Week 5 was the biggest week yet for the Streamable Defenses of the Week! All three of our suggestions reached double-digits in terms of fantasy points. Our top suggestion in the Denver Broncos against the Las Vegas Raiders led the charge with 16 fantasy points. Our middle suggestion in the Washington Commanders scored 13 fantasy points against the Cleveland Browns and our under 10-percent owned suggestion scored ten points as the New England Patriots played the Miami Dolphins. Our top suggestion has entered the top ten of overall D/ST’s (ninth) on the season as well! Let’s see if we can repeat this performance in Week 6!
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 Denver Broncos served as our top suggestion in Week 5 as they scored 16 fantasy points against the Las Vegas Raiders. They allowed 18 points while recording three sacks, three interceptions and scored a defensive touchdown. The Washington Commanders played the Cleveland Browns and were our middle suggestion. They sacked Deshaun Watson seven times while recording a fumble and allowing just 13 points en route to a 13 fantasy point performance. The New England Patriots were our less than 10-percent owned suggestion as they played the Miami Dolphins. The Patriots allowed just 15 points as they recorded three sacks as well as an interception and a fumble recovery.
Week 5 Results
Denver Broncos vs. Las Vegas Raiders - 16 Points
Washington Commanders vs. Cleveland Browns - 13 Points
New England Patriots vs. Miami Dolphins - 10 Points
Overall Results
Top Suggestion - 41 Points (D/ST9)
Middle Suggestion - 26 Points (D/ST19)
Under 10% Owned - 30 Points (D/ST16)
Week 6 Suggestions
Philadelphia Eagles vs. Cleveland Browns (Owned in 37% of Yahoo and 10% of ESPN Leagues)
We played the Eagles two weeks back as our top suggestion in Week 4 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and that didn’t work out for us. However, they get one of the best possible matchups this week in the Cleveland Browns. Deshaun Watson has been sacked 26 times through the first five weeks of the season. That’s the most in the NFL by eight over second place Geno Smith. On average, Watson is getting sacked five times per game. The Browns have allowed the fourth most fantasy points to opposing defenses on the season. The Browns are also the worst team in the league in terms of offensive-yards-per-game at just 239.4. This Eagles’ defense is not great but there are plenty of quality pieces. Either way, this is too good of a matchup to ignore.
Houston Texans at New England Patriots (Owned in 42% of Yahoo and 21% of ESPN Leagues)
There is a quarterback change coming in New England at some point. We’re unaware if that switch from Jacoby Brissett to Drake Maye will take place this week, but even if it were to happen, that isn’t going to fix this god awful Patriots’ offense. The Patriots have allowed the second most fantasy points to opposing defenses on the season. The Patriots are the second worst team in the league in terms of offensive-yards-per-game at just 250.8. Brissett is also tied for third in terms of most sacked quarterbacks with 17. Like the aforementioned Eagles, this Texans’ defense is not great, but this is too good of a matchup.
Atlanta Falcons at Carolina Panthers (Owned in 6% of Yahoo and 7.6% of ESPN Leagues)
I’ve been on record many of times talking about my love of this Falcons’ defense. It’s far from the flashiest defense in the league, but it is solid from top to bottom. They have recorded at least one takeaway in each of their last four games. The problem with this team in terms of fantasy football is their lack of sacks. However, the combination of Bryce Young and Andy Dalton have been sacked 12 times this season, which would place them tied for 14th as the most sacked quarterback. They should keep Dalton and company in check and offer some consistency when it comes to scoring.
Indianapolis Colts at Tennessee Titans (Owned in 17% of Yahoo and 10.7% of ESPN Leagues)
This isn’t an official suggestion in terms of this series but too good of one not to put out there. Sometimes this happens. Some weeks I struggle to find just three matchups to play and some weeks, there are too many to choose from. That is the case this week. The Titans have allowed the most fantasy points to opposing defenses on the season. They are the third worst offense in the league in terms of offensive-yards-per-game as they currently average 256.3. Will Levis has also been sacked 15 times, placing him as the seventh most sacked quarterback in the league.