Fantasy Football Defense Streaming Week 2: Seahawks Look to Fly High against New England
It was a pretty ugly Week 1 in the NFL as we only saw 35 passing touchdowns across the full 16-game schedule. There were 37 passing touchdowns in Week 1 in 2023, but as recently as 2021 there were 61! We also saw our first kick return touchdown under the new rules. All-in-all it was a pretty eventful Week 1 on the defensive front.
Looking ahead to Week 2, there were a few big injuries that will have an impact on the defensive landscape this week. Packers QB Jordan Love, 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey, and Rams WR Puka Nacua all left early or missed out entirely and all three are impact players for fantasy. We’ll try to target widely available fantasy defenses in this article and I’ll also find a few deeper-league options as well.
More Week 2 Streamers: TE | QB | K
Week 1 Review
We’ll get the bad out of the way first. The Bengals finished with 2 points and tied for 27th on the week in fantasy scoring. Cincinnati as a whole looked completely off and the Bengals couldn’t get to Jacoby Brissett or slow down Rhamondre Stevenson.
We had some big hits though, as the Bears finished as DST1 on the week with a defensive touchdown and special teams touchdown to finish with 24 points. The Chargers were DST4 on the week with 14 points as they held the Raiders to 10 points while creating three turnovers and four sacks. The Seahawks finished with 9 points and were tied for 9th in scoring this week. Overall, three hits and one miss.
Top Defensive Streaming Options for Week 2
Seattle Seahawks vs. New England Patriots
Rostered in 43% of Yahoo Leagues
We’re going back to the well on both targeting the Seahawks and targeting a defense against the Patriot's offensive line. The Seahawks only had two sacks against the Broncos and Bo Nix, but he was getting the ball out super quick, which did lead to some bad reads and two interceptions.
The total sits at 38 and the Patriots have a team total of 17 on the week, so a lower-scoring game environment should also benefit the Seahawk's defense as well.
Deeper Streaming Options for Week 2
Los Angeles Chargers vs. Carolina Panthers
Rostered in 14% of Yahoo leagues
The Chargers are back on our radar again as they get the Panthers and Bryce Young this week. Young ate four sacks and the Panthers had three turnovers as the Saints were one of the top defenses last week. Now they get a Chargers defense that looked re-energized under Jim Harbaugh and defensive coordinator Jesse Minter.
The Chargers aren’t highly rostered right now, but will likely be one of the top defensive waivers adds this week so anyone else streaming in your league is likely targeting them as well.
Indianapolis Colts vs. Green Bay Packers
Rostered in 8% of Yahoo leagues
With Jordan Love out this week, the Colts end up on our radar this week as Malik Willis fills in for Love. In two games in 2023, Willis played 20 snaps took four sacks, and fumbled. In 2022, Willis started three games took 10 sacks, and had four turnovers.
Even though this Packers roster is better than the Titans and the coaching is better, Willis is going to take sacks and has the turnover gene so there’s high upside for the Colts this week.
Looking Ahead
The Chargers could remain on our radar if they remain rostered in under 50% of leagues as they get the Steelers in Week 3. We’ll have to see what happens with Russell Wilson and Justin Fields and who the starting quarterback is, but either way, it’s not the worst spot. The Titans basically aren’t rostered and could be an option assuming Malik Willis is still the starting QB in Green Bay for Week 3.
