Best Fantasy Football D/ST Streaming Options for Week 11: Texans, Packers, Dolphins, Rams

Welcome back to FantasySP’s weekly breakdown of fantasy football defensive streaming options! Last week, we had some mixed results, as the Giants and Bears both finished with a disappointing three points despite excellent matchups. Luckily, the Chargers finished with a solid 10 points, while my deepest pick of the week, the Patriots, finished as the DST3 on the week with 16 points. New England racked up nine sacks on Caleb Williams and the Bears, who are fast joining the ranks of must-target offenses. 

Heading into Week 11, we again have four teams on bye, but there are still plenty of terrible offensives for us to target. Let’s get started! 

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Week 11 Fantasy Football Defense Streaming Options

Houston Texans (39.0% Rostered) @ Dallas Cowboys

With Dak Prescott now officially out for the season, the Cowboys are turning to Cooper Rush for the foreseeable future. Rush has been a competent backup in the past, but he struggled mightily in his first start of 2024 on Sunday. To his credit, Rush only took one sack and didn’t throw any interceptions. But he fumbled twice (both lost) and played so badly that the Cowboys gave Trey Lance a shot … and Lance proceeded to take two more sacks and throw an interception. 

And, as much as I normally emphasize sacks and turnovers as the keys to defensive fantasy success, the Cowboys under Rush were bad enough to be worth targeting on incompetence alone. With Rush under center, Dallas averaged an absurdly terrible -0.65 EPA per play. For context, Deshaun Watson ranks worst among qualified quarterbacks at -0.23 EPA per play — Rush was nearly three times as ineffective as Deshaun Watson. Dallas finished with a grand total of 146 offensive yards and six points. Even those two field goals weren’t really a result of offensive competency, as they came after a 47-yard kick return and a fumble forced by the Cowboys’ defense already inside the Eagles’ 10-yard line.

For their part, Houston’s defense ranks fourth in overall pressure rate and third in pressure rate over expected. They give up the third-fewest yards per game and fifth-fewest yards per play of any team, although they are actually below average in scoring defense. Given that they also rank eighth-best in EPA per play allowed and third-best in success rate allowed, I’m going to assume that the points allowed number is the outlier and this is a solidly above-average defense … and even if it’s not, what Dallas showed offensively last week was so awful that Houston should be able to have a solid outing regardless. 

Miami Dolphins (34.2% Rostered) vs. Las Vegas Raiders

The Raiders are very, very bad. They rank fourth-worst in both yards per game and yards per play, eighth-worst in points per game, and dead last in EPA per play. They are far and away the least efficient rushing team in the league, and their passing attack isn’t exactly lighting the world on fire, either. 

In fact, that passing attack is what this play is all about. Among QBs with 100 dropbacks, Gardner Minshew ranks fifth-worst with a massive 29% pressure-to-sack rate. He also ranks sixth-highest in straight-up sack rate, as well as seventh in interception rate. Combined with a thoroughly mediocre yards per attempt, those numbers mean he ranks sixth-worst in adjusted net yards per attempt, and the five names below him aren’t pretty. 

Miami’s defense isn’t great. However, they may look slightly worse statistically than they actually are due to the way the entire team collapsed while Tua Tagovailoa was sidelined. Vegas clearly believes in their ability to take care of Minshew and Co., as the Raiders have a minimal 17.5-point total in early lines. This play is a bit risky, but it comes with enough upside to be worth chasing. 

Green Bay Packers (25.4% Rostered) @ Chicago Bears

Remember when I said that the five names below Minshew in adjusted net yards per attempt weren’t pretty? Well, just below him as the fifth-worst quarterback in the league so far this season is the first-overall pick in this year’s draft, Caleb Williams. Williams’ big problem is sacks, as he ranks first among still-starting quarterbacks with over 4.2 sacks taken per game. That number is only trending upwards, too, as he has taken an absurd 15 sacks in his last two outings, including nine last week against a mediocre Patriots defense.

The Bears fired their offensive coordinator after that disastrous outing, but that’s not going to solve their issues. They rank second in pressure rate over expected allowed, which combines terribly with Caleb ranking fourth-worst in pressure-to-sack rate. 

Meanwhile, the Packers’ defense has been solid so far this season. They rank between ninth and 13th-best in each of EPA per play, points per game, yards per game, and yards per play allowed. Sticking with the theme of pressure, they also boast the eighth-highest pressure rate above expected. I expect them to rack up multiple sacks of Williams on Sunday, giving them a huge head start to providing a solid fantasy outing.

Los Angeles Rams (10.8% Rostered) @ New England Patriots

I’m a little worried about this pick. Last week I picked the Bears, who have a better defense than LA, against this Patriots team, and they failed to deliver. Replacing Jacboy Brissett with Drake Maye has massively improved their offense, so some of their season-long metrics (including ranking dead last in yards per game) are a bit misleading.

With that said, the rookie still isn’t perfect, and this offense is still deeply flawed. New England gives up the highest pressure rate above expected, and Maye chips in with the fourth-highest turnover-worthy-play rate among qualified QBs. Maye’s mobility means he has been much better at avoiding sacks than Brissett was, but he still has the 10th-highest sack rate in the league. 

However, there’s still one more reason to be worried about this pick: The Rams’ defense isn’t good. They rank below average in every measure of EPA, points, and yards allowed. The one bright spot is that they do rank in the top 10 in standard pressure rate and pressure rate above expected — that should play well against this terrible New England offensive line. And, as I always say, matchup is key. An ideal matchup against a bottom-five offense is enough for me to trust the Rams’ defense this week.

Ted Chmyz is a fantasy football contributor for FantasySP. Find him on Twitter @Tchmyz for more fantasy content or to ask questions.