San Francisco 49ers v Seattle Seahawks
It’s that time again—at least in most fantasy football leagues.
It’s the playoffs.
After weeks of setting lineups and making waiver claims and the highs of victory and the lows of defeat, you have guided your team to the fantasy postseason. Peel off a few more wins, and you will be crowned champion. But lose one more game, and that’s that—the season’s over.
This time of year, the pressure ratchets up. Every lineup call matters that much more, because every fantasy point matters that much more. This team of year, the kicker or defense you trot out can be the difference between moving on and calling it a (disappointing) campaign.
And where defenses are concerned, that changes the dynamic.
During the regular season, I rarely carry more than one defense. When Baltimore’s Week 13 bye or San Francisco’s Week 9 off week rolled around I might try to make room to hang onto them, but other than that, it’s usually streaming based on matchups. When a matchup isn’t favorable or bye rolls around, it’s bye all right.
Buh-bye.
However, while carrying multiple defenses in season wastes valuable roster space that can be used on lottery tickets or upside plays, it’s a different situation in the postseason. Depth doesn’t matter as much as maximizing production from your starters. Given that, I’m more willing to carry a second defense—especially if my usual starter is staring at a bad matchup.
As an example, the Buffalo Bills are fourth for the season among defenses in points after a decent Week 14 performance in Kansas City. But this week the Bills host a Dallas Cowboys team that leads the NFL in scoring and ranks 31st in fantasy points surrendered to team defenses this year.
With all due respect to Greg Rousseau, Terell Bernard, Jordan Poyer and the Bills, a compelling argument can be made for giving them the week off in favor of a streamer with a favorable matchup.
THE NO-DOUBTERS
San Francisco 49ers (at Arizona…
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