When it comes to fantasy football streamers, the defense/special teams position is always one to monitor. In fact, many owners opt to intentionally stream the position all season long, playing positive matchups over drafting a highly-regarded unit. For those looking to do just that starting in Week 2, this article will have some solid options for you.
Read on for three D/ST fantasy football streamers that are worth consideration for Week 2. In some cases, one might still be able to claim these defenses off of waivers. In order to be included in the fantasy football defense streamers, all defenses must be owned in less than 60 percent of ESPN leagues.
Week 2 Fantasy Football D/ST Streamers
Green Bay Packers vs. DET (22.8%)
Now, it’s hard to stream the defense that just let Jameis Winston throw five touchdowns on, but they’re facing a much worse offense in the Lions. Plus, it’s a division rival, led by a mediocre head coach in Dan Campbell all while Jared Goff is behind center. Detroit scored 33 points last week against the 49ers because of prevent defense, garbage time points from Jared Goff, and it shouldn’t make you concerned to run with the Green Bay Packers defense here this week.
They’ve always played division games tough and, if Aaron Rodgers and the offense returns to normalcy, the time of possession will certainly lean their way, in turn keeping the defense fresh and ready to shut down Detroit’s offensive game plan. Let’s not forget that the Lions were getting destroyed all game long up until late in the game where the 49ers began to back off and play sloppy defense.
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New Orleans Saints at CAR (54.1%)
As much as picking defenses that face Christian McCaffrey worries me, the New Orleans Saints are a very solid, low-ownership option here for Week 2. Their run defense is pretty solid as it is, holding the Packers to just 15 carries for 43 yards on the ground and facing an enticing matchup in the Panthers. Let’s not forget how turnover-prone Sam Darnold was while with the Jets. It’s obvious he’s in a better system with Carolina, but this will be a much tougher matchup for him this time around.
The Saints shut down the Packers receivers for the most part and only allowed a field goal against the highest-scoring offense just a season ago. As long as Jameis Winston and the offense controls the time of possession again, the defense should be in for another solid week facing Darnold and the Panthers.
New York Giants at WSH (7.8%)
The New York Giants defense looked very solid towards the end of last season. It seemed like it’d carry over into this year because they didn’t lose many valuable players, but they were handled by the Broncos in Week 1. It’s hard to stream defenses that have horrible offenses because it’s inevitable that the defense is out there more than they should be and they’ll get tired which leads to mistakes. But, this could be an enticing matchup against Washington, who has Taylor Heinicke under center for the next few weeks and only Kyle Allen as a backup option. Heinicke has yet to prove himself, aside from a few flashes of potential last year in the playoffs and limited time in Week 1, but the Giants defense could very well fluster him enough to the point that they force a few mistakes and turnovers.
Giants head coach Joe Judge is a defensive-minded coach and it’s hard to credit their offense for nearly winning the division last season. Once they get rolling, they will likely be one of the top streaming options for defenses for the majority of the season. With under 10 percent ownership, there’s a very good chance they’re going to be available in your league, if you need to plug-in a solid defense with a favorable matchup.
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