Still doing things a little differently this week--for those of you who are still alive. I want to take a look at the playoffs as a whole (and in this case we are considering Weeks 14-16) and determine which DSTs you can ride all the way through and which ones you should stream this week. Those streamers will be likely options in multiple weeks of the playoffs.

Below are RotoBaller's Week 15-16 playoff defense tiers and rankings, or which defenses to stream, start and target off the waiver wire for Week 15 of the NFL and fantasy football season. In case you missed it, this is our seventh year now writing this weekly column.

Our weekly tiered defense rankings are a guide to making waiver wire pickups to improve your lineups, and to decide which defenses to start, sit, target, avoid or stream for Week 15 and beyond. Starting the right defense every week can be a difference-maker. Below we have broken out our defense rankings into tiers with analysis on each matchup. Some of these Week 15 defenses have good matchups and are not widely-owned, representing fantasy scoring opportunities if they are available on your league's waiver wire for a Week 15 pickup or add. Good luck in Week 15 RotoBallers!

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Playoff Defenses To Start & Stream: Tiers & Rankings

Breakdowns don't make a ton of sense here since my analysis will be different for each team each week, so I've gone with pure rankings in order of confidence in that team over the remaining two weeks of the playoffs.

Tier 1 Defenses

Rank Tier DST Week 15 Opponent Week 16 Opponent 1 1 Baltimore Ravens Defense vs. NYJ @ CLE 2 1 New England Patriots Defense @ CIN vs. BUF 3 1 Pittsburgh Steelers Defense vs. BUF @ NYJ

Tier 2 Defenses

Rank Tier DST Week 15 Opponent Week 16 Opponent 4 2 Buffalo Bills Defense @ PIT @ NE 5 2 Seattle Seahawks Defense @ CAR vs. ARI 6 2 San Francisco 49ers Defense vs. ATL vs. LAR 7 2 Kansas City Chiefs Defense vs. DEN @ CHI 8 2 Houston Texans Defense @ TEN @ TB 9 2 Los Angeles Rams Defense @ DAL @ SF

Middle and Lower Tier Defenses

Tier 3 Defenses

Rank Tier DST Week 15 Opponent Week 16 Opponent 10 3 Philadelphia Eagles Defense @ WAS vs. DAL 11 3 Dallas Cowboys Defense vs. LAR @ PHI 12 3 Washington Redskins Defense vs. PHI vs. NYG 13 3 Cleveland Browns Defense @ ARI vs. BAL 14 3 New Orleans Saints Defense vs. IND @ TEN 15 3 Jacksonville Jaguars Defense @ OAK @ ATL 16 3 Green Bay Packers Defense vs. CHI @ MIN

Tier 4 Defenses

Rank Tier DST Week 15 Opponent Week 16 Opponent 17 4 Atlanta Falcons Defense @ SF vs. JAC 18 4 Los Angeles Chargers Defense vs. MIN @ OAK 19 4 Minnesota Vikings Defense @ LAC vs. GB 20 4 Tennessee Titans Defense vs. HOU vs. NO 21 4 Detroit Lions Defense vs. TB @ DEN

Tier 5 Defenses

Rank Tier DST Week 15 Opponent Week 16 Opponent 22 5 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Defense @ DET vs. HOU 23 5 New York Jets Defense @ BAL vs. PIT 24 5 Indianapolis Colts Defense @ NO vs. CAR 25 5 Miami Dolphins Defense @ NYG vs. CIN 26 5 Carolina Panthers Defense vs. SEA @ IND 27 5 Denver Broncos Defense @ KC vs. DET 28 5 New York Giants Defense vs. MIA @ WAS

Week 15 Streaming Defenses: Rankings

These are all DSTs who are owned in 50% or fewer of ESPN leagues (the ownership percentages are typically pretty similar regardless of platform).

Rank DST Week 15 Opponent Week 16 Opponent 1 Seattle Seahawks Defense @ CAR vs. ARI 2 Kansas City Chiefs Defense vs. DEN @ CHI 3 Houston Texans Defense @ TEN @ TB 4 Dallas Cowboys Defense vs. LAR @ PHI 5 Washington Redskins Defense vs. PHI vs. NYG 6 Atlanta Falcons Defense @ SF vs. JAC 7 Los Angeles Chargers Defense vs. MIN @ OAK 8 Tennessee Titans Defense vs. HOU vs. NO 9 Detroit Lions Defense vs. TB @ DEN 10 New York Jets Defense @ BAL vs. PIT 11 Indianapolis Colts Defense @ NO vs. CAR 12 Miami Dolphins Defense @ NYG vs. CIN 13 Denver Broncos Defense @ KC vs. DET 14 New York Giants Defense vs. MIA @ WAS

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