It seems like it took forever to get here, but the fantasy postseason has finally arrived. Just a few short weeks stands between us and an elusive fantasy championship.
If you’re gearing up for the postseason and ready to pick the defenses that will carry you to the promised land, first take a look at the full postseason breakdown linked above. If you’ve already done that — great! Now we’re here to take a look at Week 15 specifically, also known as “Round 1” for us fantasy wolves.
While the fantasy postseason is kicking off, the real NFL playoffs are still a few weeks away, and there is still a lot to be determined in both conferences.
Through Sunday’s action in Week 14, only seven of the league’s 32 clubs have been mathematically eliminated from postseason contention, so the vast majority of teams still have something to play for heading into Week 15.
As always, we’ll take a look at some of the popular D/ST roster choices that you’ll want to avoid this week, and we’ll highlight our favorite streamer picks (<50% rostered on Sleeper) for the week.
Again, the full postseason breakdown linked below has a much more comprehensive list for the entire playoffs including teams that are above 50% ownership but may be available in your leagues, so make sure you check that out.
Read: Full 2024 Postseason Defense Breakdown: Teams to Avoid, No-Brainer D/STs to Ride to Fantasy Glory, and Streamer Picks
And with that, let’s take a look at our picks for the best fantasy football Week 15 defense streamers (D/ST).
TEAMS TO AVOID IN WEEK 15
While bye weeks are now a thing of the past for the remainder of the NFL season, there are still some teams with high roster rates that we’ll want to avoid as they head into less-than-ideal matchups in Week 15.
Buffalo Bills (66% rostered on Sleeper): After averaging over 13 points per game in their last three heading into Week 14, the Bills were started in about 50% of leagues this week as they faced the Rams in LA. This ended up being a huge misread, as Buffalo surrendered 44 points and failed to record a single sack or turnover in what turned out to be a total shootout in Southern California, finishing with a negative point total on the day.
The Bills have already clinched the AFC East and are two games behind Kansas City for the conference’s number one seed, so their motivations for the remainder of the regular season are a bit murky unless the Chiefs drop a couple of games soon. They’ll also face off against the league’s top scoring offense in Detroit this week, so I’m avoiding them at all costs. On the bright side, Buffalo finishes the season with the Patriots and Jets at home, two teams they should be able to suffocate even if they don’t have much to play for.
Seattle Seahawks (33%): The Seahawks aren’t sporting a very high roster rate at the moment despite averaging almost 15 points per game over their last three and moving into the NFC West lead and the conference’s number three seed after a win over Arizona this week. It’s easy to get caught up in those numbers and want to secure them as your postseason D/ST, but their schedule unfortunately doesn’t lend itself to that being a successful strategy.
Seattle will spend the entire fantasy postseason against the NFC North, and while they do avoid Detroit, Green Bay in Week 15 isn’t much easier. In fact, the Packers actually have the fewest points allowed to opposing D/STs over the past four weeks at less than a point per game, a full seven spots ahead of Detroit in that metric. Green Bay is still battling for playoff seeding and hoping to pass the likes of Detroit and Minnesota in their division, and while Seattle has looked good as of late, the Packers are a class above them in my opinion.
FANTASY FOOTBALL WEEK 15 DEFENSE STREAMERS (DST)
BALTIMORE RAVENS DST (50%)
@ New York Giants | 1 PM
I’ll admit, I’m sort of toeing the line of cheating here. I generally stick to teams that are below the 50% rostered threshold, and Baltimore is right at 50%, but rules are made to be broken, right?
Baltimore was a popular D/ST pick heading into the season as they seemed poised for another year contending for a Super Bowl, and they still may, but 2024 hasn’t been the year many expected from them.
The performance of their defense this year has been fascinating. They have both the league’s worst pass defense at almost 265 yards allowed per game and the league’s best run defense at under 83 yards allowed per game. From a fantasy standpoint, they’ve reached double digit points just twice this season, but those games have come against Buffalo and Denver, both likely playoff teams.
Despite their inconsistencies, they’re one of the best options out there this week as they face the abysmal New York Giants. The G Men turned to Drew Lock against New Orleans this week to try to inject some life into their offense, and the result was a passing attack that started the game 0/8 and, ultimately, a 14-11 loss at home to a bad Saints team.
