Team Defense Rankings–Week 9

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, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Carolina Panthers.

Three Matchups to Target:

New York Jets (vs. Buffalo Bills). The Jets have made a habit of giving up too many points this season, but they have made up for it with turnovers and sacks. The J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets are third in the league in sacks, and have forced ten turnovers through seven games. This week they face the Bills who are an efficient offense, but they don’t have too much to strike fear in your heart. Lee Evans is a great receiver, but really has no one else on the team to help him out. I love Marshawn Lynch as well, but Trent Edwards is a slow moving methodical quarterback. The Bills don’t normally put up a ton of points, so the Jets should be a good play this week.

Jacksonville Jaguars (vs. Cincinnati Bengals). The usually strong Jaguars defense has been declawed this season. They aren’t bad forcing nine turnovers so far this season, but as a team they have only sacked the quarterback nine times, among the worst in the NFL. This week they do go against the Bengals who have been an incredibly weak offense all year long as they march towards a winless season. Their QB is still out, their running back situation is a mess, and Chad Johnson hasn’t shown up all season long. If there is going to be a week that the Jags can do well offensively, this has to be it.

Cleveland Browns (vs. Baltimore Ravens). The Browns surprisingly haven’t been a bad fantasy defense this season. They are among the league leaders in turnovers forced with 13, are seventh in scoring defense allowing just over 17 points a game, but struggle sacking the quarterback with only eleven in seven games. But this week they get a favorable matchup against a Baltimore team that doesn’t score a ton of points and starts a rookie quarterback. Flacco has been better than most rookies that come into the NFL, but with rookies often come mistakes. Look for the Browns to force a couple of turnovers and keep the Ravens under 20 points.

Three Matchups to Avoid:

St. Louis Rams (vs. Arizona Cardinals). This game is going to be the shootout of the day. The Rams are actually in the upper half of the NFL in both turnovers and sacks, but the problem this week will be how many points they give up. They should be able to get to Kurt Warner a handful of times, and he often throws a pick or fumbles sometime in a game. Of course, he usually throws for 300 yards and three scores too. St. Louis will probably get you some points with sacks and turnovers, but most of them will be negated by the 30+ points they will most likely give up.

Arizona Cardinals (vs. St. Louis Rams). The Cards have only collected three interceptions all year long, and have allowed 14 touchdown passes which leads the league. They also allow over 24 points a game, so they aren’t doing you any favors in fantasy. Put that together with the fact that the Rams have suddenly found their offensive groove again. Stephen Jackson looks to be a game time decision that might help their cause, but Marc Bulger has started to get back to previous form and he should continue to excel this week against the Cards.

Seattle Seahawks (vs. Philadelphia Eagles). Brian Westbrook is a man possessed, and although Donovan McNabb hasn’t had a great statistical season, is due for a good game this week. The Seahawks are great at getting to the QB with 19 sacks in seven games, but they allow way too many points and have the second fewest turnovers forced in the league. The Eagles are going to torch Seattle this week, on the ground, in the air, in the return game. McNabb has his whole offense back now with Westbrook, Curtis, and Brown back so look for Philly to score over 30 and not turn the ball over.

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