Breakdowns
10/25/21
3 min read
Fantasy Football: Streaming Defenses and Kickers – Week 8
With much easier bye weeks to navigate this week, the options are definitely better than last week. Below I will break down the best Week 8 streaming matchups for both defense and kicker and the reasons why I feel they are great options.
Defense:
Chicago Bears (vs. SF)
The Bears defense snapped a streak of five consecutive games with three or more sacks this past week against Tampa, but they are a good bounce-back option for this week. San Francisco’s offense struggled this week coming out of the bye with both QBs injured and it’s reasonable to expect that to continue. Fewer turnovers from the offense would be extremely valuable for the Bears defense and it’s reasonable to expect that coming off a week of five turnovers. The Bears are a defense that seems trustable for this week.
Philadelphia Eagles (@ DET)
The Eagles defense has been taken apart by some of the better offenses in the league so far, but luckily for them, they don’t have to matchup with one of those this week. Instead, they get a Detroit team that’s been the 8th best opponent to face as a fantasy defense. Detroit is below average in scoring, turnovers, and sacks allowed, making them an excellent option to stream a defense against, and I would recommend doing exactly that for this week.
Los Angeles Chargers (vs. NE)
Even without the bye week issues, the high roster percentages for so many defenses means that there aren’t a depth of great options. The Chargers are a huge risk after the Patriots offense obliterated the Jets offense, but the Patriots offense was a matchup to take advantage of before that. If you believe that this past week was a mirage for the Patriots offense, the Chargers defense could be a solid option, but they’re definitely not without risk.
Kickers:
Evan McPherson (@ NYJ)
Evan McPherson is a kicker that’s been improving in recent weeks, with double-digit point totals each of the last two weeks and now he gets the best fantasy matchup for a kicker against the Jets. The Jets’ combination of poor overall defense with a solid red zone defense leads to a lot of field goal attempts that you have to be aiming for with your kicker. McPherson is a very available kicker that you should absolutely be targeting for this week.
Chase McLaughlin (vs. PIT)
Chase McLaughlin has been slightly above average as a fantasy kicker this season, and combining that with the sixth best matchup is a good recipe for success. McLaughlin has been a very accurate kicker this season, not missing until this past week, so you can depend on him to convert on his chances, and I’d back him to get at least two field goal chances, which is what you have to be aiming for.
Greg Joseph (vs. DAL)
This choice is simply putting faith in Greg Joseph’s opportunities as a fantasy kicker, as he’s been the fifth best one this season despite four missed field goals. With 10 field goal attempts in the two weeks before the bye and 16 in his last five games, Joseph has been an extremely busy kicker and one I’d highly recommend investing in because that opportunity will more often than not lead to points. Coming off the bye is the best time to get him before other people do.
