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 a necessary 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 with good defenses as we are with finding defenses 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. Based on this flawless logic, I will highlight the best streaming options each week.
Atlanta Falcons DEF (21% owned) @ Miami Dolphins
I am doubling down on my Atlanta Falcons pick from last week. The Falcons are allowing the ninth-fewest points per game, while the Dolphins are scoring the eighth-fewest points per game. Atlanta has the eighth-most turnovers in football, while the Dolphins have the 2nd most turnovers. Miami is on the brink of completely collapsing, and I think the Falcons are going to make them pay.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers DEF (19% owned) @ New Orleans Saints
If you are looking for a defense that will not hurt you, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a solid bet. In every loss this year, the defense playing the New Orleans Saints has scored at least five points. Twice, teams have scored double-digit points against them. The Saints have the fourth-fewest points scored and are playing an MVP-caliber Baker Mayfield, who will likely grind away at a Saints defense that has the fifth-highest time per drive.
Cincinnati Bengals DEF (4% owned) @ New York Jets
I know what you are thinking. Why would any sane person start the Cincinnati Bengals defense in The Year Of Our Lord 2025? The answer is simple – because the Jets. The Jets have given up the eighth-most turnovers, the most sacks, and scored the sixth-fewest points on offense. This is a high-risk play, but outside of week one, the fewest points a fantasy defense has scored against the Jets is 7. They have given up double-digit points to fantasy defenses 4 times this year. If you need a ceiling play, it should always be whoever is playing the Jets.
