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NFL FantasyPass: Week 5 Defenses to Start/Sit/Stream
Last Updated on October 4, 2023 11:19 pm by Keith Cork | Published: October 4, 2023
“Start” These are going to be D/STs that are rostered that you shouldn’t think twice about starting.
“Sit” These are going to be the D/STs that need to be benched until next week’s evaluation.
“Stream” These are going to be the D/STs that are sitting on your waiver wire begging to be picked up.
Start
Miami Dolphins vs. New York Giants
The Dolphins D/ST hasn’t had the best start to the season but they also faced some of the best offenses in the league (outside of the Denver Broncos). The Giants are very veeerrryyyy far from being one of the best offenses in the league. They also give up the 2nd most sacks in the league. The Dolphins have a talented defensive line that will absolutely get after Daniel Jones and then he’ll be susceptible to turnovers. I don’t think there’s a reason not to start the Dolphins against an offense that is struggling.
New York Jets @ Denver Broncos
The Broncos haven’t played a defense as talented as the Jets D/ST. This is the same D/ST that held the Chiefs to only 23 points and the Bills to 16. To say the least, this D/ST is very good and even though their offense is putting them on the field way more than they expected to be, they’re still a D/ST that should be started. From top to bottom, they’re elite and it’s going to force the offense of the Broncos to take it up a notch if they want to win, something that is hard to come by. You gotta start them.
Baltimore Ravens @ Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers just allowed the Texans D/ST to eat them up. In that game, Kenny Pickett and Pat Freiermuth both got injured and they’ll be going into this week without Freiermuth and with a banged-up Kenny Pickett. The Ravens are going to demolish this team. The Ravens have the 4th most sacks in the league, they give up the 8th least amount of points up to opposing QBs, and they rank as the 13th-best D/ST in the league. They are going to move into the top 12 after this game. The Ravens have the advantage whether the Steelers run the ball or they pass the ball. This one is easy.
Sit
Dallas Cowboys @ San Francisco 49ers
There isn’t a big gap between Cowoboys’ D/ST and the 49ers’ D/ST, but the 49ers’ offense is a lot better than the Cowboys’ defense. If any D/ST can get it done against this team, it’s going to be the Cowboys, but it’s not going to happen in their first matchup this season and it definitely won’t happen in San Francisco.
San Francisco 49ers vs. Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys offense, though not as good as the 49ers, is still deadly. The 49ers won’t find a lot of success sacking Dak Prescott with the Cowboys’ offensive line so most of their fantasy points will have to come off of interceptions and points allowed. This could be a low-scoring game but that still doesn’t make me like this D/ST against the Cowboys’ offensive weapons.
New England Patriots vs. New Orleans Saints
No Christian Gonzalez for the rest of the season. No Matthew Judon for the time being. This isn’t a good look against a team that has a lot of firepower. I will say that the Saints don’t know how to use that firepower to their advantage but this should be a better week offensively for the Saints against a depleted defense.
Stream
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