Transcription
This is the first time in a long time that I can remember not being able to compete in a championship game for either a reddraft league or a basketball tournament. Wasn't my year and I'm disappointed.
But I'm not going to leave you guys hanging for week 17 because this is do or die and I want to see you guys win. So, we're going through this week's top 12 defense rankings and I'm making sure I can do everything I can to make you guys win this week.
So, getting into our first tier, we've got the Broncos defense in a tier by themselves, and they're going to Kansas City on Christmas Day to take on the Chiefs. This to me is the most confident defense I feel like playing this week. Listen, they're playing Kansas City, who obviously is not even relevant in the playoff race anymore. So, in theory, you'd think that they wouldn't try as hard as they would if they were in the playoffs. But this is also a team that just lost Gardenner Mshu, the backup quarterback to Mahomes, to a torn ACL as well. This is a cursed team this year. Like they have Chris Oloken as of right now as their starting quarterback and they've already got tons of offensive issues with the offensive line who got Gardner killed. They've got no weapons and the Broncos are coming off a massive loss. You can expect the Broncos to put forth a really big effort and the Chiefs to just be completely outmatched in this game.
Dropping down to our next tier, we've got the Steelers defense at number two and they're going to Cleveland to take on the Browns. They are a very easy number two in my opinion as far as confidence goes of playing them this week. They're going to Cleveland. And listen, there's a couple things here that I think are at play. It's nothing to do with me believing the Steelers are just going to pound the, you know, pound the crap out of the Browns this week. I actually don't think that's going to be the case. I think it could be close. There's two things at play, though. Number one, it is one of those win and situations for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Number two, Shador Sanders is a guy that just turns the ball over. Now, you can make the argument to me, "Well, Ryan, some of those interceptions are not on him. They bounce off receivers's hands." I watch the games. I see that, but I'm just telling you that Shador Sanders has not gone a game yet without at least one interception. So, it's kind of a lock that he's going to turn the ball over and there's going to be pressure in his face. The only thing I could see with being an issue in this one is because I know this team, I am a Steelers fan and I am not one of the Steelers fans humping each other because of another non-losing season from Tomlin. Congratulations for mediocrity, guys. I also know that this team will definitely take their foot off the gas if they feel like they've already accomplished their mission of not making Tomlin lose that record. So, that's the one problem I see with the Steelers this week, but ultimately I do think they're going to be a good play. So, they're in tier two, but at the top.
The Seahawks defense is at number three. They're going to Carolina to take on the Panthers. I like this one a lot. I think the Seahawks defense, what you saw last week, major bummer if you played them, and I endorse playing them because they're just a dominant defense because most of the time in the playoffs, you just want to trust your dominant defenses. Last week was obviously a bad week. However, they're coming into this game with much more rest than the Carolina Panthers. The Seahawks need to keep their foot on the gas to ensure they lock up the number one seed. And the Panthers are coming off a massive emotional win. you can expect some pullback from the Panthers in this one and expect a much refreshed Seahawks team coming into this game. So ultimately, I just think the Seahawks are a very good play.
The Patriots defense is at number four to round out this tier and they're going to New York to play the Jets. I mean, really, do I even have to talk about this one? Like the the Jets are the easiest freaking matchup. I mean, they're possibly easier than the Raiders at this point. I mean, the Raiders at least showed fight. The Jets are a complete and utter unmitigated disaster at this point. Now, the one thing that again gives me pullback on this one is the Patriots. The first time they played the Jets, not exactly the best defensive performance in fantasy because they're just not a great fantasy defense. They've done well enough against bad opponents this year for me to be able to put a vote of confidence forward for them. So, ultimately, I'm going to stick with my gut here. Put the Patriots at four. But I think that the Patriots will be on waivers this week and that's why you need to utilize our automatic waiver tool in your last week of the fantasy playoffs. The best part about our waiver tool is not only is it winning people their championships this year, which has been on record from several customers. You can also get a free trial. So, you can literally just use the free trial for this week and if it does well for you, great. Come back next year and use it for the full season because I guarantee you it will work for your team. You'll also get access to my top 300 rankings this week. You'll get access to the comparison feature and the league syncup feature on the site. And if you want to stay with that premium subscription on our site during the offseason, you'll also get access to my dynasty rankings during the offseason as well. But that is with the premium subscription at FSR roundup. You can start a poll for free and vote on polls for free on our site as well to make sure your lineup is completely locked this week.
Dropping down to our next tier, we've got the Packers defense at number five, and they're playing the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday night in Green Bay. So, this is obviously operating under the assumption that Lamar Jackson does not play. And that's going to be an important note moving forward. There's going to be several teams in here in these top 12 that I'm assuming the opposing starting quarterback will not play. The Ravens are one of them. I don't think Lamar is going to play. I think it's over for Lamar this year and it's going to be Tyler Huntley. And it's not that Huntley's a bad quarterback necessarily. He's not that good. But I don't think that the Ravens are going to be like a terrible team without Lamar Jackson because I think they have enough offensive talent, particularly with the rushing to be able to withstand and not turn the ball over as much. But I do think ultimately the Packers coming off a really emotionally brutal loss. They're going to be ready to play in this one too at home. They've been a good run defense. So, you kind of take away the one strength the Ravens in theory would have. And I do think the Packers are going to be a good play in fantasy this week.
