Week 8 NFL Defense (DEF) Fantasy Football Rankings: Stats & Projections

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The Chiefs were the big fantasy football defense this week, putting up over 20 fantasy points. The Rams were also right behind them with 21. Baltimore, Jacksonville, Dallas, San Francisco, Buffalo, and Arizona were some of the other top performing defenses this week. New England has yet to play as I am writing this up, but I am sure they will do great. Week 8 sets up pretty straight forward again. Minnesota welcomes Washington on Thursday. The Colts are a nice streaming defense against Denver, and the Rams have a chance to keep it going against the Bengals. You can find our season long rankings here.

Week 8 Team Defense Rankings, Stats, Projection

Week 8 Top Options

Minnesota hasn’t had that many ceiling games for their defense this season, as they have topped out at ten which was in Week 1 against the Falcons. However they have been rather consistent, and also continue to get to the quarterback. Washington is in the bottom ten in sacks allowed this season, and their quarterbacks have thrown eight picks. They are allowing opposing defenses to score 7.7 fantasy points per game. No surprise as New England is a top option this week. They will get a struggling Browns offense that has turned the ball over 14 times. The offensive line has also struggled, and New England is getting to the quarterback and forcing turnovers. It could easily be a multi-pick night for Baker Mayfield. San Francisco is coming off another strong week and will head back home to face Carolina. They will have their hands full with Christian McCaffrey, but could be seeing either a fairly inexperienced quarterback, or Cam Newton coming off injury.

The rams dominated Atlanta, and didn’t even allow them to put up their garbage time points. They will get a Bengals team that just allowed a monster performance to the Jaguars defense. Los Angeles getting Jalen Ramsey is going to be a big threat, and this pass rush is also going to have a field day against the Bengals offensive line. The honorable mention of Pittsburgh against Miami is going to be a top option, alongside some of the other top defenses. Pittsburgh will be talked about below.

Streaming Options

The Steelers are the easy streaming options going up against Miami this week. They are available in over 60% of leagues around the industry. The defense struggled in the first two games of the season and then have put up 9, 19, 15, and 15 fantasy point games. Miami is allowing an average of 11.3 fantasy points per game to opposing defenses, and have allowed 24 sacks. While Pittsburgh is banged up, this matchup they can still capitalize on. If you need a deeper team, Indianapolis continues to shut down on the defensive side. They have limited Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes in back-to-back games. Overall Indy has a nice stretch where they face Denver, Pittsburgh, and Miami. You can certainly hold onto them for the next few weeks. Denver is allowing the 9th most fantasy points per game to opposing defenses, and have allowed 24 sacks on the season. Indy is a strong defense to target if you can’t get Pittsburgh. The Eagles are less than 50% owned, and might be dropped after getting shredded by Dallas. I do not mind them as an upside start against the Bills.

Middling Defenses That Get a Bump

There are not a lot of defenses to sit this week as far as the top options go. Seattle would get a bump if Matt Ryan doesn’t play, but if he does, Seattle’s defense is still vulnerable through the air, and I wouldn’t be thrilled with starting them in a road game against Atlanta. Green Bay has been a popular pick for me this season, but have struggled the last few weeks. If they can force Matt Moore through the air a bit more than usual, they have some upside. Tennessee is a boom or bust defense for me this week as they will take on a Buccaneers team that is very turnover friendly with Jameis Winston under center. Opposing defenses are averaging 11.8 fantasy points per game against them this season.

Detroit should be able to slow down the New York Giants and Daniel Jones, who is showing a lot of flaws as a rookie quarterback would. He is hanging onto the ball way too long, and the Giants have been without or with limited playmakers. The Lions injury report however will be something to follow, as Darius Slay is dealing with a hamstring issue again. The Jaguars, Jets, and Panthers are some other mid-range defenses that are not in a bad spot this week.