Check out Marc Caviglia’s fantasy football rankings and hot takes on the Week 4 team defense matchups:
- The San Francisco 49ers team defense enters Week 4 ranked No. 6 in fantasy points scored in standard scoring ESPN & Yahoo leagues. However, an excess of injuries to key players (Richard Sherman, Nick Bosa) have prevented the defensive unit from posting the monster numbers that we saw from them in 2019. The 49ers have just 5 quarterback sacks and 4 forced turnovers over three weeks but rank second in the NFL in points allowed. I fully expect the Niners to put together their best performance of 2020 on Sunday night against a Philadelphia Eagles offense that has turned the football over 8 times and allowed 11 sacks in just three games. The 49ers are a top-3 fantasy unit in Week 4.
- A defense I am all-in on in Week 4 is the Los Angeles Rams. They have a favorable matchup with the New York Giants on their home turf and should be able to build on their 5 forced turnovers and 7 quarterback sacks. The Giants allow opponents to record 3 sacks per game and are averaging just 272.3 total yards per game. Look for the Rams to dial up the pass rush, force Daniel Jones into some tough situations leading to mistakes. I expect a multiple sack performance from Aaron Donald in this game.
- The Seattle Seahawks were drafted as a top-10 fantasy football defense but they’ve struggled to-date. Through 3 games, the Seahawks have scored 3 total fantasy points (that isn’t a typo) and rank 25th at the position. While they have forced 6 turnovers n three games, they have only 5 sacks on the quarterback and are giving up 26.7 points per game. Add in the injury to Jamaal Adams, who is already OUT in Week 4 and it seems like another week to avoid the Seahawks defense. Plus, they are on the road against a Miami Dolphins team that should be able to keep pace with Seattle’s potent offense.
- A couple of games to avoid team defenses from in Week 4 include the Green Bay Packers vs. Atlanta Falcons, New England Patriots @ Kansas City Chiefs, Dallas Cowboys vs. Cleveland Browns and the Detroit Lions vs. New Orleans Saints. All four of these matchups have the makings of being high-scoring and you don’t want to risk getting negative points from your DST position.
Rankings are based on the following scoring:
2 point per interception
2 point per fumble recovery
1 point per sack
2 points for safety
6 point for defensive/return touchdown
