Week 5 Defense Rankings

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.

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.