Defense (DST) Streamers For Week 2 Fantasy Football: Pick Up The Bucs Against The Browns

Last week was a good one for our DST targets with the Jaguars and Jets delivering strong scores. The Eagles gave up a late TD to hurt their score, but they weren't a total disaster and remain a good starting option against the Titans this week. Let's look ahead to the best defense (DST) streamers for Week 2 fantasy football.

Strategy For Streaming DSTs In Week 2

When figuring out which defense I want to start in any given week, I am primarily looking for DSTs with the ability to create sacks and turnovers rather than minimizing points allowed to the other team, although those two things are correlated. I think this is one of the bigger mistakes fantasy managers make when thinking about fantasy defenses. As you will see in this article, I am generally focused on three things: offensive line play, QB turnover rates, and game script.

Now that we are past Week 1, we will be focused on true streaming options. I will only consider DSTs that are rostered in fewer than 50% of leagues on Yahoo. When selecting a streaming defense, the upcoming week is by far the most important, but I will also point out favorable upcoming schedules that will allow you to roster the same defense for a few weeks.

Week 2 Defense (DST) Streamers For Fantasy Football

Tampa Bay Buccaneers - 3% Rostered

Targeting the Browns offense was a successful strategy in Week 1, and we're going to go back to that as often as we can this season. The Bucs defense was rarely drafted due to their Week 1 matchup with the Bengals, but they put up a good score thanks to a pick-six. Defensive TDs aren't a stable or predictable stat, but I am confident that Deshaun Watson is going to give them opportunities to make another impact play. He looked just as bad as the last time we saw him starting for the Browns, taking five sacks and throwing one interception with several other close calls.

The Bucs are at home and currently favored by 8.5 points, something I love to see for my DST. After losing in Week 1, they should look to bounce back in a big way against this hapless Browns offense. Tampa is likely just a one-week streaming option, but they have a great ceiling and good floor in this matchup, which makes them my favorite target on the waiver wire this week.

Green Bay Packers - 15% rostered

The Packers defense looked great early in their matchup with the Vikings, but gave up 29 second-half points to blow a double-digit lead. Despite that disappointing result, they recorded three sacks and were able to generate pressure on a regular basis against a Minnesota offensive line that is considered an above-average unit.

In Week 2, the Packers will travel to take on the New York Jets. Geno Smith had the Jets offense looking functional, but I am not reading too much into their performance against a Titans team that looks to be the Browns' primary competition for the title of worst team in the NFL. I am sticking to my priors that the Jets will be an offense we want to target until they definitively prove that is not the case.

You can probably get two starts out of the Green Bay defense as they get the Atlanta Falcons in Week 3. We don't yet know who will be starting for Atlanta in that game, but if it is Tua Tagovailoa or Cooper Rush, I would feel good rolling out the Packers DST in that matchup.

Kansas City Chiefs - 12% rostered

I haven’t seen the Chiefs' Week 1 performance yet at the time of writing, but unless they suffer a number of injuries to their key defensive players, I like them as a waiver wire pickup that you can roster for a few weeks. They have the Colts at home on Sunday Night Football, which is an average matchup. The Colts offense looked decent, but not amazing, at home against the Ravens, and now they will have to play in one of the most difficult road environments in the NFL.

The early line has Kansas City favored by 6.5 points, which is a positive sign for the type of game script we want to see for our DST. If KC can get out to a lead, they have a good enough pass rush to capitalize and create pressure, which leads to sacks and turnovers.

After that, the Chiefs have road matchups against the Dolphins and Raiders, neither of whom looked particularly impressive. Those two teams squared off in Week 1, and both QBs made a number of mistakes against a weak opposing defense. Malik Willis took five sacks and threw an interception, and Kirk Cousins threw two interceptions. Kansas City will be heavy favorites in both games, and I expect their offense to improve quickly early this season as Mahomes and co. knock off the rust. Those will be ideal matchups for the offense to hit their stride and put the defense in a position to tee off on the opposing QB.