As NFL Week 16 approaches, so do the fantasy football playoff semifinals. Defensive matchups become slightly more difficult to stream as NFL playoff intensity cranks up, but there are still multiple D/ST streaming options for fantasy football managers to turn to, even late in the week.
Most fantasy football managers stream defenses all season, making it difficult to find a serviceable option late in the week. The field further narrows with several go-to options — including the Los Angeles Chargers, Cleveland Browns, Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams — facing difficult matchups, making them hard to trust in the fantasy playoffs. Others, including the Detroit Lions and Kansas City Chiefs, have injuries that also make them unreliable.
With a lot on the line at this point in the fantasy and NFL season, identifying the right D/ST unit can be a championship-altering decision. The best options are off the board, but there are still multiple teams capable of winning matchups available in most leagues.
Tennessee Titans (vs. Kansas City Chiefs)
Nobody in the fantasy playoffs has seriously played the Tennessee Titans' defense, but they could actually be the biggest sleeper of the week. Despite allowing 53 points over the last two weeks, the Titans are gifted with one of the best matchups of the week in Week 16.
Sure, the Kansas City Chiefs are a horrific matchup on paper. However, the Chiefs, without Patrick Mahomes, Rashee Rice and Tyquan Thornton and down to their fourth-string left tackle, are much less intimidating.
The Titans went from preparing for one of the most dangerous offenses in the league to measuring up one of the most turnover-prone quarterbacks in Gardner Minshew II within one week. Even this defense, which has forced three turnovers in its last two games, is bound to create some chaos against a severely limited offense that has nothing to play for in Week 16.
New York Giants (vs. Minnesota Vikings)
The New York Giants should not be any fantasy football manager's first choice of D/ST. They have been far from the team some expected them to be in the preseason, and now draw a tougher matchup against the Minnesota Vikings and J.J. McCarthy, who has recently found his footing in the NFL.
The Vikings have been a much-improved team over their last two, but it is still too early for opinions to change on this inconsistent offense. Minnesota's two-game surge has come against a depleted Washington Commanders secondary and the Dallas Cowboys' atrocious, zone-heavy defense.
McCarthy, who still averages 1.5 turnovers per game, plays much better against zone than he does against man. The Giants are not a good secondary by any means, but they utilize man coverage schemes at a top-10 rate, according to Pro Football Focus.
Until the Vikings figure out how to work star receiver Justin Jefferson back into the game plan, their ceiling remains capped. It is too quick to judge their turnaround after consecutive outings against bottom-barrel teams.
Cincinnati Bengals (at Miami Dolphins)
The Miami Dolphins have nothing to lose by benching Tua Tagovailoa at this point in a lost season. However, all the move currently does for fantasy purposes is give a massive opportunity to a struggling Cincinnati Bengals defense.
Perhaps the team has something in seventh-round rookie Quinn Ewers, but Mike McDaniel's hesitancy to bench Tagovailoa should say a lot about how he feels about his quarterback situation. Tagovailoa has given Miami nothing all year, yet it has taken the Dolphins until Week 16 to finally explore another option. This is a Hail Mary move that fantasy football managers can take advantage of.
The Bengals have given up 29.4 points per game in their last five outings, but they have actually shown signs of life during arguably their toughest schedule stretch of the year. They now face the Dolphins' 23rd-ranked scoring offense, which is switching to a quarterback whose college fan base could not wait to see him leave at the end of his tenure.
New Orleans Saints (vs. New York Jets)
The New York Jets have been an offense to target in fantasy football practically all season, and Week 16 will be no different. The New Orleans Saints' defense has quietly been one of the best units over the last month, yet fantasy managers have still not taken notice of Brandon Staley's unit.
Since Week 10, the Saints have only allowed 17.8 points per game, third-best in the league during that time. They enter Week 16 riding a two-game win streak into a matchup with the New York Jets, whose messy quarterback situation has Brady Cook set to make his second consecutive start.
Cook led the Jets' offense to score 20 points in Week 15, but garbage time played a role in what was a blowout from the opening bell. New York has felt all the bumps of the roller coaster ride that come with starting an undrafted rookie. Cook trots into Week 16 having completed just 57.1 percent of his passes and an atrocious 1-5 touchdown-interception ratio.
The Saints have nothing to play for, but expect them to have an ounce of urgency in their final home game of the season. It helps that head coach Kellen Moore is very familiar with Cook, who played the majority of his collegiate career coached by his younger brother, Kirby Moore, at Missouri.
Kansas City Chiefs (at Tennessee Titans)
Nobody wants to touch the Kansas City Chiefs right now, who will be missing four offensive starters and four defensive starters in Week 16. While the Chiefs' three-game skid, paired with their plethora of injuries, has fans believing in the Tennessee Titans pulling off the upset, this is still the best matchup Steve Spagnuolo's defense has had all year.
Even without Trent McDuffie, Leo Chenal and Derrick Nnadi, Kansas City's defense has all the advantages over the Titans' inexperienced and inefficient offense. The Titans have put more points on the board recently, but they still enter Week 16 with the league's second-worst scoring offense that also ranks 31st in total yards per game.
The Titans return home from a two-game road trip, where they have actually been worse. Neither of their two games came at Nissan Stadium, while almost every offensive starter posts worse numbers at home than on the road.
The one area of the Chiefs' defense void of injuries is their pass-rush, which should have success against the Titans' struggling offensive line. It remains to be seen how well Gardner Minshew can lead Kansas City's offense, but this defense should still have its way with Cam Ward, even in its current condition.
