“Start” These are going to be D/STs that are rostered but that have a unfavorable matchup.

“Sit” These are going to be the D/STs that need to be benched until next week’s evaluation.

“Stream” These are going to be the D/STs that are sitting on your waiver wire begging to be picked up.

Start

San Francisco 49ers vs. Arizona Cardinals

The 49ers are going up against the fraudinals in this one. SF has one of the best defenses on paper, but the translation to fantasy has been rougher ride. They finished as D/ST5 and D/ST10 twice. This game will be in front of their home crowd and against a team that’s riding an upset win. The 49ers are sure to humble the Cardinals. This is a start.

Dallas Cowboys vs. New England Patriots

The Cowboys D/ST has finished 1st, 3rd, 24th. The first two weeks were great but Cowboys had with their superstar cornerback Trevon Diggs face a season ending injury midway through their week. It didn’t help that the offense was missing a bunch of key players on their line. The Cowboys D/ST was set up to fail against the Cardinals, but this will be a great opportunity to get back into their normal selves. I can’t guarantee that a scripted Ezekiel Elliot touchdown against the Cowboys won’t happen, but outside of that, the Cowboys have what it takes to force a lot of turnovers in this one and with an upside like that, it’s hard not to go with them. 

Philadelphia Eagles vs. Washington Commanders 

Philadelphia dominated the Buccaneers in their last game. I felt as there was still an opportunity for fraudulence with the D/ST and that a team like the Bucs would take advantage of that, but Philadelphia held their own. The Commanders aren’t any better than the Buccaneers so there shouldn’t be any trouble for this Eagles to play the way they played in their last one. They have finished as a top-12 D/ST through Week 3 (5,11,4) and Week 4 won’t be the week that breaks that streak. Start them up.

*Here’s a hot one: I think the Jets are going to upset the Chiefs this week. The Chiefs haven’t played a D/ST like the Jets all season. You can even say they are getting some mickey mouse wins. This will definitely be a change of pace for the Chiefs if they aren’t ready for that. Mahomes ankle might not even be 100% and he’s going to Met Life? I’m not saying he would injure it again, but playing on that field might cause some problems. It’s a hot take but since I’m running with that, I would continue to start the Jets D/ST. This is a risk I’m willing to take but I understand why you should stream this D/ST.

Sit

Washington Commanders @ Philadelphia Eagles

This Washington team was dismantled by the Bills in their last game. An elite offense can beat this team and I’m not going to make it seem like the Eagles don’t have an elite offense. This NFC East matchup might end up being some hard nosed football, but I’m just not going to rock with the Commanders against a team as talented as the Eagles, this is an easy sit for me.

New England Patriots @ Dallas Cowboys 

The Patriots are D/ST18 right now. This isn’t a good look for the Patriots but owners knew what they were getting themselves into when drafting this D/ST. You have to assume that the Cowboys are going to be playing with fire after a bad loss with key players missing on both sides of the ball. I don’t think this is the week that we find the Patriots finish as a top-12 D/ST.

New Orleans Saints vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Buccaneers are going to give them trouble. Even though the Bucs didn’t look as good as we thought they would against the Eagles, I expect the Saints to crumble the same way they did against the Packers. I also expect the Buccaneers to put up a lot more points than they did last week. I would rather stream a D/ST than take a risk against the Buccaneers.

Stream

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