Choosing which D/ST to start in fantasy football can become a difficult weekly endeavor. Some team's defenses play extremely well to start the season, but get severely hampered by injuries and take massive steps back. Sometimes, some D/STs will look like great starts, but end up disappointing.
It's also easy to think more highly of a defense that faces a string of poor offenses, only to see them score very poorly when they face stiffer competition. And it can be hard to ascertain how players being injured or returning from injuries on the upcoming opposing offense will affect things as well.
So let's look at three streaming options for D/STs in fantasy football for Week 16.
Should I Start and Stream Titans D/ST for Fantasy Football?
Probably not. These two teams met earlier in the season, in Week 6. Tennessee recorded just one interception, no sacks or forced fumbles, and allowed 20 points and 269 total yards, which was good for three points. The Titans are the No. 28 defense overall this season in leagues with standard D/ST scoring.
#Titans secondary Week 1 vs Week 12
Week 1
CB L’Jarius Sneed
CB Chidobe Awuzie
CB Roger McCreary
S Amani Hooker
S Quandre DiggsWeek 12
CB Jarvis Brownlee
CB Darrelle Baker Jr
CB Roger McCreary
S Mike Brown
S Daryl WorleyTitans defense still rank #1 in passing yards allowed pic.twitter.com/zyFW46qfE0
— Wes Wisley (@TitansStats) November 25, 2024
A slew of injuries to the secondary hasn't changed the fact that they've technically not allowed many passing yards, but that doesn't tell the whole story. They're fine at generating turnovers, but they aren't good at pressuring opposing quarterbacks. And their offense turns the ball over constantly.
They give up the fourth-most points per game of any team. And their offense leads the league in giveaways. That just makes it too hard to succeed.
Should I Start and Stream Falcons D/ST for Fantasy Football?
The Atlanta Falcons will face the New York Giants, and Atlanta's D/ST will battle the Giants offense in one of the mid-offs of the year. The Falcons have struggled to generate pressure on opposing QBs, but New York quarterbacks get sacked at an extremely high rate (7th-most in the league).
The Falcons secondary was supposed to be the strength of this defense…..
pic.twitter.com/Cq21Zz1MZ3— Carrie (@carrielynnxox) December 8, 2024
And the secondary is miserably bad. It's worth noting that ATL have sacked opposing QBs 13 times in the past three games, yet they're still dead last in the league in total sacks. It was just a lot worst before recently. The Falcons defense is a fine start, as it's hard to see the Giants scoring more than 21 points with QB Drew Lock, though.
They're a better stream than the Titans defense in our eyes.
Should I Start and Stream Bengals D/ST for Fantasy Football?
We like this option better than the others, simply because the Cleveland Browns, who they will face in Week 16, have fully committed to the tank and decided to start QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson for Sunday's game.
Dorian Thompson-Robinson among 64 QBs with 125+ dropbacks in 2023-24:
EPA per dropback: -0.284 (62nd)
Completion percentage over expected: -12.8% (63rd)
Passer rating: 42.6 (64th)
Pass TD rate: 0.7% (64th)
INT rate: 4.8% (62nd)
Yards per attempt: 3.7 (64th) https://t.co/M1sxq7rJMS— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) December 17, 2024
He's been terrible this season. And Cincinnati's D/ST has played much better in recent weeks. They're the best streaming option of the three in this piece, or at least we believe so.
Popular Week 16 Searches - Start/Sit Comparisons
Below are some popular Week 16 searches and comparisons from our Who To Start tool for Titans D/ST, Falcons D/ST, Bengals D/ST compared to others. You can also use the free Who Should I Start tool to run your own start/sit comparisons, up to four players at once:
Indianapolis Colts or Atlanta Falcons
Green Baypackers or Atlanta Falcons
Denver Broncos or Cincinnati Bengals
Indianapolis Colts or Cincinnati Bengals
Cincinnati Bengals or Atlanta Falcons
Indianapolis Colts or Atlanta Falcons
New Yorkjets or Atlanta Falcons
Arizona Cardinals or Atlanta Falcons
Denver Broncos or Cincinnati Bengals
Buffalo Bills or Atlanta Falcons
Denver Broncos or Atlanta Falcons
Baltimore Ravens or Cincinnati Bengals
Buffalo Bills or Atlanta Falcons
Indianapolis Colts or Cincinnati Bengals
Green Baypackers or Atlanta Falcons
Kansas Citychiefs or Atlanta Falcons
Green Baypackers or Atlanta Falcons
Buffalo Bills or Cincinnati Bengals