The Jags defense is at number six. They're going to Indianapolis to take on the Colts. So, a couple things are here are true with this one, too. The Jags are for real. Like, this team, that was a major statement win to go into Denver and do what they did against them like that. It really wasn't that competitive for that long. The Jags were awesome in that game. Their defense has been a turnover machine and also Indianapolis just has is in this position to where Philip Rivers can't push the ball down the field and they're going to be on a short week. Operating on a short week is not a good equation when you're taking on a defense that's this hot. Now the one thing is that the Colts are not a turnover prone team with Rivers. I don't think we'll see what happens tonight, but I don't think that Rivers is the kind of quarterback that's going to make a ton of mistakes in this one. So ultimately, I've got them ranked down here just for that reason.
The Rams defense is at number seven. They're going to Atlanta to take on the Falcons. And I'll tell you the only problem I have with this one because in theory, this should be good. The Rams are coming off a long week as well. They're coming off a bad loss. They're going to want to get that bad taste out of their mouths. And Atlanta is a team that could go in the tubes, especially Kurt Cousins. But the one thing that's giving me pause here is that they've got weapons. Obviously, you've got Bejon who's playing out of his mind right now. Kyle Pittz has done excellent. And you've got Drake London coming back in his second week off the injury. So, there's enough talent there to expose the one weakness on the Rams defense, which is their secondary. So, that's ultimately again the reason the Rams aren't in tier 2 this week cuz I can poke holes in this one. But I ultimately do think the Rams are going to be good enough to be a top 10 play because they have a good pass rush and a good front seven to kind of stop the run and get after Kirk Cousins.
The Saints defense is at number eight to round out this tier and they're going to Tennessee to take on the Titans. A couple things can be true here. The Saints defense was the best play in week 16. And I said this last week, it was kind of impossible not to keep them in the top 10 because of their matchup. I think the Saint Stevens actually is relatively decent for fantasy considering the team that they have. Now, the other thing with that is that the Titans are better these days. They are not the same operation. They have a run game that actually works now and Kamort is minimizing mistakes. So, I don't think this is as strong of a matchup as it would have been in week nine or week 11. I do think that the Saints probably don't do as well as you may think they do because if you look at the Chiefs last week, that was a team that couldn't stop the Titans. So, it's not that the Titans are some great offense all of a sudden. But, I do think this is not as strong of a matchup as it once was earlier in the year.
Now, dropping down to our last tier. This one is tough. I had to make a lot of tough decisions in here. The Texans defense at nine and the Chargers are at 10. They're taking on each other in Los Angeles on Saturday. This is a matchup where I simply believe in these two defenses and I think there's enough weaknesses in each offense for them both to be top 10. I think it will be a lower scoring game and ultimately my trust lies with better defenses. The Texans defense is awesome. Their turnover factory over there, their entire unit defensively, there's no weaknesses. Their run game is strong. Their pass game is strong. Secondary and linebacking crew and front four. They're excellent. Like, you cannot point a weakness out with the Texans defense to me. So, I do ultimately think they're going to take advantage of that offensive line weakness with the Chargers and get after Herbert and maybe force an interception or two. The Chargers, same deal. That defense is very good over there. and they gave up 17 basically to the Cowboys, which I thought actually was wild because the Cowboys offense is very good. And the Chargers defense just kind of proves week after week how good they are. So the Chargers, they're going to get after the Texans weakness, which is once again the offensive line. And I do see that CJ Strad is going to be under a lot of pressure. Probably will not have his best game. And I think both defenses are viable this week. And I would just trust them over the Lions at number 11.
But I'll tell you this, the Lions had to make it in here. And I get it. They sucked against the Steelers. And I did not think it was going to go that way, but they had to make it because JJ McCarthy is out again. In all likelihood, at least. He's got a right hand injury. They said there might be ligament damage. I don't know the full scenario yet. We're filming on Monday, but I do ultimately think the Lions are going to be a solid play. I mean, they get to take on Max Brober. This offense cannot put up many points. And even with the bad defense, because they just played a bad defense, the Vikings did. They just played against a defense, the Giants, and they could barely put up 16 points. I don't think they're going to do much better against the Lions, who are a bad defense because of Max Brosmer.
And then the Cowboys, I know, trust me, when I was ranking them, I was like, there's no way they're going to make it, right? But if it's Josh Johnson, who's been in the league for 18 years somehow, because this guy is awful. If he is the quarterback this week instead of Mariota, Cowboys got to be in here. I mean, if you did not watch the Josh Johnson le Commanders on Saturday, I don't blame you, but it was bad. I mean, that guy can't function as a quarterback. He's got no arm talent. He has no mobility. This offense is just decimated with injuries. I don't see again how just from a matchup perspective, if it is Josh Johnson, it doesn't work out for the Cowboys to some degree.
But I want to make sure that I hammer home the point. These last two in particular are only if JJ McCarthy and Marcus Mariota miss the games. If they don't miss the games, my next two defenses, and this is rare that I do this, I've got the Giants at 13 and the Browns at 14. And the Giants are taking on the Raiders. I think that's a solid match you could take advantage of. if either JJ McCarthy or Mariota plays. And in the Browns also, they're playing Pittsburgh. Like I said earlier, I see a lot of problems with the Steelers offense in this one. I could definitely see the Browns keeping this one close and making Rogers make mistakes.
So, let me know what you think of the rankings in the comments below.