Streaming Defenses: Picking a Week 13 Defense

This article is part of our Streaming Defenses series.

Redskins

No Romo, no worry? The Cowboys will once be without their star QB, as he deals with another collarbone injury, which leaves the team with Matt Cassel, who has a 6.54 YPA, five touchdowns, and five interceptions on the season. The team has lost every game he's played in and showed some fight. The WR/TE corps of Dez Bryant, Jason Witten, Terrance Williams, and Cole Beasley can make a defense sweat, but not without Romo leading them. Bryant has only two touchdowns on the season and only one game above 50 yards receiving. The Redskins defense ranks tied for 19th in YPA (7.0) and can be exploited, but Cassel likely isn't the QB to do it.

RB Darren McFadden has averaged 3.8 YPC and has run hot and cold this season with three games over 100 yards and seven games under 40 yards. It's that lack of consistency that could potentially benefit the Redskins, who are ranked 29th in YPC (4.7) and can certainly be run on by anyone. If the Cowboys do lean on McFadden and keep Cassel's exposure to a minimum, it should serve to drive the number of possessions down, as the Cowboys eat up the clock and slow the game down. That would hurt fantasy owners potential for sacks and interceptions, but will also keep the scoring tempered too. Vegas has this over/under set at 42 with the Redskins favored by 4, which puts this at about a 23-19 game. Facing the Cowboys at home, the Redskins defense/special teams has an ownership of 6.9 percent at ESPN and 6 percent at Yahoo.

Steelers

Matt Hasselbeck at 40 years old continues to lead the Colts, as starter Andrew Luck deals with an abdomen/kidney injury. It's hard to believe the team is 4-0 under Hasselbeck, but then again those teams are a combined 21-23. To his credit he's done well to limit turnovers with only two interceptions in one game and none in the other three. His 6.82 YPA, if he had enough attempts to qualify, would place him around 25th in the league. The Steelers rank tied for 24th in YPA (7.4), so it's not the best matchup for them, but they also rank tied for fifth in most sacks per game (2.7) and Hasselbeck is by no means mobile. The WR/TE corps of T.Y. Hilton, Donte Moncrief, Andre Johnson, and Coby Fleener have underperformed as a whole, even when Luck was healthy. Hilton in particular has only scored in three games this season and only in the most recent game showed some rapport with Hasselbelck.

According to coach Chuck Pagano, Colts RB Frank Gore is "beat to crap." After 11 seasons in the NFL, I'd expect that to be the case, but as we get to the later part of the season that is very likely true for most players. Gore has one rushing TD in his last six games and no games with over 100 yards this season. The Steelers are ranked tied for seventh in YPC (3.8) and should be able to slow him down. I can't see this getting into a shootout with Hasselbeck at QB and no run game, but that can happen when teams face the Steelers and know they're going to need to really score as many points as possible when their own defense can't make enough stops. Vegas has this over/under set at 48.5 with the Steelers favored by 7, which puts this at about a 28-21 game. Facing the Colts at home, the Steelers defense/special teams has an ownership of 37.9 percent at ESPN and 40 percent at Yahoo.

Buccaneers

In Matt Ryan's last seven games he has 10 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, numbers he is not used to putting up, in his eighth season in the league. In those seven games the Falcons are 2-5 and on a four game losing streak heading into this week's game with the Bucs. WR Julio Jones can do plenty, but he can't do it all and with no secondary option in the passing game, the offense as a whole has struggled. TE Jacob Tamme is second on the team in targets and receiving yards, which is likely not how the team thought the season would go. The Bucs rank tied for 17th in YPA (6.9) and against Ryan (7.4 YPA), should have a decent chance at holding him down, as long as they don't let Jones run wild on them.

The Bucs are excellent against the run, ranking third in YPC (3.5), but will face a stiff test against RB Devonta Freeman (4.6 YPC) and backup Tevin Coleman (4.4 YPC). Considering the limitations of the passing game, the Falcons have relied on their ground game much more this season than in recent memory and that will likely be the case again this game. The Falcons have been a much better team at home than on the road and riding a four game losing streak into a road game, the Bucs are a fair bet to produce a few turnovers, if Matt Ryan continues his below average play. Vegas has this over/under set at 46 with the Bucs favored by 2, which puts this at about a 24-22 game. Facing the Falcons at home, the Bucs defense/special teams has an ownership of 15.4 percent at ESPN and 13 percent at Yahoo.

Titans

Jags QB Blake Bortles ranks 26th in YPA (6.79), 30th in completion percentage (57.0), and is tied for the second most sacks this season (34), all of which should help the Titans at home. The Jags will likely be without WR Allen Hurns as he deals with a concussion that left him hospitalized, after being stretchered off the field the previous week. Look for TE Julius Thomas to step up and fill some of that void, as he and Bortles become more in sync. WR Allen Robinson will continue to be the main target against a Titans defense that ranks 24th in YPA (7.4) and can be picked apart.

RB T.J. Yeldon has one rushing TD on the season and only two games over 100 yards, as he's averaged 4.0 YPC, but not always given a big workload. The Titans rank 10th in YPC (3.9) and should be able to keep Yeldon contained. In their previous meeting Yeldon only managed 54 yards rushing on 14 carries, a game that finished with a 19-13 score. If this game goes anything like the previous, there should be a nice floor of fantasy points here for owners that take the Titans. Vegas has this over/under set at 43 with the Titans favored by 2.5, which puts this at about a 23-20 game. Facing the Jags at home, the Titans defense/special teams has an ownership of 25 percent at ESPN and 14 percent at Yahoo.

Bears

In three starts QB Blaine Gabbert has four touchdowns and three interceptions with an impressive 8.07 YPA. And yet in those three games the 49ers scored an average of 14.3 points per game. Leading WR Anquan Boldin has topped 90 yards receiving in four of his last five games and yet has two touchdowns on the season. He hasn't been helped much by WRs Torrey Smith or Quniton Patton or TE Vance McDonald. The Bears rank tied for eighth in YPA (6.5) and should be able to get after Gabbert.

On the ground, RB Shaun Draughn has averaged 3.5 YPC, as he replaces a still injured Carlos Hyde (foot). The 49ers are down right awful against the run, allowing 4.8 YPC, which is 30th in the league, but it might not matter much if Draughn and the 49ers are unable to take advantage or playing from behind and are forced to abandon the run. And that's the hope here, that the Bears get out to a lead and force the 49ers to play keep up, which opens them up to more sacks, interceptions, and away from their weakness on the ground. Vegas has this over/under set at 43 with the Bears favored by 7, which puts this at about a 25-18 game. Facing the 49ers at home, the Bears defense/special teams has an ownership of 21.8 percent at ESPN and 10 percent at Yahoo.

Here are my rankings for this week, the next four weeks, and the remainder of the season: