Week 9 NFL Defense (DEF) Fantasy Football Rankings: Stats & Projections

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There were three fantasy football defenses to put up 20+ points this week. putting up over 20 fantasy points. Of course New England was one of them, but San Francisco and Jacksonville were the other two. It was also a big week for Chicago, Philadelphia, Minnesota, and Tampa Bay. The Seahawks were a disappointment on the road against Atlanta with Matt Schaub starting, putting up just two points. Houston lost J.J. Watt for the year, and also put up just two fantasy points in a home matchup against the Raiders. The Rams held the Bengals to ten points, but failed to generate any real fantasy points. Indy, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh were my streaming options last week. You can find our season long rankings here.

Week 9 Team Defense Rankings, Stats, Projection

Week 9 Top Options

Lamar Jackson is going to have his hands full this week against New England, and the bye week isn’t likely going to make a difference. The Patriots are averaging over 20 fantasy points per game, which is just an absurd number. They have 18 interceptions on the season, and have forced 26 sacks. The fact New England is getting to the quarterback now is a huge difference. San Francisco is going to travel to Arizona on Halloween night, and that defense should be passing out treats. They are allowing just 10.7 points per game, and averaging 14.2 fantasy points per game. Arizona’s offense continues to look lackluster, and has not been able to capitalize on bad pass defenses the last few weeks. This is a different story.

Some familiar faces this week as Buffalo will get Washington at home, which is a plus matchup for them. The Bills were a bit flat against Philadelphia, but will get one of the worst offenses in the league to bounce back against. Any defense against Chicago right now is going to be an easy start. That will be Philadelphia this week, who I will get to in a minute as a streaming option. Chicago on the flip side of that game still projects for a decent game as Philadelphia’s offense has been hit or miss this season. Tennessee and Indy are both rounding out the top ten in plus matchups.

Streaming Options

The Eagles are hovering around 40% owned in the industry, and are the top streaming options for me this week. Philadelphia has a strong run defense, which is a plus against a Bears team that wanted to get more out of the ground game. They were able to do so against the Chargers, but that will likely change this week against Philadelphia. The Eagles have been torched through the air, but the Bears do not have much of a threat with Mitch Trubisky under center. The Steelers will have the opposite in terms of a defensive matchup in Week 9 after facing Miami. They will be at home, but face a tough Indy defense that continues to shut down opposing teams. Mason Rudolph hasn’t shown to be a big threat, and the Steelers playmakers have been lackluster. I don’t mind going back to the well here.

The Jets and Cowboys are two lower owned defenses to consider this week. The Jets are an obvious one going up against Miami, but Dallas has a chance to capitalize on Daniel Jones and his tendencies to turn the ball over but also hold the ball longer than needed. The Jets are 10% owned around the industry, while Dallas is sitting at 30%. I went back and forth on Seattle given Tampa Bay has allowed monster defensive fantasy games, but Seattle’s defense has been tough to trust.

A Look Ahead

If you are trying to plan out some defenses over the next few weeks, there are a few teams that have a terrific run in. The Steelers are one of them. While they have to play against Indy and the Rams over the next two weeks, it is smooth sailing from there on out. Pittsburgh will face Cleveland twice, Cincinnati, Arizona, Buffalo, the Jets, and Baltimore to finish off the season. Baltimore is in Week 17, and you should not be in leagues where Week 17 is a championship week. If you picked up the Steelers before the Miami game, hang onto them. In Weeks 13-15, Philadelphia plays Miami, New York Giants, and Washington. This is a great span for those in the playoffs, as Philadelphia can certainly capitalize on those matchups. Cleveland’s tough part of the schedule is over. Over the next few weeks they will play Pittsburgh twice, Denver, Buffalo, Miami, Cincinnati twice, Arizona, and Miami.