Week 2 Fantasy Football Rankings: Waiver Wire Defenses Worthy of a Start

For those willing to scour the waiver wire, there are plenty of defenses with great upside that could be plugged into your starting lineup this week.

Team defenses have a penchant for inconsistent scoring. Defenses that got torched last week can produce points with the most elite defenses in the league this week.

For those who like to play the waiver wire game, these are the defenses that are available in more than half of ESPN fantasy leagues that are more than capable of scoring good points this week.

Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals defensive unit didn't get off to the start that they had hoped for in Week 1.

The Bengals were burned on the ground and through the air as the Baltimore Ravens dominated Cincinnati en route to a 44-13 beatdown on Monday Night Football.

Luckily for the Bengals they'll get a nice matchup in their Week 2 home opener against the Cleveland Browns. The Browns offense was absolutely abysmal in a matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles as they only managed 210 total yards while turning the ball over four times.

Rookie quarterback Brandon Weeden just looked outmatched in his season debut and that was in the friendly confines of Cleveland. With the rookie making his first road start, it's not very likely that this Bengals team doesn't force a few turnovers while limiting Cleveland to very few points.

Oakland Raiders

Ryan Tannehill's Dolphins debut wasn't Brandon Weeden-bad, but it wasn't exactly Robert Griffin III-good either.

The Raiders get Tannehill and the Dolphins one week after giving up 22 points to the San Diego Chargers in a lackluster debut for a unit that should improve throughout the season.

If the Raiders effort against the Chargers is any indication, they should be well-suited to stop the Dolphins offense and score starter-worthy points. The Raiders were able to shut down a Ryan Matthews-less rushing attack, holding them to 32 yards rushing on 20 attempts.

Miami will rely heavily on Reggie Bush this season while Tannehill develops as a rookie. With the Raiders run defense looking good early on, expect them to produce more points in Week 2.

San Diego Chargers

The Chargers looked pretty sharp against the Raiders last week, scoring eight fantasy points in standard scoring leagues.

The Chargers should do even better this week as they take on a Tennessee Titans team that was extremely underwhelming in their season debut against the Patriots.

New England, who struggled to contain opposing offenses last season, looked elite against the Titans as Chris Johnson was held to four yards on 11 carries. With Jake Locker at the helm, the Titans weren't able to make up for the run game in the air and were completely stifled as a result.

Expect the Chargers to look even better this week as the Titans offense looks much worse than the offense the Raiders put on the field last week.