As we move into Bye Weeks, I’m going to make a few adjustments to what I consider a fantasy football bust or success. Originally, I gave the value of success to be 5 fantasy points or more. However, given that we are going to start having fewer options and that of my 11 Busts so far this season, four of them have been 4pts, I am going to lower the value of success to 4 fantasy points. With that being said, I will leave my current record for successes to busts as they stand.
- Vikings: 9pts – SUCCESS
- Dolphins: 3pts – BUST
- Jaguars: -1pt – BUST
- Bears: 3pts – BUST
- Colts: 11pts – SUCCESS
- Bengals: 8pts – SUCCESS
- Week 6: 3 Successes – 3 Busts
- Overall: 16 Successes – 14 Busts
Overall, if I had set the mark of success at 4pts from the beginning, I would have a record of 20 to 10. I am happy with 16 to 14, because most of the time, the logic is there. For instance, I feel as though my logic behind the pick for the Bears still stands. The Bears had three sacks on the day including the opening drive of the game. They held the Packers to a 25% rate on 3rd downs. The Bears even held their “owner”, Aaron Rodgers, to only 195 passing yards. This is his second lowest yardage total this season and fewer yards than any of his season averages since he was the backup to Brett Farve. This week is the Byemageddon, even for defensive streams, but I will give you my best reasoning for my top-3 D/STs this week instead of my normal five picks.
Number 3: Philadelphia Eagles 3.2%
The Eagles have been hot and cold on defense this season. Weeks 1, 3, and 5, their D/ST scored 8 points or more. Weeks 2, 4, and 6 they scored 1 point or fewer. I’m not one to buy easy-to-notice trends like that, especially given that their three best weeks have been away games and their three worst weeks were home games. With this week fitting both trends of an away game and being on an odd week, against a team like the Raiders, the Eagles are a D/ST to target on such a fantasy depressed week.
Number 2: Las Vegas Raiders 24.9%
The Raiders D/ST have averaged 4.5 fantasy points per week with five of their six games having fantasy scores of 4 points or better. They play the Eagles with Jalen Hurts struggling to complete over two-thirds of his passing attempts in five straight weeks. He has been averaging 50 rushing yards per game which helps his fantasy football value, but the Raiders seem like a solid option to stream this week. They have a solid pass rush led by Mad Maxx Crosby and Yannick Ngakoue and their secondary with players like Trevon Moehrig and Trayvon Mullen
Honorable Mention: Indianapolis Colts 59.8%
The Colts are averaging just shy of one interception per week, over one fumble recovered per week, and two sacks per week. If the Colts get their averages for all three, they would score 6 points in fantasy football.
Number 1: Green Bay Packers 45.6%
The Packers play Washington this week. With their average of an interception and over two sacks a week, the Packers D/ST is preforming well even without Za’Darius Smith. Washington has been struggling recently and with both Terry McLaurin and Antonio Gibson dealing with injuries, the Packers may have one of their best weeks as a D/ST this season.
Stash of the Week: Cincinnati Bengals (25.8)
I decided I will start adding a Stash of the Week during the Bye weeks. I figured this may help you get a jump on your fantasy football league mates. This week, I would recommend you pick up the Bengals. In Week 8, the Bengals will play the Jets. The 4-2 Bengals have preformed well on the defensive side of the ball in their weekly matchups on the field.
Good luck this week during the Week 7 Bye-pocalypse and may the streams flow your way!
Hunter Greene
Hunter started writing for The League Winners in the summer of 2021. Hunter has been playing fantasy football for about a decade, starting in middle school. Now he’s a professional landscaper and avid Colts and Purdue fan.