It's a debilitating bye week for fantasy owners in Week 9. There are seemingly more fantasy relevant players than ever that will be absent for the week, and defenses are no exception. The Arizona Cardinals, Baltimore Ravens, Detroit Lions, Houston Texans, Kansas City Chiefs, and Seattle Seahawks are all on their bye week. Two of those defenses (Cardinals, Seahawks) are averaging top-10 numbers this season. Another two teams (Chiefs, Texans) have averaged within the top 10 over the past four weeks.
Fantasy football rankings 2015: Defense/special teams, Week 9
Here are our consensus Week 9 defense/special teams rankings.
Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
In fact, by ranking 25 defenses, we're ranking every defense playing this week except for one. The Denver Broncos seem to be a consensus favorite once again. They're headed to Indianapolis to face the Colts, who have allowed 19 turnovers through eight games. The Broncos are averaging 16 fantasy points a week this season. No other team comes close to this number, with the St. Louis Rams averaging 12. The Rams are once again among the top defenses in our rankings for Week 9, of course.
Simply put, a lot of average fantasy defenses are playing a lot of below average teams. When you’re missing six defenses to a bye, it creates for some interesting selections for our top 10 for the week. Be sure to check out our rankings below.
Defense/special teams, Week 9
(DK: Daniel Kelley; DC: Dan Ciarrocchi; AM: Andrew Miller; JD: John Daigle; SK: Scott Kaliska. Arizona, Baltimore, Detroit, Houston, Kansas City and Seattle are on bye)
| Rk | Consensus | Opp. | DK | DC | AM | JD | SK |
| 1 | Denver Broncos | @IND | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 2 | Atlanta Falcons | @SF | 2 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 5 |
| 3 | New England Patriots | WAS | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 2 |
| 4 | New York Jets | JAC | 6 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 1 |
| 5 | St. Louis Rams | @MIN | 5 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 4 |
| 6 | Cincinnati Bengals | CLE | 7 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 6 |
| 7 | Philadelphia Eagles | @DAL | 3 | 8 | 3 | 7 | 9 |
| 8 | Minnesota Vikings | STL | 8 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 7 |
| 9 | Green Bay Packers | @CAR | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 8 |
| 10 | Carolina Panthers | GB | 10 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 11 |
| 11 | Buffalo Bills | MIA | 11 | 11 | 10 | 12 | 12 |
| 12 | New Orleans Saints | TEN | 14 | 14 | 13 | 11 | 17 |
| 12 | New York Giants | @TB | 13 | 12 | 15 | 16 | 13 |
| 14 | Dallas Cowboys | PHI | 12 | 13 | 19 | 17 | 10 |
| 15 | Miami Dolphins | @BUF | 17 | 16 | 12 | 13 | 15 |
| 16 | Pittsburgh Steelers | OAK | 18 | 18 | 14 | 14 | 14 |
| 17 | Jacksonville Jaguars | @NYJ | 15 | 20 | 16 | 15 | 20 |
| 18 | San Diego Chargers | CHI | 23 | 15 | 20 | 21 | 16 |
| 19 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | NYG | 16 | 21 | 21 | 22 | 21 |
| 19 | Oakland Raiders | @PIT | 21 | 22 | 17 | 18 | 23 |
| 19 | Indianapolis Colts | DEN | 22 | 23 | 18 | 19 | 19 |
| 22 | Tennessee Titans | @NO | 19 | 19 | 23 | 24 | 22 |
| 23 | San Francisco 49ers | ATL | 24 | 17 | 24 | 25 | 18 |
| 24 | Cleveland Browns | @CIN | 20 | 24 | 25 | 20 | 25 |
| 25 | Chicago Bears | @SD | 25 | 25 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
* * *
SB Nation presents: Justin Tucker gets down with his bad self after winning game
