NFL Fantasy Football Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Week 4: Defenses

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are coming off consecutive weeks where they have scored double-digit points. They recorded 11 sacks in the last two games and will likely be facing a rookie quarterback making his first road start of the season. The Bucs have also notched two interceptions in each of the last two games as well.

Always start your defenses against the Jets, which is a pretty easy rule of thumb for you to remember. Here’s the thing though, telling you about the Broncos right now probably does you no good because people either used waiver priority on the Broncos this week. Or they were thinking ahead and looking at the Jets opponent for the following week (call that Rank’s pro tip of the week). We take a look at next week’s schedule and notice the next team up is the Arizona Cardinals. With that in mind …  

The Cardinals are a pretty good option for this week anyway with a decent matchup against the Carolina Panthers. The Cardinals had four sacks in back-to-back games against the Football Team and the Detroit Lions. Although losing a game to the Lions kind of puts a damper on things. They still have a great opportunity this week.

The Rams did give up a lot of points in Buffalo last week, especially early. But they did record four sacks and force two turnovers. And speaking of turnovers, it’s Danny Dimes making the start in Los Angeles this week. I’m willing to give the Rams the benefit of the doubt for playing back-to-back roadies on the East Coast. And would consider this a perfect opportunity for a bounce-back game this week.

There’s a clothing store in a nondescript shopping mall in Huntington Beach which isn’t anything special now. But back when I was a kid it was a bar that had shows featuring bands like Sublime, No Doubt, the Aquabats and many other Orange County legends. I think I saw Blink 182 there as well. That’s what playing the Vikings defense feels like. Nostalgia more than anything else. I still can’t believe the Vikings are rostered in nearly 50% of NFL.com leagues despite scoring a total of two points this season. Combined. I know Deshaun Watson gets sacked a lot, but I’m streaming other options.

The Browns are coming off a huge performance against the Football Team (14 points), thanks to three sacks, three interceptions and two fumble recoveries. But Dwayne Haskins is barely holding on to the gig in D.C. And Dak Prescott is a slight upgrade, to put it mildly. That would be like saying a PS5 is a huge upgrade over a toaster. Because I’m not even sure it’s the same thing. The Browns managed four total points in games against the Ravens and Bengals. In fact, all of it was against the Bengals.

The Jaguars defense had a great effort in Week 1 against the Indianapolis Colts and, well, six points isn’t a great effort. But it’s solid. However, they have yet to register a point in the two contests after. A big problem is they aren’t getting to the quarterback enough, registering only one sack in each of their first three games. Even going against a rookie quarterback, this seems like one to avoid.

The Patriots have been really good against the Dolphins and the Raiders. And somehow managed six points in a game where they gave up 429 yards in a loss at Seattle. But I’m going to avoid this one here. The Patriots might be worth holding on to for the following week because they are playing host to the Broncos. Keep them rostered if you have the space (or look to add them if somebody drops them this week). I’d rather go with a different squad in this one.