Let’s Stream Defenses: Week 14 (2025 Fantasy Football)

We’re approaching the end of the fantasy football regular season. The last byes are this week, and in most leagues the playoffs start either next week or Week 16. Before we get to streamers for this week, I’ll go through my recommendations for which defenses have good-looking playoff matchups, grouped by their viable weeks to help you plan out the season.

• Set and Forget – Week 15 onward: For your week 15-17 playoff leagues, the only teams with 3 good matchups are the Saints (CAR, NYJ, @TEN) and the Buccaneers (ATL, @CAR, @MIA). For your ESPN default leagues, the Saints also have a great matchup @ATL in Week 18. Houston is also viable ROS (ARI, LV, @LAC, IND). The Chargers and Colts aren’t exactly good matchups, but the Texans’ defense is so good that any matchup is viable.
• Week 16-17: If your league has the standard two-week playoff, in addition to the Saints, Bucs and Texans, you could play the Giants (MIN, @LV), Lions (PIT, @MIN) or Broncos (JAC, @KC). The Broncos are another case of a defense that’s so good that they’re worth using in below-average matchups like the Jags and Chiefs.
• Week 15-16: The Eagles look like a good two-week play here, vs LV and @WAS. Additionally, the Texans (ARI, LV) have their best matchups these weeks, if you want to fade their Week 17 Chargers matchup for another team, of which there are several options.
• Week 15 and 17: The Seahawks (IND, @ CAR) look viable here if you trust their great defense against the Colts and Panthers, but would rather fade the Rams matchup inbetween. The Cowboys (MIN, @WAS) are intriguing here as well.
• Week 15 only:For a spot start, perhaps to pair with a Week 16-17 team, I like the Cowboys (MIN), Jaguars (NYJ), 49ers (TEN) and Eagles (LV), if you’d rather not play Philly against the Commanders. The Jags have the added benefit of facing the Titans in Week 18, if you’re in one of those leagues.
• Week 16 only: The Chiefs (@TEN) and Jets (@NO) are intriguing here, and would pair well with the Seahawks or Cowboys in the surrounding weeks.
• Week 17 only: This week the Lions (@MIN), Chargers (HOU), Rams (@ATL), Patriots (@NYJ), Steelers (@CLE), Seahawks (@CAR) and Titans (vs NO) all get their best matchup of the remaining season in the fantasy finals.
• Week 18: The last week of the season is always weird, and it’s likely that at least a couple good offenses will sit their starters and become good matchups. As of now, the teams with good looking matchups in Week 18 are the Packers (@MIN), Jaguars (TEN), Chiefs (@LV), Rams (ARI), Saints (@ATL) and Buccaneers (CAR).

Streaming Defenses: Fantasy Football Waiver Wire & Start/Sit Advice (Week 14)

With the last four teams on bye (CAR, NE, NYG, SF), this is a weird week for streaming. The pool of teams I feel good about is shallow, but there are a couple with very low rostership, and a couple that feel truly great, with the best defenses facing the best matchups. Rostership numbers are from Yahoo. You can find me on Bluesky.

