Week 6 was another crazy one in the NFL, with six underdogs winning outright on Sunday alone. Our DST streaming picks had a strong showing overall — the TNF double feature resulted in 20 combined points between Washington’s (13) and Chicago’s (seven) defensive units, and the Patriots came through with 13 as well in a win over the Browns.
Last week featured our first bye weeks of the season, but this week is where they really start to make an impact. The Bills, Eagles, Vikings, and Rams — ranked 1st, 4th, 12th, and 17th respectively in defensive fantasy output — all sit this week out, giving fantasy managers a lot of work to do to replace their production in their lineups.
Let’s see what our top options are.
NEW YORK JETS (3% ROSTERED)
Week 7: @ Denver, 4:05 PM EST
The Jets have gotten off to a surprising 4-2 start that has them just one game back of Buffalo in the AFC East. During their current three-game winning streak, New York’s outscoring their opponents 91-47 and has generated seven turnovers. They boast a top-12 defense against both the run and the pass, are tied for fifth with 10 takeaways on the year, and have put up an average of 13.6 PPG as a fantasy unit over the past three weeks. Quinnen Williams and New York’s defensive front made life hell for Aaron Rodgers on Sunday, and Sauce Gardner is the odds-on favorite for Defensive Rookie of the Year.
Already feeling on top of the world, the Jets now head to Denver to face the NFL’s lowest-scoring offense coming off yet another primetime loss. Russell Wilson started to look like the Seattle version of himself at times against the Chargers, and Melvin Gordon finally received the demotion that should’ve happened weeks ago, but ultimately it was more of the same — Denver’s red zone and third down struggles continued, and a solid defensive performance wasn’t enough. This seems to be the standard for the 2022 Broncos, and the Jets should be able to take full advantage.
MIAMI DOLPHINS (16%)
Week 7: vs. Pittsburgh, 8:20 PM EST (Sunday Night Football)
After a 3-0 start, Miami has lost three straight and failed to generate a single defensive takeaway in any of their three losses. Their offensive struggles could’ve been predicted with Tua Tagovailoa missing all three games, but defensively, they put up a combined two fantasy points through Weeks 4-6. Coming into a primetime matchup at home in which they hope to get their franchise QB back, they’ll need to return to the early-season Dolphins unit that held Buffalo’s offense in check and dominated the Patriots in Week 1.
It’s hard to know exactly what to make of Pittsburgh after Mitch Trubisky entered the game in relief of the concussed Kenny Pickett and led them to a win over the Bucs. Yes, they beat Tampa to stop a four-game skid — but is Tampa even good anymore? Even in a win they scored only 20 points, and are averaging 16.2 points per game, which is 3rd-worst in the league. Regardless of who’s in at QB, the offensive line has struggled and Najee Harris hasn’t been able to open anything up in the ground game. Miami should win this one in primetime and get back on track on both sides of the ball.
ARIZONA CARDINALS (3%)
Week 7: vs. New Orleans, 8:15 PM EST (Thursday Night Football)
The big development this week for the 2-4 Cardinals is the return of DeAndre Hopkins, who served a six-game PED suspension and returns for a Thursday night battle with New Orleans. This should help out the offensive significantly, but on the defensive side, Arizona’s already trending in the right direction with two 12-plus point showings over the past three weeks, including holding Seattle’s top-10 scoring offense to 19 points last week. Now, Arizona hosts a Saints offense that continues to struggle with injuries and inconsistency.
Between Jameis Winston, Andy Dalton, and even sometimes Taysom Hill, New Orleans has had a revolving door at QB in 2022 and it hasn’t worked out very well. Winston was leading the league in INTs when he injured his back, and while Dalton hasn’t picked up the torch in that respect, New Orleans has lost two of three since he took over. Dalton has been limited in practice this week, so it could be Hill under center against Arizona. Hill had a huge game against Seattle in Week 5, but things could be different when he’s the primary guy under center. Factor in that New Orleans expects to be without Michael Thomas and Jarvis Landry again, and I think Arizona is a strong option at only 3% owned.
OTHERS TO TARGET
Las Vegas Raiders (4%): The Raiders come off a close loss to Kansas City and a bye to host Houston, who had a bye last week as well. The Raiders are in desperation mode already and bring their top-five run defense into a matchup with a Texans team that relies heavily on the run game to open up their offense.
Tennesee Titans (9%): Tennessee comes off a bye as well and has averaged 6.3 PPG over their last three games. They already beat Indy once this year, and even though Jonathan Taylor may return for this one, I like them to shut down the Colts and their 27th-ranked scoring offense in Nashville.
New York Giants (6%): The Giants are 5-1 (HUH?) and travel to Duval this week to face a Jacksonville team that’s struggled offensively in recent weeks after a good start. The Giants held strong against a talented Baltimore offense last week, and bring Kayvon Thibodeaux and a solid defensive line to face a Jags team that’s 27th in pass block win rate.
