Unless most of the teams in your league carry a backup defense, more than half of the league should be available to you every week. Perhaps instead of playing one above average defense every week, regardless of matchup, we should instead target the widely available waiver wire defenses with the best matchups in any particular week? You can always make exceptions if your rent-a-defense gets hot - heck, you might find a team worth starting all year by accident. Even if you don't, good matchups will continue to get greater in number as more QBs get injured or yanked as the season goes on. You can steal some points from bad weather come December. Each week I'll list the startable fantasy defenses on most waiver wires and rank them.
**New England, Chicago, and Minnesota have great matchups in Week 5 but are assumed to be rostered**
Week 4 Results
Los Angeles Chargers (at Miami) - 5 sacks, 1 INT
Not the most robust showing, but not a dud either. The Dolphins continue to show some fight in the first half. We won’t have them to pick on in fantasy leagues this week.
A Look Ahead: DEN PIT @TEN - Joe Flacco was decent last week and the Chargers defense hasn’t really clicked yet, so this isn’t a priority play
Baltimore (vs Cleveland) - 1 sack, 1 INT
Nick Chubb stomped the Ravens run defense and the pass defense is bad now apparently
A Look Ahead: @PIT CIN @SEA - What looked attractive a few weeks ago isn’t such a sure thing now, but Week 6 still looks good
Green Bay (vs Philadelphia) - Nada. Zilch. Zip.
The Eagles running game came alive behind Jordan Howard and Carson Wentz played mistake free football
A Look Ahead: @DAL DET OAK - After a strong open to September, we’re throwing the Packers back… for now
Pittsburgh (vs Cincinnati) - 8 sacks, 1 fumble recovery, 1 INT, 3 pts against
The Bengals offensive line will keep them on our weekly target list
A Look Ahead: BAL @LAC BYE - We won’t go back to the Steelers for a while
Jacksonville (at Denver) - 1 INT
Denver (vs Jacksonville) - 5 sacks
No Jalen Ramsey doomed the Jaguars defense, and while the Broncos finally got a sack, Gardner Minshew came alive in the second half.
Jacksonville A Look Ahead: @CAR NO @CIN - Kyle Allen isn’t Gardner Minshew, but he’s not Dwayne Haskins either
Denver A Look Ahead: @LAC TEN KC - Without Bradley Chubb we are basically done with the Broncos
Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda
New York Giants (vs Washington) - 3 sacks, 4 INT, 1 DEF TD, 3 pts allowed
Case Keenum turned into a rotten pumpkin and Dwayne Haskins saw a ghost
Tampa Bay (at Los Angeles Rams) - 2 sacks, 1 fumble recovery, 3 INT, 1 DEF TD
The Bucs defense was already having a solid afternoon despite the points against and then Ndamukong Suh turned it into a fiftyburger
Kansas City (at Detroit) - 4 sacks, 2 fumble recoveries, 1 DEF TD
The Chiefs were the first big winners of the “don’t blow questionable fumbles dead” emphasis by the NFL and they got a 100-yard return on a Kerryon Johnson fumble to make their afternoon
Seattle (at Arizona) - 4 sacks, 1 INT, 1 DEF TD
The defensive performance was more stifling than the single takeaway indicates, but that takeaway was a Jadeveon Clowney walk-in score on an ill-advised screen pass
Carolina (at Houston) - 6 sacks, 1 INT,1 fumble recovery
Houston’s offensive line makes them a possible target in any given week, but in hindsight I should have seen the Panthers strong front seven could exploit it
Cleveland (at Baltimore) - 4 sacks, 1 fumble recovery, 2 INT
The Browns took advantage of their spots and created game-changing plays against Lamar Jackson and Mark Ingram
Oakland (at Indianapolis) - 1 fumble recovery, 1 INT, 1 DEF TD
A rare Jacoby Brissett gaffe gave the Raiders defense an easy score
Week 5 Candidates
**New England, Chicago, and Minnesota have great matchups in Week 5 but are assumed to be rostered**
Philadelphia (vs NY Jets)
If Sam Darnold can go on Sunday then this will become a lot less attractive. If it’s Luke Falk, even the shorthanded Eagles defense can probably muster a good day.
A Look Ahead: @MIN @DAL @BUF - One and done
Kansas City (vs Indianapolis)
The Chiefs defensive score last week was a fluke, but the defense has been getting sacks and takeaways with some regularity and they come home this week to face a Colts offense that will probably be overmatched if TY Hilton can’t go. Jacoby Brissett is solid when the game is close and he can play it safe, but he gave up an easy pick six when he fell behind to the Raiders last week.
A Look Ahead: HOU @DEN GB - The game with Deshaun Watson could be a shootout, but one that is loose enough to produce big defensive plays too, and we’ll want the Chiefs defense against Flacco in Week 7.
New Orleans (vs Tampa Bay)
The Saints D/ST has at least four takeaways+sacks or a touchdown in every game this year. They have turned up the intensity since Drew Brees went out, and we all know that Jameis Winston is prone to a one-week decision matrix meltdown at any time.
A Look Ahead: @JAX @CHI ARI - if they come through again this week we’ll leave the Saints in for the trip to Jacksonville so we can get the next two plum matchups
Houston (vs Atlanta)
The Falcons offensive line was a bunch of turnstiles against the Titans and the Texans should be ready to take advantage. They have at least five sacks+takeaways in each of the last three games.
A Look Ahead: @KC @IND OAK - we’ll come back to them later this year
Tennessee (vs Buffalo)
This could be Matt Barkley, which would make it very attractive, but even if Josh Allen clears concussion protocol in time to play, the Titans defense has had some swarming pass rush games already and this Music City Miracle rematch could produce another.
A Look Ahead: @DEN LAC TB - If the Broncos are in full meltdown mode and the Titans pass rush is still firing on all cylinders, we’ll consider them next week.
Week 6 Preemptive Pickups
**New England has a great matchup in Week 6 but is assumed to be rostered**
Baltimore (vs Cincinnati)
Kansas City (vs Houston)
Washington (at Miami)