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Fantasy football rankings: Defense in Week 12

The Jaguars claim the top spot this week and Bengals against the Browns are worth a start.

Indianapolis Colts v Cincinnati Bengal Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images

Time for that playoff push! It’s Week 12 and that means some of you are already eliminated. Better luck next year! But for those of you still in contention or those who have already clinched, it’s time to dig deep and get the most points as possible. Several defenses this year have been averaging more points than the average flex position and you need a piece of this.

Week 12 rankings

RANK TEAM
RANK TEAM
1 Jacksonville Jaguars
2 Baltimore Ravens
3 Philadelphia Eagles
4 Pittsburgh Steelers
5 Detroit Lions
6 Seattle Seahawks
7 Los Angeles Rams
8 Minnesota Vikings
9 New Orleans Saints
10 Los Angeles Chargers
11 Carolina Panthers
12 Houston Texans
13 Chicago Bears
14 Cincinnati Bengals
15 Denver Broncos
16 Dallas Cowboys
17 Kansas City Chiefs
18 Atlanta Falcons
19 Buffalo Bills
20 Cleveland Browns
21 Arizona Cardinals
22 Washington Redskins
23 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
24 New York Jets
25 Tennessee Titans
26 Green Bay Packers
27 New England Patriots
28 Indianapolis Colts
29 New York Giants
30 Miami Dolphins
31 San Francisco 49ers
32 Oakland Raiders

Top Five: Jaguars, Ravens, Eagles, Steelers and Lions

The Jaguars have officially become Sacksonville and II will continue to address them as such. After taking on a DeShone Kizer-led Browns, the Jags will take on the Blaine Gabbert-led Cardinals. At this point, it’s not a matter of if this defense scores a touchdown, it’s a matter of how many they might get.

Last week, the Ravens benefited from taking on a terrible Packers offense and this week they get a Texans team that just lost D’Onta Foreman to an Achilles injury for the year. They know what they’re doing on that side of the ball and are a good bet for Week 12.

The Eagles are the best team in football and it’s not all Carson Wentz’ doing. The defense has been lights out and they completely bottled up Dan Prescott forcing 4 turnovers out of the Cowboys QB. They’ll be licking their chops to take on rookie Mitch Trubisky of the Bears.

The Steelers get to take on the Packers in prime time and there’s no reason to believe that they won’t do as many things as the Ravens did to the Packers offense. The Steelers secondary has been a little bit choppy, bit it’ll be the guys up front that help them put up points.

The Detroit Lions defense is another that benefits from forcing turnovers and parlaying those into touchdowns. If it’s anytime for some crazy things to happen to the Vikings hot offense, it’s a early Thanksgiving Day game against a rival. Exercise caution, though.

Possible streaming options

The bye weeks are over, but you still may need some options for those defenses that have poor matchups. The Cincinnati Bengals take on the Browns and they would’ve scored a TD last week if not for a faux pas. The Denver Broncos are another good option if they’ve been dropped in your league. They’re still a defense that can put together a good game and they play a lackluster Raiders team.