Now that it’s probably your championship week, let’s start off by looking at the top five fantasy defenses to start this week:
Fantasy Football Rankings, Week 16: Defense/Special Teams
Take your championship home with our Week 16 Defense rankings.
David Banks
1. Chicago Bears - The Bears will be facing an Arizona team that woke up last week but will no doubt quickly be put back to sleep by this suffocating defense. Arizona is starting a rookie quarterback and the Bears are hungry to get back into the playoff picture.
2. New England Patriots - New England quickly fell behind last week but were able to hold the 49ers back quite a bit in the first half. If it wasn't for their defense forcing some turnovers, the game could have been even more out of hand at the start. Facing the Jaguars should be a welcome change and the defense should feast on some more turnovers and sacks, as the Jaguars look to pass to stay in the game.
3. Denver Broncos - The Broncos have scored a defensive touchdown against each AFC North opponent this season and I see the streak continuing against the Browns. With Denver looking to hold onto their playoff spot, they should be fired up and will create some easy defensive fantasy points.
4. Green Bay Packers- Green Bay has not allowed more than twenty points over the last three weeks. It looks like their defense is finally coming into shape for the run to the playoffs. With Jake Locker's lack of accuracy, the Packers should easily pick off a few of his passes.
5. Cincinnati Bengals - The Bengals have been generating sacks and turnovers over the last six games and that has led to some great fantasy numbers. After watching the poor effort that the Steelers put up against Dallas, I'm betting that the Bengals defense has quite a few opportunities to take advantage of.
Let’s take a look at the leaders in defensive touchdowns and fantasy scoring through Week 15:
| Player | INT | Safety | Sack | DFR | TD | PA | FPTS |
| Bears | 21 | 0 | 36 | 16 | 8 | 240 | 234 |
| Seahawks | 16 | 0 | 35 | 12 | 5 | 219 | 211 |
| Texans | 15 | 1 | 43 | 13 | 5 | 280 | 207 |
| Broncos | 16 | 2 | 42 | 7 | 8 | 274 | 204 |
| 49ers | 12 | 1 | 35 | 10 | 3 | 218 | 195 |
| Patriots | 16 | 1 | 28 | 20 | 7 | 315 | 188 |
| Bengals | 11 | 0 | 44 | 15 | 2 | 293 | 178 |
| Cardinals | 22 | 0 | 36 | 10 | 3 | 302 | 174 |
| Chargers | 12 | 1 | 27 | 13 | 7 | 312 | 169 |
| Packers | 16 | 0 | 39 | 5 | 4 | 292 | 165 |
| Jets | 11 | 1 | 26 | 11 | 5 | 320 | 160 |
| Giants | 20 | 0 | 32 | 14 | 3 | 304 | 160 |
| Browns | 16 | 0 | 36 | 12 | 3 | 310 | 158 |
| Ravens | 13 | 0 | 32 | 12 | 5 | 307 | 158 |
| Falcons | 18 | 0 | 29 | 9 | 2 | 259 | 157 |
| Rams | 13 | 1 | 41 | 3 | 4 | 315 | 155 |
| Panthers | 9 | 1 | 36 | 12 | 3 | 319 | 148 |
| Vikings | 10 | 0 | 35 | 9 | 5 | 308 | 147 |
| Steelers | 7 | 0 | 27 | 6 | 1 | 291 | 143 |
| Titans | 16 | 1 | 31 | 5 | 5 | 396 | 139 |
| Bills | 11 | 1 | 33 | 8 | 3 | 402 | 137 |
| Dolphins | 9 | 0 | 39 | 3 | 3 | 279 | 137 |
| Cowboys | 7 | 0 | 33 | 9 | 4 | 338 | 131 |
| Buccaneers | 17 | 0 | 25 | 7 | 4 | 349 | 131 |
| Redskins | 17 | 0 | 25 | 8 | 4 | 350 | 129 |
| Saints | 14 | 0 | 27 | 10 | 4 | 379 | 127 |
| Lions | 11 | 0 | 31 | 6 | 0 | 380 | 109 |
| Colts | 8 | 0 | 27 | 2 | 4 | 358 | 109 |
| Raiders | 10 | 0 | 21 | 7 | 0 | 402 | 97 |
| Chiefs | 7 | 1 | 24 | 5 | 1 | 367 | 90 |
| Eagles | 7 | 0 | 28 | 5 | 1 | 375 | 90 |
| Jaguars | 10 | 0 | 15 | 11 | 0 | 383 | 89 |
The Jets should be able to take down a Chargers team that will be missing their starting running back and Malcom Floyd. San Diego has put up some real stinkers on offense. Seattle always brings their A-game at home and while I don't think they'll dominate like the last two weeks, they should still have a really strong game. The Panthers have been playing better defensively and receive a sweet matchup this week in the Raiders. If you're in a real jam, Carolina wouldn't be that bad of a choice. The Texans have a great matchup facing the Vikings. Minnesota's passing game is pathetic and Houston will make them pay. Washington is rolling towards the playoffs and should be able to easily put down the Eagles in this rematch. They shouldn't be that bad of a start this week.
Here are the defenses that have been sacking the quarterback over the last three weeks:
Houston - 12
Dallas, Miami, Philadelphia, St. Louis - 10
NY Jets, Carolina - 9
If you play in a league that rewards teams that allow the least amount of points, here are the top five defenses in points allowed over the last three weeks:
1. NY Jets - 30
2. Seattle - 34
3. Atlanta - 43
4. Oakland - 46
5. Cincinnati - 46
Here are my rankings for Week 16:
| Ranking | Team | Opponent |
| 1 | Chicago | Arizona |
| 2 | New England | Jacksonville |
| 3 | Denver | Cleveland |
| 4 | Green Bay | Tennessee |
| 5 | Cincinnati | Pittsburgh |
| 6 | NY Jets | San Diego |
| 7 | Seattle | San Francisco |
| 8 | Carolina | Oakland |
| 9 | Houston | Minnesota |
| 10 | Washington | Philadelphia |
| 11 | Arizona | Chicago |
| 12 | San Diego | NY Jets |
| 13 | St. Louis | Tampa Bay |
| 14 | Miami | Buffalo |
| 15 | San Francisco | Seattle |
| 16 | NY Giants | Baltimore |
| 17 | Atlanta | Detroit |
| 18 | Pittsburgh | Cincinnati |
| 19 | Baltimore | NY Giants |
| 20 | Buffalo | Miami |
| 21 | Dallas | New Orleans |
| 22 | Indianapolis | Kansas City |
| 23 | Tampa Bay | St. Louis |
| 24 | Kansas City | Indianapolis |
| 25 | Cleveland | Denver |
| 26 | New Orleans | Dallas |
| 27 | Minnesota | Houston |
| 28 | Philadelphia | Washington |
| 29 | Detroit | Atlanta |
| 30 | Tennessee | Green Bay |
| 31 | Oakland | Carolina |
| 32 | Jacksonville | New England |
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