As the fantasy football playoffs arrive, checking every corner for spare points can be the difference between victory and defeat. That means you need to be ahead of the curve when it comes to your kickers and defenses. Some are still battling it out for a coveted playoff position and can’t afford the roster space to stash a special teamer, but if you’re light on depth or have the room, here are the defenses worth stashing.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
With every defense, you’ll need to decide if you want the talented group against worse matchups or lesser defenses with great matchups. There is no right answer; it’ll be up to you to decide.
Tampa Bay leans toward the latter, as DEF16 overall or DEF12 by weekly average, but with an excellent schedule. The rest of the way, they’ll face: Jacoby Brissett, Tyler Shough, Kirk Cousins, Bryce Young, and Tua Tagovailoa. Every game is also outside with a chance of being a weather game.
Getting a player like Jamel Dean would help a lot, but if this offense can get out of their funk and force opposing teams into bad spots, they’ll be a far bigger threat.
Per Ian Hartitz on X, Tampa Bay is still making plays by creating havoc for offenses, which is exactly how you score points for fantasy.
New Orleans Saints
Staying in the NFC South, the Saints are also a much more average group with an ideal schedule. Their playoff matchups all feature lesser offenses: the Panthers, Jets, and Titans. This is a great unit to stash just to keep away from your league mates, but also in case you have a better defense with a bad matchup to pair.
The Saints are coming off solid games against the Falcons and Panthers in the last two weeks with Tyler Shough starting, so the opportunity for them to continue that streak remains. They are far from an elite group, but a buck-average defense with a great schedule is a fine and safe play for the playoffs.
New York Giants
Make no mistake, this defense has been bad. One of the worst in the league to be exact. So, why the stash? Championship weeks.
It would take nearly the perfect opponents for you to consider starting the Giants’ defense with your season on the line, but that’s what they have.
In Week 16, they face J.J. McCarthy and the Minnesota Vikings at home. Then they get the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 17. It’s a little cruel that it’s this team that gets such a favorable schedule, but it’ll force managers to make an important call on whether they’re worth the play.
It’s worth keeping an eye on the Raiders to see if they improve without Chip Kelly calling plays. If they succeed up to that point, the Giants aren’t worth the risk or even the stash. They’d still be a viable play against the Vikings, but no more.
Pittsburgh Steelers
This is one of my favorite stashes. The Steelers’ defense has been one of the better fantasy units this season when given a good matchup, but may find themselves on the waiver wire with upcoming games against the Bills and Ravens. Find the room for them if you have the space available.
The third-ranked D/ST on the season, they have a very favorable playoff schedule featuring Miami and Cleveland. While they face Detroit in between, it’s almost ideal that they have a great matchup in two separate rounds of playoffs. Pair them with a good Week 16 defense, and you’ll be set for the postseason.
Kansas City Chiefs
This is not the Chiefs team nor defense of old. They’ve struggled in games they would typically dominate and lost games they’d usually win. There’s been regression on both sides of the ball. So, why trust them now?
We’ve seen the Chiefs turn up around December for a few years now. We know they’re capable of taking it to another level. For the first time in this era, we’ll see how they play when desperation is part of the equation.
Even so, their lineup of games is still pretty good. They’re worth a spot start against the Chargers in Week 15 if you don’t have a better option. I’d avoid going against Justin Herbert if you can, but their offense is a shell of its former self.
I love the Week 16 game against Tennessee. Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, against a rookie QB without much help. It feels like a potential blowup spot in Championship week. While the Broncos in Week 17 don’t seem fantastic on paper, I’d be willing to bet against Bo Nix in Arrowhead in what will likely be a frigid December night.
It may be a down year, but trusting a championship team like the Chiefs during your championships feels like a good bet.
