Our Week 8 defensive streamer picks continued a solid streak for us, with our top pick Tennessee coming in at nine points in a win over Houston. Our other top picks, the Falcons (eight points) and Washington (seven points) trailed right behind the Titans. Two of our three secondary options scored five points as well, with only Las Vegas making us look bad with a big fat zero.
For the first time this season, we have SIX teams on a bye in Week 9: Browns, Cowboys, Broncos, Giants, Steelers, and 49ers.
Dallas and San Francisco are owned in 95%+ of leagues, and Denver in 76%, so the D/ST streamer market will be a competitive one this week. Let’s see who our top options are on the Week 9 waiver wire.
KANSAS CITY CHIEFS (30% ROSTERED)
Week 9: vs TEN, 8:20 PM EST (Sunday Night Football)
Kansas City comes in at 5-2, fresh off a bye week to host the Titans on Sunday Night Football. That means we know that KC’s defense will be rested, and as always, Arrowhead will be LOUD. The last time we saw Kansas City play, they were hosting San Francisco and shaking off a slow start to finish with five sacks, two interceptions, and 13 fantasy points on the afternoon. Now, they welcome Tennessee and their shaky QB situation into one of the most hostile environments in sports.
Ryan Tannehill was unable to play in Week 8 due to an ankle injury, which meant the first career start for rookie Malik Willis out of Liberty. Despite Willis’ dud of a performance (6/10 for 55 yards and an INT; 5 carries for 12 yards), Tennessee got the win by doing exactly what they planned on doing: running the ball down Houston’s throat. Derrick Henry and Dontrell Hilliard combined for 302 rushing yards on over 7.5 yards per carry, and Tennessee escaped with a 17-10 win.
Tennessee’s Week 8 game plan was predictable with a rookie QB making his first start and an opponent that’s dead last in stopping the run. Henry and Hilliard won’t have it as easy against Kansas City’s 3rd-ranked rush defense, which will force Willis (or Tannehill, if he can go) to make a few more plays than he’s capable of. Regardless of who is at QB for the Titans, this one could get out of hand, and the Chiefs’ defense should put up some solid numbers.
SEATTLE SEAHAWKS (12%)
Week 9: @ ARI, 4:05 PM EST
Against all odds, the Seahawks currently sit atop the NFC West at 5-3, riding a three-game win streak into a divisional matchup in Arizona. Most of the hype around Seattle’s surprising success is directed toward the offense, with Geno Smith reviving his career in year nine and Kenneth Walker III rushing for over 100 yards per game and five TDs in four games since Rashaad Penny suffered a season-ending injury. And while Seattle’s defense isn’t exactly the Legion of Boom 2.0, they’re averaging over 12 fantasy points per game over their recent win streak with 14 sacks over the three-game stretch.
Seattle’s current win streak started on October 16th with a win over, you guessed it, the Cardinals. They won that game 19-9, sacking Kyler Murray six times and picking him off once, with Arizona’s only touchdown of the game coming on special teams. On the season, Seattle has 22 sacks, which is eighth in the league, while Arizona has given up 20, which is the 10th most in the league. Arizona has gotten DeAndre Hopkins back since the last time these teams matched up, but that will only help so much against a Seattle unit that gets more confident by the day.
MIAMI DOLPHINS (43%)
Week 9: @ Chicago, 1:00 PM EST
As crazy as it is to say, the Bears seem to be starting to figure things out offensively. They’ve scored 62 points over their past two games, and in those games, Justin Fields has 30 completions compared to 22 rushing attempts. Chicago is rushing for over 188 yards per game in 2022, which is tops in the league, and now that they’re running more effectively, it’s making Fields’ life a bit easier. However, their last two contests were against Dallas and New England, who are both below average at stopping the run; now, they go up against Miami, who’s ranked sixth against the run.
Miami’s defense got off to a rough start against Detroit last week, but effectively shut down the Lions’ offense in the second half and escaped Ford Field with a win. They’re 5-3 now and eyeing their second three-game winning streak of the season, following a three-game losing streak while their QBs were dropping like flies. Miami’s defense doesn’t excel at getting to the quarterback or creating turnovers, but their strength against the run will be a huge factor in this contest. As will the weather, which is projected to be rainy with winds up to 20-25 mph in Chicago on Sunday. This should lead to a low-scoring contest, and I like Miami to stifle Chicago’s recent offensive improvements.
OTHERS TO TARGET
Arizona Cardinals (11%): Arizona’s D had 14 points the last time they faced Seattle a few weeks ago, and they followed that up with a pick-six-heavy performance against New Orleans. These two teams know each other well, and I’m expecting a low-scoring battle.
Minnesota Vikings (20%): The Vikings have 10 sacks and four INTs in their last two games, and face a Washington team that gives up a lot of sacks. Taylor Heinicke has proven to be a step up for the Commanders compared to Carson Wentz, but we’ll see how he fares under heavy pressure.
Cincinnati Bengals (40%): After a poor showing against Cleveland on MNF, Cincinnati will need to slow down Carolina’s new-look rushing attack of D’Onta Foreman and Chuba Hubbard, who should be back for this matchup. If they can do that, their ninth-ranked pass defense should make things tough on PJ Walker as he looks to bounce back from a heartbreaker in Atlanta.
