Welcome to Week 14 and the annual reminder that four years ago, the NFL traded a preseason game for an extra regular-season game, thus creating Week 14 bye weeks. Last week saw Lamar Jackson managers feeling a lot like this guy for the third week in a row. However, we had a successful week in the land of streaming DSTs with the Chargers delivering several sacks to Geno Smith in addition to the 49ers and Jaguars putting up double-digit fantasy points in the stat sheet this week! This week has one of the most rostered defenses on bye in addition to some difficult matchups for teams that are rostered around 50 percent of leagues or fewer, so let’s focus on potentially vulnerable offenses to stream defenses against, as it gets shaky fast in Week 14.
Please note that 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 available to 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.
Tennessee Titans
Opponent: @ Cleveland Browns
ESPN % Rostered: 1%
Yahoo % Rostered: 4%
I could try to butter this one up by saying the Titans have 8 sacks over their last three games since their bye week or that they’ve held their last two division rivals to under 300 total offensive yards, but the reality here is all about who they are playing against. The focus of this one is the over/under for this matchup is 33.5 points as of this writing. For reference, the average of the remaining games this week is around 45 points. Vegas-implied scoring is one of the predictive measurement tools used for DST streaming, and clocking in more than 10 points below the average is noteworthy. Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders now has two starts under his belt and is averaging 180 passing yards on a 59% completion rating between the two of them. Cleveland has turned the ball over four times in their past two games and has surrendered double-digit fantasy points to the opposing defense in three of their past four games since the bye week.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Opponent: vs. New Orleans Saints
ESPN % Rostered: 23%
Yahoo % Rostered: 30%
Tampa Bay opened their three-game home stand last week and snapped a three-game losing streak, coming up with two sacks and two turnovers while holding their opponent to under 20 points. Now they will host their division rival Saints this week. Earlier this year, on the road in New Orleans, the Buccaneers DST blasted them for 25 fantasy points with five sacks and four turnovers while holding them to just three points allowed. In just two games since their bye week, quarterback Tyler Shough has been sacked nine times, and the Saints have turned the ball over four times in that span. Tampa Bay boasts the fourth-highest blitz rate in the NFL this season, so look for the turnover trend to continue as they will dial up the pressure in this game.
Miami Dolphins
Opponent: @ New York Jets
ESPN % Rostered: 13%
Yahoo % Rostered: 20%
The team that got to Shough last week was the Dolphins, who now travel to play their division rival, the Jets. Over the last four games since their bye week, New York has averaged 2.5 sacks surrendered and one turnover per game. They have been held to under 300 total yards of offense in each of quarterback Tyrod Taylor‘s last two starts. Back in Week 4, when these two teams first played each other this season, the Dolphins came away with three turnovers and two sacks on defense. While that game was with a different quarterback under center for New York, expect Taylor to become acquainted with Miami’s fifth-highest blitz rate in the league in this one.
After the Cut
Cleveland Browns (E:68% Y!:75%) – The team with the second-most sacks is now hosting Cam Ward and are worth checking if they are still available in your league
Philadelphia Eagles (E:53% Y!:64%) – The last game of the week will feature the Eagles’ defense against either a one-handed Justin Herbert or Trey Lance if Herbert can’t go on Monday night.
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 Cliff Welch / Icon Sportswire