It all comes down to this. One final week to clinch a playoff spot. For those of you who already have or are already out this won’t be a relevant article for you. Or will it? Some of the DSTs I’ll lay out here are worth stashing and playing beyond week 14. Never too early to get ahead. Making those kinds of moves now could put you ahead of the waiver wire order next week so don’t skip over if you’ve already clinched a spot in the postseason.
In Week 14 you can basically treat it as if every DST is available. Only the Cardinals and Commanders are on bye. Not exactly defenses we’ll be missing. The teams below will be available in 50% or more Fantrax Leagues.
Week 14 DST Streamers
Houston Texans
Stop me if you’ve heard this before… the Texans have a good DST. In fact, I’ll go a step further, this is a DST you should own not only this week but it could win you your league with their matchups moving forward. They face the Jets this week in the return of Zach Wilson but look past that. The Titans, Browns at home, and Titans at home for their second matchup in Weeks 15-17. Those are two of the worst offenses in football and the Browns are playing Joe Flacco at QB. Juicy matchup after juicy matchup for a DST that has put up eight-plus points in all but two games since October 29th. The Texans are worth an add even if you have locked down a playoff spot and can’t move up or down the standings.
Green Bay Packers
Could the Packers’ DST be legit? In the last two weeks, they’ve faced the Chiefs and Lions and put up six and eleven points respectively. Those two offenses are far better than the Giants this season. Waller could be back and the Giants are coming off a bye having won two in a row but even with all that I still trust the Packers to take care of business on Monday Night. If they do put up a good performance, look for them to be a nice team to play during the fantasy playoff stretch. Like the Texans, the Packers have clear skies ahead. They face Tampa in Week 15, Carolina in Week 16, and Minnesota in Week 17. All of those offenses are in the bottom half of the league. I still love the Texans more but the Packers are fine too.
Cincinnati Bengals
Not the easiest matchup in the world but not the toughest either. The Indianapolis Colts will be without their star RB and down to their backup QB. That’s what I’m betting on here. The Bengals DST hasn’t been to hot of late. You have to go back five games ago to find one where they scored at least six points. Still a struggling Colts team against a Bengals defense that I still believe has some good talent on it. I’d be willing to run the Bengals out there if I miss on my two above choices.
New England Patriots
Monday night, CJ Betherd vs Jake Browning walked so Mac Jones vs Mitchell Trubisky could run on Thursday. Absolutely nauseating QB matchup. This game could finish with fewer points than Nebraska vs Iowa. So with that in mind let’s check out the Patriots DST. It’s a short week too as if things weren’t slanted in favor of the defenses enough. The Patriots’ DST has been solid of late, scoring five or more in their last four games. As an additional plus, Najee Harris doesn’t appear likely to go on Thursday so the Steelers might have to rely on Trubisky even more.
New Orleans Saints
Time for our weekly plug-and-play based on the Carolina Panthers opponent. This week the Saints find themselves as that lucky team. They’ve had their lumps of late but honestly, I almost do not care who the Panthers play. That offense is so lame any DST is worth rolling out to face them. So play the Saints with confidence and ride them or any of the above teams to the playoffs (hopefully).
Week 14 Fantasy Football Rankings: Quarterback | Running Back | Wide Receiver | Tight End | Half-PPR by Position | Flex Rankings | Positional Ranks w/ K & DST | Dynasty | Superflex Dynasty
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