Getty Chris Jones #95 of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Welcome to Fantasy Football Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em Defense Edition for Week 8 of the NFL season. This week we feature two of last week’s highest-scoring units, each of whom are headed in vastly different directions.
* Reminder: Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em is intended to present you with the non-obvious choices for your fantasy lineup. We dig deep into player matchups, scoring trends, and other factors to best help you with your fantasy decisions. Be sure to also check out our weekly fantasy football defense rankings to better gauge where these start-sit options compare to the rest of the options at the position.
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DEF: Start ‘Em
Start of the Week: Chiefs DEF vs. NYJ
A few things to note here. For starters, our sleeper pick for Week 7, the Chiefs even exceeded our expectations on their way to a monstrous 24.0 point outing. Secondly, this is now the second week in a row our start of the week takes on the woeful Jets, a quick look at the numbers and it’s easy to see why. No opposing defense has scored fewer than 14.0 points against New York since Week 6. Furthermore, D/STs average 13.6 ppg against the Jets since Week 3.
Eagles DEF vs. DAL
The Cowboys offense is simply broken. While Ben DiNucci likely can’t be much worse than Andy Dalton were he named the starter this week, chances are he won’t be much better. Since Dak Prescott went down, opposing D/ST average 16.0 ppg against Dallas. Yet, even before Dak’s injury the Cowboys were proving themselves as a welcoming play for defenses, surrendering 11.0-plus points in four of their last five games.
Rams DEF at MIA
So, let me get this straight, the Rams have now scored 11.0-plus points in three of their last four games and now are set to face off with a rookie QB making his first career NFL start? Sign me up. Since Week 4, Los Angeles has collected 21 sacks.
Sleeper: Chargers DEF at DEN
As we noted earlier, the Chiefs were our sleeper selection a week ago. What we didn’t mention is the majority of the reasoning behind that decision was the fact that they were playing the Broncos. This is once again the reasoning behind our selection of the Chargers this week. The Bolts D/ST has not topped 6.0 points since Week 1. With that said, opposing defenses average 14 ppg against Denver since Week 2 and have turned the ball over six times over their past two games.
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DEF: Sit ‘Em
Sit of the Week: Bears DEF vs. NO
Chicago finished with the sixth-highest scoring D/ST unit in Week 7 with 11.0 points. Yet, while they have now scored 10-plus points in back-to-back weeks, they were previously riding a three-game streak of just 6.0 points or fewer. In Week 8, they’d likely paint themselves lucky were they able to hit that 6.0 mark. The Saints offense has not allowed an opposing defense to top 3.0 points against them all season long.
Steelers DEF vs. BAL
The Steelers, while a far superior unit to that of the Bears, are in a very similar boat to Chicago this week. Simply put, aside from being extremely explosive, the Ravens don’t make many miscues on offense, which in return does not lend itself to fantasy success for the opposition. Defenses average just 3.0 ppg this season against Baltimore. Pittsburgh’s D/ST averages just 5.2 ppg over three of their past four games.
Buyers Beware: 49ers DEF at SEA
The Niners dismantled the Patriots a week ago, picking off New England QBs four times on their way to 17.0 point outing. And yes, Russell Wilson did toss three picks of his own a week ago. However, I wouldn’t bet on him repeating such a stat line. In fact, a more common stat line for Wilson to accomplish would be throwing three TDs, something he’s done in all but one game this season. No defense has topped 7.0 points against Seattle this year. The 49ers failed to top 6.0 points for three consecutive weeks prior to last week’s performance.