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 badly 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.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Defense (30% owned) @ New Orleans Saints
My favorite defensive streaming option of the week is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The fact that the Bucs are available in most leagues, despite being the number five fantasy defense is laughable. The Bucs have the fourth-most turnovers in football and have given up the ninth-fewest points per game. This week, they get to play a Saints offense that has scored the eighth-fewest points per game, have the eighth-fewest first downs, and have given up the fourth-most sacks. The best part about this match-up is there is a very good chance they will be playing Jameis Winston, a man who has 151 turnovers in 87 NFL games. The Bucs defense should be your number-one streaming option for week four.
Cincinnati Bengals Defense (45% owned) @ Tennessee Titans
If the Bucs aren’t available in your league, the Cincinnati Bengals are a solid consolation prize. The Bengals’ defense has been solid, if unexciting. They have the ninth-most sacks in football. The Titans have been an absolute mess on offense. The Titans have scored the third-fewest points, have the third-fewest yards per play, and the third-fewest first down. Oh, and they have given up the second-most sacks to opposing defenses. Most important of all, they are not using Derrick Henry at all. Henry is only on the field for 54.5% of the team’s snaps. 99 dropbacks compared to 71 team rushing attempts for the Titans seem to indicate a desire to be a more pass-oriented offense. While I would normally applaud this decision in the modern NFL, Ryan Tannehill looks old, slow, and bad out there. The Titans are at their best when Henry is running that offense. He currently isn’t, which is why the Tennessee Titans are floundering.
Seattle Seahawks Defense (21% owned) @ New York Giants
Here’s the thing. The Seattle Seahawks defense is bad. They don’t turn the ball over. They don’t get sacks. They give up a lot of points. I’m just not sure any of that matters when they are playing a New York Giants team that has the fifth-worst EPA on offense. The Giants have scored the second-fewest points, have the seventh-fewest first downs, and average the third-fewest yards per offensive play. But do the Giants at least minimize sacks and turnovers? I’m glad you asked. No. No they do not. The Giants have the seventh-most turnovers and the fourth-most sacks. The reason this is my final option is because there is a chance the Giants have just had bad luck in starting the year having to face the San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys.
