The Wild Card round is in the rearview mirror and we have just eight teams left fighting for the chance to play in Super Bowl LIX. We are given another short slate for the Divisional Round with just four total games: two on Saturday and two on Sunday.

But here at Fantasy Alarm we are rolling out the DFS coverage early in the week. Let’s take a look at the latest NFL DFS Divisional Round D/ST Coach!

 

 

 

NFL DFS Divisional Round D/ST Coach For FanDuel & DraftKings Fantasy

The Wild Card Round did not deliver much excitement. You could label it the Mild Card Round given that the only exciting game was between the Washington Commanders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Every other game was decided by 12 points or more.

The struggle with shorter slates is you can’t disregard a single team, especially when considering the D/ST position. Overall, we did well to avoid the Washington and Tampa Bay D/ST’s. They combined for just one turnover and two total sacks so neither team particularly reached their ceiling.

Our Play of the Week, the Philadelphia Eagles, were able to return 14 fantasy points but they were outscored by the Los Angeles Rams who sacked Sam Darnold nine times despite blitzing on just 28% of drop backs during the regular season. But that’s how it goes with this position sometimes.

The Divisional Round delivers a new slate so let’s look at the top plays for the NFL DFS Divisional Round D/ST Coach!

 

 

 

NFL Divisional Round Defense/Special Teams

It’ll be another short slate for the upcoming week. With just four total games we’re looking at a slate just barely larger than the annual Thanksgiving Day slate. And if you’re playing the individual two-game slates on Saturday and/or Sunday, then you have even fewer options to choose from.

Do try to remember that with these consolidated slates, no D/ST is truly off the table. It’s the last piece of the puzzle and the hardest position to truly predict. In some cases, you can even use a D/ST that’s going against your lineup stack. If they can somehow manage to collect a touchdown on defense or special teams, it does raise their score as your opposing stack chips away at the D/ST’s fantasy score. So while I’ll include a “fade” recommendation, view it more as a play to go lighter on rather than completely avoid altogether.

Across all the pricing tiers we have you covered with the NFL DFS Divisional Round D/ST Coach!

 

 

 

NFL DFS D/ST Top Tier Pick For Divisional Round

Kansas City Chiefs - DraftKings: $3,600 | FanDuel: $4,500

We’ll start with possibly the easiest recommendation on the whole slate, the reigning Super Bowl champions. The Chiefs are coming off their Bye week. Moreover, they also rested plenty of starters in Week 18 so we have that “rest vs. rust” debate. But at the end of the day, they’ve won the last two Super Bowls and had the 1-seed two years ago when they won as well. So I’m not really anticipating much rust. Andy Reid will have this team ready.

They’ll play host to the Houston Texans who looked absolutely outstanding last week against the Los Angeles Chargers. The Chiefs hosted the Texans in Week 16 and allowed just 19 points and 311 yards of offense while collecting a pair of sacks and forcing two turnovers as well. For this particular game, they’re favored by 7.5 points in a game with the lowest implied total on the slate at 42.5 points.

The Chiefs didn’t quite stand out defensively for most of the year. But as is the case, they got better down the stretch. From Weeks 13-17 they ranked top five in EPA/Play and EPA/DB and in that span, they gave up just 14 points per game.

They didn’t force many sacks this year, just 39 total, but we know C.J. Stroud is prone to mistakes and despite their dominant win a week ago, the Texans still turned the ball over three times.

 

 

 

NFL DFS D/ST Mid-Tier Pick For Divisional Round

Detroit Lions – DraftKings: $3,200 | FanDuel: $4,200

The Lions, like the team we just referenced, are also coming off their Bye week. If you’d prefer to skip over this team, I don’t think I’d fault you. For starters, they haven’t flashed a very high ceiling. And this is the only game of the four that is being played indoors. While that benefits the Lions offense a great deal, the same can also be said for the Commanders offense.

But the Lions did get Alex Anzalone back to close out the regular season and it sounds as if rookie cornerback, Terrion Arnold will play as well. But to close out the season the Lions ranked 28th in EPA/DB since Week 13. This is largely due to a large pile of injuries that grew later in the year. However, in their last game we saw them blitz on 44.4% of Minnesota’s drop backs, effectively giving the Rams the key to beating Minnesota.

Overall, they’re at home as massive favorites and they’re well rested. If you want to chase more upside while saving salary, then pivot to the next team in the NFL DFS Divisional Round D/ST Coach.

 

 

 

NFL Divisional Round DFS D/ST Value Pick

Baltimore Ravens – DraftKings: $2,900 | FanDuel: $4,100

Of all the road teams available to us this week, the Ravens are the team I feel best about. This game has an implied total at 51.5 points, which is second highest on the slate, but the Ravens are actually slight favorites by a point-and-a-half.

This defense has made massive improvements as the season progressed. From Weeks 1-9 they were 29th in EPA/DB and 23rd in DB success rate. But from Weeks 10-18 they were first in EPA/DB and second in DB success rate. They also allowed the second-fewest yards per pass attempt (6.45) and fourth-fewest yards per carry (3.74) and they gave up just 280 yards of offense to the Pittsburgh Steelers last week.

It’s not an easy matchup against the Buffalo Bills but the Ravens absolutely dominated the first meeting between these two and they’re trending towards a trip to the AFC Championship game.

 

 

 

NFL DFS D/ST Fade For Divisional Round

Washington Commanders – DraftKings: $2,300 | FanDuel: $3,400

This may be grasping at the low hanging fruit, but we only have eight teams for this short slate. So if I’m forced to recommend one D/ST to go light on, then I’m taking the biggest underdog on the board, in a controlled environment.

They’ll be right up against the Detroit Lions who are coming off their Bye week since they have the 1-seed in the NFC. The Lions have their own flaws and injuries, but the offense is still loaded with talent. The Lions also have an implied team total over 30 points which is massive for a playoff game.

This D/ST hasn’t returned over eight fantasy points since Week 7 so it’s hard to imagine they have a high ceiling going up against arguably the best offense in the league.

 

 

 

NFL DFS Divisional Round D/ST Play Of The Week

Philadelphia Eagles – DraftKings: $3,400 | FanDuel: $4,700

Once again, we go back to the well with the Eagles as the Play of the Week for what feels like the third time in the last four weeks. Last week’s game against the Green Bay Packers was a bit of a snoozefest as the Eagles were mostly in cruise control in their 22-10 win. But they gave up just 302 total yards and had four takeaways. That now gives Philly 14 takeaways in their last four games.

The Los Angeles Rams come to town and they’re coming off a dominant win on Monday night. And to their own credit, their defense played incredibly well against the Minnesota Vikings. But this is now a short week for the Rams, and they go on the road, across the country, to Philadelphia of all places. As of Tuesday afternoon, it looks as if the temperatures will be in the low 30’s with light winds but overall, it’s a tough road environment given what the Rams have dealt with over the last week.

In the regular season, the Eagles defense ranked first in EPA/Play, first in EPA/DB, first in EPA/Rush, first in yards per pass attempt (5.66), and they were seventh in yards per carry (4.00). It goes without saying the personnel changes they made in the offseason have paid off.

This game features the second-lowest total on the slate at 43.5 points and the Eagles are favored by six points. The Rams have been fun to watch of late but they’re running into a buzzsaw defense that’s given up 13 or fewer points to four of their last five opponents. 

 

 

 

NFL DFS Divisional Round Defense/Special Teams Projections