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 WR Puka Nacua.
Is Puka Nacua Playing vs. the Eagles?
Nacua 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 Puka Nacua in the Divisional Round?
That’s football.
Puka Nacua saw 34.6% of the targets in a game in which the Rams scored 27 points and Matthew Stafford posted his fifth-best QB+ of the year. The first play of the game was a 27-yard deep shot to Nacua that was clearly scripted and set the tone.
If you told me pre-game that all of that was going to happen, I would have had 100% exposure and felt as if I didn’t have enough.
But it didn’t happen. Los Angeles dominated from the jump, had a defensive touchdown, and only had six targeted passes in the second half. Nacua wasn’t overly efficient with his targets (1.04 PPR points per look, his second-lowest mark of the season), but that was as much the product of a conservative script as anything (after that first pass, his eight targets totaled nine air yards).
The opposite game flow came to light in Week 12 when Nacua and Co. hosted the Eagles (37-20 loss), fueling a 9-117-0 stat line (he and Cooper Kupp accounted for 70.8% of Stafford’s completions in a very concentrated attack). I don’t think the Rams get run out of the building quite like that this time around, but as a six-point underdog, I’ve got this projected script closer to the regular season meeting than what we saw versus Minnesota.
With Kupp struggling, Nacua is as good a bet as anyone to lead this slate in targets, and given everything that we’ve seen from him (90 receiving yards per game for his career), that means you have to at least consider paying up for him.
Sure, Philadelphia’s defense is playing as well as they have all season long and isn’t one I’m going out of my way to target, but you have to pick your spots this week. If ownership at the top of the WR board gathers in the Washington/Detroit game, you may get a nice little discount here.
Sold!
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.
Puka Nacua’s Fantasy Points Projection in the Divisional Round
As of Sunday, Nacua is projected to score 22 fantasy points in PPR formats. This includes 8.3 receptions for 112.4 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 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.
Puka Nacua’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 WR PPR Rankings
1) Amon-Ra St. Brown | DET (vs. WAS)
2) Puka Nacua | LAR (at PHI)
3) A.J. Brown | PHI (vs. LAR)
4) Nico Collins | HOU (at KC)
5) Terry McLaurin | WAS (at DET)
6) Jameson Williams | DET (vs. WAS)
7) Khalil Shakir | BUF (vs. BAL)
8) Xavier Worthy | KC (vs. HOU)
9) DeVonta Smith | PHI (vs. LAR)
10) Cooper Kupp | LAR (at PHI)
11) Rashod Bateman | BAL (at BUF)
12) DeAndre Hopkins | KC (vs. HOU)
13) Hollywood Brown | KC (vs. HOU)
14) Keon Coleman | BUF (vs. BAL)
15) Amari Cooper | BUF (vs. BAL)
16) Olamide Zaccheaus | WAS (at DET)
17) John Metchie III | HOU (at KC)
18) Dyami Brown | WAS (at DET)
19) Curtis Samuel | BUF (vs. BAL)
20) Demarcus Robinson | LAR (at PHI)
21) Tim Patrick | DET (vs. WAS)
22) Nelson Agholor | BAL (at BUF)
23) Mack Hollins | BUF (vs. BAL)
24) JuJu Smith-Schuster | KC (vs. HOU)
25) Zay Flowers | BAL (at BUF)
26) Diontae Johnson | HOU (at KC)
27) Jahan Dotson | PHI (vs. LAR)
28) Tylan Wallace | BAL (at BUF)
29) Xavier Hutchinson | HOU (at KC)
30) Robert Woods | HOU (at KC)
31) Luke McCaffrey | WAS (at DET)
32) Tutu Atwell | LAR (at PHI)
33) Justin Watson | KC (vs. HOU)
34) Jamison Crowder | WAS (at DET)
35) Anthony Miller | BAL (at BUF)
36) Jordan Whittington | LAR (at PHI)
37) Kalif Raymond | DET (vs. WAS)
38) Devontez Walker | BAL (at BUF)
39) Johnny Wilson | PHI (vs. LAR)
40) Xavier Smith | LAR (at PHI)
41) Allen Robinson II | DET (vs. WAS)
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).
https://twitter.com/PFN365/status/1878997563069673976
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).
