Week Thirteen Defenses- New England

The New England Patriot defense has struggled at times this year but they have been playing well as of late.

Analysis: After great fantasy performances against the New York Jets and the Kansas City Chiefs, the Eagles torched (from a fantasy perspective) the Patriots in week twelve. The Patriot D is owned in a little more than half of fantasy leagues nationwide and now is the time to pick them up. New England hosts the Colts in week thirteen and it could not get any better. Expect the Colts to trail early and expect the Patriots to get their fair share of sacks and interceptions. The Pats are scoring the third most points in the NFL while the Colts are thirtieth in scoring offense.

The Colts haven’t scored more than nineteen points in a game since week five. Curtis Painter’s passer rating is now 66.6 and with nine picks on the year we shouldn’t expect much from the backup. Painter has also been sacked sixteen times in eight games started and he has also fumbled five times, losing three. In short, this is another great week to stream a defense against a winless Indy squad.

Week Eleven- Streaming Defenses- Seattle

With a week eleven matchup against an anemic Rams offense, the Seattle Seahawks look to be a solid defense to stream in week eleven.

Analysis: The Rams are averaging a league low 12.6 points per game while the Seahawks are coming off of a dominating performance against the Baltimore Ravens. Sam Bradford has not looked good all year as he sports a 72.6 passer rating. The only bright spot on the Rams’ offense is Steven Jackson. Jackson has carried the rock 81 times over the last three games and it is time to expect him to slow a bit due to the heavy workload recently.

On the other side of the ball you have a streaky Seattle defense that finds itself playing the worst offense in the league from a points per game and sacks allowed perspective. Seattle may be just a middle of the road defense but they are very similar to Jacksonville who last week put up great fantasy numbers playing Indy while being owned in less than ten percent of leagues. With Seattle you have a defense that is widely available, playing well and playing against a weak offense… it’s time to stream.

Week Ten- Streaming Defenses- Jacksonville

The Jags have a week ten matchup with the 0-9 Colts.

Analysis: Jacksonville has only given up sixteen points per game over their last three contests. Considering those games were two road contests with the Steelers and Texans and a stellar performance against the Ravens, the Jags D is coming along nicely. Jacksonville is giving up the fifth fewest total yards in the league and the eighth fewest points per game as well. They are simply an underrated unit.

On the other side of the ball you have an Indy team that has just given up on the year. The Indy offense is only scoring fourteen points per game while ranking twenty-eighth in the NFL in passing yards per game. Although Indy quarterbacks have only thrown six picks on the year, their combined 69.2 passer rating is thirtieth in the NFL. Curtis Painter has thrown for over 100 passing yards just once in his last three games. Painter is only completing 53% of his passes and with tight end Dallas Clark out- it doesn’t look good for this offense.

Jacksonville’s defense is available in just about every fantasy league for the time being, but their week ten matchup will get a lot of attention from fantasy owners.

Streaming Defenses- Chiefs

The Chiefs are coming off of their two best fantasy defensive efforts over the last two weeks where they have allowed a combined twenty points.

Analysis: A week nine contest with Miami has all the makings of a solid fantasy day. Miami is twenty-eighth in the league in points per game at 15.3 and have a negative eight turnover differential on the year. The Dolphins are also thirtieth in the league in passing touchdowns with five and have allowed the second most sacks in the NFL with twenty-seven.

You can couple this Miami offensive futility with some solid Kansas City defense as of late. The Chiefs recorded three sacks in their Monday night matchup with San Diego and have forced ten turnovers over the last two weeks. A home game against Miami who are starting a quarterback with a 65.3 quarterback rating and just one passing touchdown in four games is just what fantasy owners need. The KC defense is available in over seventy percent of both CBS and ESPN leagues and is a can’t miss start this week. Expect Tamba Hali to continue with his All-Pro form… happy streaming.

Week Six- Defenses To Pass On

A popular pick up this week has been the Houston defense but I just can’t see it. Houston loses Mario Williams and they are on the road against the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens are coming off of a bye week and have thrown the fifth fewest interceptions in the NFL this year with three. Baltimore has also allowed the eighth fewest sacks in the league with eight allowed on the year. Some “expert” sites have the Houston defense in or around the top ten this week but the smart play here is to sit/pass on the Texan defense. All this is just a recipe for disaster with Baltimore coming off of a bye this week.

The San Francisco 49ers are in Detroit in week six and I just cannot see them putting up top ten to twelve numbers. The Lions are averaging nearly thirty-two points per game and have allowed the third fewest sacks in the NFL this year. The Niners D has put up solid numbers but against the two decent offenses they have faced in Philly and Dallas- they have not performed.

Why risk playing these two defenses on the road this week when better match ups are to be had?