With six teams coming off of bye weeks, you’re going to have a lot more choices among the Week 5 DST rankings, as six defenses return to the field – while just the Dolphins and Raiders defenses take a week off on Week 5 byes. The Bengals, Broncos, Browns, Cardinals, Rams and Seahawks are all …
Week 5 DST Rankings — Sponsored by SKYLLZONE
With six teams coming off of bye weeks, you’re going to have a lot more choices among the Week 5 DST rankings, as six defenses return to the field – while just the Dolphins and Raiders defenses take a week off on Week 5 byes.
The Bengals, Broncos, Browns, Cardinals, Rams and Seahawks are all off their couches for Week 5, and some of them are looking at easy matchups on their return.
The Broncos will face a Cardinals offense that is trying to overcome a Carson Palmer shoulder injury. The Seahawks DST travels to our nation’s capital to face the Redskins, who were dismantled by the Giants on Thursday Night Football.
The Chargers defense, who many of you smartly picked up before Week 4 against the Jaguars, get another easy matchup, as the Jets travel across the country to play in San Diego. There are already rumors that Geno Smith is on the hot seat, which means Michael Vick could see some late-game action in Week 5. If that happens, it obviously means Smith and the Jets came apart in the first half.
The Bengals – one of the best Fantasy DSTs so far in 2014 – will visit the Patriots in New England. Tom Brady and company are hoping to erase Monday night’s debacle in Kansas City. If the Bengals weren’t coming off of two weeks of prep, I’d feel good about a Brady rebound. Then again, bettors say you should always bet on a home team coming off of a Monday night road loss.
In Texas, the Cowboys and Texans will do battle, as Houston hopes to slow down Dallas’ new ground-and-pound attack, led by Fantasy superstar DeMarco Murray.
Top 5 Matchups for Week 5 DSTs According to Vegas
Here are the top five defenses according to the over/under line and the point spread on VegasInsider.com.
No. 1 – Chargers vs. N.Y. Jets – 43.5 o/u, -6.5 pts
No. 2 – 49ers vs. Kansas City – 44 o/u, -7.5 pts
No. 3 – Packers vs. Minnesota – 47 o/u, -9.5 pts
No. 4 – Saints vs. Tampa Bay – 48.5 o/u, -10.5 pts
No. 5 – Lions vs. Buffalo — 44 o/u, -7 pts
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Week 5 DST Rankings
These rankings are based on standard Fantasy leagues that award points to defense/special teams for sacks, interceptions, fumbles recovered, yards allowed and points allowed.
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Fantasy Football Rankings powered by FantasyPros
Let us know if there’s Defense/Special teams unit you like/hate that we have ranked too high or too low in our Week 5 DST Rankings!
David Gonos
David Gonos spent 5 years as a CBSSports.com Senior Fantasy Writer and three more years writing with SI.com. Over the past 17 years, his work has been published on NFL.com, MLB.com, FanDuel, FoxSports.com and USA Today. Since 2001, he has been tracking down the Top 50-plus Free Fantasy Football Draft Tools online. You can contact David Gonos here.
