Fantasy Football Week 8 Defense Streamers: Buccaneers, 49ers, and More

It's an offensive league. The NFL made rule changes over the past few decades specifically geared around protecting offensive players and promoting offensive play. Offense sells tickets, after all.

That makes it harder to find good defenses at times, including in the world of fantasy football. The way scoring works means that the best fantasy defenses aren't always the best real life defenses, but you can usually get on the right track by finding a decent unit and attacking the worst offenses.

Let's look at three D/ST units with good matchups in Week 8 that are widely available in fantasy leagues and can be picked up and inserted into your lineup. Most stats are from NFL.com.

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Atlanta Falcons vs. Miami Dolphins

The Falcons have been surprisingly good on defense. The offense is holding the team back, but Atlanta's D is shutting down passing games every week (while looking more vulnerable against the run).

I'm really excited about going after Miami. It seems like a crumbling castle, a sinking ship, or whatever other comparison you want to use for the decline of a team that looked like a division contender are recently as the beginning of last season.

Tua Tagovailoa is tied for the league lead with 10 interceptions and has been sacked 15 times, tied for ninth most. Miami has allowed the ninth-most fantasy points per game to opposing defenses. Last week, Tua threw three interceptions, fumbled three times (though he didn't lose any of them), and threw a pick-six at the beginning of the third quarter to make it a three-score game.

I want to attack the Dolphins with players at every fantasy position, and that includes defenses and kickers. The Falcons are owned in fewer than 25% of leagues despite being a successful unit, so you can probably pick them up.

San Francisco 49ers @ Houston Texans

San Fran has just been decimated with injuries, including on the defensive side. Superstars Nick Bosa and Fred Warner are both out for the year. Other starters, like cornerback Renardo Green, have missed time. Now, Bryce Huff, who has started in Bosa's absence, is expected to miss multiple weeks. It never ends.

And somehow, the 49ers keep holding it together on defense, allowing the seventh-fewest points per game and giving up just 10 points to Atlanta last week in their first full game without both Bosa and Warner. The San Francisco D/ST is free in a lot of leagues, and I'm guessing it's related to the number of injuries, but this is still a decent unit.

Houston's defense is strong, but the offense has struggled all season. They are worse than average in both yards per rush attempt and yards per pass attempt, and the Texans have scored the 12th-fewest points per game.

By ESPN's measure, the Texans rank 30th in both pass block win rate and run block win rate. The offensive line has been a problem for several years, and C.J. Stroud is once again facing heat because of the men up front. Stroud has been sacked 15 times, tied for ninth with Tua and others, despite already having his bye.

This is a compromised defense due to injuries, but they have still held up as things have fallen around them. The matchup is strong, with the Texans struggling to move the ball and score points and the offensive line again among the worst in the league. The 49ers are a good pickup this week.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ New Orleans Saints

There are some teams we regularly go after with defensive squads and IDP players, and the Saints are one of them. New Orleans is averaging the fourth-fewest points per game, and they are in the bottom 10 in rush yards per game, pass yards per game, and total yards per game. If you prefer per-attempt stats for efficiency, the Saints rank in the bottom 10 in yards per rush attempt and yards per pass attempt as well.

This is a bad team; we know it, we see it. This is what fantasy streaming is all about, is finding those vulnerable teams and hammering them over and over, week after week, to give yourself the best chance at success. New Orleans fits the bill.

The Bucs are far from great defensively. They are allowing the sixth-most yards per pass attempt, though they are in top 10 in stopping the run. Tampa rates out better by certain stats: using the same offensive and defensive win rates linked in the previous section, Tampa Bay ranks fourth in pass rush win rate (and 16th in run stop win rate).

This is more about the matchup though. Go back to the win rates, and you'll see that the Saints' offensive line is 31st in pass blocking and 32nd in run blocking. There just isn't talent here to put together sustained success. Opposing defenses are going to be good bets against New Orleans all season.