NFL Fantasy 2021 Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Week 16: Defenses

I don’t want to speculate on the health of the quarterbacks, but Mike Glennon did not look great against the Dallas Cowboys. And whenever I want to defend Ryan Pace, and not hold it against him trading up to select Mitch Trubisky, I think of Glennon. I mean, it’s one thing to draft Trubisky, who was the top of a lot of the draft boards of a lot of prominent analysts (not me, though). Pace once watched tape of Glennon and thought that he would be a good NFL quarterback. That’s besides the point. The Cowboys scored a ton of points against the Giants last week. The Giants offensive line is struggling. The quarterback (whomever it is) turns the ball over way too much. And the Eagles have been pretty good on defense. Look at what they did to the poor Football Team (I wrote this before the game, I hope this turns out all right.)

This is a real test of faith right here. I mean, you have the best matchup imaginable with the Jaguars. But it’s also the Jets. Although they did score a touchdown against the Dolphins last week and ended up with 12 fantasy points. Many of us also used the Texans last week against the Jets and they also finished with 12 points thanks to three sacks. I know it’s who you thought you were going to play in the semifinals of the playoffs, but here we are.

If you watched the Titans over the last couple of weeks they have not been beat. Instead, they keep making mistakes that cost them ball games. The Titans should have beaten the Steelers, but they got careless with the ball after getting out to an early lead against the Steelers. And it’s been a theme. The Titans have allowed the fourth-most fantasy points to DSTs over the last month.

You want to turn your back on the Lions because they are, well, the Lions? Hey, they are the two-win Lions. They have beaten some pretty good teams, tied another good team. And they did end up putting up a decent outing against the Cardinals. I mean, they beat the (stuff) out of them. The Lions' eight points were their highest point total since Week 11. And the Lions don’t have double-digits on the season. But if you’re in a pinch for a DST this week, I’m just saying the Lions could be worth something.

The Browns have bee a clutch defense for a lot of us this season. They have had multiple sacks in all but one game this season. But there is no way that I’m going to take the Browns against the Packers and their future quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Think about it; the Browns trade a bunch of firsts and Baker Mayfield to the Packers. Who says no? Although I would hate hating Baker.

Well, if you survived with the Cardinals defense this week, you likely already raged-dropped them so this message might be too late. The Cardinals scored just three points in what should have been a plus matchup. And if I’m being completely honest, they could be in a lot of trouble against the Colts. There is a chance of a letdown because Indy just had a huge win over the Patriots. Still, I don’t want to go up against the Colts who have been stingy to opposing DSTs. The Cardinals have scored just five combined points in the last two weeks.

The Steelers are coming off a pretty huge game against the Titans, obviously. They had four sacks, and four turnovers which was amazing. However, they didn’t score a single point the previous week against the Minnesota Vikings. In fact, the Steelers have had zero points in three of their last five games. Scored 10-plus points in the other two. But I’m thinking the Chiefs are not a team I want to stream the Steelers against this week. The Chiefs have been top 10 in fewest points allowed to DSTs over the last month.

A lot of this will depend on who the starting quarterback is for the Ravens this week. Not that Tyler Huntley is better than Lamar Jackson. But I will say that a healthy Tyler is a great option for the Ravens at the moment. And don’t think the Ravens are playing poorly. They have lost three consecutive games, that is totally true. But by a combined four points, and they keep going for the win at the end of regulation. I love John Harbaugh for that. The Bengals did have five sacks in the first meeting. So if you’re super desperate, maybe. But I’d likely stay away.