Fantasy Football: 3 Defensive Streamer Options for Week 13

Every point matters when it comes to winning in season-long fantasy football, meaning you can't afford to leave points on the table. We don't spend top-notch draft capital on D/STs in our fantasy football drafts, but ignoring them during the season can cost you dearly.

Streaming defenses throughout the year is a great way to ensure you get the most out of your D/ST slot. Even the best defenses draw tough weekly matchups, and even the worst defenses are capable of strong fantasy outings in the right situations.

This article is here to help you parse through all of those situations and to present you with three streamers available in most leagues.

Fantasy Football Defenses to Stream for Week 13

All projections via numberFire.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Matchup: vs. Carolina Panthers

numberFire Projection: 10.27 (D/ST1)

Not to kick a team too hard when they're down, but the Carolina Panthers are a mess this year. The team clearly had massive expectations for first overall pick Bryce Young, who has played to an extremely underwhelming level to open his career. Carolina's offense is barely outperforming the worst units in the league and, unfortunately, looked its best in journeyman Andy Dalton's lone start.

They're an ideal offense to attack when streaming defenses, which factors into the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' ranking as the D/ST1 overall in numberFire's projections this week. Even a defense as banged up as Tampa Bay's shouldn't have a problem shutting down an offense that ranks dead last in net yards per pass attempt (4.2 yards) and 28th in yards per carry (3.8).

Between Young's 10.3% sack rate (second-highest among active quarterbacks) and the team's inability to put points on the board, the Bucs should have one of the safest floors of any D/ST unit in fantasy in Week 13. Any turnovers they create are just cherries on top.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Matchup: vs. Cincinnati Bengals

numberFire Projection: 9.37 (D/ST3)

I think it's pretty safe to say that Jake Browning is no Joe Burrow.

As long as Browning is starting for the Cincinnati Bengals, they'll be one of the top teams to stream defenses against in fantasy football. To be fair, Browning has been tasked with facing both the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers in his two appearances, but the 27-year-old former undrafted free agent doesn't look like someone who can punish opposing defenses -- at least not for fantasy.

The Jacksonville Jaguars' defense should be more than capable of generating fantasy points against this iteration of the Bengals' once-potent offense. numberFire's schedule-adjusted metrics rank them as the 12th-best defense in the league. They've been generating turnovers at the 8th-highest rate, as well, something we love to see when looking at fantasy defenses. Turnovers aren't the easiest to predict on a week-to-week basis, but they are the most efficient way a defense can produce fantasy points.

Any time a defense with a nose for turnovers gets a chance to play against a backup quarterback, that defense needs to be on your radar for fantasy purposes. This week, they're numberFire's D/ST3, edging out stronger defenses with harder matchups -- like the San Francisco 49ers' defense, which will be tasked with shutting down the Philadelphia Eagles.

Atlanta Falcons

Matchup: vs. New York Jets

numberFire Projection: 9.16 (D/ST5)

It doesn't get much better for fantasy defenses than a matchup with the New York Jets. It's possible the team got even worse after switching from Zach Wilson to Tim Boyle, too. And fortunately for the Atlanta Falcons, they'll get a crack at this Jets offense in Week 13.

The Jets generated just 159 net yards in Week 12 with Boyle under center. He absorbed a whopping 7 sacks, fumbled twice, and tossed a pair of picks. Even ignoring the pick six that came off of Boyle's Hail Mary attempt just before halftime, the Dolphins would have had a strong fantasy finish against this offense.

The Jets are bad enough that we don't even really need to go into details about the Falcons' defense. They've been an average unit this year -- a massive improvement from previous seasons -- but have created just 12 turnovers all year (tied for fifth-fewest). With how fluky turnovers can be, we should expect their defense to catch a few more breaks down the stretch than they have so far this season.

A date with the Jets' offense could be just what they need to put a few more turnovers on their stat sheet.

Interested in playing NFL DFS? Head over to FanDuel’s daily fantasy football lobby to see all the offerings for this week's slates.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.