Streaming Defenses Week 14: D/ST Picks for Fantasy Football This Week

Find top fantasy D/ST streamers for Week 14, with matchup-based analysis, waiver targets and sneaky plays to help you with your fantasy football roster.
Streaming Defenses Week 14: D/ST Picks for Fantasy Football This Week

Per usual, we have some key situations to watch for injury reports and NFL breaking news, with QB injuries being of particular importance to weekly D/ST rankings. Justin Herbert (hand), Jayden Daniels (elbow), Sam Darnold (ankle), J.J. McCarthy (concussion) are varying degrees of banged-up ahead of Week 14. Herbert and Darnold seem likely to start, while McCarthy and Daniels appear in at least some danger of missing another week. For now, the Week 14-17 rankings assume all of those guys are available. I'll edit the ranks for Week 14 late in the week if it becomes clear that any of the aforementioned QBs isn't going to play.

Playoff Grid

Teams in bold/colors are projected to rank in the Top 10 for at least two of the three playoff weeks.

 W15W16W17
1Eagles (vs. LV)Texans (vs. LV)Rams (at ATL)
249ers (vs. TEN)Chiefs (at TEN)Lions (at MIN)
3Bears (vs. CLE)Bills (at CLE)Steelers (at CLE)
4Buccaneers (vs. ATL)Giants (vs. MIN)Patriots (at NYJ)
5Cowboys (vs. MIN)Jets (at NO)Saints (at TEN)
6Jaguars (vs. NYJ)Saints (vs. NYJ)Seahawks (at CAR)
7Texans (vs. ARZ)Cardinals (vs. ATL)Titans (vs. NO)
8Panthers (at NO)Broncos (vs. JAX)Browns (vs. PIT)
9Seahawks (vs. IND)Lions (vs. PIT)Chargers (vs. HOU)
10Steelers (vs. MIA)Buccaneers (at CAR)Chiefs (vs. DEN)
11Browns (at CHI)Packers (at CHI)Colts (vs. JAX)
12Broncos (vs. GB)Eagles (at WAS)Buccaneers (at MIA)

              

Note: These recommendations are limited to team defenses that are rostered on less than 60 percent of teams on Yahoo or 80 percent on NFFC. Any references to fantasy points are based on Yahoo standard scoring, which doesn't include yards allowed.

Top Streaming Options for Week 14

        

1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (vs. NO)

  • 30% Yahoo, 90% NFFC
  • Team implied total: 25.5     Opponent implied total: 17.0
  • Upcoming Ranks (Projected) — Week 15: 4th (vs. ATL),  Week 16: 10th (at CAR)

Tampa's offense still looks a bit sluggish, but it's at least getting healthier, and the defense just came up with two takeaways and two sacks in a 20-17 win over Arizona. The Bucs now face another opponent that tends to pile up pass attempts, only this time it could lead to a big fantasy score with rookie Tyler Shough slinging the rock for New Orleans. Spencer Rattler's last start was a 23-3 loss to the Bucs in Week 8, with Tampa's D/ST scoring 26 fantasy points behind five sacks and four takeaways (one returned for a touchdown). We probably won't get that again, but double digits wouldn't surprise. 

     

2. Baltimore Ravens (vs. PIT)

  • 64% Yahoo, 82% NFFC
  • Team implied total: 24.75     Opponent implied total: 18.75
  • Upcoming Ranks (Projected) — Week 15: 20th (at CIN),  Week 16: 15th (vs. NE)

The Ravens technically sit a hair outside of the ownership requirements for this article, but I'm including them because they were dropped in a lot of competitive leagues after the announcement of Joe Burrow's return. That looks to have been the right decision, unless you dropped Baltimore and are now badly in need of a Week 14 option. The Ravens have played much better on defense than offense of late, potentially setting up a slugfest this Sunday for control of the AFC North.

          

3. Kansas City Chiefs (vs. HOU)

  • 42% Yahoo, 84% NFFC
  • Team implied total: 22.5     Opponent implied total: 19.0
  • Upcoming Ranks (Projected) — Week 15: 15th (vs. LAC),  Week 16: 2nd (at TEN)

A few weeks back, I expected the Chiefs to flirt with top-five status in the Week 14 D/ST rankings. They're still perfectly startable, but my enthusiasm isn't quite at the same level, seeing as the Chiefs have struggled on defense while Houston's offense (especially the blocking) has started to come around some. That said, a visit to Arrowhead against a desperate Chiefs team could lead to trouble for C.J. Stroud and his oft-shaky O-line.

