A big week by the Philadelphia Eagles’ defense has propelled us into the top five on the season of team defenses. That’s the kind of jump start we needed to get us out in front. Now it’s time to put the pedal to the floor and strive to get to that DST1 position. Outside of the Eagles, we didn’t have a bust on the week which is always a plus. Let’s put together two or even three great defensive performances this week to get all levels of our suggestion off to a great start through four weeks.
I’m one to never invest a high draft stock into team defenses. I play the waiver wire every single week to find my D/ST for the upcoming week. Due to this, I find myself never drafting a defense and waiting for just before the start of Week 1 to grab my first defense of the season. This is where this series comes into play. Every week I will be suggesting my favorite three team defenses that are regularly available on waiver wires across most formats. I will also keep a running total of how my selections measure up across the season below.
The premise of this article is to bring forth three streamable defenses that fantasy football players should look to use for that respective week. To qualify for this series, defenses must be owned in less than 40-percent of Yahoo and/or ESPN leagues. At least one of the suggested defenses will be owned in less than 10-percent of Yahoo and/or ESPN leagues to cater to every fantasy player. You can find last week’s results below and previous week’s results at the bottom of this article.
The Eagles sacked former quarterback Carson Wentz nine times on Sunday while allowing just six points and recovering a fumble. That allowed the team to record 18 fantasy points. The Chiefs’ defense sacked Matt Ryan five times and allowed 20 points en route to eight fantasy points. The Bears went and lost to the Texans as their defense did a whole lot of nothing. They did manage six fantasy points behind a sack and two interceptions however.
Week 3 Results
Philadelphia Eagles at Washington Commanders - 18 Points
Kansas City Chiefs at Indianapolis Colts - 8 Points
Chicago Bears vs. Houston Texans - 6 Points
Overall Results
Top Suggestion - 31 Points (DST5)
Middle Suggestion - 18 Points (DST22)
Under 10-Percent Owned - 21 Points (DST15)
Week 4 Suggestions
Minnesota Vikings at New Orleans Saints (Owned in 19% of Yahoo and 5% of ESPN Leagues)
Now this Vikings’ defense isn’t anything to write home about, but it’s the matchup that we are paying attention to. Through three weeks, the New Orleans Saints have allowed the most fantasy points to opposing team defenses. I mean, the poor Carolina Panthers’ defense recorded 14 fantasy points against this defense last week with a sack, two interceptions, a fumble recovery and a touchdown. Two weeks back the Buccaneers’ defense put up 26 fantasy points against the Saints as well. This Vikings’ defense had a fantastic Week 1 against Aaron Rodgers and the Packers but has not done much sense. That’s set to change this week while visiting the Saints.
Indianapolis Colts vs. Tennessee Titans (Owned in 35% of Yahoo and 45% of ESPN Leagues)
With the Colts’ being owned five-percent below the 40-percent cut off in Yahoo and 5-percent over in ESPN leagues, that cancels each other out, right? Anyhow, the Titans have allowed the ninth most fantasy points through the first three weeks of the season to opposing team defenses. Two weeks back the Bills recorded 20 fantasy points against this team. Ryan Tannehill has this offense stale and Derrick Henry isn’t getting much going for them. We’re not going for a home run here with picking the Colts, but a nice safe play.
Arizona Cardinals at Carolina Panthers (Owned in 2% of Yahoo and 1.4% of ESPN Leagues)
I’m starting to believe that Baker Mayfield may be the worst Panthers’ quarterback of recent times. That’s impressively bad. He’s limiting Christian McCaffrey’s abilities and is not allowing the offense to do much of anything. Statistically speaking the Panthers have allowed the 12th fewest fantasy points to opposing defenses and the Cardinals’ defense, fantasy wise, is below average. Let’s not forget that the team has played the Chiefs, Raiders and Rams to start the season. This defense held the defending champions Los Angeles Rams to just 20 points last week. Now with such a sub-par offense such as the Panthers, this team could put up a good amount of fantasy points this week.