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.
Minnesota Vikings DEF (67% owned) @ Indianapolis Colts
It looks like a lot of people cut the Vikings because of the bye week. While this doesn’t hit my normal cutoff, if the Vikings are on your waiver wire, then go grab them. They are the number one fantasy defense in points scored even with one fewer game played than most teams. Enough said.
New York Jets DEF (11% owned) @ Miami Dolphins
The number three matchup on my model this week is the New York Jets. The Jets are the DST11 on the season, but the Dolphins are giving up the second-most fantasy points to opposing defenses. The Jets are a solid defense that hasn’t given up a ton of points, but hasn’t lost you a bunch either. They are giving up the seventh-fewest points to opposing teams and have the fifth-most sacks. The Dolphins, on the other hand, have scored the fewest points in football. Miami is one of the worst teams in football and always bet on bad continuing to be bad!
Cleveland Browns DEF (34% owned) @ Tennessee Titans
Speaking of betting on bad, it turns out that Cam Ward is matchup-proof. No matter how good or bad the matchup, he will find a way to screw it up! Which is why I love the Cleveland Browns this week. The Titans are scoring the second-fewest points per game and giving up the sixth-most fantasy points to opposing defenses. If you look at the Browns’ defense, they are the real story behind the Browns’ resurgence. They have the second-most sacks and are giving up the seventh-fewest points per game to opposing teams. Best of all, he gets to play Cam Ward, so I expect this game to get very ugly very fast. If you aren’t feeling the Browns’ defense, I will say the Titans are a viable option.