        

4. Miami Dolphins (at NYJ)

  • 30% Yahoo, 35% NFFC
  • Team implied total: 22.0     Opponent implied total: 19.5
  • Upcoming Ranks (Projected) — Week 15: 18th (at PIT),  Week 16: 18th (vs. CIN)

A month ago, this might've profiled as one of the worst games of the NFL season. It's still unexciting, but the Jets have flirted with competence since Tyrod Taylor took over at QB, while the Dolphins have found real success (at least in the short term) with a run-first offense and improved defense. Taylor is pretty good at limiting negative plays, but he still doesn't have much help around him, nor much of an arm. Things can still get ugly for the Jets if they fall far behind and are forced to throw a ton.

          

5. Green Bay Packers (vs. CHI)

  • 62% Yahoo, 85% NFFC
  • Team implied total: 25.5     Opponent implied total: 19.0
  • Upcoming Ranks (Projected) — Week 15: 14th (at DEN),  Week 16: 11th (at CHI)

This is another defense that doesn't quite meet our usual ownership requirements for the article yet appears to be available in a lot of competitive leagues (where they were rightfully dropped ahead of a visit to Detroit's dome). This week the Packers will be outdoors, at home, facing a Bears team that keeps piling up wins without ever fixing a broken passing game. There's always some chance the Bears keep getting it done on the ground, but things could go off the rails if they fall behind and need Caleb Williams to do heavy lifting against one of the NFC's better defenses.

     

Week 14 Rankings

Tier 1: CLE, DEN

Tier 2: TB, SEA

Tier 3: BAL, KC, LAR, MIA, GB

  1. Browns (vs. TEN) 
  2. Broncos (at LV)
  3. Buccaneers (vs. NO)
  4. Seahawks (at ATL) 
  5. Ravens (vs. PIT)
  6. Chiefs (vs. HOU)
  7. Rams (at ARZ)
  8. Dolphins (at NYJ) 
  9. Packers (vs. CHI)
  10. Commanders (at MIN) 
  11. Eagles (at LAC)
  12. Chargers (vs. PHI) 
  13. Titans (at CLE)
  14. Colts (at JAX) 
  15. Jaguars (vs. IND) 
  16. Vikings (vs. WAS) 
  17. Jets (vs. MIA)
  18. Bills (vs. CIN) 
  19. Steelers (at BAL)
  20. Bears (at GB)

          

Looking Ahead to Week 15

  1. Eagles (vs. LV)
  2. 49ers (vs. TEN)
  3. Bears (vs. CLE) 
  4. Buccaneers (vs. ATL)
  5. Cowboys (vs. MIN)
  6. Jaguars (vs. NYJ)
  7. Texans (vs. ARZ)
  8. Panthers (at NO) 
  9. Seahawks (vs. IND)
  10. Steelers (vs. MIA)
  11. Browns (at CHI) 
  12. Broncos (vs. GB) 
  13. Rams (vs. DET) 
  14. Packers (at DEN)
  15. Saints (vs. CAR) 
  16. Chiefs (vs. LAC) 
  17. Commanders (at NYG)
  18. Dolphins (at PIT)
  19. Cardinals (at HOU)
  20. Ravens (at CIN)

    

Rest-of-Season Rankings

  1. Houston Texans  
  2. Kansas City Chiefs    
  3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 
  4. Seattle Seahawks
  5. Philadelphia Eagles 
  6. New Orleans Saints 
  7. Denver Broncos 
  8. Detroit Lions 
  9. New England Patriots 
  10. Los Angeles Rams  
  11. Green Bay Packers  
  12. Cleveland Browns 
  13. Pittsburgh Steelers   
  14. Buffalo Bills     
  15. Los Angeles Chargers 
  16. Jacksonville Jaguars 
  17. Baltimore Ravens 
  18. Miami Dolphins 
  19. Indianapolis Colts  
  20. Minnesota Vikings

           

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jerry was a 2018 finalist for the FSWA's Player Notes Writer of the Year and DFS Writer of the Year awards. A Baltimore native, Jerry roots for the Ravens and watches "The Wire" in his spare time.
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