Last week was arguably our best week yet for our streaming picks — Miami was the week’s DST1 with 18 points against Houston, while Kansas City was DST3 with 11 points and Minnesota was DST6 with nine. Our secondary picks included Carolina (11 points), Pittsburgh (10), and the Jets (eight).
Only two teams have byes in Week 13: Arizona and Carolina. Both teams have average fantasy defenses, so you may or may not be needing to replace them, but you also may be hoping to avoid starting New England in a Thursday night matchup with the Bills, or San Francisco as they host the red-hot Dolphins. The fantasy playoffs are rapidly approaching, and getting complacent with your defense despite a poor matchup can make or break your entire season at this point.
Let’s take a look at the top waiver options on defense this week.
Seattle Seahawks (38% Rostered)
Week 13: @ LA Rams, 4:05 PM EST
For the second week in a row, we’re fading the Rams with our top streaming option. LA’s season has gone from bad to worse in recent weeks — they’ve already been without Cooper Kupp since Week 10 and expect him to sit out the rest of the year, and Allen Robinson just suffered a season-ending foot injury as well. Matthew Stafford‘s neck strain is reportedly severe enough to keep him out for the rest of the year as well, especially since LA is out of playoff contention.
Bryce Perkins appears to be LA’s starting quarterback moving forward, and in his first start in Week 12 against Kansas City, he completed 13 of 23 passes for 100 yards, with one TD and two interceptions, along with 44 yards on nine carries. The Rams may hope to get Cam Akers going against Seattle’s lackluster run defense, but Akers has been largely ineffective throughout a roller coaster season for him, and I don’t have much faith that he’ll turn things around in this one. Seattle should get out to an early lead and likely force a few turnovers as the Rams try to stay competitive with a depleted offense.
Pittsburgh Steelers (20%)
Week 13: @ Atlanta, 1 PM EST
After a solid showing on Monday Night Football last week, the Steelers now host Atlanta and the league’s 4th-ranked rushing attack. Atlanta lives and dies by the run game, as they’ve attempted the 3rd-fewest passes in the league through 12 weeks. This bodes well for a Steelers defense that struggles to stop the pass but is ranked 6th against the run. Their Week 11 game against Cincinnati tells their story well — the Steelers held Cincy to 62 yards rushing as a team, but allowed 355 yards and four TDs through the air as they lost 37-30.
Unlike Cincinnati (and the Colts to some extent), the Falcons haven’t shown much ability to pivot to a passing attack when the run game isn’t working. As long as the Steelers bring TJ Watt and their usual run-stuffing prowess, they should shut down the Falcons en route to another road win.
Cleveland Browns (7%)
Week 13: @ Houston, 1 PM EST
Coming off a big overtime win over the Buccaneers, the Browns now get Deshaun Watson back for this Week 13 contest against his old team. Say what you will about Watson, but his presence should provide a much-needed spark to a Browns team that would need a miracle to find themselves in playoff contention. Cleveland’s defense has struggled throughout this season, especially against the run where they’re ranked 23rd, but the hope is that an early lead generated by the offense puts Houston into desperation mode. And unlike Miami last week, who took their foot off the gas in the second half and allowed the Texans to score 15 points in garbage time, Cleveland should have all the motivation needed to finish them off.
Texans head coach Lovie Smith has said that Kyle Allen will start again for Houston next week, which is great news for the Browns. Allen ended up with a respectable line of 26/39 for 215 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. But, the box score fails to truly tell the story of how bad Allen and the Texans’ offense was, especially in the first half when Miami was still trying. Maybe another week of practice will do Allen some good, but I still think we’re in for a rout in Houston, and Cleveland’s defense should reap the benefits.
Others to Consider
Green Bay Packers (37%): The Packers’ defense was torched by the Eagles in Week 12, and will look to bounce back and sweep the season series against the Bears. Green Bay’s a solid play provided Justin Fields, whose status for Week 13 is still up in the air, remains out. If Trevor Siemian starts again for Chicago, he’ll have trouble with Green Bay’s 4th-ranked pass defense.
Chicago Bears (6%): The Bears also may benefit from a QB injury in this matchup, as Aaron Rodgers left Green Bay’s SNF game with a rib injury in addition to the thumb issue that has been nagging him in recent weeks. Jordan Love appears likely to get the start as Chicago looks to take down their division rival.
New York Giants (20%): The Giants have lost three of four after a 6-1 start and need to right the ship against the Commanders. I’m anticipating a low-scoring division battle, with a big defensive or special teams play ultimately making the difference.
