WEEK 5 SLEEPER ALERT: Waiver Wire Defenses

by Gibby McCaleb - AccuScore Analyst
see profile
read blog

Advertisment

If you’re like me, you are a Pisces and you live in Southern California. But if you are like me in your fantasy strategy, you probably like to carry just one defense on your fantasy teams, saving that additional roster spot for a spare wide receiver or back up running back that might be on the rise. Because of that strategy, you are always looking for a sleeper on defense. Friend, this is your lucky week. You will be happy to know that of the top four defenses this week according to AccuScore forecast data, two or maybe even three of them are probably sitting there in your waiver pool. Time to scoop up that defense and rack up some extra points on your way to fantasy glory. You can almost hear the crowds cheering, can’t you? No? Time to get my hearing checked then because I could swear I heard crowd noises.

Gibby’s Sneaky Waiver Pickup Defenses for Week Five

Green Bay vs Chicago
There isn’t really much of a mystery here, is there? The Bears can’t seem to stop turning the ball over and that’s great news for you if you can nab Green Bay’s defense. Expect a few turnovers and with Favre putting points up on the banged-up Bears defense, the Bears will need to throw to stay in this game. More throws equals more interceptions.

Baltimore at San Francisco
Alex Smith is out and the slow-footed Dilfer is in. Last week, Dilfer completed only 12 of 33 passes for 128 yards and two interceptions. Expect a long day for Trent against the Ravens defense who practiced against him when he played for Baltimore.

Washington vs Detroit
Even though AccuScore forecast data ranks Washington as the number three defense this week, I am a little wary. Detroit can definitely throw the ball and may have the best wide receiver corps in football. Take this one at your own risk.

New Orleans vs Carolina
Did anyone have a guess that the Saints would be 0-3 to start this season? Time to get the train on track and no better time to do so than at home against the reeling Carolina Panthers. It looks like Carr will get the start and he looked simply awful last week against Tampa Bay completing 19 of 41 passes for 155 yards. The Saints are also coming off a bye week and I look to have them take this game and have a solid defensive performance at home.

Dallas at Buffalo
After week one’s shootout with the Giants, Dallas quietly has shored up the defense. The Cowboys lead the league in turnover differential and Anthony Henry leads the league in interceptions. While Henry looks to be out with an ankle injury, Terrence Newman and Greg Ellis’ return the last two weeks have definitely helped. The Bills’ rookie Trent Edwards had a solid game against the Jets lat week but the Cowboys aren’t the Jets.

New England vs Cleveland
The New England Patriots lead the league in _____. You can pretty much put what ever you want in that blank you’d probably be right. A lot of people are saying the Patriots might be caught looking past this game towards their match-up with Dallas next week but I doubt that. Bilichick hasn’t done this well for this long without keeping his team’s focus where it needs to be. Patriots roll. And by roll I don’t mean video cameras.

San Diego at Denver
After a painful division home loss last week, the Chargers must get back on track this week at Denver and I expect to see San Diego play well in this game. Denver’s Travis Henry is a little banged up and facing legal issues and Cutler is usually good for an interception or two but the biggest stat to me is Denver’s 31st against the run and it’s about time for LT to take over the game and more importantly the clock. Yeah, yeah, the Broncos are number one against the pass but who needs to pass against Denver when you are getting 200 yards rushing the ball. The Chargers will play ball control offense and limit Denver’s scoring.

Arizona at Saint Louis
Oh, those pesky Cardinals! They pulled a stunning upset against the heavily favored Steelers last week and their defense played a near flawless game. They won’t need to be that flawless in this one as the Rams are just plain awful on both sides of the ball. In their last meeting, Arizona forced three turnovers and in this game, they may get more. Arizona has also won the last two in Saint Louis. Bulger is riding the pine in this one with two broken ribs and a 65 million dollar check, so this week it will be Gus Frerotte who can’t score a touchdown.

Other defenses I would consider this week are the Giants who should have a lot of fun against their cross-town rivals the Jets; and possibly San Francisco because Baltimore’s offense is just that bad.

Here is a list of the top 15 defenses this week according to the AccuScore Super Computer:
1) Green Bay
2) Baltimore
3) Washington
4) New Orleans
5) Dallas
6) Pittsburgh
7) New England
8) Houston
9) Tennessee
10) San Diego
11) Kansas City
12) Arizona
13) Jacksonville
14) New York Giants
15) San Francisco

SEE COMPLETE RANKINGS HERE

Thanks for reading folks and enjoy the games!

Trackback(0)

TrackBack URI for this entry