With a month of NFL action behind us, things are beginning to come into focus that can help owners decide on which defenses to stream on a weekly basis.
This just in: It’s no longer advisable to stream the defense facing the Houston Texans and rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson. The kid is getting it done with both his arms and legs, so that situation is best avoided. In the meantime, we are seeing trends that can be followed when choosing our streaming options.
Offenses that have consistently struggled need to be chased and defenses on a hot streak are also solid options. Some bigger-name defenses that started the season slow for fantasy purposes such as the Seattle Seahawks may be finding their sea legs but a beatdown of Indianapolis may not be the best gauge. A wait-and-see approach there is the best approach.
Other defenses such as the Patriots and Titans are proving to be just plain bad and an avoid-at-all-costs approach is advised.
Let’s get to this week’s top streaming options.
Minnesota Vikings (at Chicago)
Per reports, the Vikings will be facing a rookie quarterback (Mitch Trubisky) making his first regular-season start, replacing turnover-prone Mike Glennon. In the first four games, Glennon played fast and loose with the ball, throwing five interceptions while losing three fumbles. Trubisky gets the starting gig this week, making his debut against one of the more talented defensive lines in the league. The Vikings racked up six sacks in a tough loss to the Lions last week and will need to ride their defense even more with the injuries to Sam Bradford and Dalvin Cook. Look for the Minnesota defensive line to create turnovers from a shaky Bears offense.
Oakland Raiders (vs. Baltimore)
The Ravens offense has struggled mightily and quarterback Joe Flacco simply doesn’t appear to be over the back issue that caused him to miss the entire preseason. In the past two weeks, the Ravens have allowed six sacks and turned the ball over six times in blowout losses to the Jaguars and Steelers. In each of those games Baltimore managed just a single touchdown after falling behind by a wide margin. The Raiders defense has put up five sacks and a pair of fumble recoveries in their past two games. Playing at home Oakland, should lean on Khalil Mack and company to continue the downward spiral of the Ravens offense.
Philadelphia Eagles (vs. Arizona)
This is a matchup between a couple of units heading in opposite directions. The Eagles defense sacked Philip Rivers twice last week while also recovering a fumble in their Week 4 victory over the Chargers. For the season Philadelphia has 10 sacks, four fumble recoveries, and three forced fumbles along with three interceptions and a defensive touchdown. Those are top-10 fantasy numbers through the first month of the season. The Cardinals offense just allowed six sacks to the 49ers and have allowed 17 through four games. Arizona failed to reach the end zone last week and Carson Palmer has thrown just five touchdowns, which matches the number of interceptions he’s thrown to date.
New York Jets (at Cleveland)
Head coach Hue Jackson has stated that he still has “total confidence” in rookie quarterback DeShone Kizer, and so do I. Of course, my confidence lies in streaming the defense that Kizer lines up against on a weekly basis. In his first four games Kizer has turned the ball over nine times and been sacked 11. Those are the type of numbers that make for big fantasy days for opposing defenses. The Jets defense has had trouble generating big plays, having put up just six sacks and four interceptions this season. This matchup should help New York turn the 11 hurries and seven quarterback hits they were credited with last week into sacks as well as big plays.
Detroit Lions (vs. Carolina)
The Lions continue to be one of the most opportunistic defenses in the NFL as well as one of the top fantasy units. Detroit forced another three fumbles in their hard-fought win over division-rival Minnesota last week. That was the third time in four games that Detroit has posted at least three turnovers and they’ve also scored a pair of defensive touchdowns. In the only game they did not reach three turnovers, the Lions had five sacks and a punt return for a touchdown. This DST is getting it done in all phases of the game. The Panthers offense came to life last week but that was against a struggling Patriots defense. Let’s not forget that before he looked so good against New England that Cam Newton went two weeks without a passing touchdown and had thrown three interceptions. We continue to ride the red-hot Detroit defense.
San Francisco 49ers (at Indianapolis)
The 49ers had their best defensive showing in Week 4, sacking Carson Palmer six times and picking him off once. Those numbers were strong enough to finish among the top-10 fantasy defenses and it was nice to see rookie Solomon Thomas record the first sack of his career. What is even nicer to see is that San Francisco has a matchup with the most generous team in the league when it comes to giving up points to opposing defenses. Without Andrew Luck under center this offense is in a free fall. On the season, the Colts have turned the ball over seven times while giving up 14 sacks as well as four defensive touchdowns and a safety. Quarterback Jacoby Brissett was lucky to escape last week’s drubbing by Seattle without a major injury and things are not likely to improve this week.
Dallas Cowboys (vs. Green Bay)
The Cowboys are smarting after dropping a home game to the Los Angeles Rams last week and will look to bounce back against a banged-up Packers offense. Last week, the Packers played without four of their offensive tackles and managed to beat a less-than-formidable Bears team at home. They will head to Dallas and face a defense that struggled to get to the quarterback last week, which was not unexpected, as the Rams have allowed just four sacks in 2017. The Packers on the other hand have allowed 15 behind their patchwork offensive line. Aaron Rodgers will be throwing on the run with DeMarcus Lawrence and his eight sacks in hot pursuit. Throw in the fact that the Packers have also given up a pair of defensive touchdowns and the Cowboys could have a surprisingly productive fantasy outing.
Los Angeles Rams (vs. Seattle)
Don’t look now but the Rams may actually be for real after their big win over the Cowboys last week. More to the point, the defense seems to have employed new defensive coordinator Wade Phillips’ 3-4 scheme much more smoothly than anticipated. After sacking Dak Prescott twice last week Los Angeles now has 12 total for the season along with seven turnovers. They have also scored a defensive touchdown and are playing with a ton of confidence heading into this division showdown. The Seahawks turned it on in the second half last week against a bad Colts defense but still allowed a safety along with three sacks and two turnovers. Seattle has allowed at least three sacks in three of the four games behind a shaky offensive line that grades out below average in pass-blocking, according to PFF.
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