Matchups

1. CLE vs TEN: The Browns’ Myles Garrett leads the league in sacks, and the Browns overall are 2nd in that category. The Titans’ Cam Ward leads the league in sacks taken. The Vegas-implied points allowed projection of 15 is the lowest of the week. Fantasy defense matchups don’t get much better than this.
2. DEN @ LV: Just like the Browns, the Broncos this week are one of the best defenses facing one of the best matchups. The Broncos lead the league in sacks, and the Raiders’ Geno Smith is 2nd in the league in sacks taken, behind Cam Ward. 16.5 is the second-lowest points allowed projection of the week. The Browns and the Broncos are truly S-tier plays this week.
3. TB vs NO: When the Buccaneers played the Saints in week 8, they held the Saints to just a field goal and recorded 5 sacks – 2 against Tyler Shough, 3 against Spencer Rattler. Prior to the Saints’ Week 11 bye, Shough had taken just 5 sacks through two-and-a-half games, but he’s picked up the pace since then. In the past two weeks he took 5 from a good Falcons’ pass rush, and 4 from a below-average Dolphins pass rush. The Buccaneers are similarly average-ish, and should be able to turn in a similar result at home this week.
4. WAS @ MIN: Last week I commented that, mathematically, there wasn’t a whole lot of room for Max Brosmer to perform worse than J.J. McCarthy had been. Well he found it. The Vikings were shut out in a game where Brosmer threw four interceptions. The first of those was a truly bone-headed pick-six, an instant film room classic illustrating why you should just take the sack instead of hopelessly lobbing the ball right to a defender as you go down. It was bad enough that I expect J.J. McCarthy to take back the roles of the Vikings starting QB and of the worst QB in the league. The Commanders have an average defense, which is more than enough to take advantage of the current Vikings in their current state.
5. SEA @ ATL: Veteran QB Kirk Cousins has been solid in two starts for the Falcons since Michael Penix Jr. was declared out for the season. The Falcons scored 24 points in each game against not-particularly-good Saints and Jets teams. Cousins gave up 5 sacks and just one interception in those two games. It won’t be so easy against the Seahawks, who are on the short list of the best defenses in the league. You might want to fade the Seahawks when they play the Colts and Rams in Weeks 15-16, but they’re an easy start this week.
6. MIA @ NYJ: The Dolphins’ defense has been playing well lately. Last week they were able to take advantage of a good Saints matchup. That marked a 3-game streak of finishing 6th or better among fantasy defenses, and that included their upset win against the Bills. In two games since taking over for Justin Fields, Tyrod Taylor had a poor game against a pretty good Ravens defense, and a good game against a pretty good Falcons defense. Now he gets to face yet another pretty good defense in the Dolphins. The outlook is decent here with sacks and turnovers certainly on the table, but I would be surprised to see particularly big numbers for either.
7. KC vs HOU: While sidelined with a multi-week concussion, C.J. Stroud had to hear his job questioned while watching Davis Mills lead the team to 3 straight wins, reviving their playoff hopes. Stroud was able to secure a low-scoring win over the Colts in his return, and the Texans are now in the thick of the playoff hunt, just like Kansas City. In that game, Stroud recorded 2 sacks and an interception, though both the team’s touchdowns were scored by running backs. Kansas City’s defense has been their better half, and are better against the run, so they match up well here. This will be a defensive battle where both teams are in do-or-die mode for the playoffs. I foresee low scoring, but have moderate expectations for sacks and turnovers. Stroud has not taken more than 3 sacks in a game this season.
8. TEN @ CLE: Shedeur Sanders has been a ray of hope for Browns fans, but it hasn’t been a particularly high-powered offense. Last week they managed just 8 points against a depleted 49ers defense. It was actually the first time the 49ers recorded 3 sacks since Week 2. The Titans’ defense has been boom-bust. They’ve had 3 big fantasy days involving multiple turnovers, but have otherwise failed to finish as a fantasy starter. That kind of turnover-boom outcome is possible here and what you’re hoping for if you roll with the weaker side of what should be a low-scoring slog.
9. BAL vs PIT: Aaron Rodgers has been playing with a fractured wrist on his non-throwing arm, and it hasn’t been pretty. He’s had some difficulty with handoffs and ball security due to the cast, including giving up a fumble six on a sack last week. The Ravens’ defense have been quite good overall. You can’t fault them that much for giving up 32 points to the great Joe Burrow last week, and prior to that they had held their last 6 opponents under 21 points, including a couple of great offenses in the Rams and Bears. I don’t expect a whole lot of sacks out of Rodgers, but the outlook is good for scoring and turnovers.
10. PHI @ LAC: The Chargers’ Justin Herbert has been one of the more sack-vulnerable QBs in the league in the absence of stud right tackle Joe Alt, who is out for the season with an Ankle injury. The numbers for the Eagles’ defense don’t look pretty as of late, but their last 4 games have been a gauntlet of some of the best defenses in the league. The Chargers’ 31 points last week against a pretty bad Raiders defense are nothing to be afraid of. This is a good opportunity for the Eagles great defensive line to bounce back against a distinctly average offense with a depleted offensive line.