All three years of writing this series has included multiple articles written while watching the Thursday night game. This is the first one this year. The Detroit Lions were dominating the Green Bay Packers, and it turned out to finish that way, too! If this was a Sunday game, this would have been a great time to pick the Lions. But it’s too late to pick them! Let’s look at last week’s (Spoiler: it wasn’t great) and look ahead to our D/ST Streams for Week 4.
- Jacksonville Jaguars: -4 pts – Bust
- Seattle Seahawks: 2pt – Bust
- Baltimore Ravens: 7 pts – HIT
- Week 3: 1 Hits – 2 Busts
- Season: 7 Hits – 4 Busts
I went 1-2 again. After a hot start of 5-0 for Week 1, I’ve been 2-4 the past two weeks. Believe me, I am just as shocked as you are that the Seahawks and Jaguars busted! The Jaguars got rolled by the Texans in a fashion I did not expect! Also, Andy Dalton looked good which is nice to know going forward. Let’s look at who I’m picking this week.
Cincinnati Bengals – 32.1% Rostered
The Cincinnati Bengals may be a surprising pick to some, but their D/ST has been a hit for fantasy two out of three weeks. They also get to go play the Tennessee Titans who have averaged 15 points per game. The Bengals looked better on Monday night when they finally got a win. Typically, teams that win low scoring games are also teams to target their D/STs for fantasy. I’m expecting a mostly low scoring affair for this game.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 25.7% Rostered
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have quietly been one of the top 3 run defenses so far this year. As for fantasy, their only bust was last week against the Eagles. Prior to that they had weeks of 8 fantasy points and 19 fantasy points. This week, they play their division rival Saints with a potential revenge game of Famous Jameis Winston. You know what that means: multiple interceptions. That’s great for a D/ST streamer in fantasy football.
Indianapolis Colts – 5.9% Rostered
The Indianapolis Colts D/ST are currently 9th overall with an average of 8.7 fantasy points per game over three weeks. I don’t know what changed, but this defense is playing aggressively each week and it shows! 1 interception, 4 fumble recoveries, 1 of those fumbles (technically 2) returned for a defensive touchdown, and an impressive 12 sacks! Matt Stafford has been sacked 7 times so far this year for an average of 2.33 sacks per game. Looking at his sack rate compared to the Colts defensive sack rate, Stafford might be at double digit sacks by the start of Week 5.
Conclusion
This is a difficult week to find good picks. Right now, I’m adjusting; trying not pick teams I think will win games, but rather teams that have done well defensively so far. That’s why my picks for this week have two of the top 10 fantasy D/STs and both are rostered in less than 26% of ESPN leagues. Good luck if you’re following my picks! As always, 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.