As you prep your line up for this weekend’s matchup, you glance down your roster and are feeling confident until…. BAM you notice that your defense is facing a high octane, high scoring, rip roarin’ offense. We have all had it happen. Well before you start to panic, I have some good news for you. In the famous last words of Yoda “There… is… a…nother… Sky….wal…ker……” Except in this case, replace Skywalker with team Defense.
Last week, if you decided to start a defense like San Diego, Oakland, or Chicago you know that you were definitely hurt by the lack of performance on their part, and you obviously didn’t read the last article on this subject. Every week, there will be teams that will fare better than some of the high profile offenses due to their matchups. For example, any defenses facing New Orleans, New England, Green Bay are all going to have trouble keeping points off the board and you may want to substitute your defense with a team that has a better chance of keeping the score low and creating havoc in the back field. So here are some team defenses you may want to consider for plug ‘n’ play this week:
Cincinnati Bengals vs. SF
There is hardly a team in the NFL that has not suffered the loss of at least one starter due injury so far this season and San Francisco is certainly no exception. It looks as if they will be without WR Braylon Edwards this week and possibly Michael Crabtree as well. The latter is recovering from a foot injury that held him out of last week’s game and it very well could sideline him this game as well. Either way, QB Alex Smith is not known for keeping the ball out of opposing defense’s hands and hasn’t gotten a single WR more than 38 yds in game so far this year. As long as the Bengals can hold down Gore as well as they did Peyton Hillis in week 1, this should be a good showing for their defense.
Arizona Cardinals vs. SEA
It looks like it’s going to be a rough season for the Seahawks unless they make some serious changes in the offense. So far this season, they’ve only been able to score two TDs, granted they have had some pretty tough matchups in their first two games. But with an unhealthy Sydney Rice and banged up offensive line, you can expect a lot of pressure getting to T Jackson. This looks to be Seattle’s best matchup to date, but you really can’t expect much from an offense that has only managed to score an average of 8.5 points per game.
Surprise Streamer of the Week
Carolina Panthers vs. Jax
Just a year ago, I was streaming defensive teams that were matched against the Panthers and now that Cam Newton is in town, I would almost shy away starting a defense that plays them. This week, the Panthers are looking to get their first win of the season after two upsetting losses to the Packers and Cards. With the Jaguars starting rookie QB Blaine Gabbert, they will lean heavily on the run as they always have as Gabbert is likely to make some questionable decisions as rookies often do. Although Carolina is without LBs Beason and Davis, their main objective will be to shut down MJD and their run game. As long as they keep MJD from going off and keep the pressure on Gabbert, Carolina will be worth the start.
