If you read my article on playing the waiver wire game, you know that it is an essential part of winning your fantasy football league. If you haven’t read it, what are you waiting for? I just told you it’s an essential part of winning your fantasy football league! Why do you hate winning? One of the best ways to maximize your weekly scoring is streaming defenses. This strategy is simple: we aren’t as concerned with finding defenses, so much as finding defenses that are playing terrible offenses. Bad offenses are more likely to keep playing bad because if they knew how to be good, they would already be good. Because of this flawless logic, I will be pointing out the best streaming options on a weekly basis.
Streaming Defenses Option #1: Denver Broncos Defense (51% rostered) @ New York Jets
Never, in the history of streaming defenses, has there been a match-up that is as appealing as the week four match-up of the Denver Broncos. They get to play the Jets! THE JETS! Where do I even begin? I could start by telling you the Jets have given up the most fantasy points to opposing defenses this year. Maybe you’d like to hear about how they are playing on a Thursday for a short week. All you really need to know is that they are playing for Gase’s coaching career, and if Jets players feel as strongly about Adam Gase as their fans do, they are going to lose by 3000 points. If the Broncos defense is available in your league, pick them up and start them. This feels like such an obvious start that I am almost afraid it will somehow go horribly wrong. (But still, start them).
Streaming Defenses Option #2: New York Jets Defense (39% rostered) @ Denver
If the Denver Broncos seem too good to be true, you can always fall back on the defense playing the team that has given up the second-most fantasy points to opposing defenses: The New York Jets. I’m going to throw the ball in your court. One of these defenses is going to have a great week and it might be the Jets, however improbable that might seem. The Broncos have scored the third-fewest points, have the fourth-fewest yards, and given up the second-most sacks. The Broncos are down their starting quarterback and number one wide receiver, and they so desperate for quarterback help, they have signed Blake Bortles. If anyone could make the New York Jets look good, it is the Denver Broncos.
Streaming Defenses Option #3: Arizona Cardinals Defense (39% rostered) @ Carolina
What can I tell you about the Arizona Cardinals to let you know they are a must-start in week four. Should I mention that they are tied for the second-most interceptions in the NFL? Could I mention that they already have eleven sacks on the season through three games? Maybe you want to know that they have the second-best red-zone defense in the NFL and give up the second-fewest points per game. All of that is nice, but really I just like them because they are playing a Carolina Panthers team that someone scraped together a win and I have a hard time believing they will win two weeks in a row.
BONUS: BUYER BEWARE
Streaming Defenses Option #4: Seattle Seahawks Defense (37% rostered) @ Miami
FantasyPros has the Seattle Seahawks defense as the ninth-best streaming defense for week four, which makes me wonder if they’ve watched the Seahawks play this year. We have been trained to think of the Seahawks as a team built on a running game and defense, but that is not the case this year. The Seahawks are ranked in the bottom third of the league for scoring defense, sacks, and red zone percentage. What they don’t give up in yards, they give up in points.
Miami might seem like an easy match-up, but they have a long week to rest up since they played Thursday. Moreover, Seattle has to travel across the country to play in Miami, which impacts teams negatively more often than not. Miami doesn’t give up a lot of sacks and turnovers and perhaps most important of all, they don’t give up a lot of fantasy points to opposing defenses.
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