Let’s Stream Defenses: Week 3 (2025 Fantasy Football)

Streaming defenses in fantasy football is all about finding the good matchups, so the project of the early season is figuring out which teams those are. With twice as much data as we had last week, let’s go over what we’ve learned about some of these offenses.

• The Cincinnati Bengals: Tragically for not just Bengals fans but for football fans in general, Joe Burrow is out for 3 months with a turf toe. Jake Browning is the replacement starter in the short term, though there’s been talk of them maybe trading for Malik Willis from the Packers. With Browning at the helm I still expect the Bengals to score points, but that should come with a lot more turnovers than Burrow gave up. I rate the Bengals as a medium-good matchup as long as Browning is starting.
• The Indianapolis Colts: We have to confront the possibility that the Colts as led by Daniel Jones – yes that Daniel Jones – are good. Like really good. I didn’t think much when they trounced the awful Dolphins in Week 1, but then they went and embarrassed the Broncos, allegedly the best defense in the league. It was already historic when they scored on every drive in Week 1, and they still have not punted (though they did have a turnover on downs last week). As weird as it to say, the Colts are off the menu for fantasy defenses.
• The Minnesota Vikings: With basically-a-rookie J.J. McCarthy (he missed all of last year with an injury) at the helm, the Vikings have been the #1 fantasy defense matchup in terms of fantasy points allowed so far. McCarthy is now out with an ankle injury, so we will see Carson Wentz for at least one week. Wentz is far from the superstar we saw in 2017 before his torn ACL, but I expect the veteran to operate a more functional offense than McCarthy does at this stage. Wentz does carry some upside with sacks, so I am interested in starting good defenses against him, but that doesn’t include this week’s Bengals. Once McCarthy is back, I’ll start any defense the Vikings face.
• The San Francisco 49ers: Brock Purdy is expected to miss two to five weeks with turf toe and a shoulder injury. Mac Jones was excellent in his place, throwing three touchdowns and picking up the win in an admittedly good Saints matchup. Jones did not become the franchise quarterback for the Patriots that we expected after his strong rookie season, but he displayed enough talent that it shouldn’t be surprising to see him succeed in perhaps the best QB situation in the league. The 49ers weren’t a defense target with Purdy, and they probably aren’t with Jones either.
• The Tennessee Titans: Cam Ward has delivered on the promise of a rookie quarterback starting right from the jump, taking a league-leading 11 sacks through two games and losing a fumble in each one. I would say this is despite his pedigree as the #1 overall pick, but this is what we should expect from any rookie QB, especially those on teams that were bad enough to secure such an early draft pick.

Streaming Defenses: Fantasy Football Waiver Wire & Start/Sit Advice (Week 3)

This is a good week for streaming. With 2 weeks in books we have a better idea of what the good matchups are, and there are likely to be multiple good options available in your league. Rostership numbers are from Yahoo, and therefore largely reflect their default league size of 10 teams. You can find me on bluesky.

