Let’s Stream Defenses: Week 13 (2025 Fantasy Football)

It’s Thanksgiving week, and the turning point of the fantasy football season. There are just 2 or 3 weeks left before the playoffs in most leagues. All 32 NFL teams are active, before the last 4 byes next week. While some fantasy managers will be battling for the last playoff spot over the next couple weeks, others are more or less locked and focused on setting themselves up for playoff success.

With the lack of byes relieving some of the roster pressure, and many of those lottery ticket bench players already having cashed, now is the time to stash defenses for the playoffs. Here are some defenses that I think will be worth a bench spot:

• Cleveland Browns (Week 15 @ CHI, 17 vs PIT): This is kind of an obvious one. The Browns defense has been amazing, and in such a way that is particularly good for fantasy – they had 10 sacks last week! The Bears and Steelers are both middling matchups where I’m comfortable using a defense this great. In week 16 you might want to find someone else when they play the Bills, but maybe not – the Texans were able to sack Josh Allen 8 times last week, the the Browns have the same strength.
• Denver Broncos (16 vs JAC, 17 @ KC, 18 vs LAC): The Broncos are another great defense with an OK schedule. I would fade the Week 15 Packers matchup, but the Broncos are good enough to be a reasonable play against the Jags and Chiefs in Weeks 16-17.
• Detroit Lions (16 PIT, 17 @ MIN): The Lions have a brutal schedule over the next 3 weeks. They’ll be an OK start against the Steelers in Week 16, but the true reason to stash them is for the A+ Vikings matchup in for the fantasy finals in Week 17.
• Houston Texans (15 vs ARI, 16 vs LV, 17 @ LAC): The Texans are the best defense in the league and usable in almost any matchup, and they have a couple of great ones in Weeks 15-16. Plus you could certainly do worse than the Texans against the Chargers in Week 17.
• Kansas City Chiefs (16 @ TEN, 18 @ LV): The Chiefs have some tough matchups coming up, but are a solid defense that can definitely take advantage of the Titans in Week 16. They’re also an excellent stash for Week 18 leagues, because they play the Raiders, and there’s a good chance they’ll still be fighting for a playoff spot.
• New Orleans Saints (15 vs CAR, 17 vs NYJ, 17 @ TEN): The Saints have the distinction of the best fantasy playoff schedule in the league. They may not be the greatest defense but they can certainly handle matchups as good as the Panthers, Jets and Titans. As an added bonus, they have a good Week 18 matchup in Atlanta if you’re in one of those leagues. The Saints recorded top-7 fantasy weeks against the Panthers and Falcons in their last two games.
• New York Giants (16 vs MIN, 17 @ LV): The Giants are an excellent use of a bench spot for the next 3 weeks, with A+ matchups against the Vikings and Raiders for the two most important weeks of the season.
• Philadelphia Eagles (15 vs LV, 16 @ WAS): The Eagles are another strong defense that can be usable in bad matchups. They have a great one in Week 15 against the Raiders, and should be usable against the Commanders unless Jayden Daniels returns and plays like his old self between now and then. But I would seriously consider finding an alternative when they play the bills in Week 17.
• Seattle Seahawks (17 @ CAR): The Seahawks are a very good defense that will be startable over the next couple weeks, though I’m not interested in using them against the Colts and Rams in Week 15-16. But you should definitely hang on to them through those weeks, because a defense this good against the Panthers in Week 17 could be a league winner.
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers (15 vs ATL, 16 @ CAR, 17 @ MIA): The Buccaneers might be a team you can set and forget for the rest of the season. They’re certainly starters against the Falcons and Panthers in Weeks 15-16, though how I’ll feel about the Dolphins in Week 17 will depend on how well Miami plays in the preceding weeks.

Streaming Defenses: Fantasy Football Waiver Wire & Start/Sit Advice (Week 13)

With all 32 teams active, this is a great week for streaming. The pool of usable defenses is deep, and there are four different teams I rate as starters that are rostered in less than 30% of Yahoo leagues. You can find me on Bluesky.

