Fantasy owners with elite D/STs should be thanking NFL schedule makers right now.
Half of the top 10 D/STs get dream matchups in fantasy’s championship week. If you don’t own any of these, just hope you’re not going against one because each should post a monster score. Here is how I rank them, 1 to 5.
Pittsburgh: With an angry James Harrison returning from suspension, the Steelers host dead-in-the-water St. Louis. The Rams score a league-worst 11.9 points per game. QB Kellen Clemens played admirably in Sunday’s 20-13 loss to Cincinnati, but he was under constant pressure from the Bengals (3 sacks). PFF’s Ben Stockwell notes that Adam Goldberg (+1.3) was the only member of the Rams' decimated O-line who played well. Harvey Dahl (-1.2) committed two penalties on the same play, holding and “dropping an F-bomb on referee Jerome Boger that saw him sit down for one play. Inside the Rams are simply a mess and the money they invested in Jason Brown (-3.8) has not seen the desired returns.”
Baltimore: The Ravens were embarrassed in San Diego, and they’ll take out their frustration on the visiting Browns. When these teams met three weeks ago in Cleveland, Baltimore got three sacks and an interception and held the Browns to 3.5 yards a carry in a 24-10 win. The only bad news for Baltimore D/ST owners is that Browns coaches appear to be coming to their senses about Colt McCoy. Even if he’s recovered from his concussion, they might stick with Seneca Wallace. The mobile Wallace led Cleveland to 17 points Sunday, more than the team scored in seven of its previous eight games.
Houston: The Texans visit the 1-13 Colts. Fantasy owners hope Houston can replicate its season-opening performance vs. Indy, when the Texans forced three turnovers and scored on a punt return. Houston will not allow the Colts to run for 205 yards, like they did in getting their first win Sunday against the Titans. Then it will be up to Dan Orlovsky. It doesn’t hurt that Houston is coming off its first loss since Oct. 16 and needs the game for playoff positioning.
Green Bay: The Packers host Chicago, which might bench Caleb Hanie for Josh McCown. The Bears are averaging 9 points over their last three games. Hanie has thrown 3 TDs and 9 INTs and has not surpassed 135 passing yards in the last three games. Again, it’s nice to have a D/ST coming off a poor performance, if you survived it. The Packers got 2 INTs and 3 sacks in the first matchup between these archrivals. Clay Matthews (+29.3) is PFF’s second-ranked outside linebacker, with 64 combined pressures, hits and sacks.
Cincinnati: After shutting down St. Louis, the Bengals come home to face surging Arizona. Despite John Skelton’s surprising play, the Cardinals give up the sixth-most points to opposing D/STs. It doesn’t hurt that Cincy is in must-win mode. The Bengals are PFF’s ninth-best defense (+53.4), thanks in large part to DLs Carlos Dunlap and Geno Atkins. Atkins was dominant against the Rams, posting a season-best +6.3 grade. “Atkins, as always, was in the backfield at every opportunity and picked up one sack, two hits and three pressures in the passing game,” Stockwell noted.
This is the last D/ST Watch of the season. Thanks for reading, and congrats on making it to championship week!
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