Unless most of the teams in your league carry a backup defense, more than half of the league should be available to you every week. Perhaps instead of playing one above average defense every week, regardless of matchup, we should instead target the widely available waiver wire defenses with the best matchups in any particular week? You can always make exceptions if your rent-a-defense gets hot - heck, you might find a team worth starting all year by accident. Even if you don't, good matchups will continue to get greater in number as more QBs get injured or yanked as the season goes on. You can steal some points from bad weather come December. Each week I'll list the startable fantasy defenses on most waiver wires and rank them.
Week 7 Results
New England (vs NY Jets) - 3 sacks
The Jets actually moved the ball with ease against the Jared Mayo-less Patriots defense. No bueno.
A Look Ahead: CHI DEN BYE - The Bears in some turmoil right now, but I bet the Patriots defense cheers them up.
Cleveland (at Jacksonville) - 2 sacks, 3 INT
Even while the Browns were playing one of their worst games as a team in a while (think about what that means), they were able to pick Blake Bortles off three times and sack him twice. The streak continues as this was good for a top 10 week in a lot of formats.
A Look Ahead: OAK TB @CIN - The Browns are too easy to run on, and Derek Carr isn’t the rookie disaster we thought he might be.
Denver (vs San Francisco) - 6 sacks, 1 INT
Another performance good enough for top 10 in most leagues. Von Miller is back to pre-ACL injury form, and Demarcus Ware is fake spin moving his way to a true resurgence. The Broncos are red hot.
A Look Ahead: SD @NE @OAK - Short week of rest and home game against the Chargers was a bad recipe last year, but give it another shot if you can.
Buffalo (vs Minnesota) - 5 sacks, 2 INT
Another hit in a very muted week for D/ST scoring. The Bills were able to bully the Vikings offensive line and Teddy Bridgewater into mistakes and keep the game close enough for Kyle Orton-to-Sammy Watkins (and Scott Chandler) heroics.
A Look Ahead: @NYJ BYE KC - The Jets didn’t pay off for us as an opponent last week, but the Bills could be worth a look, even on the road.
Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda
Minnesota (vs Buffalo) - 6 sacks, 1 INT, 3 fumble recoveries
The Bills offense and offensive line were both very generous in this one. I’m not sure the Vikings defense has suddenly come together under Mike Zimmer, but I’d be open to it against Tampa this week.
Jacksonville (vs Cleveland) - 3 sacks, 1 INT, 2 fumble recoveries, 6 points allowed
Thank you Brian Hoyer, and thank you Sen’Derrick Marks, as the combination of the two kept the Browns from getting anything going on offense in this one.
Baltimore (vs Atlanta) - 5 sacks, 1 fumble recovery, 1 safety, 7 points allowed
The Falcons offensive line is being held together by duct tape, and not the good kind, the generic kind from the dollar store. The Ravens are on a streak of three solid D/ST weeks going into Cincinnati.
Indianapolis (vs Cincinnati) - 4 sacks, shutout
In leagues that award points for yards and points allowed, the Colts were probably the biggest hit of Week 7. Which means it was a quiet week for D/ST scoring.
Week 8 Candidates
**Note: Philadelphia, Detroit, Houston, Denver, and Arizona are all worth playing over rent-a-defenses other than Dallas and Miami**
Dallas (vs Washington - MNF)
Monday night should feel like a coronation for the most excellent and most surprising team of the 2014 season, the Dallas Cowboys. Kirk Cousins and his penchant for interception sprees will sit for Colt McCoy, but the Cowboys should still be set up for a big night in front of a big crowd.
A Look Ahead: ARI @JAX BYE - if the Cowboys come through for you, it will be tempting to just ride them for the next two weeks
Miami (vs Jacksonville)
The number two D/ST this year is still “whoever is playing the Jaguars” and they are expanding their lead over the pack. The Dolphins certainly have the edge rushers and ballhawks to wreak havoc in this all-Avoid Florida battle.
A Look Ahead: SD @DET BUF - Hard to like them against Philip Rivers, but the swampy environs of South Florida have a way about them, and the Fins have 12 sacks in four home games thus far.
Buffalo (at New York Jets)
Geno Smith was not kind to us last week, and Percy Harvin has been added, but the Bills have been a solid D/ST play five weeks out of seven so far, and they have the hosses upfront to force Geno into some very bad decisions.
A Look Ahead: BYE KC @MIA - Bye bye. We’ll surely shuffle off to Buffalo in our lineups again this year.
Seattle (at Carolina)
The question here is whether the Seahawks were dropped. They have been a bottom ten scoring D/ST in every scoring system. Cam Newton and the Panthers offense were both terrible last week, but it didn’t lead to a big D/ST score. Still, if the Seahawks were finally dropped, this could be a good week to bet on a bounceback.
A Look Ahead: OAK NYG @KC - Back to back home games? Sign me up. The Seahawks D/ST still averaging a respectable 7-8 points with no total lower than five in their home games this year.
Week 9 Pre-emptive Pickups
If you like to devote two roster spots to a D/ST, or you suspect other teams are going to stream defenses this year, you might want to grab a top option for the following week to stash away. Here are the best ones to target:
Cincinnati (vs Jacksonville)
Seattle (vs Oakland)
Kansas City (vs New York Jets)
