Fantasy Football Week 5 Rankings: Defense/Special Teams

Is your defense on a bye this week? Check out our rankings before making a waiver wire move in Week 5.

Oct 4, 2012, 3:01 PM UTC

Jeff Hanisch-US PRESSWIRE - Presswire

Week 5 of the NFL season is upon us, as the Thursday night game pits the improving Arizona Cardinals vs the St. Louis Rams. We have four teams on a bye this week, including Dallas, Detroit, Oakland and Tampa Bay, and I imagine Oakland and Detroit's defense/special teams is owned in only the deepest of fantasy football leagues, or leagues where points given up is a category.

Before I get to the Week 5 rankings, let’s take a look at the teams who have scored the most defensive touchdowns through the first four weeks of the season:

Player	DTD
Jets DST NYJ	3
Bears DST CHI	3
Titans DST TEN	3
Redskins DST WAS	2
Ravens DST BAL	2
Texans DST HOU	2
Vikings DST MIN	2
Cardinals DST ARI	1
Broncos DST DEN	1
Panthers DST CAR	1

The Bears scored two of their three defensive touchdowns on Monday Night Football, taking two errant Tony Romo passes to the house. Defensive touchdowns are nice, but they don't happen all that often, so let's take a look at the defenses who have sacked the quarterback the most thus far:

Player	Int	SACK	DFR	PA
Bengals DST CIN	1	17	3	112
Cardinals DST ARI	4	16	6	61
Bears DST CHI	11	15	3	68
Packers DST GB	4	14	0	81
Texans DST HOU	5	13	4	56
Browns DST CLE	6	13	2	98
Vikings DST MIN	1	12	4	72
Panthers DST CAR	3	12	0	109
Seahawks DST SEA	3	12	2	58
Dolphins DST MIA	5	12	0	90

I have included other defensive scoring categories including sacks, interceptions, fumble recoveries and points allowed. As you can see, the Bears defense is one of the best at taking the football away from their opponents, and the get to the quarterback quite often as well.

The Bengals sack the quarterback more than any other team, but are not forcing turnovers, so their points allowed is one of the highest in the NFL. The Cardinals defense is also very good at forcing turnovers and rushing the quarterback as well.

Now let’s take a look at the Defense/Special Teams Rankings for Week 5:

Rank	Team Name	Opponent
1	Houston	New York Jets
2	Chicago	Jacksonville
3	Green Bay	Indianapolis
4	Baltimore	Kansas City
5	Seattle	Carolina
6	Miami	Cincinnati
7	Atlanta	Washington
8	New York Jets	Houston
9	New York Giants	Cleveland
10	Pittsburgh	Philadelphia
11	Arizona	St. Louis
12	Philadelphia	Steelers
13	Denver	New England
14	San Diego	New Orleans
15	Cincinnati	Miami
16	St. Louis	Arizona
17	New England	Denver
18	Buffalo	San Francisco
19	Cleveland	New York Giants
20	Minnesota	Tennessee
21	St. Louis	Arizona
22	Carolina	Seattle
23	Tennessee	Minnesota
24	Jacksonville	Chicago
25	Kansas City	Baltimore
26	New Orleans	Washington
27	Indianapolis	Green Bay
28	Washington	Atlanta