Week 2 Shuffle: Team Defense/Special Teams

Listed are the Top 25 Team D/STs for the upcoming week.  Rankings are based on the projected mean performance without any specific team context on who you should start.  Sometimes you need to start the lower of two players due to upside or a high floor, so things are fluid.  As always, players can move up or down as we approach kickoff.  So please indulge yourself & dissect our list from top to bottom.  Let's Go!

Tier 1:
1. Chicago Bears vs MIN
2. Cincinnati Bengals vs PIT
3. New England Patriots vs NYJ
4. Houston Texans vs TEN
5. Seattle Seahawks vs SF
7. San Francisco 49ers @SEA
8. Atlanta Falcons vs STL
9. Pittsburgh Steelers @CIN
10. Denver Broncos @NYG
11. Baltimore Ravens vs CLE
12. Tennessee Titans @HOU

- There is nothing more appealing to a defensive coordinators ears then seeing a home gave vs Christian Ponder on the schedule.  Actually, maybe he'd rather see Blaine Gabbert on slate.  Or Brandon Weeden.  But you get the point.  This Bears defense is going to have a field day with the Viking passing attack.  If they get up early it's going to be a long day for Viking Nation.  There aren't many viable streaming options available this week.  Atlanta gets St. Louis under their dome, but adding the Titans on the road at Houston doesn't make fantasy owners see double digit points.  This week is primarily about rolling with whoever you drafted and moving on to Week 3.  We just don't know enough yet about every offense to know where the top streams will be.

Tier 2:
13. Oakland Raiders vs JAC
14. Green Bay Packers vs WAS
15. Miami Dolphins @IND
16. Kansas City Chiefs vs DAL
17. Indianapolis Colts vs MIA
18. Dallas Cowboys @KC
19. Philadelphia Eagles vs SD
20. Jacksonville Jaguars @OAK
21. St. Louis Rams @ATL
22. Cleveland Browns @BAL
23. Carolina Panthers @BUF
24. Buffalo Bills vs CAR
25. Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs NO

- This will probably be the only time Oakland sees itself inside the top 18 this season.  Green Bay is going to surrender a mountain of points against RGIII & Co. but still should net itself a half dozen combined sacks and turnovers.  Chiefs/Cowboys and Colts/Dolphins are expected to be mid-level scoring affairs with a few turnovers, so you could find yourself in a worse situation.  That situation would be starting anyone else in our rankings.  Maybe the Eagles will score 20, or -20, either way they shouldn't be in your starting lineup in anything less then a 16 man league.

Check out all our Week 2 Rankings: QB RB WR TE D/ST K LB DL DB


As always, read & discuss.  You can reach me on Twitter @ClevRocks_James or comment your (dis)agreements below.  Thanks for reading.