Bye weeks are over. While many fantasy owners gather together with their friends and family on Thursday, the NFL will look begin gathering together all 32 teams for the first time since Week 3. As we set our sights on fantasy playoffs, we begin to look forward and determine what teams offer the best odds of fantasy success down the stretch.
Fantasy football rankings 2015: Defense/special teams, Week 12
Here are our consensus Week 12 defense/special teams rankings.
In regards to Week 12, there's a unanimous agreement that the Arizona Cardinals are the top defense to start. They're one of the top team's in interceptions, and they face a San Francisco 49ers offense led by Blaine Gabbert. Gabbert has at least been functional in 2015. He's completed over 60 percent of his passes through two games and didn't throw a single interception in Week 11. Still, the offense as a whole isn't putting up huge numbers, and it's hard to ignore a dysfunctional team against one of the better fantasy defenses out there.
The Cincinnati Bengals have jumped up our rankings this week. Regardless of Nick Foles or Case Keenum under center, the St. Louis Rams aren't doing much offensively, and the Bengals will be looking to make a statement at home against them.
Our top-ten teams all have high ownership percentages. The Atlanta Falcons, Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Ravens, and New York Giants can be had in many leagues as streaming options. The Detroit Lions, in particular, are owned in just 10 percent of Yahoo! leagues. The Philadelphia Eagles have been a mess offensively, and the Lions are readily available if you need to plug in a team with a somewhat appealing floor for the week.
As usual, our full rankings can be found below.
Defense/Special teams, Week 12
(DK: Daniel Kelley; DC: Dan Ciarrocchi; AM: Andrew Miller; JD: John Daigle; SK: Scott Kaliska)
| Rk | Consensus | Opp. | DK | DC | AM | JD | SK |
| 1 | Arizona Cardinals | @SF | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Carolina Panthers | @DAL | 2 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 4 |
| 3 | Kansas City Chiefs | BUF | 3 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 3 |
| 4 | New York Jets | MIA | 13 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| 5 | Cincinnati Bengals | STL | 4 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 5 |
| 6 | Seattle Seahawks | PIT | 7 | 7 | 9 | 3 | 6 |
| 7 | New England Patriots | @DEN | 6 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 8 |
| 8 | Green Bay Packers | CHI | 20 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 7 |
| 9 | St. Louis Rams | @CIN | 8 | 13 | 7 | 10 | 9 |
| 10 | Denver Broncos | NE | 10 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 10 |
| 11 | Philadelphia Eagles | @DET | 9 | 14 | 19 | 9 | 11 |
| 12 | Houston Texans | NO | 14 | 12 | 10 | 13 | 14 |
| 13 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | @IND | 17 | 11 | 11 | 14 | 15 |
| 14 | Cleveland Browns | BAL | 5 | 18 | 17 | 22 | 17 |
| 15 | New York Giants | @WAS | 18 | 9 | 22 | 15 | 16 |
| 16 | Baltimore Ravens | @CLE | 19 | 15 | 24 | 11 | 13 |
| 17 | Atlanta Falcons | MIN | 11 | 16 | 23 | 17 | 18 |
| 17 | Minnesota Vikings | @ATL | 24 | 17 | 16 | 16 | 12 |
| 19 | Buffalo Bills | @KC | 15 | 22 | 13 | 21 | 21 |
| 20 | Jacksonville Jaguars | SD | 12 | 23 | 15 | -- | 25 |
| 21 | Oakland Raiders | @TEN | 25 | 19 | 20 | 19 | 20 |
| 22 | Miami Dolphins | @NYJ | 22 | 21 | 25 | 18 | 19 |
| 23 | Pittsburgh Steelers | @SEA | 21 | -- | 14 | 23 | 24 |
| 24 | Detroit Lions | PHI | -- | 24 | 18 | 24 | 22 |
| 25 | Tennessee Titans | OAK | -- | 20 | -- | 20 | 23 |
| -- | Indianapolis Colts | TB | 16 | 25 | -- | -- | -- |
| -- | Dallas Cowboys | CAR | 23 | -- | 21 | 25 | -- |
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