Team Defense Rankings–Week 8

Here are the team defenses that you should go for or stay away from if your team is either on bye or underperforming:

Start regardless of matchups (including teams on bye): Tennessee Titans, Chicago Bears, Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers.

Three Matchups to Target:

New York Jets (vs. Kansas City Chiefs). Let’s first cover the Jets’ defense.  Ok, so they give up too many points, that we can’t argue.  They did only give up 16 to the Raiders, but hey, it’s the Raiders.  But on the positive note for the Jets is that they get you fantasy points in other ways.  The Jets are among the league leaders in sacks, and are very good at forcing turnovers.  Now, the Jets’ opponent this week is the Chiefs.  Not only have they been horrible all season long but, their top two QBs (who weren’t that good to begin with) are both out for the season so they will be led by Tyler Thigpen.  AND Larry Johnson has been deactivated by the team for another game for his troubles with the law.  How are the Chiefs going to score points?  I don’t know either.  Jets should be a great defensive play this week.

Houston Texans (vs. Cincinnati Bengals). Much like the Chiefs, the Bengals will be led by a whole new offense.  Starting QB Carson Palmer is now feared out for the season and may be facing Tommy John Surgery (although not confirmed yet).  And Chris Perry who started the season at RB has now been replaced by Cedric Benson who wasn’t even in the NFL just a few weeks ago.  The prospects of offense from Cincinnati do not look good.  Houston is usually among the worst in forcing turnovers or sacking the QB, but look for Mario Williams to have a great game and the Texans to be a good play this week.

San Francisco 49ers (vs. Seattle Seahawks). This might be the only week that I suggest playing the Niners, but in quite the trend, the Seahawks also have a bunch of replacements that will be manning their offense.  Seneca Wallace will be at QB again this week since Matt Hasselbeck is unable to go.  How much faith did Seattle have in Wallace?  Well, if Hasselbeck didn’t go down, Wallace might have been playing some wideout.  Their running game has also been a mess as Julius Jones hasn’t had a good game in weeks.  The 49ers are pretty much middle of the road in sacks and in turnovers, so against a Seattle team that is in total disarray, they look like a good play.

Three Matchups to Avoid:

San Diego Chargers (vs. New Orleans Saints). As I noted in my ‘Fantasy Game of the Week’ article, I expect the game between the Chargers and Saints to be a fireworks show.  The Saints have been putting on an offensive clinic in 2008 (excluding last week, of course), and I see no reason it won’t continue in this game.  The Chargers have been among the worst team against the pass, and Drew Brees is having an MVP type season.  That is not a recipe for success.  Despite losing Shawne Merriman, the Chargers have still been decent sacking the quarterback, but they haven’t been forcing enough turnovers.  Any points they do gain in the sack/turnover department will come close to being wiped out by the number of points they allow.   Try to find a better matchup.

New Orleans Saints (vs. San Diego Chargers). A bad matchup just got worse when the news broke that the Saints best pass rusher, Will Smith, is among the players involved in this performance enhancing problem.  If he isn’t going to play, Philip Rivers really should have all day to throw the ball.  And when Rivers has been comfortable this year, he has been lethal throwing the football.  Rivers is already just six touchdowns shy of his career high, and he should pad that number against a weak Saints defense, who don’t really get to the QB or force many turnovers.  Top that off with the fact that Rivers has only thrown five picks all season long.  There has got to be a better team available in your free agent pool, or at least one that is playing a team that doesn’t have as potent of an offense.

Arizona Cardinals (vs. Carolina Panthers). Jake Delhomme and the Panthers have been on a nice little roll lately, and they look to continue it against a team that is averaging giving up two passing touchdowns per game. The Cardinals don’t give up too many yards through the air, but they are making the ones they do give up count, as they have allowed the most scores through the air, not to mention they have only three interceptions to their credit so far.  Given the well balanced offense that the Panthers throw out at you, I don’t see the Cardinals improving on their statistics this week.  Look for Delhomme to throw a couple more strikes and Johnathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams finding a way to carve up some yards.  The Cards will yield at least 24 points and most likely only force one turnover.

As always, your comments and questions (adds/drops, trade advice, lineup questions, etc.) are welcome at [e-mail].  I guarantee a response within 18 hours.