Week 9 Fantasy Football Kicker and Defense Streamers to Target

After two months of football, we have a pretty good idea of which teams are the best and worst in certain areas. Some things are still skewed, and injuries have changed and/or will change those outlooks, but we know which teams to attack with fantasy players every chance we get.

Let's look at two kickers and two D/ST groups with great matchups in Week 9 that are widely available in fantasy leagues. Most stats are from NFL.com, and fantasy points and rankings are from FantasyPros.

Use FantasySP's weekly projections to find the players who are expected to excel each week and help make your toughest lineup decisions!

Kicker

Eddy Pineiro, San Francisco 49ers vs Las Vegas Raiders

After giving up 33 points to the Jets on Sunday, the Raiders have now allowed the second-most points per game this season. The offense has mostly been successful, as you might expect given the resources put toward that unit, but Vegas has struggled to stop anyone since the first two weeks, when they held the Dolphins and Chargers to 13 and 14 points, respectively.

Coming off the bye, Pineiro is more available than he probably would be otherwise on a high-powered offense in San Francisco. Pineiro has also struggled at times, though, as he is just 6-of-9 on field goals and has missed four extra points, including one in each of the two games before the bye.

Most likely, Pineiro will be fine. He has made 88.4% of his field goal attempts in his career and hasn't been below 84.6% since 2019. He struggles with extra points at times, but this team scores a lot of points, and the kicker will probably continue to get opportunities to put the ball through the uprights.

With one of the best matchups around this week, Pineiro is a strong option to pick up, and he might be worth keeping if you have struggled to fill the position this year.

Andre Szmyt, Cleveland Browns @ New Orleans Saints

Szmyt took over last year as an undrafted free agent and had a very good year, making 24-of-27 field goal attempts and 25-of-26 extra points. He has been equally as strong in 2026, sitting 16-of-18 on FGs and 11-of-12 on XPs for the surprisingly feisty Browns.

Cleveland's offense isn't great, averaging the fourth-fewest points per game, but they have been in that sweet spot for a fantasy kicker, where they have gotten close enough to score without getting into the end zone often. Szmyt ranks in the top 10 in both field goal attempts and makes, and he is taking full advantage by putting points on the board.

The matchup this week also couldn't be much better, as the Saints have allowed the fourth-most points per game. They have been worse at home than on the road, and that probably comes down to randomness in such a small sample, but it only helps the offenses and kickers when they get to play indoors in perfect conditions; this one is in those friendly confines of New Orleans.

Szmyt is barely owned in fantasy leagues, so you can probably pick him up off the free agent market even if you don't put in a waiver claim. He has been very good, and this is one of the best outlooks he will have all season.

Defense/Special Teams

Detroit Lions @ Miami Dolphins

Detroit hasn't been successful overall on defense, allowing the 10th-most points per game. They have made plays that score fantasy points, though, sitting in the middle in interceptions and ranking third in sacks despite already having their bye. The Lions also had a good defensive performance against a poor offensive team in Week 8, holding the Vikings to 15 points.

They get another strong matchup here against the Dolphins, the team that has scored the second-fewest points per game. Malik Willis has thrown five interceptions, a middling number among starters, and he has taken the seventh-most sacks while already having his bye. Only two players who have taken more sacks have also played seven games instead of eight.

When attacking the Dolphins, it's more about the high floor than the high ceiling. They don't score many points, so the risk of getting negative production from your defense is low. The takeaways and sacks are just a bonus, and a team that gets after the quarterback like Detroit has a nice ceiling in this matchup.

We've been going after Miami all season, and that probably won't end. You can feel confident in the matchup even if you're not fully bought into Detroit's defensive skill.

New York Giants @ Philadelphia Eagles

The Giants aren't owned in hardly any fantasy leagues, but their defense has been better than you think. New York is a little better than average in terms of points per game allowed, and they have six interceptions, a number that is also slightly better than average despite already having their bye.

One issue is that the Giants are tied for the fewest sacks in the league with just nine. That's a surprise given that they have invested heavily in the defensive line, but Brian Burns suffered a torn ACL and is out for the season, so their ceiling as a pass rush isn't nearly as high as it could be.

Once again, this is more about the team we are targeting than the defense in question. Philadelphia was already struggling when they had most of their guys, but now with Jalen Hurts out for the season, the offensive line banged up, and the skill positions seemingly losing a new guy every week, the Eagles look like one of the worst offensive teams in football.

Over the past three games without Hurts, Philly has averaged just 15 points per game, a number that would be second worst over the full season (better than only the Chargers). Even worse, that came against two poor defenses (Dallas and Washington) and a Carolina team that has allowed the fifth-most points per game, even if you think they might be a little better. What's going to happen when they play the Seahawks and 49ers later in the season?

There might not be a team I'm more excited about going after right now than the Eagles (OK, maybe the Chargers, but they play a Texans team this week that is too heavily owned to call a streamer). Philadelphia is likely to struggle the rest of the way, and we will keep going after them with streaming D/ST groups until they prove they can find success.