Fantasy Football Rankings Week 8: San Francisco 49ers and Best Defensive Options

There are many things you can do when trying to figure out which defense to play. Don't look at the ratings too much.

For example, when an announcer says, "Team A is the No. 1-ranked defense in the NFL," that means that they allow the fewest yards. In most fantasy leagues, that's not a big factor.

You can look for matchups, which is always a good play. Even if a team is playing against a prolific offense, they are probably a wise play. That's likely the case with the Steelers against the Patriots this week.

But these are all teams that will win convincingly. A common theme in all three is that even if that prediction is wrong, the games will be low scoring enough for the defenses to be great plays.

There are no more dependable defensive plays for Week 8 than these three. If you have an opportunity to play one of them, don't waste it.

Baltimore Ravens

Even when they lose, the Ravens have a great defense. Don't expect this week to be any different, as the Cardinals allow a lot of sacks and are a little turnover prone.

That plays well into the hands of the Ravens defense, that's loaded with All-Pro and even some Hall of Fame talent.

I have Baltimore winning this game in a blowout. But for the sake of argument, let's say that I am wrong and the Cardinals win. If that happens, it will resemble what we saw on Monday night. The Ravens offense will struggle, but the defense will be stellar.

Even if the Cardinals manage a decent point total, they won't do it without surrendering sacks and turnovers. Go with the Ravens and don't look back. No streamed defense will be as reliably good as Baltimore.

San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers are one of the top defensive units in the game. Every now and again, they do surrender a big play, but the 49ers don't allow many points.

The Browns offense is a gold mine for opposing offenses and fantasy points. Like the previous game I mentioned, I don't see the Browns winning.

But even if they do, there won't be many points scored. The 49ers defense will attack Colt McCoy and force turnovers.

New York Giants

Lastly, we come to the team facing the Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins stink. If you don't believe me, see what Reggie Bush told Andrew Carter and the rest of the football-watching world.

The other teams are on this list because they boast consistently strong defenses. The Giants have good players, but are here because their opponent is just horrible.

They turn the ball over a lot and don't have any particularly frightening players, other than an inconsistent Brandon Marshall.

Any team who is playing the Dolphins boasts a defense that's safe to play in fantasy.