Streaming Defenses: Week 2 Fantasy Options for Team Defenses

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Published on September 11, 2023

This looks like a good week to be a D/ST streamer, with a majority of fantasy leagues likely to have at least two or three waiver options facing offenses that have implied totals below 20. The tricky part for some will be choosing between the best of a few solid options, including two defenses (NYG and IND) that are available in nearly all fantasy leagues.

Note: These recommendations are limited to team defenses that are rostered on less than 60 percent of teams on Yahoo or 45 percent on ESPN. Any references to fantasy points are based on Yahoo standard scoring, which doesn't include yards allowed.

Top Streaming Options for Week 2

1. New York Giants (at ARZ)

8% Yahoo, 3% ESPN

Team implied total: 22.25

Opponent implied total: 18.25

Upcoming Ranks (Projected) — Week 3: 25th (at SF), Week 4: 16th (vs. SEA)

Joshua Dobbs committed two turnovers Week 1, a pair of lost fumbles, despite getting a cautious gameplan from OC Drew Petzing. The QB completed 21 of 30 passes for a mere 130 yards, and Arizona's only touchdown was of the defensive variety.

Now that's a whole lot better than what the Giants did, but Big Blue has the excuse of a tough matchup with Dallas and still has a much better roster than Arizona overall. It's not just about Dobbs being the worst starting QB in the league; he's not going to get much help from his blockers, and certainly not from a group of pass

Top Streaming Options for Week 2

1. New York Giants (at ARZ)

8% Yahoo, 3% ESPN

Team implied total: 22.25

Opponent implied total: 18.25

Upcoming Ranks (Projected) — Week 3: 25th (at SF), Week 4: 16th (vs. SEA)

2. Denver Broncos (vs. WAS)

79% Yahoo, 8% ESPN

Team implied total: 21.25

Opponent implied total: 17.75

Upcoming Ranks (Projected) — Week 3: 23rd (at MIA), Week 4: 8th (at CHI)

I'm unabashedly Team Sam Howell, but for now at least he's a mix of great and awful, mixing beautiful throws with foolish mistakes. His tendency to hold the ball too long or scramble unnecessarily isn't a dealbreaker for his own fantasy stats, but it could be a problem for the Commanders and means he might provide a good matchup for D/STs even if he's a decent passer. It's kind of like he's trying to play like Houston Deshaun Watson... only Watson is more athletic, and even for him the chaotic style meant inconsistency.

3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (vs. CHI)

11% Yahoo, 60% ESPN

Team implied total: 22.25

Opponent implied total: 19.25

Upcoming Ranks (Projected) — Week 3: 24th (vs. PHI), Week 4: 14th (at NO)

Sportsbooks that offer week-before lines had the Bears as slight favorites here, on the road, prior to Week 1 action. That was before the Bucs beat the Vikings on the road, and before the Bears fell apart at home to give Green Bay a lovely start to the Jordan Love era. The Packers defense came out of it with 15 fantasy points behind four sacks and a TD, with Justin Fields continuing his 2021-22 trend of sky-high sack rates. Fields' style of play allows him to post big fantasy numbers at the same time the opposing defense does, but in this case I worry he'll simply get beat, as the Bucs have a veteran defense full of quality starters that were on the successful 2020-21 teams — Vita Vea, Devin White, Lavonte David (concussion), Shaquil Barrett, Carlton Davis, Jamel Dean and Antoine Winfield.

4. Cleveland Browns (at PIT)

11% Yahoo, 60% ESPN

Team implied total: 21.25

Opponent implied total: 19.25

Upcoming Ranks (Projected) — Week 3: 14th (vs. TEN), Week 4: 18th (vs. BAL)

Kenny Pickett started his season with five sacks and two picks in a blowout loss, while the Browns won by three TDs and made Cincinnati's vaunted offense look like a league-worst unit. Actually, the Bengals largely did that to themselves, but even if we only give them a small portion of the credit, the Browns probably won't need to play as well to achieve solid results this week against Pittsburgh. It even appears Myles Garrett may have some help this year, as Za'Darius Smith tied Garrett and two others for the second most QB hits last week (four) while backup edge rusher Ogbonnia Okoronkwo added a sack.

5. Indianapolis Colts (at HOU)

2% Yahoo, 1% ESPN

Team implied total: 20.75

Opponent implied total: 19.25

Upcoming Ranks (Projected) — Week 3: 29th (at BAL), Week 4: 21st (vs. LAR)

The Colts start the week as slight favorites, by 1.5, though to me this feels more like a classic pick 'em. Either way, we're banking on offensive failure more so than defensive success. While neither C.J. Stroud nor Anthony Richardson was incompetent in his NFL debut last week, both proved rather generous to the defenses facing them. Stroud took five sacks and lost a fumble, with Richardson taking four and throwing a pick. I lean Colts here, by a hair, because all five of their O-line starters are healthy, whereas Houston will be missing at least two guys (possibly three) and possibly one of the injury replacements (RT George Fant injured his shoulder late in Sunday's loss to Baltimore).