The Giants are dead last in the NFL with just 14.9 points per game this year, and their 28th-ranked passing offense doesn’t scare me at all, even with Baltimore’s documented struggles against the pass.
A win for Baltimore would be huge in helping to further solidify their Wild Card spot for the playoffs, and with matchups looming against Pittsburgh and Houston the next two weeks, they really need this one. Scoop up Baltimore if you can, even knowing they’re just a one-week option.
ARIZONA CARDINALS DST (38%)
vs New England Patriots | 4:25 PM
The Cardinals were my top streamer choice in my full postseason round up last week, as they were coming off a stretch of averaging almost 12 points per game over the previous four weeks and have a great fantasy postseason schedule, on top of still fighting for their spot in the NFL playoffs. I also felt good about them in Week 14 as they faced a Seattle team they’d put up 12 points against just two weeks prior, but that didn’t come to fruition as they registered zero sacks, zero turnovers, and finished with a negative point total.
Despite their recent hiccup, I’m still high on Arizona, especially this week. Their remaining fantasy schedule of Carolina and the Rams looks a little less promising now after both offenses looked solid against strong defenses in Week 14, but thankfully, we’ve still got the Patriots.
Nobody expected the Patriots to compete for a championship this season, but aside from the play of Drake Maye in recent weeks, their offense has been even worse than we expected. They’re currently ranked 31st in total offense, 32nd in passing offense, and 31st in scoring and have allowed the fifth-most points to opposing D/STs this year.
Their offensive line remains a huge detriment to Maye’s development, and against an Arizona team that’s 11th in sacks (they were top ten before a goose egg in Week 14) with 34 on the year, they could be in deep trouble.
I’m a little less optimistic about Arizona for the entire postseason after Week 14, but the Patriots are still the Patriots, and the Cards should show out for you in round one if you give them the chance.
CINCINNATI BENGALS DST (26%)
@ Tennessee Titans | 1 PM
The Bengals were also featured prominently in last week’s playoff roundup as a streamer option, as a predictable but important trend has developed as Cincy fights to stay afloat in the AFC Playoff picture. Heading into their Week 12 bye, the Bengals faced three weak offenses (the Giants, Browns, and Raiders) and three pretty strong ones (Philadelphia, Baltimore, and the Chargers) over a six-week span. Against the weak offenses, they averaged over 11 points per game with 11 total sacks, and against the strong offenses, they ended up with a negative average point total with just two sacks.
Really, it’s simple — they’ll come to play and put up solid numbers as long as they face bad offenses. And luckily for us, Week 15 brings a matchup with the Titans, otherwise known as the final boss of bad NFL offenses.
I definitely got some interesting comments last week when I included the Jaguars as a streaming pick for the postseason, but it was simple: they played the Titans twice (along with the Jets and Raiders), so I couldn’t ignore them. Jacksonville has a bad defense as evidenced above, but the Titans are just that putrid offensively.
The Titans have allowed the most fantasy points to opposing defenses this year and have held that top spot all year long. Will Levis has, at times, seemed to be rebounding from his horrendous start to the year, and Tony Pollard has shown some flashes of his Cowboys days in recent weeks, but it just hasn’t mattered. They’re second in the league with 23 turnovers, they’re third with 45 sacks allowed, and they’re ahead of only the Giants and Patriots in terms of scoring. They’re just terrible.
Cincinnati has had one of the worst fantasy defenses in the league this year and very well may have little to play for once this game rolls around, and I just don’t care. The Titans are terrible, the Bengals have looked competent (at times) against bad offenses, and I’m rolling with them.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Washington Commanders (30%): The Commanders have a top five pass defense this season and will face a Saints team that has been decimated at wide receiver and will likely be without Derek Carr after head and hand injuries he suffered in Week 14.
New York Jets (34%): The Jets put up 16 points on Seattle in Week 13 but followed it up with a negative total this week in a loss to Miami. They’ll look to right the ship this week against a familiar foe in Mac Jones, now quarterbacking the Jaguars.
Atlanta Falcons (10%): Atlanta followed up a surprising 13-point performance in Week 13 against the Chargers with a goose egg in Week 14, giving up 42 points to Sam Darnold and the Vikings. They’re still 32nd in the league in sacks despite racking up nine over their last two games, but should be able to increase that number against the Raiders, who’ve given up the fourth-most sacks in the league.
