After a few weeks featuring some surprising performances from unexpected defenses, Week 11 was pretty chalk, with four of the top five D/ST performances through Sunday’s action coming from teams owned in over 50% of Sleeper leagues. The one exception was the LA Rams, an honorable mention in last week’s picks, and even they shot up from 16% ownership to 49% heading into a juicy matchup with the Patriots.
Our main selections from last week initially left something to be desired, with the Dolphins putting up six points against the Raiders and the Saints finishing with just four against Cleveland.
Luckily, Houston came through for us on MNF, scoring a defensive TD and finishing with 21 points for the best D/ST performance of the week.
READ: FANTASY FOOTBALL WEEK 12 WAIVER WIRE PICKUPS
Week 12 will likely bring with it a competitive waiver wire for defenses, as for the first time this year we’ll have six teams on their bye week, resting up for the stretch run. This will happen again in two weeks and will include some high-ranking D/ST units like Baltimore and Denver — but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.
Now, let’s take a look at the best fantasy football Week 12 defense streamers (D/ST).
TEAMS TO AVOID IN WEEK 12
BYE WEEKS
As mentioned, six teams will be on a bye this week — the Falcons, Bills, Bengals, Jaguars, Saints, and Jets.
The Atlanta Falcons (18% rostered on sleeper) and Cincinnati Bengals (16%) are in a similar spot heading into the bye — both are owned in less than 20% of leagues and near the bottom of the league in D/ST scoring. Both could be streaming options down the road but can be forgotten about for now.
The Jacksonville Jaguars (2%) are an interesting case — they’re 25th in scoring and just got destroyed by Detroit, but after a matchup with Houston in Week 13 they have one of the easiest closing stretches to the season they could possibly have, facing Tennessee twice as well as the Jets and Raiders. I’m not too optimistic they’ll prove themselves worthy of being in anyone’s lineup any time soon, but that schedule forces me to at least keep an eye on them after the bye.
The New York Jets (70%) and New Orleans Saints (35%) are both near the middle of the league in D/ST scoring but have tough schedules from here on out, so while they may be worth a stream here and there down the stretch, you likely don’t need to hold onto them through their off week.
Finally, we have the Buffalo Bills (57%), who just gave the Chiefs their first loss of the season and will get an extra week to celebrate it. The Bills are fourth in fantasy scoring and look like a stash candidate through the bye, even with a stretch of SF/LAR/DET upcoming. On the bright side, they’ll finish the season with home matchups against the Patriots and Jets, so they’ll be a great play for the end of the fantasy postseason — especially since they’ll likely still be battling with Kansas City for the AFC’s number one seed.
MATCHUP-BASED
For D/ST streaming purposes, I’m fully avoiding what should be a great game in the Harbaugh Bowl between the Los Angeles Chargers (49%) and the Baltimore Ravens (64%). Both offenses are in the top five league-wide in limiting scoring for fantasy defenses, and while Los Angeles’ offense looked great against a bad Cincinnati defense in Week 11, Baltimore lost a low-scoring battle to Pittsburgh and will be looking to bounce back. Both offenses should be humming in this one, and I won’t be starting either defense as a result.
FANTASY FOOTBALL WEEK 12 DEFENSE STREAMERS (DST)
TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS DST (25% ROSTERED ON SLEEPER)
@ New York Giants | 1 PM
I mentioned Tampa Bay as a potential stash candidate heading into their bye last week, mostly because of an incredible upcoming schedule of the Giants, Panthers, and Raiders over the next three weeks. Well, their bye is over, and they’re now my favorite pick of this week as they enter the cupcake portion of their schedule and attempt to stay relevant in the NFC playoff picture.
This matchup with the Giants was already a great one for them, but some news on Monday made it even more tantalizing.
Now, was Tommy DeVito an incredible story last season? Absolutely. Anyone who can’t get behind a prototypical Italian boy commuting from his parents house in Jersey to play for the hometown Giants isn’t someone I want to associate myself with. Not to mention his goofball agent who reps the North Shore of Massachusetts almost as well as we do here at the Roto Street Journal.
DeVito did have some solid games for the Giants last year, but looking at his stats for the year paints a more realistic picture — in nine appearances for the G Men, he threw for just over 1,000 yards with eight TDs and three interceptions, and he was sacked 37 times, including four games with six or more sacks.
The Giants are clearly looking for someone to come in and ignite some life into their offense, and DeVito is the right guy for that job, but I’m not sure how much of an impact he can really make. New York’s 15.6 points per game has them ranked dead last in the league, and only so much of that was Daniel Jones‘ fault. I’m curious to see if inserting DeVito into the lineup has the effect that Brian Daboll is hoping it will.
