The NFL Playoffs are finally upon us, and we get a variety of NFL DFS action for this weekend. Whether you’re playing the full slate with all six games, or if you’re playing the smaller slates across each day, we’ve got you covered at Fantasy Alarm with the top NFL DFS plays at each position.

Let’s take a look at the latest NFL DFS Wild Card Round D/ST Coach!

 

 

 

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

The annual Week 18 NFL DFS main slate has become one of my least favorite slates we get each year, but it was great seeing some subscribers and friends have some solid returns for such an unpredictable slate.

For this article’s purpose, it was good to see last week’s NFL DFS D/ST Play of the Week return 5X value on DraftKings despite not forcing a turnover. That’s right, our beloved Denver Broncos returned 15 fantasy points at $3,000 after not allowing the Kansas City Chiefs B-squad to score a single point. The Broncos also recorded five sacks and held the Chiefs to under 100 total yards of offense.

 

 

 

NFL Wild Card Round Defense/Special Teams

It’ll be short slates from here on out so the options going further are few and far between. We have six games on tap this weekend, so we have a dozen D/ST’s to choose from. If playing the shorter two-or-three-game slates on Saturday and Sunday, you should operate as if no D/ST is really off the table due to the variance at this position.

If playing the six-game slate, we have more wiggle room. I’ll provide a Fade of the Week below as we’ve done every week this season. But also be mindful of where your lineups stand each day. 

With six games stretched across three days with no overlap, you have more time to examine your lineup and where you stand in comparison to the field. You should be questioning if pivots are necessary or if you can sit tight and maybe lean into the chalk a little more.

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

 

 

 

NFL DFS D/ST Top Tier Pick For Wild Card Round

Baltimore Ravens - DraftKings: $3,700 | FanDuel: $5,000

The Baltimore Ravens are the most expensive D/ST on the board for our NFL DFS Wild Card Round D/ST Coach. And I’ll be completely honest, this wasn’t a D/ST I was happy to write up during the season. They played relatively awful at times and the secondary was called into question on numerous occasions.

But there has been a bit of a shift lately. Over their last three games entering the playoffs, this D/ST returned at least 14 fantasy points in each contest. It helps that they had a pair of touchdowns in that span, but that’s part of the game after all.

To close out the last three weeks of the regular season, the Steelers offense averaged just 14.7 points per game which was tied for third fewest in the league. These two teams also just played in Week 16 where the Ravens held them to 17 points while recording three sacks and two takeaways.

The Ravens are the biggest favorites on the slate at 9.5 points giving the Steelers an implied team total of just 17 points. Given the trajectory of both teams, I do like Baltimore’s D/ST to possibly get double-digit fantasy points for the fourth consecutive week.

 

 

 

NFL DFS D/ST Mid-Tier Pick For Wild Card Round

Los Angeles Chargers – DraftKings: $3,200 | FanDuel: $4,400

The Chargers are reasonably priced in the mid-range on both DraftKings and FanDuel. This is the first game of the entire slate Saturday afternoon. The implied game total is the lowest on the board at 42.5 points and the Bolts are actually favored by a field goal, despite being the road team.

Remember how we just discussed the Steelers offense not entering the playoffs in good form? Well sitting right next to them are the Houston Texans who also averaged 14.7 points per game over the final three weeks of the regular season. The Texans did lose Tank Dell at the end of the year, but overall C.J. Stroud has been making crucial mistakes, and he simply chalks it up to “Shooters have to shoot.” 

Joe Mixon was a workhorse to start the year but struggled to stay on the field for the Texans down the stretch. He was a volume hog for most of the season but failed to see more than 15 carries in five of Houston’s last six games. That’s resulted in him not finding the end zone since Week 13.

The Chargers weren’t really a dominant defense by any means for fantasy football this season. But they are road favorites and may not accumulate much exposure, so I love this play especially for tournaments.

 

 

 

NFL Wild Card Round DFS D/ST Value Pick

Denver Broncos – DraftKings: $2,400 | FanDuel: $4,000

They were the Play of the Week to close out the season and this weekend they’ll be the preferred value option for our NFL DFS Wild Card Round D/ST Coach. Here’s the thing. You may not even need to dip this low in terms of salary. For these shorter slates, it’s not a terrible idea to leave some salary on the table for the sake of being unique and there are always cheap receivers and/or tight ends on these slates that hit the optimal lineup.

But I am fine going with Denver if a value punt is absolutely necessary. The colder elements shouldn’t bother them, but rather they have to endure the wrath of the Buffalo Bills offense run by potential MVP, Josh Allen.

This Broncos D/ST is also worse on the road. They allowed just 14.9 points per game at home this year while they gave up 21.3 points per game on the road. And the Bills have an implied team total of 27.5 points.

If this was a larger slate we might not roll the dice with this play. But we are still getting a cheaper defense that blitzes a ton and can generate pressure. They had 63 sacks on the year to go with 25 takeaways. And while we can’t predict touchdowns, they did have five D/ST scores to juice their numbers a bit. It’s not pretty and going against Josh Allen and Co. is no easy task. But for a cheap defense, maybe they can do enough to hit 2X-3X value.

 

 

 

NFL DFS D/ST Fade For Wild Card Round

Tampa Bay Buccaneers – DraftKings: $3,100 | FanDuel: $4,200

If playing the six-game slate, I’d certainly consider paying up or down from the Bucs. Truthfully, we could consider fading this game altogether. This game has the highest implied total of all six games at just over 50 points and the Bucs are favored by a field goal at home.

These two teams met way back in Week 1 of the 2024 NFL season and the Bucs won 37-20 but the Bucs D/ST returned just three fantasy points. But we can’t be projecting this game based on what happened roughly four months ago. These teams have changed and the quality of play at the beginning of the year was garbage.

The Bucs defense isn’t awful, but for DFS we can find better ceilings elsewhere. They average about one takeaway per game and less than three sacks per game. Jayden Daniels demonstrated composure and discipline for a rookie and got better as the season progressed. 

His ability to run and complete nearly 70% of his pass attempts gives me some pause despite having to head on the road. So, this is a game I’ll be targeting skill position players and likely avoiding both D/ST’s at their current price.

 

 

 

NFL DFS Wild Card Round D/ST Play Of The Week

Philadelphia Eagles – DraftKings: $3,300 | FanDuel: $4,600

They were my Play of the Week two weeks ago in Week 17 and they returned 19 fantasy points. That was just the third time all year they returned double-digit fantasy points.

But for the most part, they’ve been rather mediocre at times. The over/under for this game is at 45.5 points as of Thursday morning and the Eagles are only 4.5-point favorites. So, the Green Bay Packers still have an implied team total right around 20 points. That’s not the worst in comparison to some teams we’ve already discussed.

The Packers did lose Christian Watson to a torn ACL. The Green Bay receiving room has been annoying to project, but Watson was a larger deep threat that could win contested catches. And in a potentially negative game script, we do expect Green Bay to throw more than they have of late.

The Eagles got off to a rough start this year, but they’ve been better since their early Bye week. From Weeks 1-4 the Eagles gave up 24 points per game and 365 yards of offense per game. 

Since Week 6 they’ve surrendered just 15.5 points per game and 251 yards of offense per game. The sack numbers aren’t the highest, but this secondary is young and much improved from a year ago and they could dominate this game from beginning to end at home.

 

 

 

NFL DFS Wild Card Defense/Special Teams Projections