Getty Blake Martinez #54 of the New York Giants celebrates a tackle with teammate Leonard Williams #99.
Welcome to Fantasy Football Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em Defense Edition for Week 14 of the NFL season. This week we feature a unit out of New York looking to extend their streak of 9.0-plus points to four of their last five games. Plus, is it time to take the Panthers’ defense seriously? Let’s take a look.
* 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.
Start-Sit [QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | DEF | Ks]
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DEF: Start ‘Em
Start of the Week: Saints DEF at PHI
New Orleans racked up a modest 6.0 points last week. Still, since Week 9 they’ve averaged a league-high 13.2 ppg. Four of Philly’s last five opponents have scored 9.0-plus points, three of which topped double-digits. The Eagles are also set to start a rookie at QB, as Jalen Hurts is primed to make his first career NFL start.
Panthers DEF vs. DEN
A bye week may have put Carolina on the backburner for many fantasy owners. With that said, they’ve scored no fewer than 17.0 points in each of their past two games. Over that span, they collected seven sacks, four takeaways and two defensive TDs. Denver surrenders a league-high 2.3 giveaways per game.
Seahawks DEF vs. NYJ
Seattle has scored double-digit points in only one game this year. A matchup with the Jets in Week 14 could very well make it two. New York is the only offense in football that allows double-digit points on a per-game basis to opposing defenses this season (10.17). Since Week 6, they’ve allowed an average of 10.2 ppg to units.
Sleeper: Texans DEF at CHI
Houston is just one game removed from a 16.0 point performance. They’ve also collected seven sacks over their last two games. Chicago has allowed 10.0-plus points to D/STs in four of their last six games. The Bears have allowed 19 sacks over their last six games.
Deep Sleeper: Cowboys DEF at CIN
Dallas has scored a combined 8.0 points over their last three games (prior to Tuesday night). However, Cincinnati has allowed 9.0-plus points to D/STs in each of their four games since returning from a Week 9 bye. Bengals QB Brandon Allen also suffered a chest injury last week, which could mean Ryan Finley will be under center this week.
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DEF: Sit ‘Em
Sit of the Week: Jaguars DEF vs. TEN
Fresh off a 14.0 point outing, Jacksonville has quietly scored 11.0-plus points in two of their last four games. Yet, don’t put much faith in the Jags this week, as Tennessee has allowed just one opponent all year to top 5.0 points against them. In fact, over the last three weeks, defenses have totaled just 8.0 points against the Titans.
Dolphins DEF vs. KC
Miami has scored 14.0 points in back-to-back weeks. We feel pretty confident in saying that this trend will not continue in Week 14. As always, avoid matchups with Kansas City, as no unit has scored more than 4.0 points against the Chiefs since Week 3 (7.0 points by the Ravens).
Eagles DEF vs. NO
Drew Brees could be back this week. Even if he is not, defenses have averaged just 4.33 ppg against the Taysom Hill-led Saints offense over the past three weeks. Philly has averaged 5.0 ppg since returning from their Week 9 bye. Also, if Jalen Hurts struggles in his first career start at QB for the Birds, it could put the Eagles defense behind the eight ball early on.
Buyers Beware: Giants DEF vs. ARI
This is no indictment on the Giants’ defense, as watching them tame the Seahawks high-octane offense last week was a thing of beauty. Still, there are likely better streaming options out there (Carolina, Houston & Seattle just to name a few) to roll with rather than taking a chance on a unit facing off with a Kyler Murray-led Cardinals offense. Yes, Arizona did allow 11.0 points to the Rams D/ST a week ago. However, prior to that, they allowed just 3.73 ppg to defenses on the year.
Start-Sit [QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | DEF | Ks]
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