Weekly defensive rankings in fantasy football are primarily based on matchups, with the strength and health of the unit being two major factors as well. Going into Week 4, however, which defenses have the most favorable matchups and are the best starts in fantasy football? Let’s take a look at our defensive rankings.
WEEK 4 POSITIONAL RANKINGS: QB | RB | WR | TE | K | FLEX
Top 32 Fantasy DEF Rankings
1) San Francisco 49ers (vs. NE)
2) Cleveland Browns (at LV)
3) Dallas Cowboys (at NYG)
4) Pittsburgh Steelers (at IND)
5) New England Patriots (at SF)
6) New York Jets (vs. DEN)
7) Chicago Bears (vs. LAR)
8) Kansas City Chiefs (at LAC)
9) Baltimore Ravens (vs. BUF)
10) New Orleans Saints (at ATL)
11) Houston Texans (vs. JAX)
12) Seattle Seahawks (at DET)
13) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (vs. PHI)
14) Buffalo Bills (at BAL)
15) Cincinnati Bengals (at CAR)
16) Las Vegas Raiders (vs. CLE)
17) Miami Dolphins (vs. TEN)
18) Indianapolis Colts (vs. PIT)
19) Arizona Cardinals (vs. WAS)
20) Philadelphia Eagles (at TB)
21) Los Angeles Chargers (vs. KC)
22) Tennessee Titans (at MIA)
23) Atlanta Falcons (vs. NO)
24) Green Bay Packers (vs. MIN)
25) Los Angeles Rams (at CHI)
26) Detroit Lions (vs. SEA)
27) Minnesota Vikings (at GB)
28) Jacksonville Jaguars (at HOU)
29) Denver Broncos (at NYJ)
30) Carolina Panthers (vs. CIN)
31) Washington Commanders (at ARI)
32) New York Giants (vs. DAL)
Which Defenses Are Intriguing for Week 4?
Houston Texans (at JAX)
The streaming options this week are reasonably limited, so on Yahoo and leagues where defense scoring is linked to points scored by opposing offenses, we need to look at games where scoring could be low.
That is the case for the Texans, who are facing a Jaguars team that enters Monday Night Football averaging just 15 points per game.
We’ve seen the Texans’ defense play reasonably well. Their Week 3 performance against the Vikings is hard to judge because their offense put them in many tough spots. They may have given up four passing touchdowns to Sam Darnold, but Houston also held him to just 180 yards, and Minnesota only averaged 4.6 yards per play.
Miami Dolphins (vs. TEN)
As it turns out, the two most targetable offenses this week are both playing in the same game. The fact we are recommending both the Dolphins and Titans as defense streaming options doesn’t bode well for a high-octane exciting game from the first of the two Monday Night Football games this week.
Tennessee is averaging just 16 points per game this season, thanks to eight turnovers. What is even more extraordinary is that the Titans have already given up three touchdowns to opposing defenses and special teams combined.
Part of the problem has been a complete failure to protect Will Levis.
Edge Cooper
Jet-Pack go zoom. pic.twitter.com/Nqi5SgIfyn
— Jacob Morley (@JacobMorley) September 23, 2024
Once again, I fear that the Dolphins’ offensive struggles could put a lot of pressure on the defense to make stands and cause issues in terms of leaking points late in the game. Therefore, this might be a better play on ESPN, where points scored are generally not a factor when calculating defensive scoring.
All stats are from TruMedia unless otherwise stated.