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.
**Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Los Angeles Rams, and Arizona are assumed to be rostered**
Week 9 Results
New England (at Carolina) - 1 sack, 3 INT, 1 DEF TD, 6 pts allowed
Bill Belichick still has Sam Darnold’s number. Actually, the whole NFL has Darnold’s number.
A Look Ahead: CLE @ATL TEN - The Browns aren’t a generous offense to opposing D/ST’s but the Patriots defense is hot and we should consider sticking with them.
New Orleans (vs Atlanta) - 2 sacks
The Saints decided to not show up until the fourth quarter
A Look Ahead: @TEN @PHI BUF - The Titans are peaking despite losing Derrick Henry. No thanks.
Pittsburgh (vs Chicago) - 3 sacks, 1 fumble recovery, 1 INT
The Bears were actually the better side of this matchup, but T.J. Watt, ahem the Steelers defense did enough to justify playing them.
A Look Ahead: DET @LAC @CIN - The Steelers defense is probably the #1 option this week with the Lions coming to town.
Indianapolis (vs New York Jets) - 2 sacks, 1 fumble recovery, 1 INT
The Colts got to the Jets third string quarterback, Josh Johnson, but it didn’t result in fireworks as the entire second half was basically garbage time.
A Look Ahead: JAX @BUF TB - We will stick with the Colts this week.
Dallas (vs Denver) - 4 sacks
The pass rush was the only bright spot for the Cowboys on this miserable afternoon
A Look Ahead: ATL @KC LV - Has the mystique of the Cowboys defense been broken? Do the Falcons have the running game to follow the Browns script?
San Francisco (vs Arizona) - 2 sacks
The Cardinals ended up being the much better side of this matchup as the 49ers couldn’t handle Colt McCoy and James Conner
A Look Ahead: LAR @JAX MIN - We’re still waiting for this defense to wake up
Miami (vs Houston) - 5 sacks, 1 fumble recovery, 3 INT
Tyrod Taylor has been known for not turning the ball over, but that wasn’t the case in his return to the field against the Dolphins.
A Look Ahead: BAL @NYJ CAR - We may come back to them in Week 11 if Zach Wilson is starting.
Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda
Cleveland (at Cincinnati) - 5 sacks, 1 fumble recovery, 2 INT, 1 DEF TD
A 99-yard interception return for a score on the first drive set the tone for the Beckham-less Browns in their first game with multiple sacks and takeaways this year.
Tennessee (at Los Angeles Rams) - 5 sacks, 2 INT, 1 DEF TD
Matthew Stafford had a bad second quarter and let the game get away from the Rams
Houston (at Miami) - 4 sacks, 3 fumble recoveries, 2 INT
The Texans lost in a game where they forced five turnovers.
New York Giants (vs Las Vegas) - 1 sack, 1 fumble recovery, 2 INT, 1 DEF TD
The Giants had the most well-timed defensive big plays of the week, directly leading to the upset win at home
Jacksonville (vs Buffalo) - 4 sacks, 1 fumble recovery, 2 INT, 6 pts allowed
The other Josh Allen bested the MVP candidate Josh Allen in this one
Minnesota (at Baltimore) - 3 sacks, 2 INT, 1 ST TD
Kene Nwangwu’s kickoff return score to open the second half keyed an unexpected good day from the Vikings D/ST
Chicago (at Pittsburgh) - 4 sacks, 1 fumble recovery, 1 ST TD
A Ray Ray McCloud fumble on a punt return made the Bears D/ST a hit on Monday night
Week 10 Candidates
**Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Los Angeles Rams, and Arizona are assumed to be rostered**
Tampa Bay (at Washington)
If the fantasy team that was carrying Tampa dropped them during their bye, your rent-a-defense decision is easy this week. No matter who starts for the Football Team, the Bucs should be able to harass them while playing with a lead as the Washington pass defense is ill-equipped to slow down the Bucs.
A Look Ahead: NYG @ATL @IND - We’ll stick with the Bucs going forward
Tennessee (vs New Orleans)
The Saints could start Taysom Hill, they could start Trevor Siemian, or they could go with a true two quarterback system. Either way, the Titans are hot, flustering Matthew Stafford on the road last week, and the Saints just absorbed a bitter pill loss after coming back from down 18 only to blow the game at the end.
A Look Ahead: HOU @NE BYE - As long as the Titans D/ST is rolling, we will keep riding them
Cleveland (at New England)
The Browns are coming off of a big defensive week against the Bengals and the Patriots might be without their top two running backs.
A Look Ahead: DET @BAL BYE - The best reason to play the Browns this week is to get the Lions matchup next week
Baltimore (vs Miami) **Thursday**
The Ravens have been one of the most anemic D/ST’s in fantasy football, a change from their usual form, but that could reverse this week against the Dolphins, who will either start Tua Tagovailoa with a bad digit on his throwing hand, or Jacoby Brissett, who struggles to put digits on the scoreboard when he’s the starter.
A Look Ahead: @CHI CLE @PIT - Justin Fields looked a lot better against the Steelers, so this isn’t an automatic play even if the Ravens come through for us on Thursday.
Dallas (vs Atlanta)
The Cowboys looked like one of the only set it and forget it D/ST’s heading into Week 9, but instead forgot to set their alarm and let the Broncos run all over them. This could be a new approach by opponents, but the Falcons don’t have the horses to pull it off. The Cowboys offense, nay, team should be angry and will want to make a statement.
A Look Ahead: @KC LV @NO - If the Cowboys defense plays up to their first half form, we’ll keep them in against Patrick Mahomes II
Denver (vs Philadelphia)
The Broncos traded away Von Miller and followed that up by holding the Cowboys under 300 total yards and posting multiple sacks and takeaways, which they had only done against the Jets and Washington this year. The Eagles have a new run first philosophy to match the Broncos turning over the same new leaf last week. If the Broncos can control time of possession again and force Jalen Hurts to become a passer, this could be a hit.
A Look Ahead: BYE LAC @KC - Week 14 against Detroit will be our next week to use Denver
Week 11 Preemptive Pickups
Cleveland (vs Detroit)
Tennessee (vs Houston)
Tampa Bay (vs New York Giants)
