Projected Top 5 NFL Fantasy Defenses/Special Teams: Week 17 Projected Top 5 NFL Fantasy Defenses/Special Teams: Week 17 By Bart Lopez With the NFL playoffs coming up now is the best time to sign up for an ALL-ACCESS membership. All the game previews and in-depth analyses for college football, college basketball, soccer, and NFL games will be at your fingertips. 1. San Francisco 49ers: The Niners have the best defense in football by a whole point. They give up just 13.5 points per game, and surrendered their first rushing touchdown last week. The Rams won’t do much of anything against them this week. Projected fantasy points: 22.2. 2. Pittsburgh Steelers: The Steelers give up the second least points behind the Niners at 14.5. They play the Browns this week on the road. Cleveland’s offense is awful, which spells another good week for Pittsburgh. Projected fantasy points: 17.8. 3. Philadelphia Eagles: The Eagles’ defense is finally playing like it should have all year. The Eagles have given up just 36 points in the last three games. They are hot right now, and will likely continue to roll against a bad Redskins team. Projected fantasy points: 17.6. 4. Seattle Seahawks: Seattle’s defense has been solid all year, and hasn’t given up more than 20 points in a month. This week it plays a bad Arizona team in Arizona. Expect the Seahawks’ to finish off the season on a high note. Projected fantasy points: 17.2. 5. New York Jets: The Jets need to win this week, and that’s really the only reason to expect good fantasy production. They have underperformed most of the year, which has frustrated fantasy owners everywhere. They might be worth the risk in the final week. Projected fantasy points: 17.1. Not top 5, but could be: This week’s defense that missed the cut is that of the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs’ defense has stepped up big the past two weeks, including a great performance against the Green Bay Packers in week 15. They face Denver on Sunday, which will be an interesting game. Tebow has turned the ball over a lot recently, and I’m expecting that to continue in week 17. Projected fantasy points: 15.8. Top 5 NFL fantasy running backs Top 5 NFL fantasy wide receivers Top 5 NFL fantasy tight ends Top 5 NFL fantasy quarterbacks Top 5 NFL fantasy kickers
