Although it wasn’t a home run hitting type of week for the Streamable Defenses of the Week, it was still a solid one. Each of our suggestions topped three points with two of them topping nine. Our under ten-percent owned suggestion in the Tennessee Titans playing the Miami Dolphins led the way with ten points as the Las Vegas Raiders scored nine points against the Cleveland Browns. We’re treading water a bit here without a huge performance through the first four weeks of the season however. Let’s see if we can change that here in Week 5.
I’m one to never invest a high draft stock into team defenses. I play the waiver wire every single week to find my D/ST for the upcoming week. Due to this, I find myself never drafting a defense and waiting for just before the start of Week 1 to grab my first defense of the season. This is where this series comes into play. Every week I will be suggesting my favorite three team defenses that are regularly available on waiver wires across most formats. I will also keep a running total of how my selections measure up across the season below.
The premise of this article is to bring forth three streamable defenses that fantasy football players should look to use for that respective week. To qualify for this series, defenses must be owned in less than 40-percent of Yahoo and/or ESPN leagues. At least one of the suggested defenses will be owned in less than 10-percent of Yahoo and/or ESPN leagues to cater to as many fantasy players as possible. You can find last week’s results below and previous week’s results at the bottom of this article.
The Philadelphia Eagles were our top suggestion in Week 4 but were the lowest scoring of the three. They scored just three fantasy points while allowing 33 points to the Buccaneers and recording two sacks. The Las Vegas Raiders bounced back in Week 4, holding the Cleveland Browns to ten points while recording three sacks and an interception enroute to nine fantasy points. The Tennessee Titans were our highest scoring suggestion as they scored 11 fantasy points while allowing just 12 points on Monday Night Football against the Miami Dolphins. They also recorded two sacks and recovered a fumble.
Week 4 Results
Philadelphia Eagles at Tampa Bay Buccaneers - 3 Points
Las Vegas Raiders vs. Cleveland Browns - 9 Points
Tennessee Titans at Miami Dolphins - 10 Points
Overall Results
Top Suggestion - 25 Points (D/ST16)
Middle Suggestion - 13 Points (D/ST27)
Under 10% Owned - 20 Points (D/ST22)
Week 5 Suggestions
Denver Broncos vs. Las Vegas Raiders (Owned in 18% of Yahoo and 5.6% of ESPN Leagues)
The Denver Broncos are currently the D/ST3 on the season entering Week 5 and are still widely available in the majority of leagues. They have scored at least 11 fantasy points in three-of-their-first-four games this season. Last week against the Jets, who allowed the sixth fewest fantasy points to opposing defenses coming in, they recorded 11 fantasy points. In their last three games they’ve allowed 13 points to the Pittsburgh Steelers, seven points to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and nine points to the New York Jets. I think it’s safe to say this is a very good defense and they get the Raiders this week who have allowed the seventh most fantasy points to opposing defenses this season.
Washington Commanders vs. Cleveland Browns (Owned in 1% of Yahoo and 2% of ESPN Leagues)
This Commanders’ defense isn’t anything special but they are a solid unit. They just held the high flying Arizona Cardinals’ offense to just 14 points in Week 4. However, this play is more so on their opponent than it is on them. This Cleveland Browns’ offense is awful. They’ve scored at most 18 points this season through four games. They rank 31st in the NFL in offensive yards per game, only better than the New England Patriots. I don’t see this as a home run hitting suggestion as Washington doesn’t record many turnovers and rank 25th in the NFL in overall sacks, but the Browns simply can’t score points.
New England Patriots vs. Miami Dolphins (Owned in 4% of Yahoo and 2.1% of ESPN Leagues)
Again, we’re playing the opponent here more so than playing the defense. The Miami Dolphins with Tua Tagovailoa are god awful. The Dolphins have scored just one touchdown since Tua went down with injury. That’s 2.5 games worth of playing time. The Dolphins have now allowed the second most fantasy points to opposing defenses this season. The Patriots’ defense is not great by any measures, but the Dolphins’ offense is just that bad.
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