With fantasy football season underway, Pro Football Network will have weekly Defense/Special Teams (D/ST) rankings for the 2020 season. We continue with our Week 9 rankings. While singular offensive players dominate fantasy football, the other side of the ball sees players work together as a unit. These rankings can be especially useful if you are streaming your defenses on a weekly basis. This week’s top-ranked Steelers defense is likely rostered in your league but below are more options for your needs in Week 9.
When ranking a fantasy defense, the general scoring includes points for fumbles, interceptions, sacks, safeties, and restricting offensive yards and points. Special teams scoring incorporates any kickoff or punt return touchdowns, blocked punts, and blocked field goal attempts.
For the defensive side, the most commonly used strategy by analysts is steaming defenses. This concept involves examining weekly matchups for weaker or outmatched offensive opponents and looking for defenses on your league’s waiver wire to maximize your production from this roster spot. If you’re taking that approach, these 2020 defense fantasy rankings will be a bookmark you visit often.
D/ST Ranking Highlights
Pittsburgh Steelers
Last week, the Philadelphia Eagles put up the most fantasy points for a defense against the Dallas Cowboys. Now, one of the league’s best defenses in the Steelers gets to take on the Cowboys in what should be a matchup that can win weeks for many fantasy teams. The Steelers defense is averaging the second-most fantasy points per game. They are one of four teams to have a DVOA rating inside the top 10 against both the pass and the run. The better units like the Steelers defense tend to find their way atop fantasy defense rankings, no matter what scoring format you employ.
Washington Football Team
Daniel Jones and the New York Giants offense are currently allowing the third-most points to opposing fantasy defenses. Their initial clash in Week 6 yielded only one turnover but resulted in the Giants putting up just 14 points on their way to finishing as a top-12 defense. With a pass rush that is beginning to gel along with an extra week to prepare for this divisional foe, Washington will look to have a big day that could vault them into being a regular feature higher up in fantasy defense rankings.
New England Patriots
When one starts to look at fantasy defense rankings, the weekly opponent of the New York Jets should always be somewhere in the top five. Adam Gase cannot possibly get any worse when it comes to leading this team. Now with linebacker Avery Williamson traded, the team will have an even tougher time stopping the run, allowing the Patriots offense to fully dictate a quick game that eats the clock and ultimately provides fewer opportunities for the winless Jets to put up points.
Week 9: Defense/Special Teams Fantasy Rankings
If you need to search for specific teams, you can do so using our filters below. Don’t forget to reset them to clear your board and start from the beginning. A negative percentage of defensive DVOA indicates a unit that is performing well. On offense, a negative score indicates poor performance. As injuries and news come in, we will be updating our rankings to make sure you are covered and know which teams are our top streaming defenses of the week.
Please note: On mobile devices, these rankings view best in landscape mode.