Unless most of the teams in your league carry a backup defense, more than half of the league should be available to you every week. Perhaps instead of playing one above average defense every week, regardless of matchup, we should instead target the widely available waiver wire defenses with the best matchups in any particular week? You can always make exceptions if your rent-a-defense gets hot - heck, you might find a team worth starting all year by accident. Even if you don't, good matchups will continue to get greater in number as more QBs get injured or yanked as the season goes on. You can steal some points from bad weather come December. Each week I'll list the startable fantasy defenses on most waiver wires and rank them.
**Buffalo, New York Jets, New Orleans, Dallas, San Francisco, Baltimore, and Philadelphia have great matchups but are assumed to be rostered**
Week 2 Results
Green Bay (at Atlanta) - 1 sack, 1 INT
The Packers defense was making life hard for Desmond Ridder, forcing an interception early with a hit while he was throwing, but then Ridder calmed down and led a comeback win.
A Look Ahead: NO DET @LV - We may come back to them in Vegas Week 5
Tampa Bay (vs Chicago) - 6 sacks, 2 INT, 1 DEF TD
Only the Steelers D/ST and their two defensive scores on Monday night were a better play. Justin Fields looks lost at times, and he threw a way too easy pick-six when the Bears were trying to come back late. We are going to keep targeting him with D/ST pickups until it backfires
A Look Ahead: PHI @NO BYE - We may come back to this veteran defense after their bye.
Houston (vs Indianapolis) - Nada. Zilch. Bupkis.
Whew, this was a stinker. The Texans knocked Anthony Richardson out of the game, but then Gardner Minshew sliced and diced them.
A Look Ahead: @JAX PIT @ATL - It is going to take a very compelling matchup to put the Texans D/ST back in this year.
Arizona (vs NY Giants) - 3 sacks, 1 INT
From up 20-0 at the half to giving up 31 points in the second half, it was a tale of two games from this defense. Maybe they will be the creampuff we target when setting offensive lineups, after all.
A Look Ahead: DAL @SF CIN - We won’t come back to them for a while, if at all.
Denver (vs Washington) - 4 sacks
Sam Howell limited his mistakes with the ball and moved the Washington offense well after a slow start that put them behind 21-3. This isn’t the 2022 Broncos defense.
A Look Ahead: @MIA @CHI NYJ - Getting the Bears and Jets back to back means we might hold the Broncos as a second defense this week or even absorb whatever drawback they are to lineups this week against Miami to have them for Weeks 4-5 if we only have enough roster spots to carry one defense.
Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda
Pittsburgh (vs Cleveland) - 6 sacks, 3 fumble recoveries, 1 INT, 2 DEF TD
The Steelers have created yet another epic pair of OLB pincers for their 3-4 defense, with Alex Highsmith playing at an elite level opposite the already elite TJ Watt. They were the difference in this one and enough to make the Steelers worth starting, no matter the matchup, if you’re in a pinch.
Seattle (at Detroit) - 2 sacks, 2 fumble recoveries, 2 INT, 1 DEF TD
Tre Brown had himself a day in this one with a sack, forced fumble, and pick-six. The Seattle defense is still vulnerable to giving up a lot of yards and points, but they found a way to make enough plays to win and help anyone who happened to start them in fantasy.
Washington (at Denver) - 7 sacks, 1 fumble recovery, 1 INT
Chase Young is rounding into form, which makes the Commanders D/ST more of a consideration going forward.