A question was asked recently about which defenses are good to stream for the fantasy playoffs. I'll attempt to answer that question here, by showing the best and worst offenses to face (based on how they've performed so far) in the remaining weeks.
The following table shows which offenses have been best to match a defense up with this year, at least in terms of the key components to most fantasy scoring systems: sacks, turnovers and defensive and special teams touchdowns allowed.
These are year-long numbers, and because of injuries and quarterback changes, some offenses are better or worse now than they were for the bulk of the season. Jameis Winston, as a for instance, doesn't take as many sacks as Deshaun Watson did. And while the Saints show up middle of the pack, most of those games were started by Derek Carr. It will be a pair of mid-round draft picks the last two years, either Jake Haener or Spencer Rattler, doing the quarterback for New Orleans the next few weeks.
Table is ordered by what offenses have allowed to opposing defenses in their first 13 games, sorted by fantasy points per week. Scoring system is 1 point for sacks, 2 points for takeaways, and 6 points for all defensive and special teams touchdowns. Sack, turnover and TD column are totals allowed by each offense on the season. The teams at the top (in bold) have been the best matchups -- served up the most combined FF points from sacks, turnovers and touchdowns. The teams at the bottom, in italics, have been the worst matchups, tending to take the fewest sacks or being best at protecting the football.
| TEAM OFFENSES, FF POINTS/GAME ALLOWED | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Offense | Sk | TO | TD | Pts |
| Tennessee Titans | 45 | 23 | 5 | 9.3 |
| Cleveland Browns | 53 | 21 | 4 | 9.2 |
| Las Vegas Raiders | 43 | 25 | 3 | 8.5 |
| New York Giants | 42 | 18 | 4 | 7.8 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 40 | 19 | 3 | 7.4 |
| New England Patriots | 43 | 17 | 2 | 6.8 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 33 | 23 | 1 | 6.5 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 41 | 19 | 1 | 6.5 |
| Atlanta Falcons | 26 | 20 | 2 | 6.0 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 32 | 14 | 3 | 6.0 |
| New Orleans Saints | 25 | 14 | 4 | 5.9 |
| Chicago Bears | 56 | 10 | 0 | 5.8 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 32 | 18 | 1 | 5.7 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 26 | 20 | 1 | 5.5 |
| Houston Texans | 42 | 14 | 0 | 5.4 |
| Indianapolis Colts | 24 | 20 | 1 | 5.4 |
| Miami Dolphins | 32 | 13 | 2 | 5.4 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 36 | 11 | 2 | 5.4 |
| New York Jets | 31 | 13 | 2 | 5.3 |
| Arizona Cardinals | 23 | 16 | 2 | 5.2 |
| Carolina Panthers | 22 | 18 | 1 | 4.9 |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | 25 | 19 | 0 | 4.8 |
| Kansas City | 35 | 14 | 0 | 4.8 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 35 | 11 | 1 | 4.8 |
| Washington Commanders | 30 | 9 | 2 | 4.6 |
| Green Bay Packers | 16 | 15 | 2 | 4.5 |
| Los Angeles Rams | 28 | 12 | 1 | 4.5 |
| Detroit Lions | 25 | 12 | 1 | 4.2 |
| Los Angeles Chargers | 38 | 6 | 0 | 3.8 |
| Denver Broncos | 19 | 15 | 0 | 3.8 |
| Buffalo Bills | 13 | 7 | 3 | 3.5 |
| Baltimore Ravens | 19 | 9 | 0 | 2.8 |
It's specific to different leagues which weeks are most or least important. I have a Week 15 bye in one league, so I don't really care which defense has the best matchup this week. In another league I need to win to move on, so I care a lot more about Week 15 (rankings we're working on right now) than who has the best fantasy matchup in Week 16 or 17. But you can look at the table and determine which are the best teams to stream for you personally.
A few schedule-related notes:
Kansas City hasn't been a great fantasy defense, and might be available in some leagues. They're at Cleveland this week.
The Falcons have shown a little more defensive intensity of late, and their next two matchups are choice (Raiders and Giants). Possible streamer there.
The Bengals get the Titans and Browns the next two weeks, the two best matchups this season. Cincinnati has one of the league's worst defenses, but they have to be considered as a possible streamer.
The Packers might be a defense to just leave in lineups the rest of the way. Their next three are at Seattle, home against New Orleans, and at Minnesota -- all good matchups, I think. Vikings also get Seattle and Chicago, hosting Green Bay (not a great matchup for the most part) in the third.
The Pennsylvania teams have strong defenses, but their matchups the next two weeks aren't great. They face either other this week, and then the Eagles play Washington while the Steelers face Baltimore.
The Broncos face the Colts this week, which is statistically mediocre, and their next two (Chargers and Bengals) are poor. Those of us who have been starting Denver all year long might -- might -- be considering alternatives in the playoffs.
--Andy Richardson