Week 13 Defense (DEF/DST) Waiver Wire Pickups: 49ers Are Hot

The Falcons made the Raiders look like a college football team this week with their defensive play. Before the game, they were ranked third to last which makes this all the more surprising. They created five turnovers with one ending in a touchdown, five sacks, and only six points against. Before that, the Falcons had only allowed less than 20 points once this season. But the Falcons were just one of many great defensive performances from last week. The Panthers managed two touchdowns paired with three turnovers and two sacks. The reason why they were outscored by the Falcons was that they still let up 28 points regardless of how much they were able to score themselves. These two were on a long list of teams who scored either a defensive or special teams touchdown which also include the 49ers, Washington Football Team, Rams, Texans, Packers, Titans, and Bengals. When so many defenses score highly, it is important that you have one of them as the chances of your opponent having one are high. Here is a list of some options for you who are all at or under 50% ownership if you are stuck streaming defenses and need those additional points to give you the best chance of making the playoffs.

San Francisco 49ers

Opponent: Buffalo Bills
Own %: 38.5

The 49ers have put a string of games together with suffocating their opponents. They sacked Drew Brees three times and forced to fumbles against the Saints in week 10 and last week, they sacked Jared Goff two times, picked him off twice, and forced two fumbles. After going two weeks without a turnover, two straight games with multiple turnovers is a great turnaround. As the top defense last year, it has been a subpar season for the 49ers’ defense, but some recent success provides reasoning for why the 49ers will be a good option moving into the fantasy playoffs. A decent matchup against the Bills will be good for their momentum. Their handling of Herbert will be the main factor there, but games against Washington and Dallas the next two weeks make them a great candidate for playoff teams moving forward. It would be best to get ahead of the curve now before it is too late.

Green Bay Packers

Opponent: Philadelphia Eagles
Own %: 46.6

The Packers dominated the Bears on both sides of the ball on Sunday Night Football. On defense, they did not allow much of anything all game as they had pressure on Mitchell Trubisky throughout the contest. That led to three sacks and three turnovers in which a fumble recovery off a sack led to a touchdown. They are facing another team with a bad offensive line in the Eagles who have allowed the most sacks this season. As their pass rush has proven, their constant pressure makes for a lot of problems for the opposing team and leads to turnovers and points. With the Eagles’ offensive line being so penetrable, the Packers should have a field day coming off their previous performance.

Los Angeles Chargers

Opponent: New England Patriots
Own %: 31.8

The Chargers have let up points in the high 20s and low 30s in their last seven games but have combatted their high points against total with turnovers and sacks. They have forced a turnover in each of the last eight games with three coming last week. A touchdown two weeks ago kicked off a two-game span of impressive play. They have a great matchup against a struggling Patriots’ team who has been susceptible to turning the ball over. Cam Newton has had a lot of recent struggles with accuracy, leading to several interceptions. The Chargers have had interceptions in the past two games which bodes well for them this next week.

Seattle Seahawks

Opponent: New York Giants
Own %: 50.0

The Seahawks already have a great matchup against the Eagles this week in the war of the birds. We will see how well they can handle a struggling offense on Monday Night Football. Once we see those results, we can better determine if the Seahawks are a good pick for week 13. Assuming they handle them like expected, the Giants serve as another great matchup as Daniel Jones went down with a hamstring injury. They are now using Colt McCoy who has struggled his whole career with only seven starts since 2011. He was not very effective when he entered the game last week, going 6/10 with 31 yards. The Seahawks have not been the best defense this season which is why Monday night will prove to be the best determinant of what should happen next week.

New York Jets

Opponent: Las Vegas Raiders
Own %: 3.1

It has been a miserable season for the Jets, especially on the offense, but the defense has been putting together some numbers as of late. Two weeks ago, they forced a fumble, sacked Justin Herbert three times, blocked a kick, and forced a safety. Last week, they forced two fumbles, sacked Ryan Fitzpatrick four times, and limited the Dolphins to 20 points. With the little bit of momentum that they can carry forward, they face a Raiders’ offense who completely failed to do anything last week. The Falcons are one of the worst defenses in the league, and they only put up three points and turned the ball over five times. They do not normally perform so poorly, but there is an opportunity for the Jets to take advantage of, seeing how bad the Raiders look.

Las Vegas Raiders

Opponent: New York Jets
Own %: 3.4

On the other side of the ball in the game mentioned above, the Raiders have a great chance to score positively. They have only had two games this season that have ended with a better than expected outcome. The thing with both of those games is that they were against poorly rated offenses. The Jets are the worst overall offense in the league. They have scored 10 or fewer points in six games this season which is flat-out horrible especially seeing that the average points per game have risen from 22.8 last season to 24.9 this season. The Jets are the far outlier this season with how little they have managed to score. This leaves the Raiders with a great opportunity to tack on some defensive points.