Fantasy Football Week 3: 3 Under The Radar Defenses to Consider

Picking the right defense in fantasy football is an art.

It involves lots of juggling, hunches and good luck.

The value of a defense changes every single week and it’s based entirely on the opponent they are playing.

Here are three defenses that are certainly not great picks every week…but are a good start in Week 3:

Cincinnati Bengals vs. San Francisco 49ers

The Bengals have one of the best defensive coordinators in the league in Mike Zimmer. He keeps offenses off balance with exotic blitz schemes that most teams aren’t used to.

LB Rey Maualuga is getting more comfortable with his switch to middle linebacker and newcomers Manny Lawson and Thomas Howard have really increased the speed at the position.

But let’s be real, the reason to play the Bengals defense is their opponent.

QB Alex Smith is still horrible, and TE Vernon Davis’ talents are getting wasted. The running game, led by Frank Gore, is not producing much as defenses stack the box, knowing they won’t be beat by Smith.

Factor in that the Bengals have three ex-49ers in Lawson, Nate Clements and Taylor Mays and the Cincinnati defense has a strong advantage.

Carolina Panthers vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

This one’s easy…take the mediocre defense against a QB making his first career start with terrible receivers around him.

I expect at least two turnovers from QB Blaine Gabbert that are potential pick-six opportunities.

San Diego Chargers vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Without a running game, QB Matt Cassel has been lost.

He clearly can’t handle the pressure and is resorting to the dink-and-dunk approach to try and move the ball.

Judging by the fact they have scored a grand total of 10 points in two games…don’t expect things to change against the top rated pass defense from a year ago.