NFL players resting: Who is playing, sitting in Bucs-Falcons in Week 18?

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will face the Atlanta Falcons in Week 18 of the NFL season. Kickoff from Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia is set for 1 p.m. ET, and the game will air on Fox. The Bucs locked down the NFC South with last week's win, so they are locked into the No. 4 seed for the NFC playoffs, while the Falcons have been eliminated.

Players resting for Bucs

No matter if Tampa Bay wins or loses this week, they will remain the No. 4 seed for the NFC and will face whichever team ends up with the No. 5 seed. We will likely see the Bucs resting players, as they would be risking injuries if they played their starters. Head coach Todd Bowles says he play starters, but that doesn't mean they will play for the entire game.

When you look at the players who have been declared out, you realize the team isn't playing this game to win, as Carlton Davis (shoulder), Carl Nassib (pectoral), Logan Ryan, (knee), Donovan Smith (foot) and Vita Vea (foot) are all out. There are also a host of questionable players in Jamel Dean (toe), Mike Edwards (hamstring/hip) and Julio Jones (knee). Maybe we get as much as a half from Tom Brady and crew, but I doubt they get that far.

Players resting for Falcons

Atlanta is playing for pride at this point. The Falcons are likely setting their sights on the future, so we could see them displaying more of their depth. At this point, it doesn't seem like they are going to blatantly rest players from the jump, but that doesn't mean they won't sub in and out frequently.

There doesn't appear to be any notable names on the injury report for the Falcons this week to end the season. You should expect the normal lineup for fantasy football and DFS purposes.

  
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