to injuries (but it’s possible they are being cautious since the season is over):
- Deebo Samuel Sr. (ribs, wrist)
- Brock Purdy (elbow)
- Deommodore Lenoir (shoulder)
- Spencer Burford (calf)
- Robert Beal Jr. (ankle)
George Kittle is questionable with an ankle injury and could potentially play limited snaps as well.
Other Situations To Monitor
Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans has said that “everybody will be out there playing and then we’ll see how the game goes,” so it’s possible he pulls his starters at some point during Week 18 against the Tennessee Titans. The Texans have locked up the AFC South and the No. 4 seed.
Since the Pittsburgh Steelers lost to the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday, the Los Angeles Chargers can secure the No. 5 seed with a win over the Las Vegas Raiders. While Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh was planning to play his starters either way, Los Angeles will certainly go all out in this game since moving to the No. 5 seed would mean a Wild Card Round matchup against the Houston Texans instead of the red-hot Baltimore Ravens.