It’s playoff time for some fantasy football leagues, so check out our wide receiver rankings. Also, don’t forget to spend time making a good decision for the tight end position. And here are our Week 14 defense and special teams rankings.
Where is the best place to start? How about a place with temperatures expected to be below freezing and a chance of snow? Yep, let’s go get our top defensive pick from Cleveland. They take on the Titans at home.
Fantasy Football top picks
Coming off a disappointing week, the Browns may not seem like a comfortable choice. However, they should feast on the Titans and their sack-prone quarterback, Cam Ward. With Myles Garrett chasing the all-time sack record, he should be well motivated to get another multi-sack game.
Plus, the Browns are at home. And before their stinker against the 49ers, that had been a top-six fantasy unit four times out of five weeks. This is another week to trust Kevin Stefanski’s defense.
All eyes will be on Garrett, as they usually are, but that will free things up for other guys to wreak havoc. The 49ers made sure they knew where Garrett was, according to cleveland.com.
“You have to be aware when you see (Garrett),” 49ers right tackle Colton McKivitz said. “We had some protection stuff built into where we weren’t following him. But you know, we had a pretty good idea of where he was going to line up.
“We did a fantastic job up front protecting Brock (Purdy). We limited (Garrett) to one (sack). I mean, you want it to be zero, but he’s a great player. He’s having a record year, hope he gets it.”
Even 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh is rooting for Garrett.
“Go get that record, man,” Saleh said.
Garrett is certainly zeroed in on it, according to apnews.com.
“I don’t even think about it as a want — I just think about something that I’m going to knock down,” Garrett said Friday. “It’s already been written in my mind that it’s going just how far I’m going to take it. So, just going to go out there and do what I do, and whatever number I end up at.”
But Garrett is more than just a pass rusher.
“Yeah, I want to be remembered as one of the very best at the position, and that includes being well-rounded, in the run and pass,” Garrett said. “I know the record for TFL’s is 39, and I feel like I can go and challenge that — that’s not out of reach, either.”
Broncos are another good pick
As good a pick as the Browns are this week as a defensive unit, the Broncos are right there, too. They get to feast on another of the NFL’s worst offenses, the Raiders.
And the Broncos should be a little surly after their lukewarm performance against the Commanders and their backup quarterback. It wasn’t a sound effort, according to The Athletic.
“Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph calls it leaky yardage, the gains that come beyond what a play should produce if his defense is playing its assignments soundly,” Nick Kosmider wrote. {For much of this special season for Joseph’s unit, Denver has been able to dry up the scourge of leaky yardage. That wasn’t the case Sunday night — and it almost led to an epic collapse … ”
It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Broncos get five or more sacks of Raiders quarterback Geno Smith.
Other standouts
You gotta love the Seahawks defense. And they get yet another good matchup when they visit the struggling Falcons.
The Seahawks have been the No. 1-ranked fantasy defense twice in the last four weeks. And they have six top-five finishes in 2025.
Linebacker Derick Hall said the defense doesn’t want to give an inch, according to The Athletic.
“That’s just what we want as a defense,” Hall said. “We want to hold you. We know the offense will put up points. It’s just being able to go out there, get stops, be consistent. And just not making the game close, just playing dominant every single chance we get.”
And the Seahawks thrive in short-yardage situations.
“That’s what we eat, think, and breathe, man, living in the Death Zone,” Hall said, referring to one of the unofficial names for Seattle’s defense. “That’s the first thing that’s on our board every day, walking into the defensive meeting: Living in the Death Zone.”
The Rams are another good choice. Like the Broncos, they aren’t pleased with the way they played Sunday. They should bounce back from the sub-par effort against the Panthers and take it out against the Cardinals.
Fantasy Football sleepers
It’s not a bad idea to give the Dolphins a look on the road against the Jets. The Dolphins have been more competitive on that side of the ball with four top-10 finishes in the last five weeks.
And with the state of the Steelers’ offense, the Ravens deserve a sleeper look at home. They could produce a big play, perhaps picking up a defensive score.
Fantasy Football Week 14 Defense Rankings
1. Cleveland Browns (CLE) vs. TEN
2. Denver Broncos (DEN) at LV
3. Seattle Seahawks (SEA) at ATL
4. Los Angeles Rams (LAR) at ARI
5. Miami Dolphins (MIA) at NYJ
6. Baltimore Ravens (BAL) vs. PIT
7. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (TB) vs. NO
8. Houston Texans (HOU) at KC
9. Washington Commanders (WAS) at MIN
10. Philadelphia Eagles (PHI) at LAC
11. Green Bay Packers (GB) vs. CHI
12. Kansas City Chiefs (KC) vs. HOU
13. Tennessee Titans (TEN) at CLE
14. Indianapolis Colts (IND) at JAC
15. New York Jets (NYJ) vs. MIA
