Getty Joe Haden #23 of the Pittsburgh Steelers celebrates with Minkah Fitzpatrick #39.
Welcome to Fantasy Football Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em Defense Edition for Week 7 of the NFL season. This week we feature an under the radar unit hailing from New York. Plus, one of the league’s very best defenses in for an unwelcoming matchup.
* 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: Bills DEF at NYJ
Buffalo’s defense has accumulated a total of -1.0 fantasy points over the past two weeks and was mostly toyed with a week ago. However, that was against the Chiefs. This… well this is the sorry Jets. New York is the only team to allow double-digit points on a per-game basis to opposing D/STs this season (11.17). They’ve also surrendered two 15.0-plus point outings over their last four games.
Giants DEF at PHI
The DEF4 over the past two weeks, New York has averaged 11.0 ppg since Week 5. The Eagles allow the seventh-most fantasy points to opposing D/STs this season as only one unit has scored fewer than 7.0 points against them. Philly has given the ball away 12 times this year (2nd-most in NFL). Furthermore, the Birds will be without both Zach Ertz and Miles Sanders.
49ers DEF at NE
The Niners’ defense is a far cry from its dominant self from last season. That is, at least from a fantasy perspective. Still, San Francisco has held all but one opponent below 19 points this season. The Patriots have averaged just 11 points over their past two games. No D/ST has scored fewer than 14.0 points against New England over that span. On top of that, the Cam Newton-led offense is also tied for fourth-most in giveaways with 10 this season.
Sleeper: Chiefs DEF at DEN
Kansas City has totaled just 2.0 fantasy points over their past two games, so obviously you would start them, right? The Broncos give up 9.40 ppg to opposing D/STs, third-most in fantasy. In fact, if you exclude Week 1 from the stats, that number jumps to 11.5 ppg, which would rank as the most in football.
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DEF: Sit ‘Em
Sit of the Week: Broncos DEF vs. KC
Denver’s defense dominated New England to the tune of 14.0 fantasy points, tied for fifth-most amongst D/ST in Week 6. However, as we constantly preach in this column, avoid the Chiefs at all costs. Only one defense has topped 4.0 points against Kansas City this season.
Cardinals DEF vs. SEA
The Cardinals put on a defensive masterpiece against the Cowboys this past Monday night. Yet, no offense to Andy Dalton, but he ain’t no Russell Wilson. Opposing defenses average just 3.2 ppg against Seattle this year, while none have topped 6.0 points in a single game.
Buyers Beware: Steelers DEF at TEN
The Steelers are the second-highest scoring D/ST in fantasy this year on a per-game basis and are just one of four units to average more than 10.0 ppg. However, as Ryan Tannehill continues to puzzlingly look like prime Joe Montana, the Titans allow a meager 0.5 ppg to opposing defenses. Expect Pittsburgh to surpass the average this week, but their usual sky-high ceiling is likely capped.