Fantasy football defense rankings: Top D/STs for Week 14, plus three viable streamers

Approaching the fantasy football playoffs, there will be plenty of attention paid to the quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers and tight ends... but don’t let your fantasy defense get lost in the shuffle! To help you set your fantasy football lineups, here’s a look at three sleepers and overall Week 14 defense rankings:

The New Orleans Saints have been bitten by the injury bug this season, set to be without their starting two WRs in Week 14 (Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed), while losing TE Taysom Hill to a season ending knee injury just last week — an integral part of their red-zone offense. The Giants are a defense that has already been a generally underrated unit — or, at the very least, not terrible. They’re middle of the pack in terms of scoring-drive percentage but have generated the fifth-most sacks (36) and the second-highest sack percentage (8.9%) in the league per PFF. The Giants don’t have the firepower to generate a ton of offense, and neither do the Saints right now — expect a low-scoring game with the potential for NY to notch some sacks against Derek Carr for a viable streamer available in most fantasy leagues in Week 14.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers haven’t been a great defense this season, but a matchup on deck with the Las Vegas Raiders could be the cure. It’s no secret that Las Vegas has had its struggles on offense this year; the team never really had an answer at quarterback between Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell, lost its star RB Josh Jacobs in free agency, traded away WR Davante Adams ... you get the picture. The Raiders rank fourth in fantasy points allowed to opposing defenses this season. Vegas ranks dead last in the league averaging -0.174 EPA per play per PFF, ranked bottom five in yards per play average (4.7) and offensive points scored (126) while leading the league with 23 offensive turnovers.

The Tennessee Titans are more often a team you’d prefer to stream your fantasy football defense against... not the actual fantasy defense you’d like to start. However, given the current circumstances in Jacksonville right now (and six teams on a bye!), Week 14 might actually be the exception. The Jaguars are presumably without their starting quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who went down with a concussion last week after a nasty hit from Azeez Al-Shaair that earned him a three-game suspension. That means Mac Jones under center once again, which hasn’t exactly been a solution for the passing game woes.

In the two games Lawrence has missed earlier this year with a shoulder injury (Weeks 10 and 11), the Jags ranked 31st in EPA per play (-0.399), 32nd in average yards per play (3.4), 32nd in scoring drive percentage (15.8%), with four offensive turnovers (tied, third-most). Though the Titans are a defense which has scored double-digit fantasy points just three times all season long, this could be a get-right spot. The Titans have been a league-average defense this year, but they’ve been a better-than-average passing defense, which helps their cause right now.

Kate Magdziuk is an editor and contributor for Yahoo Fantasy and co-host of the Locked On Dynasty Football podcast. She is also the managing editor for Behind The Steel Curtain, SB Nation’s exclusive Pittsburgh Steelers blog. Her previous bylines include Pro Football Focus, NBC Sports Rotoworld and 4for4 Football, among others.