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Week 5 Defense Rankings

Looking for a defense with Week 5? We have your rankings to help you make your lineup decisions on Sunday.

Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

The Miami Dolphins are the reigning example for why you don't draft a defense early. You never know what might happen — between injuries, bad match ups, and the team just stinking in general. After a few preseason games, the media was behind them as the next big defense. Now, they are probably out there on your waiver wire as their bye week approaches. This defense that was taken in most drafts will be reduced to an occasional streamer for the rest of the season.

Teams on a bye week: Carolina Panthers, Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings, New York Jets.

Streaming Defenses

Atlanta Falcons: The Falcons have done a surprisingly good job at collecting turnovers, wether it be by fumble or interception. They have a friendly matchup against Kirk Cousins who has thrown four interceptions through four games.

New York Giants:The G-Men have quietly scored double digit fantasy points in Yahoo standard leagues in three out of the first four weeks. If they can continue to stop the run, they should be able to keep the erratic Colin Kaepernick under control and force a couple turnovers.

Jacksonville Jaguars: They are very hard to trust, but rookie quarterback James Winston has been awful at home thus far. He has a 60 quarterback rating with six interceptions to four touchdown passes.

Injury Notes

Cowboys linebacker Sean Lee left the game against the Saints with a concussion. If he does not play Sunday, the Patriots could take advantage of the matchup with either Rob Gronkowski in the passing game or use LeGarrette Blout or Dion Lewis in the run game.

The Chargers have a Monday night game against the Steelers, but they may be without their best cornerback in Brandon Flowers. He suffered a concussion and might not be cleared to play, despite practicing on Wednesday. If the Steelers can get the run game working with Le'Veon Bell, which shouldn't be too difficult, that might open things up in the passing game for Mike Vick. He will also have Martinis Bryant back from suspension to throw to alongside Antonio Brown.

DeAndre Levy looks like he can make his return this week for the Lions. The linebacker has been out with a hip injury since late August. The Lions defense looked seller on Monday night, pressuring Russell Wilson and taking advantage of the young offensive line of the Seahawks.

Eagles cornerback Bryron Maxwell will likely play Sunday. He told reporters he has a quad contusion, and it will likely be a nagging injury when he suits up to face Drew Brees and the Saints offense.

Line backer Paul Posluszny has an ankle sprain, but it is unclear if it is a high ankle sprain. He could potentially miss several weeks which will be crucial to the Jaguars run defense.

Vontae Davis is questionable for the Colts after not having practiced this week, which could bode well for DeAndre Hopkins owners if he does not play this week.

Rank

Team

Opponent

1

Denver Broncos

at Oakland Raiders

2

Arizona Cardinals

at Detroit Lions

3

New England Patriots

at Dallas Cowboys

4

Cincinnati Bengals

Seattle Seahawks

5

Green Bay Packers

St. Louis Rams

6

Buffalo Bills

at Tennessee Titans

7

Seattle Seahawks

at Cincinnati Bengals

8

Kansas City Chiefs

Chicago Bears

9

Atlanta Falcons

Washington Redskins

10

New York Giants

San Francisco 49ers

11

Jacksonville Jaguars

at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

12

Baltimore Ravens

Cleveland Browns

13

St. Louis Rams

at Green Bay Packers

14

Indianapolis Colts

at Houston Texans

15

Detroit Lions

Arizona Cardinals

16

Philidelphia Eagles

New Orleans Saints

17

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Jacksonville Jaguars

18

San Diego Chargers

Pittsburgh Steelers

19

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

20

Tennessee Titans

at Buffallo Bills

21

Cleveland Browns

at Baltimore Ravens

22

Pittsburgh Steelers

at San Diego Chargers

23

New Orleans Saints

at Philidelphia Eagles

24

San Francisco 49ers

at New York Giants

25

Chicago Bears

at Kansas City Chiefs

26

Oakland Raiders

Denver Broncos

27

Washington Redskins

at Atlanta Falcons

28

Dallas Cowboys

New England Patriots

Final Notes

The Denver Broncos defense is legit. Defensive Coordinator Wade Phillips has been calling blitzes that have incredibly led to 11 total defenders with at least one sack on the team. Not surprisingly, they lead the league in sacks with 18.

For the first time this year, the Seahawks do not rank within the top three defensive options for fantasy. That's because they travel to Cincinnati, where the Bengals will have a slew of options on how to attack defenses. If you have Seattle, you are not sitting them, but don't expect the biggest fantasy week.

Penalties have been the biggest problem for the Bills this season, leading to many momentum killing drives. Rex Ryan has almost certainly addressed this with his team, and I would expect them to play a much cleaner game against the rookie quarterback Marcus Mariota.

What's the over/under for turnovers Jay Cutler will commit on the road at Arrowhead stadium? I'd set it at 2.5. And yes, I will take the over.