Top 10 week 1 fantasy football defenses, including the Jets D/ST

The Seahawks have been a defensive powerhouse over the last few seasons, and even though the defense has lost some of its more talented players, their matchup in week 1 is excellent. The Seahawks get to play a Bengals team at home that will be without its most deadly weapon in A.J. Green in the first week of the year. Plus, Andy Dalton makes plenty of mistakes that this defense will be able to capitalize on.

Regardless of who the Redskins start at quarterback, this seems like a good play. The Eagles open their year at home and have a ferocious pass rush that gets after the quarterback on every play. In two matchups against the Redskins last season, the Eagles defense averaged 13 fantasy points, so this should be an excellent play for week 1.

The Jets open their season with a home game against the Buffalo Bills, a team that set records for being one of the worst offensive teams in history in 2018. Now teams have one year of tape on Josh Allen, and it’s hard to imagine that the Jets will let him run around the field again. If he’s forced to stand in the pocket and make throws, he’ll likely be pressured into mistakes, which should result in a nice day for the Jets defense.

The Giants were an absolute disaster last season, but they did have one bright spot in star running back Saquon Barkley. But Barkley can’t be the entire offense, and without Odell Beckham, it’s hard to see Eli generating much of an offense against a tough Cowboys defense, especially with the Giants on the road. Golden Tate, who was signed to replace some of Odell’s production, is suspended for this game, so expect weak offensive output from New York in this one.

A Ryan Fitzpatrick led team early in the season can sometimes be scary. However, Fitzpatrick makes a ton of mistakes, including throwing interceptions, some of which can lead to defensive touchdowns Ultimately, the Ravens defense has too much talent to be left out of the top five against a Miami team that will struggle to produce on offense in week 1.

The Browns weren’t a great fantasy defense last season, averaging just 4.3 fantasy points per game. But in week 1, they draw a good matchup at home against a Titans offense that really struggles to put points on the board. Marcus Mariota tends to hold on to the ball for a little too long, which should bode well for a team that is good at putting pressure on opposing quarterbacks.

When a defense averages more than 11 fantasy points per game in a season, it will almost always find its way onto a top 10 list, even against Aaron Rodgers. At home, the Bears are worth trotting out against Green Bay. Last time the Bears played Aaron Rodgers, they ended up with five sacks and eight fantasy points. The Bears likely won’t produce huge results against the Packers, but they should have a consistent day against a Packers team that couldn’t figure out how to stop Khalil Mack in 2018.

The Bills might have had the NFL’s worst offense last season, but they also had one of the NFL’s best defenses. Buffalo’s defense ended the year with 16 interceptions, good for 7th most in the league, and frequently forced their opponents into mistakes. In 2018, the Bills averaged 9.5 fantasy points per game against the Jets and are a safe start in week 1 on the road.

As bad as the Oakland Raiders last ranked fantasy defense was last season, they did manage to score 12 fantasy points against the Denver Broncos in week 16. There’s no chance Jon Gruden is going to let his team get embarrassed in a Monday night primetime game, so expect a solid gameplan to ensure that Joe Flacco makes more of the mistakes that lost him the starting job in Baltimore.

ast year, the Saints finally figured out how to play defense and almost made it to the Super Bowl. This year, they’ll be back and expect to get to the Super Bowl. In week 1, they’ll take on the Houston Texans at home in a good matchup for a team that was 5th in the league in sacks in 2018. There’s nobody in the NFL that loves to hold onto the ball more than DeShaun Watson, which should help the Saints defense put up some good numbers in week 1.