Matchups

1. SEA vs NO: Through two weeks, defenses facing Spencer Rattler and the Saints have recorded just-ok fantasy point totals, thanks largely to a lack of turnovers. Rattler had easily the best game of his NFL career with 3 TDs against the 49ers, and I say easily because it’s a pretty low bar. I think the odds are against Rattler continuing his no-turnovers streak this week. The Seahawks defense has been a solid fantasy starter so far, recording a pair of interceptions and just 17 points allowed in each of their two games.
2. IND @ TEN: Just as we expect from any rookie QB, the Cam Ward Titans have been an excellent defense matchup so far – he’s taken at least 5 sacks and lost a fumble in both games, and has yet to reach 20 team points. The Colts may not have recorded a sack last week, but that’s not a huge surprise against Bo Nix. They were able to slam the door on an awful Dolphins team in week 1, and are looking like a wagon on offense. I expect the Cam Ward sack train to keep chugging this week.
3. BUF vs MIA: The Dolphins are a hot mess right now. After a horrible Week 1 in Indianapolis, they did put up 27 points against the Patriots last week. However that wasn’t enough for a win, and included Tua Tagovailoa taking 5 sacks. After a shootout with the Ravens in Week 1, the Bills unsurprisingly trampled the Jets last week. The should have no trouble facing the Dolphins at home.
4. ATL @ CAR: The Panthers have been the 3rd-best defense matchup in the league so far (behind Miami and Minnesota), allowing top-4 finishes in both weeks. This is thanks to Bryce Young returning to the old interception habit it looked like he had kicked toward the end of last season. Now he’s facing a Falcons team that were the #1 fantasy defense last week, as the beneficiaries of J.J. McCarthy‘s struggles. They’re available in almost every league, and have a great outlook this week.
5. MIN vs CIN: With Joe Burrow sidelined by turf toe for an expected 3 months, Jake Browning is the next man up for the Bengals (though there is some talk of them potentially acquiring Malik Willis from the Packers). In relief last week, Browning turned in a solid result for the opposing Jags despite plenty of points, thanks to three interceptions. Browning worked his way up from practice squads to become the Bengals’ backup in 2023, and his NFL career consists of the last 8 weeks of that season. His results back then were similar to what we saw last week – solid offense, but a fantasy defense-friendly tendency toward sacks and turnovers. In those games he took an average of 3.0 sacks and 1.25 turnovers per game. I expect similar on the road against the Vikings this week.
6. PIT @ NE: Drake Maye is a very good quarterback, which is why the Patriots are merely bad instead of truly awful. As a rookie last season he inherited perhaps the worst supporting cast in the league, who had been an amazing defense matchup with Jacoby Brissett starting. Maye elevated that offense, but could only do so much with wet paper bag for an offensive line, and did have the turnover issues we expect from rookies. This year has been similar so far. Last week he made the horrible Dolphins the 8th-highest scoring defense despite putting up 33 points, thanks to 3 sacks and a lack of very many good results from other defenses.
7. TB vs NYJ: After a strong week 1, Justin Fields struggled to get much going against the Bills before exiting the game with a concussion. Currently I’m assuming he will play this week, but if he doesn’t, Tyrod Taylor is the next man up. Taylor scored the Jets’ only touchdown and took two sacks in relief. This is Taylor’s 15th season in the league, so he’s a known quantity. You could do worse for a backup QB, but you could to a whole lot better too. His most recent playing time was 2023 when he started 5 games for the Giants, wherein he took 15 sacks and ended the season with a 3-game interception streak. This is a good matchup for the Buccaneers either way, but a better one if Taylor starts.
8. GB vs CLE: The Browns have a pretty brutal early-season schedule through week 4, with the Bengals and Ravens so far, followed by the Packers this week and the Lions after that. In all likelihood they will wait for calmer waters before deploying one of their rookie quarterbacks, leaving Joe Flacco to deal with the best teams in the league. The veteran has had a pair of turnovers in each game this season, and now has to face a Packers’ defense that embarrassed Daniel Jones last week. The only reason they aren’t ranked higher is the fact that Flacco is better at avoiding sacks than most QBs we typically start defenses against.
9. WAS vs LV: Geno Smith was kind of a disaster for the Raiders on Monday Night Football, giving up 3 interceptions and leading the team to just three field goals as far as points go. After a solid result against the Giants in Week 1, the Commanders got roughed up in Week 2 by a Packers offense that’s firing on all cylinders. This is a great bounce-back opportunity for Washington.
10. KC @ NYG: Russell Wilson blew up to the tune of 450 passing yards and 3 touchdowns against the Cowboys last week, but the football community clearly doesn’t think it’s legit. Rest of season ECR has him ranked at QB32, behind such superstars as Spencer Rattler, Anthony Richardson and rookie teammate Jaxson Dart. The sportsbooks agree, making the Giants 5.5-point underdogs against the struggling Chiefs for an implied total of less than 20 points. There are multiple signals pointing toward this being a get-right game for the Chiefs, but I would not blame you for fading this one. Personally I think Wilson has plenty left in the tank.