This week, a trio of stud fantasy football defenses have good matchups — one in Green Bay, another in Denver, and the Eagles join the group. So let’s take a look at our fantasy football defense/special teams rankings for Week 6.
The Broncos have a long journey, traveling to London to take on the Jets. The Packers are back home with the mistake-prone Bengals coming to town, while the Eagles visit the Giants on Thursday Night Football.
Take your pick from any of those three, but let’s take a look at why.
Top Fantasy Football picks
At the top of the list is the Packers, and there are two major reasons why. First, the Packers are steaming mad after their awful defensive performance against the Cowboys in a 40-40 tie.
And that means the Packers will come into the game against the Bengals with fire and anger. Defensive star Micah Parsons has that anger, according to ESPN.
“I'm not even going to lie, I'm pissed off,” Parsons said. “I'm very disappointed, just overall how we performed.
“I even told Jordan to the side, you know, ‘Thank you for having our back today. You know, that's why it's so pivotal to, you know you play complementary football. Because today, Jordan played like the player he was, and we let him down. We didn't live up to the level of expectation on defense.”
And now they get a Bengals team that has become dysfunctional on offense with Jake Browning behind center. For the season, Browning has thrown a hard-to-imagine eight interceptions. The Bengals rank No. 2 in the NFL for most picks thrown, and their 11 turnovers are at the top of the list.
Now, imagine how Parsons and company are going to come after this offense. Unless the Bengals go into a shell and try to run the football to eat clock and avoid a total blowout, the Packers are going to rack up sacks and turnovers.
Other standouts
As for the Eagles' defense, it’s time for them to get things rolling with a big defensive effort. And Giants rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart looks like a prime target.
The Eagles also enter the game with anger. The defense let a 17-3 lead slip away by failing to contain Broncos’ quarterback Bo Nix down the stretch. Broncos head coach Sean Payton said Nix is a special player, according to Denvergazette.com
“He’s a competitor,” Payton said. “There were a handful of plays in the first half that I know he’d want back. But that all being said, man, you can feel his leadership when it matters. And then you can feel the confidence with his teammates when it matters. So, he played exceptionally in the second half.”
And this makes the Eagles mad, which usually bodes well for a proud defense. That’s especially true against a division rival.
Meanwhile, the Broncos will have to corral quarterback Justin Fields. His final numbers looked good against the Cowboys, but the game was out of hand before he got anything started. Look for the Broncos’ defense to make splash plays early in the game. Also, Dallas sacked Fields five times. The Broncos have a more fierce pass rush, leading the NFL with 21 sacks over five games.
Fantasy Football sleepers
It looks like the Cowboys’ defense woke up in the game against the Jets. Now, they get a shaky Panthers’ offense, where quarterback Bryce Young has thrown four interceptions and taken nine sacks on the season. The Panthers also have four fumbles, putting them in a tie for fourth place for most turnovers.
It may be risky to take the Cowboys, based on their earlier games. But they are getting healthier, and remember, sleepers are risky by nature.
Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer believes in his defense, according to cowboyswire.com.
“What they did to Justin Fields today… he’s got to be sore, because we hit him a bunch,” Schottenheimer said. “We pressured him all over the place. [Defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus] is a hell of a defensive coach. But it all starts with the ability to win up front.”
Also, don't sleep on the New England Patriots. Part of their value comes from their special teams units, but their defense has looked better. Look what it did against the Bills. The Patriots are getting great work from Milton Williams and Christian Barmore, according to Patriots.com.
“According to NextGen Stats, Barmore leads all defensive tackles with a 16.1% pressure rate, while Williams is fifth in pressure percentage (13.5%),” Evan Lazar wrote. “The duo also ranks in the top-11 among interior rushers in ESPN's pass-rush win rate, with Barmore ranking second behind only Titans DT Jeffrey Simmons in that metric at a 19.2% win rate. As a defense, the Patriots rank in the top-10 in both pass-rush (10th) and run-stop (fifth) win rate, with Barmore and Williams becoming one of the NFL's most disruptive tandems to anchor the Patriots defensive line.”
“It's been good. We've been talking since I got here about teams ain't gonna be able to just key in on one of us,” Williams said. “You key in on one of us, and leave the other one-on-one, we like our chances.”
Another sleeper is the Tennessee Titans. Despite having a poor overall team, the Titans have come away with eight turnovers on the season. And they will face a Raiders team that has surrendered the football 10 times, second-worst in the NFL.
Fantasy Football Week 6 Defense Rankings
1. Green Bay Packers (GB) vs. CIN
2. Philadelphia Eagles (PHI) at NYG
3. Denver Broncos (DEN) at NYJ
4. Pittsburgh Steelers (PIT) vs. CLE
5. Cleveland Browns (CLE) at PIT
6. New England Patriots (NE) at NO
7. Indianapolis Colts (IND) vs. ARI
8. Seattle Seahawks (SEA) at JAC
9. Tennessee Titans (TEN) at LV
10. Dallas Cowboys (DAL) at CAR
11. Los Angeles Rams (LAR) at BAL
12. Las Vegas Raiders (LV) vs. TEN
13. Buffalo Bills (BUF) at ATL
14. Washington Commanders (WAS) vs. CHI
15. San Francisco 49ers (SF) at TB