Green Baypackers or Atlanta Falcons
Green Baypackers or Atlanta Falcons
Green Baypackers or Cincinnati Bengals
Houston Texans or Atlanta Falcons
Minnesota Vikings or Atlanta Falcons
Philadelphia Eagles or Cincinnati Bengals
Pittsburgh Steelers or Cincinnati Bengals
Arizona Cardinals or Atlanta Falcons
Arizona Cardinals or Cincinnati Bengals
Atlanta Falcons or Cincinnati Bengals
Atlanta Falcons or Cincinnati Bengals
Atlanta Falcons or Tennessee Titans
Buffalo Bills or Cincinnati Bengals
Cincinnati Bengals or Atlanta Falcons
Dallas Cowboys or Cincinnati Bengals
Denver Broncos or Atlanta Falcons
Detroit Lions or Atlanta Falcons
Detroit Lions or Cincinnati Bengals
Green Baypackers or Atlanta Falcons
Green Baypackers or Atlanta Falcons
Green Baypackers or Cincinnati Bengals
Houston Texans or Atlanta Falcons
Indianapolis Colts or Cincinnati Bengals
Indianapolis Colts or Cincinnati Bengals
Kansas Citychiefs or Atlanta Falcons
Denver Broncos or Atlanta Falcons
Las Vegasraiders or Atlanta Falcons
Los Angeleschargers or Atlanta Falcons
Pittsburgh Steelers or Tennessee Titans
Tampa Baybuccaneers or Atlanta Falcons
Tampa Baybuccaneers or Cincinnati Bengals
Tyler Allgeier or Atlanta Falcons
Aaron Jones or Atlanta Falcons
Arizona Cardinals or Cincinnati Bengals
Arizona Cardinals or Cincinnati Bengals
Arizona Cardinals or Tennessee Titans
Arizona Cardinals or Tennessee Titans
Arizona Cardinals or Tennessee Titans
Arizona Cardinals or Tennessee Titans
Arizona Cardinals or Tennessee Titans
Atlanta Falcons or Tennessee Titans
Baltimore Ravens or Atlanta Falcons
Baltimore Ravens or Cincinnati Bengals
Buffalo Bills or Atlanta Falcons
Buffalo Bills or Atlanta Falcons
Buffalo Bills or Atlanta Falcons
Buffalo Bills or Atlanta Falcons
Buffalo Bills or Tennessee Titans
Cincinnati Bengals or Atlanta Falcons
Cincinnati Bengals or Atlanta Falcons
Dallas Cowboys or Atlanta Falcons
Dallas Cowboys or Atlanta Falcons
Dallas Cowboys or Cincinnati Bengals
Denver Broncos or Atlanta Falcons
Denver Broncos or Cincinnati Bengals
Detroit Lions or Cincinnati Bengals
Buffalo Bills or Atlanta Falcons
Buffalo Bills or Atlanta Falcons
Green Baypackers or Atlanta Falcons
Green Baypackers or Atlanta Falcons
Green Baypackers or Atlanta Falcons
Green Baypackers or Atlanta Falcons
Green Baypackers or Atlanta Falcons
Green Baypackers or Atlanta Falcons
Green Baypackers or Atlanta Falcons
Green Baypackers or Atlanta Falcons
Green Baypackers or Atlanta Falcons
Green Baypackers or Atlanta Falcons
Green Baypackers or Atlanta Falcons
Green Baypackers or Atlanta Falcons
Green Baypackers or Atlanta Falcons
Green Baypackers or Atlanta Falcons
Green Baypackers or Atlanta Falcons
Green Baypackers or Atlanta Falcons
Green Baypackers or Cincinnati Bengals
Green Baypackers or Cincinnati Bengals
Green Baypackers or Cincinnati Bengals
Houston Texans or Atlanta Falcons
Houston Texans or Atlanta Falcons
Houston Texans or Atlanta Falcons
Houston Texans or Cincinnati Bengals
Houston Texans or Tennessee Titans
Houston Texans or Tennessee Titans
Indianapolis Colts or Atlanta Falcons
Indianapolis Colts or Atlanta Falcons
Indianapolis Colts or Atlanta Falcons
Indianapolis Colts or Atlanta Falcons
Indianapolis Colts or Cincinnati Bengals
Indianapolis Colts or Cincinnati Bengals
Indianapolis Colts or Cincinnati Bengals
Indianapolis Colts or Cincinnati Bengals
Indianapolis Colts or Cincinnati Bengals
Indianapolis Colts or Cincinnati Bengals
Indianapolis Colts or Cincinnati Bengals
Indianapolis Colts or Cincinnati Bengals
Indianapolis Colts or Cincinnati Bengals
Indianapolis Colts or Cincinnati Bengals
Indianapolis Colts or Tennessee Titans
Indianapolis Colts or Tennessee Titans
Indianapolis Colts or Tennessee Titans
Minnesota Vikings or Atlanta Falcons
Kansas Citychiefs or Atlanta Falcons
Kansas Citychiefs or Cincinnati Bengals
Kansas Citychiefs or Tennessee Titans
Los Angeleschargers or Atlanta Falcons
Los Angeleschargers or Atlanta Falcons
Los Angeleschargers or Cincinnati Bengals
Los Angelesrams or Atlanta Falcons
Arizona Cardinals or Atlanta Falcons
Miami Dolphins or Cincinnati Bengals
Minnesota Vikings or Atlanta Falcons
Minnesota Vikings or Cincinnati Bengals
Philadelphia Eagles or Atlanta Falcons
Philadelphia Eagles or Cincinnati Bengals
Pittsburgh Steelers or Atlanta Falcons
Pittsburgh Steelers or Atlanta Falcons
San Francisco49Ers or Atlanta Falcons
Tennessee Titans or Cincinnati Bengals
Atlanta Falcons or Cincinnati Bengals
Detroit Lions or Cincinnati Bengals
Green Baypackers or Cincinnati Bengals
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