Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. For some of you, the fantasy football playoffs essentially begin this week. Your team could be on the brink of elimination and every game is a must-win. Getting the right DST in your lineup can be the difference between qualifying for the playoffs and a late-season disaster. Be sure, with four games before Saturday, to double-check those lineups and don’t leave someone playing in the early slate in your flex. There are lots of familiar names to stream this week with a few other names we normally wouldn’t see but they’re coming out of a bye week.
Week 12 sees nobody on a bye. So much for being off for the Thanksgiving holiday. The DSTs below will be available in 50% or more Fantrax Leagues.
Week 12 DST Streamers
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are my top DST to stream for the second week in a row. They have 12 takeaways in their last three games and 18 over their last seven. Over their last five games, they faced the Chiefs twice, the Buffalo Bills, and the still very good Minnesota Vikings offense last week. They’ve also held all of those opponents to 22 points or fewer. Now they get a Cleveland Browns team with no Deshaun Watson and no Nick Chubb. The Broncos defense is for real. It’s the main catalyst behind why they’ve been winning so many games of late and could be a catalyst for you to pull off a late-season victory.
Houston Texans
When will the Texans DST get the respect it deserves? Maybe this week as they face a Jaguars team that has been up and down through 2023. Consider this is me planting my flag and saying “The Texans defense is good.” I took a pass on naming the Houston Texans two weeks ago when they faced the Cincinnati Bengals and they put up eight points in that contest. This time I’m standing by Houston. If they put up another really good performance, we might have to seriously consider owning them in more than 50% of Fantrax leagues, so I can finally stop talking about them.
New England Patriots
My Washington Commanders DST stream was solid last week despite the final score. Nine sacks will do that for you. Once again I’m betting against the New York Giants offense. There’s quite a sizable gap between Jack Del Rio and Bill Belichick. Especially when Bill Belichick gets to face a rookie quarterback. The Patriots are also coming off of bye week so there’s extra time to prepare. Everything is in the Patriots’ favor in this game, which could determine some key positioning in the NFL draft.
New York Giants
The Giants DST got back to form in Week 11. Prior to a disappointing performance against Vegas and a bad matchup against Dallas, the Giants had looked really good on defense. Last week was the third time in five weeks they’ve scored double-digit fantasy points and they had put up five or more in five straight before that two-game slide. With an even friendlier matchup in Week 12 against New England the Giants could feast, no matter who the QB is.
Tennessee Titans
The Titans are the riskiest play this week, but I always try to give you plenty of options for those of you in deeper leagues. This is not a bet on the Titans’ defense being good, but instead about playing the Panthers. The Panthers, as many expected entering the year, have the least explosive offense in football. Bryce Young was supposed to be the point guard on this offense, he’s not playing with the Golden State Warriors he’s playing with four versions of Cream E. Biggums. In the NFL these days defenses are all about eliminating the big play. The Panthers don’t have big plays this year, which is why I like the Titans DST as a desperation stream.
Week 11 Fantasy Football Rankings: Quarterback | Running Back | Wide Receiver | Tight End | Half-PPR by Position | Flex Rankings | Positional Ranks w/ K & DST | Dynasty | Superflex Dynasty