Fantasy Football: Week 16 Team Defense Analysis

Here are the team defenses that you should go for or stay away from if your team is underperforming, or if you rotate defenses:

Tennessee Titans, Chicago Bears, Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, Baltimore Ravens, New York Jets, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Carolina Panthers

Two Matchups To Target

New England Patriots (vs. Arizona Cardinals)

On the surface this doesn’t seem like a good play.  The Pats don’t really rush the quarterback well, and they have only forced 19 turnovers in 14 games.  They are in the middle of the pack in terms of scoring as they allow over 21 points a game. 

However, there are two factors that make this attractive if you are in need of a change at defense. 

One, the weather in the Northeast on Sunday is going to be AWFUL.  Cold, wind, snow.  If it is anything like today was (Friday), things don’t bode well for Kurt Warner and his high flying passing game.  Especially if Anquan Boldin is unable to go. 

Second, the Cardinals commit a bunch of turnovers.  Even if the Pats aren’t great at forcing them, perhaps they will have a better opportunity on Sunday as the Cardinals have committed 26 turnovers in 14 games.  The weather is sure to be a factor in that as well. 

They haven’t been a good choice all season long, but look for the Pats to be a good choice for team defense this week.

Cleveland Browns (vs. Cincinnati Bengals)

This might be going out on a limb here, but the Bengals are just an awful offensive team. 

Ryan Fitzpatrick has put forth his best effort, but he just isn’t a good (or even decent) NFL quarterback.  Cedric Benson hasn’t had much of an offensive line to run behind and has had few good games. 

The most surprising part of this equation is that the Browns are actually tied for the league lead in takeaways with 29.  Given the state of the Bengals offense (25 giveaways), you can pretty much count on some fumbles and picks going Cleveland’s way.  They do have the third least number of sacks, but the Bengals 20 point outburst last Sunday was the first time they topped 13 in the last five games. 

It might be a desperate play, but sometimes at this time of the year you are in desperate times.

Two Matchups To Avoid

Buffalo Bills (vs. Denver Broncos)

This segment of the article will be dedicated to two teams that have really started to phone it in over the past few weeks, and there is no reason to think that the trend won’t continue. 

The Bills have allowed over 20 points in six of the last eight games and it in three of those games it was over 29 points.  Their sack leader has four and their interception leader has three.  In fact, only five guys have intercepted a pass this season. 

Jay Cutler should be able to carve up the Bills defense as they get closer and closer to the end of the season.  Stay away from a defense that was actually showing some signs in the first two months of the season.

Washington Redskins (vs. Philadelphia Eagles)

The ‘Skins have lost five of six and have allowed 20+ points in four of those six, including last week’s embarrassment versus Cincinnati.  Like the Bills, the Redskins offer very little in the way of fantasy defensive scoring.  Their sack leader has a mere 3.5 sacks, and no one has picked off more than than three passes. 

The Eagles have scored 98 points over the last three games, and look to run up the score again this week against the Redskins.  Don’t expect too much from the Redskins defense this week.

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