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 strong defenses as we are with finding defenses that play 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.
Las Vegas Raiders DEF (20% owned) @ New England Patriots
The Las Vegas Raiders come in at #3 on my defensive streamers model this week, and it is easy to see why. The Raiders are the DST3 on the season, with the most turnovers and the fifth-most sacks in football. As if that wasn’t enough of an endorsement, they are playing a New England Patriots team that gives up the second-most turnovers, scores the third-fewest points per game, and yields the second-most fantasy points to opposing defenses.
Chicago Bears DEF (35% owned) @ Green Bay Packers
What a time to be alive. The Green Bay Packers are scoring the fifth-fewest points per game, while the Bears have the most yards in football. The Bears defense has the eighth-most sacks and gives up the fourth-fewest points per game. With the second-best pressure rate in football against arguably the worst offensive line in football (unless the Eagles lost another guy between me writing this and you reading it), this has the potential to be an explosive performance by the Bears, but 48 years of fandom tell me this will probably end in heartbreak for me. Nonetheless, the Bears are DST7 on the season, and this is a top-ten fantasy matchup of the week.
Cincinnati Bengals DEF (45% owned) @ Miami Dolphins
This is the second week this season that I recommend streaming the Bengals defense, and it is easy to see why. The winless Miami Dolphins are arguably the worst team in football, with the fewest points scored per game, and are giving up the sixth-most fantasy points to opposing defenses. The Bengals are DST5 on the season with the third-most sacks. Don’t overthink it. Start the Bengals.
