With all the talk in the offseason of the quarterback position and how important it is to a football team, along with the speculation over how many yards Adrian Peterson can rack up on the ground, defenses have been overlooked so far this NFL season.
In the 32 games that have been played through the first two weeks, only 13 teams have scored over 30 points, and in Week 2, eight defenses scored double-digit points in standard Yahoo! fantasy leagues.
Your defense may have even swung a matchup this week, with Seattle posting 22 points, and Minnesota, Tampa Bay and New England all scoring 15 or more points.
So which defense will be the difference maker this week? These are eDraft’s top five defenses for Week 3.
1. Seattle Seahawks
When a defense puts up over 20 points in fantasy, it’s probably time to rank them at the top the next week. Most people thought the Seahawks would have a down game against the San Francisco 49ers and Colin Kaepernick, but ended up only giving up three points, and sacking Kaepernick three times and picking him off three times as well.
Those numbers will only improve against the Jacksonville Jaguars this week, who have only scored one offensive touchdown this season. Stud running back Maurice Jones-Drew has been anything but a stud in the first two games, and Jacksonville quarterbacks have only combined for a 55.7 percent completion rate. Seattle could record a shutout here, and Jags quarterback Chad Henne could give the Seahawks three interceptions again, making them the unquestionable No. 1 defense this week.
Projected Statistics: Zero points allowed, three sacks, two interceptions
2. Chicago Bears
Coming off a pretty disappointing performance against the Minnesota Vikings, giving up 24 points (Minnesota scored 30 but the defense only allowed 24) a week after they gave up 21 to the Cincinnati Bengals, the Bears will rebound this week against the struggling Pittsburgh Steelers. Without a real running game and an awful offensive line, Pittsburgh’s offensive hasn’t been able to get anything going on offense. Chicago’s defense has been very un-Chicago like through the first two games, allowing 252 passing yards per game to opponents.
Were it not for the defensive touchdown, Chicago’s defensive fantasy value would have been crushed in Week 2, but they should pick up most of their points this week in the points allowed category and the sack total. Linebacker Lance Briggs is without a sack, but does have 17 total tackles on the year
Projected Statistics: Six points allowed, four sacks, one interception and one fumble recovery
3. Denver Broncos
The Broncos gave up 23 points to the New York Giants in Manning Bowl III on Sunday, but they did pick off four of Eli Manning’s passes. This week they’ll have to take on the Oakland Raiders, who have been surprisingly effective with Terrelle Pryor at quarterback, earning the most rushing yards in the league so far. Pryor hasn’t been much of a passing threat whatsoever, and the Broncos are the best rush defense in the league right now.
If Pryor and Darren McFadden can’t get it done on the ground, Pryor will have to throw, which will inevitably lead to some mistakes by the young quarterback. If Denver gets up early on in the game, Denver could see some big defensive totals in sacks and interceptions, but because it has given up 344 passing yards per game, Denver can’t get any higher than third at this point.
Projected Statistics: 14 points allowed, three sacks and two interceptions
4. New England Patriots
The story of New England’s season has been overshadowed by their poor offensive play, but their defense deserves more credit. They’re only allowing just over 169 passing yards to opponents and held the New York Jets in Week 2 to just 10 points. Their Week 3 opponent, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, haven’t been able to get anything going, scoring 14 points in Week 2 against the New Orleans Saints, and 17 in Week 1 against the Jets. Doug Martin will probably get the majority of the work in this matchup, with quarterback Josh Freeman only completing 45.3 percent of his passes.
If Tom Brady can connect with his receivers for some early touchdowns, the Bucs will have to play from behind, which is great news for New England’s defense. Freeman has thrown two interceptions and has been sacked four times, and Patriots cornerback Kyle Arrington has defended three passes, while former Buccaneer Aqib Talib has two picks. The Patriots won’t be putting up big sack totals, but they should hold Tampa Bay to only two scores and Talib will get his third interception against his former teammate.
Projected Statistics: 14 points allowed, one sack, one interception, one fumble recovery
5. Dallas Cowboys
After receiving a fair amount of praise in the offseason, Dallas’s defense is only owned in 50 percent of Yahoo! leagues, but will see a boost in those numbers after their Week 3 matchup against the St. Louis Rams. The Cowboys have already recorded three interceptions and two fumble recoveries, but did give up 31 points to the Giants in Week 1.
The Rams offense has been pretty impressive, despite their 1-1 record, with Sam Bradford putting up 299 yards in Week 1 and 352 on Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons. But St. Louis can’t get anything going on the ground with their running back-by-committee strategy.
Three different players on the Cowboys have an interception, and defensive end Demarcus Ware has two sacks. Dallas won’t be putting up 15 points as a defense this week, but they are a lock for double-digit points against the Rams this weekend.
Projected Statistics: 10 points allowed, two sacks, one interception