Defense (DST) Streamers For Week 4 Fantasy Football: Let's Go, Buffalo

Through three weeks of the NFL season, we haven't seen any truly elite defenses emerge. From a fantasy scoring perspective, the Vikings, Raiders, Jaguars, Steelers, and Panthers are the top-five scoring defenses. None of those were among the highly drafted defenses heading into this season, highlighting the importance of streaming the position and capitalizing on favorable matchups from week to week.

Week 4 Fantasy Football Defense (DST) Streamer Strategy

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.

For this article, 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 when there are favorable upcoming schedules that will allow you to roster the same defense for a few weeks.

Top DST Streamers For Fantasy Football Week 4

Buffalo Bills - 24% rostered

The Bills played an incredibly sloppy game against the Chargers, handing them a short field on multiple occasions, and they still managed to win comfortably. The defense did their part, forcing the Chargers to settle for field goals and also notching two sacks and an interception. I doubt we will see the turnovers and sloppy play continue from the Buffalo offense, which should only help the defense.

In Week 4, the Bills get to face the NFL's interception leader, Drake Maye. The Patriots offense has been below average at both passing and running the ball, and their deep passing attack, which was so effective last year, has essentially disappeared. This is a home game for Buffalo, and the early line has them favored by 7 points, which is a positive sign for the Buffalo defense. If the Bills control this game the way Vegas thinks they should, they can force Maye to drop back more than the Patriots would like, creating opportunities for the sacks and turnovers that make for big DST scores. I'm not quite putting Maye and the Pats in the favorable matchup column yet, but they certainly aren't a matchup to avoid, and this game checks all the boxes that I like to see when streaming a defense.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers - 15% rostered

The Bucs are a middle-of-the-road defense by most metrics, but they get to face one of the NFL's worst rushing attacks in Week 4 when they host the Green Bay Packers. This complete incompetence in the running game has led to Jordan Love averaging over 41 pass attempts per game through three weeks. A one-dimensional offense is a lot easier to game plan for and play against, which has explained a lot of Green Bay's struggles so far this season.

Love has accumulated solid counting stats thanks to the high volume, but his efficiency metrics aren't great. Most notably, his success rate and completion percentage over expected (CPOE) are second-worst among qualifying QBs, only ahead of Cooper Rush. Love has also been sacked 8 times through three games and has the second-fastest average time to throw at 2.45 seconds. Opposing defenses have been able to rush him aggressively, and Green Bay's offensive line ranks dead last in pass block win rate. Tampa Bay ranks 13th in pass rush win rate, but that is plenty good enough to take advantage of a poor Packers pass blocking unit.

The only thing that gives me pause about this recommendation is the injury to Baker Mayfield. If the Bucs are starting a backup QB, that could change the equation. Watch how the news develops, and if Mayfield is good to go, Tampa is among the better DST starts in Week 4.

New York Jets - 1% rostered

I wouldn't make the Jets a priority waiver add, but they have sneaky upside in Week 4 as a team that is available in virtually every league. The reason I like them is that they should be facing a backup QB when they travel to Chicago.

At the time of writing, I have not seen how Chicago performed against Philadelphia on MNF, but I'm not too optimistic. My assumption is that the Bears will turn to Tyson Bagent in Week 4, but either Bagent or Case Keenum is a good opponent to target. Keenum is a 38-year-old journeyman who was essentially meant to be halfway between a coach and a player for this Bears team. I actually think Bagent is a solid backup, but he is inexperienced, with just four NFL starts to his name.

It may seem a bit crazy to recommend a defense that is on a historic 20-game run without an interception, but they have recorded multiple sacks in every game they have played and ranked third in the league in pass rush win rate after two games (although some of that is thanks to the Packers). New York looks like they have a functional defense, so facing off against a backup QB is a spot I am willing to turn to if I don't get one of my preferred waiver options. Additionally, New York plays the Browns in Week 5 and the Dolphins in Week 7, so you could stretch this into a multi-week stream if they continue to play well.