The Baltimore Ravens will face the Pittsburgh Steelers on Wild Card Weekend. Here’s the latest fantasy football news and advice to help you with your lineups this week and moving forward, especially regarding QB Lamar Jackson.
Is Lamar Jackson Playing vs. the Steelers?
Jackson is not listed on the injury report this week, so barring any unexpected setbacks, he is on track to play this weekend.
We’ll continue to monitor the Ravens’ 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 Lamar Jackson on Wild Card Weekend?
I’m old enough to remember when there was talk about Lamar Jackson needing to change positions. He’s developed into a true dual threat where defenses have no real answer. This season, he has …
- 11 games with multiple TD passes and zero INTs
- 13 games with 40+ rushing yards
- Five games with a 25+ yard carry
The Steelers, in Week 16, bottled up Jackson and held him without a 10-yard run, the only such game for the reigning MVP this season (nine carries for 22 yards). Across two games with Pittsburgh, Jackson completed just 55.4% of his passes (all other games: 68.2%).
I’m not too worried about it.
Over the last two seasons under Todd Monken, Jackson has been a different QB:
- 2023-24: 66.9% completion rate, 8.4 yards per attempt, 7.0% TD rate, and 1.2% INT rate
- Previously in his career: 63.7% completion rate, 7.4 yards per attempt, 6.1% TD rate, and 2.3% INT rate
I’m happy to bet on two years of data over two data points from this season. Jackson offers plenty of upside, and if his ownership numbers do not project to be within shouting distance of Josh Allen, Jalen Hurts, and Jayden Daniels, I have no issue going in this direction.
Are you looking for start/sit advice for other players in your lineup? Read our Wild Card Weekend Fantasy Start-Sit Advice Cheat Sheet for every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Lamar Jackson’s Fantasy Points Projection on Wild Card Weekend
As of Saturday, Jackson is projected to score 26 fantasy points on Wild Card Weekend. This includes 267.2 passing yards, 1.9 passing touchdowns, and 0.7 interceptions. It also includes 11.3 rushing attempts for 68.2 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 Bills' Defense
After finishing as a top-seven defense in each of the last three seasons, the Buffalo Bills finished 18th during the regular season. That's not the biggest surprise given that this was largely billed as a rebuilding season for this unit.
However, the Bills were able to overwhelm the Broncos in the Wild Card round following an opening drive touchdown. Buffalo had a strong run defense all year (sixth in EPA per rush), and that came through with the team's fourth-best EPA per rush (0.27).
However, the leaky pass defense that ranked 26th in EPA per dropback also played at a well above-average level. Buffalo averaged 0.18 defensive EPA per dropback vs. the Broncos, the team's sixth-best showing of the season.
The Bills' offense is operating at such a high level that the bar to clear for the defense is lower than it would be on nearly any other team. Buffalo has met that threshold against lesser competition but will be challenged this week against Lamar Jackson and the Ravens, as well as in a potential AFC Championship Game at Arrowhead Stadium.
For more insight on all other team defenses, head to our PFN Defense+ Metric Analysis.
Lamar Jackson’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 QB PPR Rankings
1) Josh Allen | BUF (vs. BAL)
2) Lamar Jackson | BAL (at BUF)
3) Jayden Daniels | WAS (at DET)
4) Jalen Hurts | PHI (vs. LAR)
5) Jared Goff | DET (vs. WAS)
6) Patrick Mahomes | KC (vs. HOU)
7) Matthew Stafford | LAR (at PHI)
8) C.J. Stroud | HOU (at KC)
Ravens at Bills Trends and Insights
Baltimore Ravens
Team: Lamar Jackson was the MVP in 2019. The next season ...
- *Won on Wild Card Weekend (he had 179 pass yards)
- *Derrick Henry was the home RB in that Wild Card game
- *Advanced to play a 13-win Bills team
Jackson was the MVP in 2023. This season …
- *Won on Wild Card Weekend (he had 175 pass yards)
- *Derrick Henry was the home RB in that Wild Card game
- *Will play a 13-win Bills team
QB: Since Week 9, Jackson has completed 75.8% of his non-pressured passes with 20 touchdowns and just one interception on those 161 attempts.
Offense: Over their past five games (all wins), Baltimore has scored a touchdown on 40.8% of their drives (they were one of the elite offenses prior to this run with a 33.3% rate).
Defense: Opponents are 0-of-6 on fourth downs against the Ravens over the past four games (prior: 12-of-23).
Fantasy: On Saturday, Derrick Henry became the first player in NFL history to have four games in a season with 130 rushing yards and multiple rushing touchdowns when he was 30+ years of age.
Betting: Baltimore has covered six of eight road games after failing to do so in the season opener at Arrowhead.
Buffalo Bills
Team: All four of Buffalo’s losses this season have come following a blowout result the week prior.
QB: Excluding the one-snap Week 18, Josh Allen is 13-of-16 with two touchdowns and zero interceptions on third down over his past two games.
Offense: The Bills have not committed a turnover in six of seven games since their Week 12 bye.
Defense: Buffalo allowed Baltimore to score a TD on all four of their red zone trips in their Week 4 meeting – they’ve allowed two red zone scores on six trips over their past three games (Denver was 0-of-1).
Fantasy: The Bills didn’t lead for a single second of the first game with the Ravens – James Cook’s production over expectation this season is 16.4% higher when playing from ahead as opposed to behind.
Betting: The Bills have rotated covering with not covering in seven straight games (they covered easily against the Broncos on Sunday).
