Welcome to Week 10! I hope everyone got their fill of candy from Halloween last week and survived the latest stop as the injury train rolls on this season. Last week saw two picks come through, with the Eagles and Bengals standing on business while the Saints succumbed to the offensive onslaught of Bryce Young and company. That puts New Orleans at seven losses in a row and has become radioactive in fantasy after firing their head coach this week. This week, the selection falls off in a hurry, and to make matters worse, we have four teams on a bye. So let’s see which teams that are rostered in around 50 percent of leagues or fewer we could elect to go with on the waiver wire this week.
Please note: there’s a decent chance that better teams above this 50 percent threshold are available in your league, but we can’t assume they’re out there for everyone. We have to draw the proverbial line somewhere, so stay active and monitor the league home page; someone might drop a desirable defense after waivers clear.
Chicago Bears
Opponent: vs New England Patriots
ESPN % Rostered: 43%
Yahoo % Rostered: 56%
Chicago has been on a bit of a stumble after their bye week as they have underperformed in back-to-back home games now. Fortunately, they now return home to host Drake Maye and a New England offense that has given up double-digit fantasy points to opposing defenses in five of their last seven games. The Bears are in the top five in least scoring allowed in the league and find themselves on a five-game multi-sack streak, while the Patriots are coming off of a game that saw them give up four sacks and three turnovers last week. Chicago is in the top ten for the fewest passing yards given up per game this year, while New England has the worst passing yards per game average in the league. The Bears have the sixth-highest average on defense for drives ending in a turnover this season. The Patriots offense will be under pressure all game as the Bears are inside the top ten for quarterback knockdown rating.
New York Giants
Opponent: “@” Carolina Panthers
ESPN % Rostered: 4%
Yahoo % Rostered: 7%
I know there is a non-zero chance the Bryce Young redemption arc started last week, but until he strings it together multiple times in a row, I’m still rolling with defenses that are going against Carolina until further notice. This is an “away” game for New York in the sense that they travel away to Munich for the Germany game this year. Fun fact: the 2024 team with the most sacks so far through nine weeks is the Giants! Surprise your friends with that piece of trivia. Before last week, New York had at least four sacks in each of their four games leading up to that point. So, pairing the sack-leading team against a team that has thrown seven interceptions over their last four games is worth consideration this week.
New England Patriots
Opponent: @ Chicago Bears
ESPN % Rostered: 11%
Yahoo % Rostered: 14%
I warned you it gets rough sailing quickly this week. Taking the Patriots as the road team this week was not something that jumped off the page at me initially, but the Bears are banged up on offense from both the offensive line and Caleb Williams himself rolling his ankle on the final play last week. They were even having players exit to the sideline while the ball was still live, apparently. The Patriots have intercepted the ball in four of their last six games and now face a Chicago team with questions on an offense that ranks bottom five in passing offense and has allowed nine sacks in their two games after the bye week.
Honorable Mentions
Los Angeles Chargers (E:61% Y!:65%) – After a crushing performance in Cleveland last week, the Bolts now host the Titans. This would have headlined the article if they weren’t quite as rostered already across leagues. Check to see if they might be available in yours.
Buffalo Bills (E:48% Y!:82%) – The Buffalo defense has had at least one sack and one turnover in every regular season game since Week 16 last year.
If you see something I don’t, leave a comment or hit me up with feedback @MikeoftheFF on Twitter or find me on Reddit!
Feature image by Michael Packard (@CollectingPack on Twitter) / Photography by Matthew Huang / Icon Sportswire