Matchups

1. SEA vs MIN: Things are not going great for the Vikings, to say the Least. J.J. McCarthy is in concussion protocol, so I expect he will not play this week, and we will instead see undrafted rookie Max Brosmer. McCarthy has been historically bad, so it’s mathematically unlikely that Brosmer will be worse. But a strong defense like Seattle against an undrafted rookie QB in his first start is a dream fantasy matchup, so you really can’t lose with the Seahawks here.
2. LAC vs LV: The Raiders and Geno Smith gave up 10 sacks to the Browns, a season-high for the league. The Chargers don’t have the benefit of a generational pass rusher like Myles Garrett, and they are coming off a poor showing in a blowout loss to the Jags before last week’s bye. But they’ve shown an ability to put up strong sack numbers in other good matchups like the Vikings and Titans lately, they have an extra week of rest, and get to play the worst team in their division at home. I expect the Chargers to bounce back in a big way this week.
3. JAC @ TEN: Last week the Titans gave up a surprisingly poor fantasy result to the Seahawks’ defense. That was largely due to a lack of turnovers, and 24 points allowed which is higher than you want for a fantasy defense, but not by a ton. Cam Ward is progressing well, but that was only his second no-turnover game and he still gave up 4 sacks. It’s not the kind of performance that will scare me off of continuing to target the Titans. The Jaguars should be able to continue the pattern of lots of sacks against Ward. Last week they got to Jacoby Brissett 6 times, and while Brissett is one of the more sack-prone QBs in the league, so is Ward.
4. LAR @ CAR: The Rams are looking like Super Bowl frontrunners lately. Much of the attention has been on Matthew Stafford‘s MVP-caliber season, but their defense has been similarly great. Last week they held Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers to just 7 points in the first half while intercepting Baker twice, then shut out Teddy Bridgewater in the 2nd half after Baker left with a shoulder injury. Now they get to face a Panthers offense that could hardly move the ball on Monday night against a non-amazing 49ers defense. They managed just one TD and one field goal, despite being the beneficiaries of 3 interceptions in the first half.
5. DEN @ WAS: Jayden Daniels appears unlikely to return this week from his elbow injury. Considering the Commanders’ 3-8 record and how Marcus Mariota has been playing, they have no reason to rush Daniels back. Mariota has been playing relatively well for a Backup, but that’s a low bar. In his last game the Commanders managed just 13 points in a loss to the dolphins. The Broncos, of course, are one of the best defenses in the league and usable in much worse matchups than this. They should dominate this game where both teams are returning from their bye week.
6. SF @ CLE: Last week Shedeur Sanders became the first Browns quarterback to win his first start in 30 years. He certainly exceeded expectations, and earned a second start this week despite Dillon Gabriel clearing concussion protocol. Those expectations were pretty low though, so beating them only took 200 yards, one touchdown and an interception. The biggest negative here is the fact that Shedeur took just 1 sack against Maxx Crosby & company, and the 49ers have not had much of a pass rush this year with Fred Warner and Nick Bosa both on IR. The 49ers haven’t had 3 sacks in a game since Week 2, and they’ve faced some very sackable quarterbacks since then. I expect low scoring and solid turnover upside here, but a low floor with very few sacks.
7. MIA vs NO: The Dolphins’ defense has been pretty good lately. They’ve held both of their last two opponents to just 13 points, and while that might not be particularly impressive against the Marcus Mariota Commanders, it was a huge upset against Josh Allen‘s Bills in Week 10. This week they have the benefit of an extra week of rest following their bye, and get to face a Saints offense that hasn’t reached the 20-point mark since Week 5. Tyler Shough has been boom-bust in the sack department, with last week being a 5-sack boom against the Falcons. I don’t know if Miami will be able to replicate that many sacks, but their overall outlook against this offense is very good.
8. ATL @ NYJ: Last week, Jets QB Tyrod Taylor made his second start of the season following the latest benching of Justin Fields. That didn’t go great for the Jets, with a 10-point, 3-sack performance in a loss to the white-hot Ravens. The Falcon’s defense is hot too – they’re currently on a 4-game streak of recording 5 or more sacks, with 23 total in that time. I expect that pattern to continue, and for the Falcons to provide a strong floor this week, even if a multi-turnover day is unlikely from the veteran Taylor.
9. IND vs HOU: C.J. Stroud has missed the last 3 games in concussion protocol, and in that time the team is 3-0 with Davis Mills playing better than Stroud had been. Coach DeMeco Ryans affirmed that Stroud is still the starter when healthy, and it appears probable that he will clear protocol and return this week. That would probably be good news for the Colts, but this is a good matchup either way. The Colts have maintained a steady pace of 3-4 sacks in almost every game this season, and I would expect that to continue against either Texans QB.
10. PHI vs CHI: The Eagles are one of the very few defenses you should consider using even in bad matchups (Houston/Cleveland, and maybe Denver/Seattle/LA Rams also on that list). It doesn’t always work – last week they suffered a heartbreaking comeback loss to their division rival Cowboys. But prior to that they held the Lions and Packers – both high-flying offenses – to under 10 points. The Caleb Williams Bears have been good on offense, but not as good as the Cowboys, Lions or Packers. This is a reasonable week to let it ride with the Eagles defense, who should be a solid play for the next 3 weeks, and possibly longer depending on the status of Jayden Daniels.