I’m a little nervous about putting a ton of faith in a Bucs defense that’s been dismal at stopping the pass, but they’re decent against the run, and their 28 sacks has them tied for ninth in the league on the season. They also know it’s now or never for them if they’re going to make any sort of run this season, currently sitting at 4-6 and the 11 seed in the NFC.
A postseason appearance isn’t fully out of the question yet, but it likely will be if they lose this week, and I think that’s all the motivation they need to spoil DeVito’s return to the lineup.
CHICAGO BEARS DST (36%)
vs Minnesota Vikings | 1 PM
As I’m sure you’re aware, the Bears have been spiraling a bit over the past few weeks. After a pretty solid start to the year that had them in the playoff mix as recently as their Week 7 bye, they’ve since lost four straight and fired their offensive coordinator. The last two weeks have been especially painful, getting smoked by a bad Patriots team and following it up with a heartbreaking divisional loss to Green Bay on a blocked game-winning field goal attempt.
As has been the case for years now, Chicago’s saving grace this season has been their defense, which is currently tenth in D/ST scoring on the year and tied for seventh with 17 turnovers forced. They’re allowing less than 200 yards per game through the air and are giving up just 18.7 points per game, good for seventh in the league.
On paper, it seems crazy to have faith in a team that’s coming apart at the seams as they head into a divisional matchup with the 8-2 Vikings, but as is often the case, you have to look a little deeper.
Sam Darnold has been exactly what the Vikings have needed him to be this year to have them just a few wins away from a postseason birth. However, there are some things in play here that Chicago can capitalize on. Minnesota has turned the ball over 17 times this year, the fifth-highest mark in the league, and their 29 sacks allowed are also in the top ten.
Over Minnesota’s last four games, Darnold has thrown six interceptions, which is the most in the league during that span, and he’s been sacked 12 times, which is tied for fifth-most. Minnesota could have more success sticking to the run game, which hasn’t been Chicago’s strength defensively, but it remains to be seen if their offensive line, ranked 20th by PFF heading into Week 11, can support that game plan.
NFC North matchups have a tendency to tighten up late in the year, and I definitely see that happening in this matchup. Minnesota is likely the better defense to own in this one, but their ownership rate disqualifies them from being streamer material, so let’s see if Chicago is up to the challenge.
WASHINGTON COMMANDERS DST (29%)
vs Dallas Cowboys | 1 PM
The Commanders, losers of two straight for the first time this season, will look to get back in the win column at home as they host the Dallas Cowboys, who are in the midst of a disappointing season sitting at 3-7.
Jayden Daniels has been the story of the year for Washington, and for good reason, but not enough has been said about the defensive turnaround Dan Quinn has orchestrated in his first season as head coach. The Commanders were terrible defensively last season, ranking dead last in total defense, pass defense, and scoring, and finishing 27th against the run. They’re still having trouble against the run this season, but last year’s dismal pass defense has given way to a sixth-ranked unit this year that’s allowing just 184.4 yards per game through the air.
As the numbers indicate, Washington’s best matchup is a team that struggles to run the ball and, when forced to pass, doesn’t have the QB talent to overcome falling behind the chains on late downs. And luckily for them, I have essentially just described the 2024 Dallas Cowboys.
Dallas has the second-worst rushing attack in the league at under 84 yards per game, led by an aging Ezekiel Elliott and an inconsistent Rico Dowdle. Their offensive line has been disappointing, and with Dak Prescott now out, they’ve scored less than 14 points per game since Cooper Rush took over as the starter. It seems like Mike McCarthy’s days as head coach may be numbered, and it remains to be seen if his team is capable of doing anything to quiet that chatter.
As Dowdle continues to usurp more and more carries, it will be interesting to see if Dallas’ offense is able to put things together a bit more and take some pressure off of Rush. This wasn’t the case on Monday night against Houston, as Dowdle carried 10 times for just 28 yards.
If that lack of success on the ground continues, I don’t see a world that Rush goes to Washington and puts up even decent numbers. He’s managed to limit his turnovers and sacks to a certain extent, but I’m not sure how long that can persist, especially on the road within the division against a secondary that’s been locking up their opponents’ wideouts all year long.
Washington will stay at home after this week and host the Titans, so they’re a great two-week streaming option heading into their Week 14 bye.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Cleveland Browns (26%): The Browns were torched by Taysom Hill last week in New Orleans but will return home this week to host a Steelers team that beat Baltimore in Week 11 despite not scoring a touchdown.
Los Angeles Rams (49%): The Rams have scored almost 14 points per game over the past three weeks and look to continue that trend against the Eagles on Sunday Night Football.
Arizona Cardinals (4%): The Cards scored 13 points in each of the past two weeks heading into their Week 11 bye and will return to action this week to face the Seahawks.
