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 has a great matchup in Week 6 but is assumed to be rostered**
Week 5 Results
Philadelphia (vs NY Jets) - 10 sacks, 1 fumble recovery, 2 INT, 2 DEF TD, 6 pts allowed
Yahtzee! Only the Patriots evisceration of the Dolphins in Week 2 can match this one in D/ST performances this year.
A Look Ahead: @MIN @DAL @BUF - We won’t have Luke Falk to kick around any longer, so the Eagles get the boot
Kansas City (vs Indianapolis) - 1 INT
Well this game didn’t go as many expected
A Look Ahead: HOU @DEN GB - We won’t go back to the Chiefs for a while
New Orleans (vs Tampa Bay) - 6 sacks
Not a bust of a play, but they didn’t force any turnovers, so the Saints defense was a letdown depending on your scoring system
A Look Ahead: @JAX @CHI ARI - We might come back to them against Kyler Murray in Week 8
Houston (vs Atlanta) - 2 sack, 1 INT, 1 DEF TD
As long as your league doesn’t penalize for yards and points allowed, this was a hit.
A Look Ahead: @KC @IND OAK - Moving right along...
Tennessee (vs Buffalo) - 4 sacks, 1 INT
Not a whiff, but not a hit either
A Look Ahead: @DEN LAC TB - We may come back to the Titans in Week 8 when Jameis Winston comes to town
Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda
San Francisco (vs Cleveland) - 4 sacks, 2 fumble recoveries, 2 INT, 3 pts allowed
Everyone is going to be out to humiliate Baker Mayfield this year, aren’t they?
Los Angeles Chargers (vs Denver) - 3 sacks, 1 fumble recovery, 1 INT, 1 ST TD
A good result on a bad day for the team thanks to a Desmond King punt return
Carolina (vs Jacksonville) - 2 sacks, 3 fumble recoveries, 1 DEF TD
This was a miss on my part. Even Minshew Mania couldn’t slow down this force of nature
Pittsburgh (vs Baltimore) - 5 sacks, 3 INT
Look for opponents to blitz Lamar Jackson more often going forward
Week 6 Candidates
**New England has a great matchup in Week 6 but is assumed to be rostered**
Carolina (vs Tampa Bay - London)
The Panthers D/ST is hot and might be rostered in a lot of leagues, but if they’re not, they’re our #1 choice this week vs. Famous Jameis without the right side of his line.
A Look Ahead: BYE @SF TEN - They’re probably not worth holding through the bye with a trip to Santa Clara up next, but we will definitely come back to them.
Green Bay (vs Detroit)
The Lions look like a good team and good offense, but the Packers defense is surging and this one is under the lights at Lambeau
A Look Ahead: OAK @KC @LAC - Taking Green Bay over Carolina because of the Week 7 matchup and setting is reasonable
Los Angeles Chargers (vs Pittsburgh)
Devlin Hodges was not a name we expected to see starting a game this year, but neither was Luke Falk and look at what that did for our fantasy teams.
A Look Ahead: @TEN @CHI GB - The Chargers always play road games, so they might be worth sticking with if they come through because very limited quarterbacks are up in the next two games.
San Francisco (at Los Angeles Rams)
Like the Panthers, the 49ers might be rostered already, but if they are not, they should be. The Bucs D/ST came through at the Coliseum two weeks ago and this defensive line is red hot against an offensive line that is going through some ups and down.
A Look Ahead: @WAS CAR @ARI - The main reason to play the 49ers this week is so you can play them next week.
Baltimore (vs Cincinnati)
The Ravens D/ST has been a big disappointment this year after a good start against the Dolphins. This week they could be revived against a shorthanded Andy Dalton coming to their house
A Look Ahead: @SEA BYE NE - Consider the Ravens disposable
Washington (at Miami)
Miami (vs Washington)
Bad football can produce excellent D/ST results. Washington would be the first choice here because they have more talent on the defensive side of the ball and just got the bounce of a coaching change, but the Dolphins are also an acceptable answer.
Washington, Miami A Look Ahead: No need to look, we’ll drop them after this week if we dare use them.
Week 7 Preemptive Pickups
**New England has a great matchup in Week 6 but is assumed to be rostered**
Buffalo (vs Miami)
San Francisco (at Washington)
Green Bay (vs Oakland)