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 to stream defenses. This strategy is simple – we aren’t as concerned about good 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 for week nine.
Carolina Panthers (47% rostered) @ New England Patriots
The Carolina Panthers are the number one streaming option for defenses this week. Truth be told, they have only really had one bad game all year. The fact that they are available in half the fantasy leagues out there is crazy to me. The Panthers have the third-best defense on third-down, have allowed the fifth-fewest first down, and allow the third-fewest yards. And all the teams ahead of them have played one less game than they have. If we averaged out the teams behind them, they’d be second in first downs allowed and have allowed the second-fewest yards. The Panthers should be a tough match-up for New England, as they are good at defending the things that the Patriots do well. I really love this week nine matchup.
Green Bay Packers (31% rostered) @ Kansas City Chiefs
I am probably going against the grain on this one, but I think the Packers’ defense is a strong play against the Kansas City Chiefs. We are eight weeks into the NFL season, and I think it is time to admit that the Kansas City Chiefs offense is no longer the juggernaut they have been in years past. The Chiefs have given up the ninth-most fantasy points to opposing defenses. While no Aaron Rodgers seems scary, I think we will likely see a repeat of the Packers game plan against the Cardinals, where they commit to running the football and shortening the game. And because the Chiefs are terrible on defense, they won’t be able to stop them. Defensively, the Packers have the fourth-most turnovers in football. This is not good for the Chiefs, who lead the NFL in turnovers. If you can’t get the Panthers on your waiver wire, the Packers are a solid consolation prize.
Miami Dolphins/Houston Texans (27%/1% rostered) @ Houston Texans/Miami Dolphins
If for some reason, the top two options are not available, the waiver wire pickings become real slim in week nine. Unfortunately, all the good defenses that are rostered everywhere are playing bad teams. This leaves us the option of picking our poison with the Miami Dolphins or Houston Texans. The Texans have given up the third-most fantasy points to opposing defenses. The Dolphins have given up the seventh-most fantasy points to opposing defenses. The question you need to ask yourself is which team is going to suck worse, then pick their opponent’s defense.
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