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.
**Note: Denver, New England, Chicago, Cincinnati, and Baltimore have good matchups this week, but they are presumed to be owned in most, if not all leagues**
Week 1 Results
Indianapolis (vs Oakland) - 2 INTs, 1 sack
A respectable five points, but not the hit we were looking for, as Terrelle Pryor was better than just about anyone predicted. The Colts defense still looks a bit toothless, and it also appears that we aren’t going to rename this column “Whoever Oakland is playing”.
A Look Ahead: MIA @SF @JAX - Miami’s offensive line got pushed around against the Cleveland front seven, but Indianapolis doesn’t have the defensive playmakers to make this worth it.
Tampa Bay (at New York Jets) - 5 sacks, 1 INT, 1 fumble recovery
Geno Smith looked like a rookie and took a lot of sacks, even though the Bucs aren’t known for their pass rush. The Jets should remain a good rent-a-defense opponent to target for at least the first month of the season.
A Look Ahead: NO @NE ARI - You should never play a fantasy D/ST against the Saints while Drew Brees is the quarterback. He has had a few stinkers over the years, but don’t count on one this week.
Washington (vs Philadelphia) - 3 sacks, 2 fumble recoveres, 1 DEF TD
It took a fluky backwards pass that the Eagles quit on to make your day if you played the Redskins, but you’ll take the flukes where you can get them. Even though the Eagles offense was scary good and productive, the sheer volume of plays that they run will still make them a rent-a-defense opponent to consider every week.
A Look Ahead: @GB DET @OAK - Don’t leave the Redskins in your lineup in Lambeau.
Pittsburgh (vs Tennessee) - 1 sack, 1 safety
It was football armageddon in Pittsburgh in week 1, and were it not for a bungled kickoff by Darius Reynaud, they would have been the worst D/ST play of the week.
A Look Ahead: @CIN CHI @MIN - Yeah. no.
Kansas City (at Jacksonville) - 6 sacks, 2 INTs, 1 DEF TD, 2 points allowed
Jackpot! Hopefully your lack of belief in Blaine Gabbert drew you to the Chiefs last week, or maybe a few other streamers got the obvious Colts and Bucs picks and forced you to go lower on the list. The Chiefs defense is very talented, but the Jaguars offensive line was monumentally bad. The Jags will start Chad Henne this week, so it’s too early to rename this column “Whoever the Jaguars are playing”.
A Look Ahead: DAL @PHI NYG - Dallas’s offense seems a lot safer with the ball, and that should continue with Tony Romo banged up. It’s probably better to throw them back, but Kansas City will likely be a go-to rent-a-defense this year.
Week 2 Candidates
Philadelphia (vs San Diego)
A surprise rent-a-defense hit in week 1 even though they debuted an overhauled defense, the Eagles have a chance to put up great D/ST numbers on offenses in perpetual catch-up mode. San Diego is on a short week, traveling east after a devastating loss, and now they have to prepare for Chip Kelly’s team? This could be an explosive play.
A Look Ahead: KC, @DEN, @NYG - This could definitely be a “hot hand” scenario where you keep riding the Eagles until they let you down.
Oakland (vs Jacksonville)
The Raiders defense was actually a handful for Andrew Luck, sacking him four times. Yes, Blaine Gabbert is sidelined, but Chad Henne has never been that judicious with his decisions. The Black Hole is a factor here, as is Terrelle Pryor’s chance to actually stake the team to a lead.
A look ahead: @DEN, WAS, SD - No thanks. One and done.
Arizona (vs Detroit)
Even without Daryl Washington, the Cardinals have Patrick Peterson, Tyrann Mathieu, and Calais Campbell ready to make big plays, and they get a Detroit side that has been rough on the road at times in the past. The Cards were a top 10 D/ST play in week 1 off of a nose tackle touchdown, so it’s a sound decision to go to them this week.
A look ahead: @NO, @TB, CAR - At NO = No for your fantasy team.
Dallas (at Kansas City)
You don’t love the road aspect of this rent-a-defense play, but you do like the momentum coming off of the best D/ST score by any team in week 1. Alex Smith is usually safe with the ball, but Monte Kiffin’s defense is allowing the talented players on the Cowboys defense to make a bigger impact
A look ahead: STL, @SD, DEN - if you roll the dice on them this week and they hit, you’ll want to keep them in for week 3 at home against the Rams.
Kansas City (vs Dallas)
The Chiefs were the other big hit of week 1, but I can't tell whether that is about how good the Chiefs defense is or how bad the Jaguars offense is. There's plenty of talent here, so I won't talk you out of playing the Chiefs instead of the Cowboys in this matchup to get the home team, but I was very impressed with the Cowboys offense. Perhaps Tony Romo and Dez Bryant being banged up with give the Chiefs the edge here.
A look ahead: @PHI, NYG, @TEN - If San Diego has a good week vs. the Eagles, you might want to stick with the Chiefs, and the Giants may also persist as a turnover machine offense.
Week 3 Preemptive Pickups
If you like to devote two roster spots to a D/ST, or you suspect other teams are going to stream defenses this year, you might want to grab a top option for the following week to stash away. Here are the best ones to target:
New Orleans (vs Arizona)
Minnesota (vs Cleveland)
Carolina (vs New York Giants)
Dallas (vs St. Louis)
