Fantasy Football Week 3 - Defensive Team by Committee (DTBC)

In Week 3 there are a couple of decent matchups to take advantage of.

The Washington Redskins are owned by 23% of teams in NFL.com leagues and they have a nice matchup against the New York Giants. I expect this to be a hard fought game against a division rival but all signs point to the Redskins getting the W. Skins are controlling the clock nicely with the running game, couple that with the Giants being banged up on the defensive side of the ball should help to keep their offense on the field. Redskins have been very solid on the defensive side of the ball so far allowing just 25 points and 1 TD in two outings. They are underrated yet have made some solid additions during the off season (Landry, Fletcher-Baker). Unless this turns into a blowout and Manning gets some garbage time points, I reckon Washington should be in your starting lineup this week.

Another nice plug in matchup for Week 3 is the Kansas City Chiefs who host Minnesota. The Vikings offense has been terrible with Jackson under center and I'm not sure if it's going to get any better for them with Holcomb taking over this week at Arrowhead. The Lions were able to post 16 fantasy points last week vs Minnesota and KC should be able to put up similar numbers. Jared Allen is back so I see either him or Tamba Hali getting to the less mobile Kelly Holcomb early and often. They are currently owned in 22% of leagues, are the 11th best team defense for fantasy points scored thru Week 2, coupled with this weeks opponent, I'd be happy to play the KC DEF if my regular starting D has one of the poor matchups I'll mention below.

The Philadelphia Eagles play host to the Detroit Lions. Philly are owned in 91% of leagues and were drafted as a starting defense. They must be on your bench this week. It's a tough matchup having the Lions pass happy attack coming to town but add to this the fact that the Eagles secondary is banged up, I'd consider benching the Eagles this week. Philly ranks 8th in the NFL vs. opposing passers after 2 weeks, averaging 188 passing yards allowed per game, with only 1 passing TD surrendered to date. They have amassed 5 sacks and 2 interceptions so far - last week, Jason Campbell could only muster 16/29 for 209 yards, 1 TD and 1 interception against the Eagles.....so this choice is not without it's risk. Brian Dawkins, Sean Considine & Lito Sheppard all did not practice Wednesday, if 1 or 2 of these guys are unable to go Sunday, I say put Philly on your bench in Week 3.

It's a little harder to recommend this other team to bench but if you have two quality team DEF's on your roster, I would bench the San Diego team DEF again this week. The Chargers weak link on this side of the ball is their secondary. Green Bay are struggling to run the ball so Brett Favre will be throwing the ball plenty this week. Favre doesn't give up many sacks and I see the Pack game planning for Shawne Merriman to avoid him having a big effect on their passing game.

I'll throw in a 3rd team to play to try and redeem myself from week 2. Oakland are owned in only 46% of leagues and they play host to the Cleveland Browns. Let all those tools grab Derek Anderson off the waiver wire, let them go a trading the house for Jamal Lewis.....this is still the Browns, their offense is terrible, it just so happened they were playing the Bengals whose defense is just as bad.....result.... that crazy AFL shoot-out we witnessed on Sunday. Anyone that thinks the Browns are going to come close to that kind of output in most weeks, with DEREK ANDERSON under center are out of their minds. Plug in the Raiders this week, the same Raiders who had 2 sacks, 2 INT's and a defensive TD in Week 2 vs Denver.

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Oakland are owned in only 46% of leagues and they play host to the Cleveland Browns. Let all those tools grab Derek Anderson off the waiver wire, let them go a trading the house for Jamal Lewis.....this is still the Browns, their offense is terrible

Right on. The Derek Anderson frenzy is amusing.

I know, I considered grabbing him as a QB4 in a start 2 QB league.....but quickly came to my senses.

So instead I was able to trade McNabb for Tom Brady.......by throwing in Jamal Lewis as well....suckers. Lewis' value will never be higher.....well maybe for one more week since he goes up against Oakland but since he will soon be my RB5 with Kevin Jones coming back to full health, it was a great sell high moment.

just to keep things even, I'll add a 3rd team to bench in Week 3. I don't particularly like Jacksonville's matchup in Denver

The Jaguars rank 2nd in the NFL right now against the pass, allowing an average of 117 net passing yards per game, with 0 passing TDs given up to date. They sacked Joey Harrington 7 times last week, and have a total of 9 to their credit this season (3rd in the NFL). One weakness of the unit is their lack of turnovers generated (0 interceptions, 0 fumble recoveries). The Broncos have only given up 3 sacks to date. I think one of the reasons why those passing stats look decent is because they have been terrible against the run. Jacksonville's rush D hasn't been impressive this season. To date, they have surrendered 364 rushing yards over 2 games, averaging 182 yards allowed per contest (dead last in the NFL), with 2 rushing scores allowed so far. Last week, a not-quite-100% Warrick Dunn led the Falcons to 25/82/1 against this team - so maybe they have clamped down a bit since their week 1 debacle against Tennessee (282 rushing yards allowed). Since they are facing the NFL's leading rusher in Travis Henry, coupled with an inability to create turnovers, looks like a good time to bench Jacksonville......esp if you can plug the Chiefs in this week.

Week 3 summary:

Pick up Washington reasonable outcome here, ranking 14th and scored 10 points. They grabbed a couple of INT's off Manning and 2 sacks but football is a game of two halves and these boys just didn't turn up in the 2nd half while the Giants D was stellar in the 2nd half of that game.
Pick up Kansas City Whoo hoo..we have a winner. The Chiefs would have scored you 15 points had you plugged them in last weekend. This had them ranked 7th in the NFL in Week 3. As predicted they came up with 5 sacks and held then anemic Vikings offense to 10 points.......and noticeably still on the waiver wire in the STUN league
Pick up Oakland Not a good day for the Raiders defense. Scoring 7 fantasy points for a ranking of 21st in Week 3. This defense is not looking like the same unit as 2006 and are especially struggling to stop opposing QB's thru the air.

Bench Philadelphia OUCH!!! 9 sacks on Kitna, holding the Lions to only 21 points, not to mention the obligatory interception from Kitna....17 fantasy points had them ranked 6th in the NFL this week. In my defence, I did include a caveat saying this pick was not without risk.
Bench San Diego Swish....that's more like it. Again as predicted they can't stop anyone thru the air with Favre throwing for 369 yards with 0 INT's and was only sacked twice. This effort got you a measly 2 fantasy points and had them ranked dead last in the NFL in Week 3.
Bench Jacksonville Not good here either....I think I will stick to 2 predictions each again in future. 13 fantasy points and a 9th overall rank on the back of some excellent defense, shutting down Travis Henry and limiting Denver to 47 yards rushing overall....that's the way to beat the Broncos. Rasheen Mathis did his bit keeping Javon Walker quiet and finally the real Jaguars defense shows itself.

Overall, not my best weekend. Picking the Chargers to be benched would have helped many a fantasy squad even if you plugged in my worst suggested option. This looks like a 3-3 record for me this week and leaves me at 7-7 after three weeks. Let's hope there are less stinkers like the Eagles pick and more like the Chargers and Chiefs in future.