2021 NFL Fantasy Football Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Week 4: Defenses

The Titans aren’t as bad defensively as a lot of you want to make them out to be. They aren’t dominant or anything like that. But that’s cool. That gives you the chance to steam them this week. The Jets have allowed double-digit points to opposing defenses this season. And any time you can stream against a rookie quarterback, you want to go ahead and take advantage of that. 

Speaking of going up against rookie quarterbacks, the Saints defense was good against the Patriots and Mac Jones last week. But it’s not like they have only been good against the rooks. They also played well against Aaron Rodgers a few weeks ago. You might remember that Rodgers had two picks against the Saints defense. Could have been a little bit worse, too. 

The Lions have been playing better than people like me have given them credit for. They aren’t great, but they are playing better. And they did pull an upset over the Ra … (checks notes) never mind. So I’m not saying this should be automatic for the Bears. But Chicago’s defense has played rather well and were good in the first half against the Browns last week. Still prone to some big plays but still, the Bears are a good option this week. 

The Falcons had allowed the most fantasy points to opposing defenses headed into last week. And this FT defense can be pretty good, even though it gave up a lot of points to the Bills last week. The Bills are one of the best teams in the NFL, so there is really no shame in that. But anytime you have a great front four combined with a questionable offensive line, that seems like a good risk for me. 

Having a quarterback hobbled by sprained ankles is big. And I don’t need to take away from Carson Wentz, who is gutty for even being out there on the field. But this Dolphins defense can be nasty at times. They have been uneven this season, that’s fair to say. I mean, they were miserable against the Bills a few weeks ago. But even a good FT defense was terrible against them. I like them as a streamer this week, for deeper leagues. They aren’t my first choice. But not a bad one. 

Let me tell you, I was thinking of putting the Steelers as a sit this week. Mostly because they just lost to the Bengals. But if T.J. Watt returns this week, that could be huge. And … AND you have to realize the Packers have a lot of injuries on the offensive line, which could actually work out well for the Steelers' pass rush. Again, we started them in Week 1 at Buffalo and it worked out well. That could very well be the case this week, too. 

We have the Chiefs coming off a loss. We have an Andy Reid REVENGE GAME. A lot of things are working against the Eagles in this one. I will say, and this is worth noting, the Chiefs haven’t looked great so far this season. But that’s the kind of thing that worries me. You don’t want to catch them at the wrong time. Especially after a short week. 

The Broncos are probably a team you picked up the past couple of weeks to face the Jaguars and Jets, but you might want to sub them out for this week. I mean, don’t do anything crazy, but if you have the chance for some other options, you might want to make a move. The Ravens didn’t look great against the Lions. But they were coming off a huge dub over the Chiefs so it’s not outlandish to think they might have a letdown. 

Again, you might have picked up the Patriots last week to go against Jameis Winston. Which wasn’t a bad thought. But again, you need to make sure that you have this switched out. I mean, leaving in the Broncos wouldn’t be the end of the world. But I would make sure the Patriots are out of your lineup. 

Are the Texans even rostered in any fantasy league? I’m serious. They're 0.9% percent rostered in NFL.com leagues. So this is for a very small audience, but make sure they are not on your roster. Maybe you’re Colleen Wolfe and you didn’t realize you were in a fantasy league until this week. Just make sure you’re checking.