This is it. The arrival of Week 13 signals the official kickoff of the fantasy football playoffs in most leagues. It seems only fitting that at this critical point in the season the there were two returned kicks for a score last week for the first time since Week 6.
While we rightly tend to focus mainly on the defensive portion of streaming options, the special teams side of things can also bring home a big win. Predicting kick or punt return scores is difficult to say the least but we do have a pair of teams that have two on the season Both the Lions and Ravens have accomplished that feat.
The Los Angeles Rams are the only team with both a kick return score and a blocked punt return for a touchdown. Finally, the Chicago Bears and Denver Broncos are the only teams to have allowed two returns for scores this season. Just a few things to consider when looking to perhaps swing for the fences in a tough matchup.
Let’s take a look at the Week 13 streaming DST options.
Dallas Cowboys (at NY Giants)
The Dallas defense/special team came to life Thursday night, rolling up fantasy production in all facets of the game. Defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence broke out of a mini-slump with a pair of sacks as well as a forced fumble. The Cowboys held Washington to just 56 rushing yards and hounded Kirk Cousins all night long. They finished the game with four sacks, two interceptions along with two forced and two recovered fumbles. The special teams stepped up as well with Ryan Switzer returning a punt 83 yards for a touchdown. Ride the surging Dallas defense even against a Giants team that is likely to have Eli Manning back at quarterback after firing of Ben McAdoo.
Los Angeles Chargers (vs. Washington)
This is among the best streaming options this week as the Washington offense has been very fantasy friendly to opposing defense/special teams of late. In the past two weeks they have allowed 10 sacks while turning the ball over five times. Washington has also given up a punt return for a score as well as a defensive touchdown in that time. Those are numbers worth chasing, especially with a team that possesses the edge-rushing talent that the Chargers have. Look for very big games from both Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram this week. The duo has combined for 19.5 sacks as well as three forced and two recovered fumbles this season.
Green Bay Packers (at Cleveland)
It’s a familiar refrain but once again worth repeating: Chase the Browns offense when choosing a defense/special team to stream. Cleveland remains one of the most generous offenses in allowing fantasy points to defenses as they search for their first win of the season. The Packers rediscovered their pass rush last week as they racked up seven sacks, led by Clay Matthews, who accounted for 2.5 of those sacks. Green Bay also put up a fumble recovery as well as a defensive touchdown in one of their best defensive performances of the season. The Packers are still clinging to a chance to make the playoffs and will feast on a Cleveland offense that has allowed seven sacks and two turnovers in the past two weeks.
New England Patriots (at Miami)
Over the last three games the Patriots defense/special teams has been putting up top-10 fantasy numbers. Despite playing without their top edge rusher Trey Flowers last week, New England still managed to post four sacks and now have 12 in the past three games. While Miami did manage to beat the Broncos in Week 13 they still allowed a pair of sacks with three turnovers as well as a defensive touchdown. With Jay Cutler (or anyone for that matter) this is an up-and-down offense that is prone to untimely mistakes. Finally, these two teams met just two weeks ago and the Patriots had seven sacks as well as two interceptions and a fumble recovery.
New York Jets (at Denver)
The Jets defense makes a rare appearance in this column as their 2017 campaign has been a disappointing one overall. They currently rank outside the top 25 in fantasy scoring with just 24 sacks on the season along with 17 turnovers and defensive or special team scores. So just why would they be worth a gamble at this crucial point in the fantasy playoffs? It’s simple. They have one of the juiciest matchups of the week against a Denver offense that continues to lack NFL-caliber play at the quarterback position. Trevor Siemian threw three more interceptions last week (with one returned for a touchdown) and now has 13 on the season with just 11 touchdown passes. Unfortunately, the Broncos do not have any better options to plug in and it’s the Jets turn to reap the benefits against this turnover prone young quarterback.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (vs. Detroit)
My how the tides have shifted in the streaming defense realm. There was a time in the season we streamed the opportunistic Lions defense as they put up big play after big play. Now we chase a battered Matthew Stafford and a sloppy Detroit offense. Stafford is nursing a hand injury following the Week 13 loss to Baltimore and has been sacked nine times in the last three games. In those games Detroit has allowed 30 quarterback hurries and eight hits leading to a handful of untimely turnovers. The Lions are averaging two turnovers per game in that time and gave up a defensive score last week. Should Stafford be unable to go next week (or finish the game) then the unproven Jake Rudock steps in. Rudock was victimized with the pick-six last week after replacing Stafford. Chase this stumbling offense with the Buccaneers this week.
Buffalo Bills (vs. Indianapolis)
The Bills defense/special teams is a middle of the pack unit with just 20 sacks but they do have 13 interceptions and a pair of defensive touchdowns. This selection is once again all about the matchup. What’s that old saying? “If it ain’t broke, then don’t fix it.” Let’s follow that sage advice and once again chase an offense that consistently offers up fantasy production to it’s opponents. In the last two weeks the Colts have given up 12 sacks along with three turnovers and have allowed 50 sacks on the season. A closer look at this struggling offense is even more encouraging for the Bills this week. In five of their past six games the defense/special team facing the Colts have posted top-10 fantasy totals in most scoring formats. The one team that didn’t crack the top 10 was Pittsburgh in Week 10 and they still managed top-15 numbers against Indianapolis.
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