Getty Tyrann Mathieu #32 of the Kansas City Chiefs reacts after breaking up a pass.
Welcome to our Fantasy Football Defense Rankings for Week 8 of the 2020 NFL regular season. This week we get three top-nine units back at our disposal, as the Colts, Dolphins and Ravens all return from a bye. The Chiefs and 49ers made up for the dominance of many of those D/STs in lineups this past week, both racking up 17.0-plus points. Can they each keep up their stellar play in Week 8? Let’s take a look.
* If you’re looking for more information on how to best set your lineup this coming week check out our Week 8 Defense Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em.
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Defense Outlook Week 8
You can brush it off to weather ailments all you’d like, either way you swing it, the Chiefs (DEF1) absolutely manhandled the Broncos in Week 7. Kansas City racked up 24.0 fantasy points thanks to three sacks, four takeaways and a defensive touchdown. This marked the unit’s second 20.0-plus point outing over their last four games. With that said, sandwiched in between those two monster performances were outings of -1.0 points and 3.0 points.
You likely won’t have to worry about a downtick in production anywhere near that degree against the Jets this week. No opposing D/ST has finished with fewer than 14.0 points against the Jets since Week 6. Since Week 3, defenses average a hefty 13.6 fantasy points against Gang Green.
The 49ers (DEF19) weren’t far off from K.C.’s output in Week 7, racking up 17.0 points against the Patriots, thanks in large part to forcing four interceptions. However, the game marked just the second time all season San Francisco’s D/ST has topped 6.0 points.
To make matters worse, the Niners will take on NFC West foes, the Seattle Seahawks, this week. Opposing D/STs average just 3.83 points against Seattle this year, while no unit has yet to top 7.0 points. Simply put, the 49ers defense is not the locked-in DEF1 unit it was during it’s run to the Super Bowl a year ago. They are a matchup-based play, and this week’s matchup says don’t play them.
Week 8 Fantasy Rankings: Defense
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- Matchup: Great l Avg l Tough
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– D/ST BYE WEEKS: Cardinals DEF (ARI), Washington DEF (WAS), Texans DEF (HOU), Jaguars DEF (JAC)
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#
Defense TEAM Opp.
1
Kansas City Chiefs KC vs. NYJ
2
Philadelphia Eagles PHI vs. DAL
3
Tennessee Titans TEN @ CIN
4
Los Angeles Rams LAR @ MIA
5
Baltimore Ravens BAL vs. PIT
6
Indianapolis Colts IND @ DET
7
Buffalo Bills BUF vs. NE
8
Tampa Bay Buccaneers TB @ NYG
9
Cleveland Browns CLE vs. LV
10
Los Angeles Chargers LAC @ DEN
11
Miami Dolphins MIA vs. LAR
12
Dallas Cowboys DAL @ PHI
13
New Orleans Saints NO @ CHI
14
Las Vegas Raiders LV @ CLE
15
Green Bay Packers GB vs. MIN
16
New York Giants NYG vs. TB
17
New England Patriots NE @ BUF
18
Pittsburgh Steelers PIT @ BAL
19
San Francisco 49ers SF @ SEA
20
Seattle Seahawks SEA vs. SF
21
Chicago Bears CHI vs. NO
22
Carolina Panthers CAR vs. ATL
23
Denver Broncos DEN vs. LAC
24
Atlanta Falcons ATL @ CAR
25
Minnesota Vikings MIN @ GB
26
Detroit Lions DET vs. IND
27
Cincinnati Bengals CIN vs. TEN
28
New York Jets NYJ @ KC
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