Alright, everyone – let’s get it done. The Stream-O-Matic presents some options to us here in Week 15. Unless you are in a league of quitters, the top six are already owned. After that though, there’s some hope for fantasy glory.

The Seahawks are coming off a strong Monday night showing and are dying to redeem themselves after Nick Mullens threw for 400+ on them a couple of weeks ago. While I’m not as much of a fan of the Colts defense as the chart is, you can’t deny how well they’ve been playing. The Giants are home favorites against a very inconsistent Titans offense. Even with quarterback issues of their own, the Redskins oppose Cody Kessler and the abysmal Jacksonville offense. Hell, you could even bump up the Falcons defense considering who they’re playing.

Give the chart a look-see and decide for yourself! Remember, fantasy defenses are fickle, so shut off your brain and trust your gut. It’s what has got you this far. Use the chart to give you a baseline, then make those final decisions. Let’s check it out!

2018 Fantasy Football Week 15 Defense Stream-O-Matic

Scoring

I use a traditional rotisserie scoring style commonly used in fantasy baseball season-long leagues to give point totals to each team.

Categories

The categories for the chart are listed below along with links to websites that I use to find this data.

Own% : Ownership percentages based on ESPN leagues gives us an idea of who is available. This doesn’t factor into the standings.

: Ownership percentages based on ESPN leagues gives us an idea of who is available. This doesn’t factor into the standings. Location : Generally speaking, defenses play better at home than on the road. Thus, a five-point advantage is given to all home teams.

: Generally speaking, defenses play better at home than on the road. Thus, a five-point advantage is given to all home teams. Wind : The only weather element that has shown a direct correlation with point totals is winds in excess of 15 MPH. Another five-point bonus is awarded to teams playing in such windy conditions.

: The only weather element that has shown a direct correlation with point totals is winds in excess of 15 MPH. Another five-point bonus is awarded to teams playing in such windy conditions. Vegas : Using Vegas odds, the spread and over/under generates a projected game score that the bettors go against. This game score portrays what the game flow could look like and, therefore, which fantasy football defenses are in a good position to succeed.

: Using Vegas odds, the spread and over/under generates a projected game score that the bettors go against. This game score portrays what the game flow could look like and, therefore, which fantasy football defenses are in a good position to succeed. oSAC% : To gauge how good (or bad) an opposing offensive line might be, look at the sack percentage for that team’s offense. Not only are some offensive lines bad, but some quarterbacks don’t show the ability to avoid the sack.

: To gauge how good (or bad) an opposing offensive line might be, look at the sack percentage for that team’s offense. Not only are some offensive lines bad, but some quarterbacks don’t show the ability to avoid the sack. oINT% : The opponent’s interception percentage obviously helps in streaming a defense. Turnover percentage is not used here because fumbles can be a little fluky and turnover percentage uses both fumbles and interceptions.

: The opponent’s interception percentage obviously helps in streaming a defense. Turnover percentage is not used here because fumbles can be a little fluky and turnover percentage uses both fumbles and interceptions. FPPG : I use ESPN defensive scoring rankings to determine a ranking of the fantasy football defenses.

: I use ESPN defensive scoring rankings to determine a ranking of the fantasy football defenses. DVOA: Probably the most popular tool for evaluating defenses, the DVOA efficiency ratings are utilized to give a strong baseline to the rankings.

Stream-O-Matic Chart

Overall Defense Own% Opp Location Wind Vegas oSAC% oINT% FPPG DVOA 135.0 Jaguars 77.3 WAS 5 0 32 27 32 13 26 131.0 Vikings 84.9 MIA 5 0 28 29 12 29 28 129.0 Ravens 81.1 TB 5 0 27 18 22 28 29 121.0 Bills 72.2 DET 0 0 29 17 23 22 30 121.0 Bears 97.1 GB 5 5 25 21 1 32 32 119.0 Texans 93.8 NYJ 0 0 30 8 28 31 22 117.0 Seahawks 36.7 SF 0 0 26 24 27 25 15 112.0 Broncos 63.1 CLE 5 0 22 4 24 26 31 106.0 Colts 19.9 DAL 5 0 19 30 10 18 24 103.0 Saints 61.7 CAR 0 0 17 7 30 24 25 102.0 Giants 15.6 TEN 5 0 24 31 18 8 16 92.0 Redskins 59.6 JAX 0 0 20 26 15 17 14 91.0 Rams 96.4 PHI 5 0 18 10 7 30 21 89.0 Falcons 24.1 ARI 5 0 31 23 26 2 2 87.5 Jets 15.6 HOU 5 0 15 32 5 19.5 11 86.5 Packers 32.6 CHI 0 5 8 19 29 15.5 10 84.0 Lions 24.2 BUF 0 0 23 16 31 10 4 84.0 Titans 62.9 NYG 0 0 16 20 17 14 17 84.0 Cowboys 38.4 IND 0 0 10 3 21 23 27 76.0 Chargers 78.9 KC 0 5 3 5 19 21 23 71.0 49ers 3.9 SEA 5 0 12 28 9 5 12 68.0 Cardinals 22.4 ATL 0 0 6 22 8 12 20 65.5 Chiefs 64.6 LAC 5 5 11 14 2 19.5 9 63.0 Steelers 54.7 NE 5 0 5 1 6 27 19 60.0 Bengals 9.9 OAK 5 0 21 25 3 3 3 59.5 Patriots 54.3 PIT 0 0 9 2 20 15.5 13 57.0 Browns 10.1 DEN 0 0 14 12 4 9 18 55.0 Eagles 50.9 LAR 0 0 1 15 25 6 8 44.0 Dolphins 15.6 MIN 0 0 7 9 11 11 6 43.0 Panthers 50.1 NO 5 0 2 6 16 7 7 41.0 Raiders 1.2 CIN 0 0 13 13 13 1 1 38.0 Buccaneers 1.6 BAL 0 0 4 11 14 4 5

Defenses on Bye Week: NONE!

Optimum Score: 150

Top Defenses for Week 16

Alright, optimistic owners need to be looking ahead to next week’s defenses as well. Therefore, I ran the Stream-O for next week and here is the early top 12:

Bears (at SF) Rams (at ARI) Titans (vs WSH) Vikings (at DET) Cowboys (vs TB) Broncos (at OAK) Patriots (vs BUF) Jaguars (at MIA) Redskins (at TEN) Colts (vs NYG) Texans (at PHI) Chargers (vs BAL)

Keep checking those waiver wires for a dropped defense that shouldn’t have been dropped.

Otherwise, there’s not much to dream on here. The Cowboys and Patriots will likely be available in your league to stash on your bench. While the Colts are an interesting option at home against the Giants, New York’s offense has been coming on lately. Sadly, the rest of the defenses will be hard to find.

Check out the rest of our 2018 Fantasy Football content from our outstanding team of writers.