Top Fantasy Football Streaming Defenses for Week 15 Playoffs (Saints Soar in Ideal Matchup)

Week 14 of the NFL season featured several impressive defensive performances across the league, including from teams that weren't widely rostered in fantasy. Week 15 presents plenty more matchups to exploit for managers who opt to stream this position, especially with fantasy playoffs underway.

If you're in need of a defense to play this week, here are our top three streaming defense picks (rostered in fewer than 50% of Yahoo! leagues) to target on the waiver wire.

Week 15 Streaming Fantasy Football Defenses

3. Carolina Panthers (vs PIT)

The Panthers' defense is trending up after a run of strong performances. They just became the first team ever to pick off Geno Smith multiple times in the same game and are allowing just 15.5 points per game over their last four. Carolina will look to stay hot in Week 15 with a juicy home matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers, who could end up starting the turnover-prone Mitch Trubisky at quarterback if Kenny Pickett is unable to clear concussion protocol. Trubisky threw 3 interceptions in relief of Pickett last week and the Steelers' offense is generally terrible, ranking bottom seven in both points and yards per game.

2. New Orleans Saints (vs ATL)

The Saints' defense has been a huge letdown this year from a fantasy perspective, but they have a golden chance to redeem themselves in Week 15. The Atlanta Falcons are coming to town and Desmond Ridder will be starting at quarterback, which is notable because he's yet to play a single snap in the NFL. New Orleans has a prime opportunity to feast on a raw, untested rookie quarterback, making this unit a potential top option this weekend.

1. Pittsburgh Steelers (@ CAR)

The Steelers' defense has started to come together after a slow start, holding opponents to fewer than 20 points in six of their last eight games. Look for that trend to continue this week against an anemic Panthers offense that ranks 24th in points per game and 30th in yards per game. Sam Darnold has looked extremely limited in both of his starts for Carolina, completing just 58.1% of his passes for 284 total passing yards so far. There's nothing to fear with this Panthers offense, putting Pittsburgh in a great spot.