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When the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Pittsburgh Steelers on Christmas Day, the Buffalo Bills lost all hope to earn the No. 1 seed in the AFC. With the Chiefs currently sitting at 15-1 on the year and the Bills having a 13-3 record, Buffalo is not able to catch Kansas City in the standings at this point of the season.
As a result, the Bills will play a meaningless Week 18 against the Patriots. Buffalo can't move up or down in the AFC standings and already locked up the No. 2 seed during the 2024-2025 postseason.
So, will the Bills rest their starters in Week 18 against the Patriots? Let's dive in and find out.
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Will The Buffalo Bills Rest Starters In Week 18?
With nothing to play for in Week 18, the expectation is that the Bills will not play most of their starters on Sunday. However, Josh Allen will start against the Patriots this weekend to keep his starts streak going. Allen has started 114 straight games (regular season and postseason), which is the longest active streak among quarterbacks in the NFL.
But fantasy managers shouldn't expect Allen to play very much in Sunday's meaningless game. Head coach Sean McDermott said, "he'll be out there for a very, very short-lived amount of time and then he'll be off rather quickly."
Josh Allen Won't Play Much In Week 18https://t.co/XsDPSZ8Kfx
— RotoBaller NFL (@RotoBallerNFL) December 30, 2024
As for the other starters in this Buffalo offense, they likely won't play very much against the Patriots. James Cook, Amari Cooper, Khalil Shakir, and Dalton Kincaid should all likely be avoided in most Week 18 fantasy football championships. McDermott said the team will play some starters on Sunday but that some backups will see some opportunities as well.
Who Will Start For The Buffalo Bills In Week 18?
Although Allen will start for the Bills in Week 18, Mitchell Trubisky will see most of the snaps under center on Sunday. Trubisky threw for 69 yards and one touchdown in the fourth quarter of last week's blowout win over the Jets. So, he is the preferred Bills quarterback to start in fantasy this weekend.
At running back, Ray Davis will probably see most of the running back opportunities in this game. Even though McDermott hasn't come out and said that Cook will sit on Sunday, the Bills will likely choose to sit their explosive running back in a meaningless matchup against the Patriots.
Too easy for Ray.
📺: @paramountplus & @NFLonCBS pic.twitter.com/pGYdg8FkPh
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) December 16, 2024
As for the pass catchers, Buffalo only has five active wideouts on their current roster (Shakir, Cooper, Keon Coleman, Curtis Samuel, and Mack Hollins), so it's hard to imagine most of these wideouts sitting out in Week 18. But expect Cooper and Samuel—who missed last week's game due to a rib injury—to not see many snaps in this game.
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