Let’s Stream Defenses: Week 15 (2024 Fantasy Football)

The fantasy playoffs are finally here! In some leagues at least – if you only have four playoff teams this is likely the last week of your regular season. In either case, if you’re reading this, you’re probably in a must-win matchup this week. Before we get to this week’s ranks, we have a couple quarterback situation changes to go over. Also, don’t forget to check out the last section for my recommendations for teams to stash for future weeks.

• The New Orleans Saints saw Derek Carr fracture his non-throwing hand in last week’s game. He hasn’t been placed on IR yet, but I expect he’s probably out for the remainder of the season. The Saints were a bad matchup for defenses with Carr thanks to his very low sack rate – in 10 games he never took more than one sack. Spencer Rattler will take over, unless the Saints decide to give Jake Haener a shot. The Saints are a great defense matchup with either of those quarterbacks.
• The Las Vegas Raiders carted Aidan O’Connell off the field last week with a knee injury that mercifully turned out to be a bone bruise, rather than a more serious ligament injury. He is questionable for Week 15, with Desmond Ridder in like to take his place. The Raiders are a good defense matchup either way.

Streaming Defenses: Waiver Wire & Start/Sit Advice (Week 15)

Byes are finally over – we have all 32 teams playing this week. It looks like a solid week for streaming, with a couple of low-rostership teams ranked highly. Rostership numbers are from Yahoo. You can find me on Bluesky.

Week 15 Matchups

1. BAL @ NYG: Giants QB Drew Lock is undergoing an MRI for an undisclosed issue. Coach Daboll said Lock will start if he is able. I’m operating under the assumption that Lock will play, but we really don’t know. There’s a chance we end up seeing Tommy DeVito instead. For the Ravens’ Defense, it doesn’t matter so much – both quarterbacks are great matchups. The Vegas-derived point projection of 14.25 is rock-bottom – it’s not every week we see a projection that low. The Ravens are an easy start this week.
2. WAS @ NO: Saints QB Derek Carr fractured his non-throwing hand during last weeks game. He hasn’t been placed on IR (yet?), but I expect we will see Spencer Rattler at quarterback for the Saints going forward. Rattler had three starts earlier in the season, and was pretty bad in what were admittedly tough matchups. In those three games he accumulated 14 sacks and 4 turnovers, and only took the team over 10 points in one of those games. The Saints are an excellent matchup as long as Carr is sidelined.
3. MIN vs CHI: Caleb Williams has played well lately and no longer turns the ball over, but still leads a team in crisis and takes a lot of sacks. Last week, fresh off the firing of head coach Matt Eberflus, the Bears failed to see the traditional fired-coach-bounce, and turned in just 13 points against the 49ers and allowed 7 sacks despite Nick Bosa being out with an oblique injury. This week the Bears have a road game against a good Vikings defense that’s 4th in the NFL with 40 sacks.
4. KC @ CLE: Jameis Winston is a risk-taker who will put up points with a pass-heavy offense, which creates plenty of interception opportunities for defenses good enough to capitalize. Recent weeks have illustrated this well – in four games against the Chargers, Broncos and Steelers (twice), he has 9 interceptions. The Chiefs’ defense is as good as any of the aforementioned, and have the added benefit of devil magic on their side. The Chiefs have a lot of upside this week.
5. ARI vs NE: The Cardinals got roughed up by the Seahawks’ run game last week, but they had been looking pretty good in the preceding weeks. The Cardinals displayed a good pass rush in the four preceding games, totaling 19 sacks in that span. The Patriots don’t have a threatening run game, and Drake Maye is vulnerable to sacks behind one of the worst offensive lines in the league. Maye had 3+ sacks in 4 of his last 5 games, and turned the ball over 9 times in that span. I expect those trends to continue in Arizona.
6. ATL @ LV: Aidan O’Connell was carted of the field last week, with a knee injury that turned out to be a bone bruise. We don’t know if he’ll be able to start in Week 15, or if we’ll see Desmond Ridder. It won’t make a big difference though, as the outlook for the Falcons is similar with either quarterback. Both quarterbacks would lead a low-powered offense, have a tendency towards turnovers, and allow significant sack totals on an inconsistent basis.
7. NYJ @ JAC: Last week Mac Jones made his first start for the Jaguars since Trevor Lawrence‘s season-ending shoulder injury. It went exactly how we expected, which is to say Jones threw two interceptions and led the team to just 10 points (which was enough for the win against Tennessee). Jones only took one sack in that game, which also aligns with expectations. In three seasons as the Patriots’ starting QB, Jones threw plenty of interceptions but did a decent job of avoiding sacks, considering the quality of pass protection he was dealing with. This is a good matchup – albeit one with moderate sack expectations – for the Jets.
8. PHI vs PIT: Russell Wilson has been good for the Steelers, but he’s taken a healthy diet of sacks in the process and now has to face an Eagles defense that has been excellent lately. They have held some of the best offenses in the league – the Bengals, Commanders, Rams and Ravens – all to 20 points or less. Last week’s 16 points allowed to the Panthers is pretty good too, if you’re keyed in to how well the Panthers have been playing lately. Steelers WR George Pickens missed last week’s game with a hamstring strain, and if he misses again that takes away a significant chunk of the Steelers’ big play potential.
9. CIN @ TEN: This matchup is a very stoppable force meeting a very movable object. The Bengals have one of the worst real-world defenses in the league, though to their credit they turned in a competent performance keeping the Cowboys to 20 points last week. The Titans aren’t the worst scoring offense in the league, but they are one of the best fantasy defense matchups because Will Levis has a tendency to throw interceptions. By starting the Bengals this week, you’re betting that their offence creates a game script that incentivizes the Titans to throw often in an effort to catch up, creating more turnover opportunities.
10. DEN vs IND: Colts QB Anthony Richardson is good at avoiding sacks, but has a habit of throwing interceptions and doesn’t lead a very effective overall offense. The excellent Broncos defense should be able to keep the scoring down and take advantage of turnover opportunities, even if they only end up with one or two sacks.

Rest of Season

To help you plan for the fantasy playoffs, I’ve created a google sheet with my matchup ratings for every offense, and a schedule grid for the rest of the season. To summarise, here are some defenses that I think will be usable in at least two of the next three weeks:

• The Jacksonville Jaguars have the Raiders in Week 16 and the Titans in Week 17. The Jags held the Titans to just a pair of field goals on the road last week, so I have no fears about playing that matchup again at home in the fantasy finals.
• The Buffalo Bills have the Patriots in Week 16 and the Jets in Week 17. The Jets are normally just OK as a matchup due to Aaron Rodgers‘ sack and turnover avoidance, but there is a very real possibility he is no longer playing by Week 17, with the Jets eliminated from the playoffs.
• The Indianapolis Colts get the Titans in Week 16 and the Giants in Week 17. They also get the Jaguars in Week 18, if you’re in one of those leagues.
• The Las Vegas Raiders play the Jaguars in Week 16 and the Saints in Week 17. The Saints will be a good matchup if Derek Carr does indeed go on IR for his broken hand. I would not start the Raiders if Carr ends up able to play.
• The New York Giants get a pair of good-but-not-great matchups with the Falcons in Week 16 and the Colts in Week 17.
• The Tennessee Titans have a decent matchup against the Colts in Week 16 and a very good matchup against the Jaguars in Week 17.
• The Atlanta Falcons get the Raiders in Week 15, and get to follow that up with the Giants in Week 16.