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 (12% owned) @ Carolina Panthers
I am going to be honest, figuring out when to stream the Atlanta Falcons has been an exercise in futility. I don’t think I’ve been right once on the weeks to pick them. They had nine fantasy points or more against Buffalo, New England, and Indianapolis, but they can’t succeed against fantastic match-ups like Miami and Carolina. Regardless, they are tied for DST11 on the season. They have the seventh-most turnovers and the fifth-most sacks in football. Carolina has the 4th-most turnovers on offense and the fifth-fewest points. The question is whether you think a Carolina Panthers team that just lost to the Saints is going to be swept by the Panthers this year. This is going to be my number one defense for the week, but I won’t pretend I’m excited about it.
Chicago Bears DEF (46% owned) @ Minnesota Vikings
What happens when a movable force meets a stoppable object? That is this match-up. I was surprised to see just how badly the Vikings have been performing on offense. They have the second-most turnovers and are tied for the third-most sacks. The Bears, on the other hand, are the DST11 on the season. This is on the back of averaging over two turnovers a game, leading the NFL. I’ll be honest, the only reason the Bears are on my list this week is that there are not many good streaming options. The Bears are a ceiling play. They scored nine or more points in five of nine games this season. In their first match-up with the Vikings, they scored 11 points. When all my options suck, I’m playing for the ceiling.
Los Angeles Chargers DEF (40% owned) @ Jacksonville Jaguars
Jacksonville has lost three of its last four games, and the Chargers are cooking on defense. The Chargers have the fifth-most sacks and allow the eighth-fewest points per game. Through nine games, Lawrence has 10 passing touchdowns, four rushing touchdowns, seven interceptions, and four fumbles. If I can’t get the Falcons or Bears, I’m grabbing the Chargers and hoping Trevor Lawrence keeps playing like Trevor Lawrence.
