Unless most of the teams in your league carry a backup defense, more than half of the league should be available to you every week. Perhaps instead of playing one above average defense every week, regardless of matchup, we should instead target the widely available waiver wire defenses with the best matchups in any particular week? You can always make exceptions if your rent-a-defense gets hot - heck, you might find a team worth starting all year by accident. Even if you don't, good matchups will continue to get greater in number as more QBs get injured or yanked as the season goes on. You can steal some points from bad weather come December. Each week I'll list the startable fantasy defenses on most waiver wires and rank them.
Week 16 Results
Kansas City (at Chicago) - 3 sacks, 3 pts against
The Chiefs defense was outstanding and has given the franchise a much more balanced team for their playoff run than the 2018 edition, but it didn’t result in a big fantasy line in Week 16. They can still get a bye or fall to the fourth seed so their D/ST will be a good play at home against Philip Rivers in the December of his career.
Denver (vs Detroit) - 4 sacks
David Blough took care of the ball and this was actually a close game for a good part of it. Vic Fangio hasn’t created a shutdown defense like the one he coordinated in Chicago, but he’ll earn another year to build his program in Denver. The Broncos get Oakland at home and we’ll pass on them for Week 17.
Indianapolis (vs Carolina) - 5 sacks, 3 INT, 2 ST TD
Nyheim Hines fantasy championship MVP? That was indeed the outcome if you played the Colts D/ST. They predictably made Will Grier looks like a first-time starter for a team that was reluctant to play him, but the two Hines punt return touchdowns made it one of the D/ST performances of the year. They’ll get the reeling Jags this week.
Atlanta (vs Jacksonville) - 3 sacks, 1 fumble recovery
Not a hit, but not a miss either. The Falcons defense has had a much better second half of the season, perhaps even good enough to save Dan Quinn’s job. They’ll get the Bucs and Jameis Winston to finish out the season.
Washington (vs New York Giants) - 1 sack
Danny Dimes is back! Washington’s defense was run ragged by the Giants passing game
Buffalo (at New England) - 1 fumble recovery
Tom Brady had one of his best games of the year and the Bills run defense gave way to Sony Michel and Rex Burkhead. The Bills have nothing to gain in the Week 17 game against the Jets.
Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda
Houston (at Tampa Bay) - 3 sacks, 1 fumble recovery, 4 INT, 1 DEF TD
We should have known that Jameis Winston would deliver fantasy titles, just not in the way we expected.
Los Angeles Rams (at San Francisco) - 6 sacks, 2 INT
The Rams defense harassed Jimmy Garoppolo all night but he somehow pulled out a win despite sacks and giveaways to an extent that will usually doom a quarterback
Week 17 Candidates
**San Francisco, New England, Pittsburgh and Baltimore are assumed to be rostered**
New Orleans (at Carolina)
After Will Grier’s fantasy D/ST friendly debut last week, this is the clear #1 rent-a-defense for Week 17. The Saints are still playing for their shot at the #1 seed and should bring the noise against the rookie quarterback.
Green Bay (at Detroit)
The Packers still have a chance to secure the #1 seed and all they need to do is beat David Blough. They are definitely a preferred rent-a-defense even though Denver was a dud in a similar spot.
Tennessee (at Houston)
The Titans are playing for a playoff spot. While the Texans could climb up a spot with a Chiefs loss, they will be facing a very motivated Tennessee team with the knowledge that they likely have nothing to gain with a win, and they could sit Deshaun Watson and company if the Chiefs pull ahead of the Chargers at Arrowhead.
Philadelphia (at New York Giants)
The Eagles need only to beat the Giants to host a playoff game. While their defense is devoid of playmakers this year and the Giants would love nothing more than to spoil their season, there’s a shot of a D/ST blowup here.
Dallas (vs Washington)
The Cowboys can still make the playoffs with a win over Washington and an Eagles loss so they will be bringing top intensity and they have been a much better team at home this year.
Kansas City (vs Los Angeles Chargers)
The Chiefs can still get a bye and risk falling to the four seed with a loss and Philip Rivers has looked like Father Time is catching up with him lately. There’s a chance the Chiefs sit Patrick Mahomes II and other key starters if the Patriots pull away from the Dolphins and the Titans pull away from the Texans, so there’s some risk here.
Los Angeles Rams (vs Arizona)
The Rams had one of the few strong D/ST scores in Week 16 and while they are out of playoff contention, they could be facing Brett Hundley. If you have to play a defense that is on a team playing for nothing, the Rams are a good choice.
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