Week 13 Defense/Special Teams Rankings

As a special wrinkle this week, there are officially no division games on the Week 13 slate. There are, however, plenty of playoff indications. The AFC is a struggle to either remain on top of the division or struggle to make a Wild Card. Look to the AFC West and you see Oakland firmly on top, followed by Kansas City and Denver. Both those teams might be top 7 in the entire NFL, but unfortunately one may be sitting at home while an AFC South team actually hosts a playoff game. I hope your fantasy playoff system is shaping out better.

Last week's call out, Big Play Darius Slay, lived up to that nickname in every sense of term by picking off Sam Bradford in the final minute to set up the game-winning field goal. The interception helped Detroit justify being at the top of the NFC North. Some say the Lions are playing too many close games to be considered good, but much like Denver last year, at some point winning close games has to be considered a skill.

This week, I want to take the time to call out: Richard Sherman. I never thought I'd have to call him out this season, but Sherman was getting WORKED by Mike Evans last week in an embarrassing loss for the Seahawks. He needs to lock it up this weekend so they don't slip to a Panthers team that still knows how to put up points.

Best bets and stay aways at the bottom.

Best bets:

Denver Broncos- This kind of goes without saying. The Broncos play the Jaguars and Von Miller is coming off a 3 sack performance. The Broncos are a good bet to provide you with some points.

Philadelphia Eagles- Sharing the top 2 spots with Denver, this team deserves a play this week. Without AJ Green, Andy Dalton doesn't know where to go with the ball and he's under a ton of pressure. Eagles D should have a good day.

Stay Aways:

Minnesota Vikings- I know, I know. I ranked the Vikings #4 on the rankings. That's mostly by virtue of what they've done over the course of the season, and just maybe they're the one defense that holds Ezekiel Elliott in line. But if I have another solid option, I'm going in that direction. Week in and week out teams know exactly what the Cowboys are doing and that still doesn't stop them.

Buffalo Bills- Buffalo's defense has been solid all season long, but they might need to stay a week on the bench while playing the Oakland Raiders. Derek Carr says his injured finger is fine and the Raiders are scoring 27.9 ppg.