Welcome to Week 7! Are you suffering from watching 40 penalty flags thrown between the two night games last week? Did you find out your franchise quarterback hasn’t thrown for more yards in a single game this entire season than JJ McCarthy did last week in a single quarter? Fear not, whether your team’s newly signed kicker tore their ACL while watching your division rival claim ownership of your own stadium, you found out your quarterback pulled an all-nighter before the big game, or your team simply just plays in the gulp NFC East... It’s a new week. And so we can look forward with hope that this week will be different. Or at the very least, we can find a viable defense to stream this week. One step at a time, you know?
Last week saw us stay out of the bust column as the Patriots and the 49ers put forth a modicum of fantasy points to get us through the week as the Chiefs shined bright with double-digit fantasy points. How many people had called the number one defense last week to be the team from Tennessee? It turns out just about no one, as they were started in 1% of all fantasy leagues across all of the various platforms. This week we continue with the bye weeks, and a popular target to stream against is one of those on their bye, so let’s see who else is available as a candidate target to stream against that is also rostered in 50 percent of leagues or fewer.
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.
Carolina Panthers
vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
ESPN Rostered: 20%
Yahoo Rostered: 28%
The Panthers play the first of two games against the Buccaneers this season in this home game. They are coming off a road victory in which they recorded three sacks and held their opponent to just 14 points scored. Carolina is presently sixth in the league for a quarterback pressure rating, highlighted by having the highest number of quarterback hurries. They also are meeting the receiver at the catch as they currently have the fewest yards after the catch allowed in the league. Meanwhile, Tampa Bay will get their first look at Baker Mayfield and his injured thumb this week in practice and will see if he has a shot at playing this weekend or will miss another game after being absent from the previous three. Meanwhile, Tampa Bay is averaging 10 fantasy points per game against opposing defenses, and that’s including the negative fantasy point game in Dallas earlier this year. In their most recent game last week, they turned the ball over twice and allowed five sacks. They’ve only managed to eclipse the 20-point mark once over their last five games (the aforementioned Dallas game).
New York Jets
vs. Miami Dolphins
ESPN Rostered: 23%
Yahoo Rostered: 15%
Sitting right at the cusp of top 10 fantasy defenses so far, the Jets have amassed six turnovers and nine sacks over their last three games. They’ve been dominant at home, and next up is a home game for them against the Dolphins. This is the first of two games this season between these two division rivals. New York has been a punch-out pro this season, sitting at the top of the league with the most fumbles generated, while Miami has the eighth-most giveaways despite having a week off already. The Jets are allowing the fourth-fewest yards per play average in the league, and the Dolphins sit as the fifth-lowest offensive yards per game in the league. This should be a good one, as Miami is coming into this one with five sacks allowed and four giveaways across their last two games before the bye week, which puts them at the third-best offense to stream a defense against
Fun Fact – the Jets had three first-round picks in this season’s draft and currently hold another three first-round picks for the 2027 draft. At the rate the two teams that they possess the draft picks of, it might shape up to be three top-ten first-round draft picks by the season’s end.
Tennessee Titans
vs. Cleveland Browns
ESPN Rostered: 1%
Yahoo Rostered: 3%
Jeffrey Simmons is a beast. He is tied for the fourth-most tackles for loss and is a leader in pressure win rates on the line. He and the rest of the Titans defense dominated the Colts last week with three turnovers and six sacks. Even if you take off the defensive touchdown, Tennessee still has double-digit fantasy points from that game. Now they get a home game against the fourth-best offense to stream against, with current sack leader Deshaun Watson and his offense surrendering 13 sacks and 2 turnovers over their last two games. Cleveland’s starting running back Quinshon Judkins was out last week and starts this week off questionable, and it will remain to be seen how he practices this week. If he plays, he will not be 100% for an offense that already has the fourth-lowest yards-per-game average in the league.
After the Cut
Cleveland Browns (E:34% Y!:22%) – On the flip side, the Browns have been hot defensively in their past three games and now face the Titans’ offense that sits at the sixth-best to stream against this season.
San Francisco 49ers (E:59% Y!:53%) – The 49ers have provided a solid floor in just about every game and now play the Falcons, who gave up the third-highest fantasy points to the Bears defense last week at home.
Minnesota Vikings (E:73% Y!:80%) – This is just a reminder that the Vikings were on a bye last week and they were dropped in roughly 20% of leagues. Was yours one of them? (Fun fact: Minnesota’s number one blitz rate is almost double the second-highest blitzing team this season)
If you see something I don’t, leave a comment here, find me on the QBList Discord, or hit me up with feedback on Reddit!
Feature image by Michael Packard (@CollectingPack on Twitter) / Photography by Rich Graessle/ Icon Sportswire