It’s finally fall outside! The leaves are falling, the weather is cooling off, and I am still waiting for the Colts to win a game. Seriously?! 24-0 to the Jaguars? It’s was such a disappointing week between the Colts going scoreless and the Purdue Boilermakers losing in the last two minutes. The good news is that not all of our fantasy football picks disappointed us! Check ’em out!
- Denver Broncos: 8 pts – HIT
- Philadelphia Eagles: 13 pts – HIT
- Washington Commanders: -1 pts – BUST
- Cleveland Browns: 0 pts – BUST
- Week 2: 2 Hits – 2 Busts
- Season: 5 Hits – 2 Busts
Not a great start going 2-2 in Week 2, but we’re at least at 71% accurate. Good, but good enough yet. We’re just now going into Week 3 of the NFL season, so things are starting to line up more. So far this year, the top two drafted defenses are ranked #1 and #2. However, five out of the top 10 scoring D/STs were ranked outside of the top 10 in the pre-draft process. As a matter of fact, the D/STs ranked #3 and #4 are both rostered in under 10% of leagues! They are some of the least rostered teams on ESPN Fantasy Football and yet are two of the top 4! One of them have a good matchup this week too and will be on this list.
Number 3: Philadelphia Eagles – 35.1%
As long as the Eagles keep putting up great fantasy football weeks, I’ll keep recommending them! They play guest to the Commanders in Washington this week. Washington has let two different D/STs put up 5+ fantasy points so far. Those two teams were the young, high upside Jaguars; and the surprise-of-the-season Lions. Both have lackluster defenses compared to the extremely balanced Eagles D/ST. The Eagles have four interceptions (including a Pick 6) and three sacks. Not to mention, they have one of the best rushing defenses in the league. They get to play against YOLO Carson Wentz this week. They should get at least one interception and two sacks against the Commanders.
Number 2: New York Giants – 8.4%
They are not the top 4 fantasy football defense I mentioned, but they have a good matchup. They get to pay against the Cowboys at home on Monday night. The Cowboys are without their star quarterback Dak Prescott and will instead be starting Cooper Rush. The Cowboys seem to keep losing talent; between the offensive line, their quarterback, and we do not know whether or not their tight end Dalton Schultz will even be able to play. This is all leading up to a good time for a decent Giants defense that has been able to recover three fumbles and get three sacks so far this season.
Honorable Mention: Los Angeles Chargers – 59.2%
The Charges get to play the Jaguars this week. While that may not seem like an easy matchup, their previous two matchups have been the Raiders and Chiefs. In those two matchups, the Chargers recorded three interceptions and seven sacks. The Chargers barely missed the playoffs last year and decided to focus on upgrading their defense this offseason. They could be in for a big fantasy football week.
Number 1: Atlanta Falcons – 7.7%
That’s right; the Falcons have a top 4 D/ST in fantasy football so far! If you told me that the Falcons D/ST have 2 interceptions, 5 sacks, 2 recovered fumbles, a safety, a blocked kick, AND a defensive touchdown, I’d ask you what year you were talking about. Seriously! The Falcons D/ST have at least one of each possible way to score fantasy points. They are currently the D/ST #4 and get to face Seahawks of all teams. The Seahawks have been less than exciting this year. The teams playing the Seahawks have all hit the mark this season for our metrics. Target the Atlanta Falcons on your waiver wire.
This fantasy football season has been wild so far and will be weirder still! As always, good luck 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. He primarily writes D/ST Streamer articles in season and Dynasty/Draft content in the offseason.