Let’s Stream Defenses: Week 8 (2022 Fantasy Football)

There’s a real possibility of something very special happening this week. Two things need to happen

• Titan QB Ryan Tannehill played through an ankle injury in the fourth quarter of last week’s game, and left the game in a walking boot. He will probably still play this week.
• Broncos QB Russell Wilson allegedly tried to play last week with a partially torn hamstring, but Brett Rypien got the start. With a game in London next week, and a bye in Week 9, Wilson probably won’t return until Week 10.

If both those things happen – Tannehill and Rypien both start this week – and we avoid any random injuries in practice, we could very well have the first week of the season where every NFL team starts the same quarterback that started in the previous game. The Patriots throw a wrench in this idea. Last week they apparently planned to use both Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe. They haven’t announced a starter for next week and it’s impossible to know the mind of Bill Belichick. But if either of them play next week, I’ll consider it a win for “the NFL going a week without any team changing their QB for injury reasons.”

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• Matt Ryan Benched for Sam Ehlinger: Fantasy Football Takeaways & Implications
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• Week 8 IDP Waiver Wire Pickups

Check out the rest of our weekly fantasy football advice

Week 8 D/ST Projections

There are only two teams on bye this week – Kansas City and The Chargers. The absence of two high-powered offenses is bad news for a lot of fantasy teams on offense, but we weren’t starting defenses against them anyway. As a result, this turns out to be a pretty good week for streaming, with a full 10 teams I would feel good about starting, including a couple that are rostered in less than 10% of leagues. Rostership numbers are from Yahoo. You can find me on Twitter.

Matchups

1. DAL vs CHI: The performance of the Patriots DST last week against Justin Fields and the Bears is a perfect case study in the high floor a sack-prone quarterback can provide. The Bears put 33 points on the board (in part because they had three interceptions), which is ordinarily a disaster for the opposing defense. However, Fields threw a pick and, critically, took four sacks. As a result, this “worst-case scenario” for the Patriots DST was actual 5 points. When that’s your floor, you’re in a good place. This week is even better – the Cowboys have one of the best defenses in the league, and an offense that probably won’t give the Bears three extra possessions.
2. PHI vs PIT: Speaking of top-5 defenses facing error-prone offenses, Steelers QB Kenny Picket threw three interceptions last week, and now he has to visit the possibly Super Bowl-bound Eagles.
3. JAC vs DEN: Russell Wilson appears to be sitting out another week, meaning we’ll get another week of Brett Rypien in London. Rypien did a whole lot of nothing last week, leading the team to just one touchdown and one field goal. He also only had one turnover and one sack. That’s the kind of performance I expect from the Broncos with Rypien – not a lot of the kind of mistakes that can make a huge day for the opposing defense, but not a lot of points easier. The Jags are a good play this week, though perhaps one with limited upside.
4. NE @ NYJ: Since Zach Wilson began starting for the Jets in Week 4, the team is 4-0. This has happened despite the fact that Wilson himself has only had two touchdowns the entire time. Last week’s win against the Broncos came with only 16 points. The Jets could certainly win again thanks to New England’s offensive woes, but I don’t expect it to be pretty. Wilson is liable to take a lot of sacks, which should provide a high floor like we saw for New England last week, with potential for a lot more.
5. ATL vs CAR: A few weeks ago, we were talking about a potential battle between Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold for the Panther’s starting QB job once both were healthy. As it turns out, PJ Walker has played well enough in their absence to keep the job. This probably says more about Mayfield than Walker, because it’s not like Walker has been amazing. In his three starts, the team has averaged just under 16 points per game. What he has done is avoid turnovers, and mostly avoid sacks (he hasn’t taken more than 2 in a game). For fantasy defenses, this is a mixed bag. On one hand, you’re not worried about him blowing up for 40 points like Baker Mayfield is liable to do on occasion, but you also can’t expect very much in the way of points from sacks and turnovers.
6. BUF vs GB: Imagine if I had told you, two years ago, that we’d have a game where the Packers are projected for just 18.5 points, and the opposing defense is a good play in fantasy. You would have thought, “I knew drafting Jordan Love was a mistake!” But it’s not Joran Love – Aaron Rodgers is just that bad now. Rodgers is still far from being a bottom-tier QB, but he has yet to have more than two passing touchdowns in a game. He’s not likely to give up multiple turnovers, but 3 or more sacks is a real possibility against the best defense in the league. If you drafted the Bills you were probably expecting to have to bench them this week, but I don’t think you have to. If you can stomach starting them against the Vikings and Bengals later on, you can probably just ride the Bills all season.
7. SEA vs NYG: Like the Jets, the Giants have been winning with an offense that’s merely OK. 21 points is a reasonable projection for them, but I’d be tempted to take the over. The real reason to start a defense against Daniel Jones is the sacks. He doesn’t do it every game, but 4 or 5 sacks is a common occurrence for Jones, and that can make up for a fair number of points from a fantasy DST perspective.
8. TEN @ HOU: Davis Mills is here to stay in Houston. That’s good news for us streamers. He’s not the worst QB in the league, but he’s interception-prone enough to be interesting, and 3-sack games are a regular occurrence. The Tennessee defense is average – nothing to write home enough, but certainly good enough to start in a matchup like this.
9. IND vs WAS: Last week was the first of what will probably be four weeks of Taylor Heinicke starting in place of the injured Carson Wentz. He did fine, but it was against a pretty horrible Packers team. The above-average Colts defense is a big improvement over Green Bay, and Heinicke has a history of taking plenty of sacks, and throwing almost as many interceptions as touchdowns.
10. SF @ LAR: Matthew Stafford‘s performances this season come in two varieties: 5+ sacks against great defenses, and just 1 sack against below-average defenses. The 49ers are one of those great defenses – when Stafford faced them in Week 4 he took a massive seven sacks, and turned the ball over twice.
11. HOU vs TEN: This is an honorable mention. Ryan Tannehill is dealing with an ankle injury, which he played through for part of the fourth quarter last week. He’ll probably play next week, but if he doesn’t, the Texans become a more attractive start against Malik Willis. This rank at 11 reflects where I have Houston if Tannehill does play – usable in a pinch, but Surely You Can Find Something Better.

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Jacob Herlin is a Data Scientist for FantasyPros. For more from Jacob, check out his archive and follow him @jacoblawherlin.