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.
Los Angeles Chargers DEF (29% owned) @ Las Vegas Raiders
I have a few rules in life. Be kind. Pay it forward. When an offense has the fewest points per game, turns over the ball at the eighth-highest rate in the league, and has given up the second-most sacks to opposing defenses, start them in fantasy. I keep it simple. The Chargers allow the tenth-fewest points per game, but the Raiders’ offense couldn’t score if it wanted to. The Chargers are the third-best fantasy defense of the week, according to my model, and have a reasonable expectation of an explosive performance. If they are on your waiver wire, start them.
Jacksonville Jaguars DEF (32% owned) @ Tennessee Titans
If you can’t get the Chargers, the Jaguars are my second-favorite defensive stream of the week. The Jaguars have the fifth-most turnovers, while the Titans are giving up the tenth-most. On top of that, the Titans are scoring the 3rd fewest points per game and giving up the most sacks. They rank fifth in my model’s streaming defense. There is one other defense that scored better, but I couldn’t bring myself to rank them ahead of the Jaguars.
Atlanta Falcons DEF (29% owned) @ New York Jets
Last week, I took a chance and decided to try love again. Sure, the Falcons had spurned me. But in week 12, I chose to believe, and the Falcons rewarded my faith by being the DST5 for the week. I want to rank these guys ahead of the Jaguars. Like the Chargers, my model thinks they have a good chance to produce an explosive performance. Right now, the Falcons need to earn my trust back by actually beating teams they are supposed to win. And the New York Jets are absolutely a team the Falcons should beat. The Jets are scoring the sixth-fewest points per game, have the fourth-most sacks, and rank tenth in turnovers. The Falcons are a great streaming choice, but they have shown all season that they won’t always do what they should, which is why they are my last resort if the other two options aren’t available.
