Welcome to Week 8! I’m still dusting myself off after getting knocked down by the overall defensive performance last week. “D” didn’t stand for “Defense”; it was more along the lines of “Disaster”. Eight of the 12 games on Sunday went over the predicted total points, and 20 of the 28 defenses scored five or fewer fantasy points. In ESPN leagues, nine of those defenses scored a flat zero points or worse with negative points! Of the six defenses that performed well, three of them were rostered in over 90% of all fantasy leagues, and the clear winning performer of Week 7 (Tampa Bay) was rostered in only 6% of Yahoo leagues. None of the picks hit from last week, with the Panthers, Jets, and Titans all falling flat. (Tennessee was actually serviceable if your league does not penalize offensive yards allowed) This is all before remembering that it could have been even worse, as this past weekend also saw a whopping 17 missed kicks (14 were field goals) that were either blocked or just simply off target! Only two games on Sunday had 100% accurate kickers. It truly felt like picking defenses to stream last week was akin to trying to tackle a man too angry to go down.
This week we focus in on the AFC South as we hopefully got all of our tricks out of the way and are now in for some treats this upcoming weekend as we go door to door looking for defenses to stream in around 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.
Cincinnati Bengals
Opponent: vs. Tennessee Titans
ESPN Rostered: 16%
Yahoo Rostered: 27%
Naturally, I had to go with the orange and black to headline this week’s picks. The Bengals are coming back home after a road victory where they allowed just 13 points. This week they will face the Titans, who have provided a decent floor to stream a defense against in fantasy this season. Cincinnati has now had 7 sacks over their last two games, which puts them in a tie for the most in the league. This is the foundation of their fourth-best quarterback pressure rating, which is impressive considering how little they blitz this season compared to the rest of the league. Generating pressure without committing extra personnel to the front line is a large part of why they have the fourth-fewest yards after the catch and air yards allowed per attempt. Dexter Lawrence, who has the third-most tackles for loss despite an early-season bye week, will be tasked along with the rest of the defensive line with containing Tony Pollard, who just had his first 100-yard rushing game of the season last week. It is worth noting that the Bengals held Derrick Henry to 45 yards rushing last week.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Opponent: vs. Indianapolis Colts
ESPN Rostered: 28%
Yahoo Rostered: 43%
Jacksonville is back stateside with their bye last week after spending the previous two weeks abroad in London. They will host their division rival who just had a front office shakeup in Indianapolis. Prior to their most recent game that ended in a shootout, they had not allowed a single opponent to score more than 20 points. The Jaguars currently have the top-ranked rushing defense, allowing the fewest yards in the ground game. This will be tested against Jonathan Taylor, who is tied for the most rushing touchdowns by a running back this season. They will aim to commit the resources to bottling up the run as best they can and see if they can get Daniel Jones to go through the air, where the Colts have been susceptible. The past two games, the Colts have allowed 30 fantasy points to opposing defenses on the back of giving up 10 sacks and turning the ball over four times across those two games. Indianapolis is averaging the eighth-fewest passing yards on offense per game this season.
Washington Commanders
Opponent: vs. Philadelphia Eagles
ESPN Rostered: 3%
Yahoo Rostered: 2%
Moving over to the NFC East, we have the Commanders off their bye week to host the Eagles. Washington comes into this game with the second-best turnover differential in the league while Philadelphia is tied for the fifth-worst in turnovers. The Commanders have the second-highest blitz rating (no one is remotely close to Minnesota at the top) and will look to bring that pressure against Tanner McKee, who is making the first road start of his career in this game. Across his two starts so far, McKee has been sacked five times, averaging just over 200 yards passing with two touchdowns and one interception on a 61% average completion rating. The Eagles were without their top two wideouts last week, and because they had the late game, there is no news yet on their status for this week. News on DeVonta Smith back when he exited the Carolina game was that the hamstring injury would probably keep him out multiple weeks at that time. Their running back situation is approaching comedic levels at this point. Saquon Barkley returned from his leg injury only to exit the game with a back injury. Dameon Pierce exited the fourth quarter with an undisclosed injury, bringing the next man up to be RB5 (or is it 6 now?) Elijah Mitchell, who you might recognize from his three-year stint in San Francisco that ended back in 2023.
After the Cut
New England Patriots (E:60% Y!:66%) – Not eligible for the main feature, the Patriots will play the third-worst offense in fantasy this weekend in Miami.
Kansas City Chiefs (E:70% Y!:52%) – Chiefs hit the road to play their division rival in Denver. Back in week one, Kansas City had double-digit fantasy points against the Broncos with 4 sacks and 2 turnovers.
Detroit Lions (E:22% Y!:14%) – For a true “trick or treat” in deeper leagues, the Lions host their division rival from Minnesota, who currently have the fourth-fewest yards on offense in the league. It is worth noting, however, that the Lions have given up the most yards on defense in the league as well.
If you see something I don’t, leave a comment here, find me on QBList Discord, or hit me up with feedback on Reddit!
Feature image by Michael Packard (@CollectingPack on Twitter) / Photography by Peter Joneleit/ Icon Sportswire