Below are our projected Team Defensive Fantasy Points (based on ESPN Standard Scoring) for Week 13 of the 2017 NFL Season. These projections are from a model that takes into account a number of variables including team and player offensive and defensive metrics, situational factors in the game (such as, indoors or outdoors, divisional game, days of rest, and more), and lastly overall team rating measured by statistics such as our Elo Ratings.

Week 13: the final week of regular season play for the majority of Fantasy Football leagues, likely full of implications and trash talk leading into the playoff stretch.  Are you sitting pretty towards the top and playing for a bye this week? Clawing for a victory with hopes of sneaking into the playoffs? Or perhaps just trying to stay afloat and avoid whatever punishment the last place finisher in your league has to endure? Whatever the case may be, it’s important to remember that ‘D/ST Lives Matter’ and although you’d be wise to have a couple of defensive units on your roster to carry you through the championship push, streaming is still a viable strategy week in and week out. Options are a bit thinner this week especially with rosters being tightened up, but here’s who I like for the season finale:

Must Starts:

LAC vs CLE (Proj: 7.6 pts)

NE @ BUF (Proj: 6.7 pts)

PIT @ CIN (Proj: 9.5 pts)

Streamers I Like:

TEN vs HOU (Proj: 10.3 pts): Double digits! The Titans D/ST finally broke the 10 point barrier last week after I’ve continued to praise them in my weekly write up. Their 13 points against the scoring friendly Colts matched their season high, and a key divisional matchup in Tennessee’s playoff push bodes well for another solid outing this week, especially when you remember that Tom Savage is at the helm in Houston. And as I’ve mentioned before, Tennessee could be a great playoff D/ST with matchups against Arizona and San Francisco in Weeks 14 & 15, respectively. Although they draw the Rams in what would be Championship Week 16, the Titans could be the key to getting you in that position.

OAK vs NYG (Proj: 8.7 pts) As if Eli wasn’t doing a good enough job at stinking things up this season, insert Geno Smith into the equation and the Giants are in full bore tank mode. It doesn’t even matter how horrible the Raiders defense has been this year (Ranked 32nd in D/ST scoring with four negative scoring weeks), this is reason enough to start them if you’re still streaming here in Week 13. Christmas came early as Geno is the gift that keeps on giving (literally) to opposing defenses.

SF @ CHI (Proj: 10.7pts) The 1-10 49ers at the 3-8 Chicago Bears doesn’t make for much of matchup in Week 13, but with Jimmy G getting his first start in San Fran, I’m calling the Niners’ number this week to step up and play well behind the future of their franchise. On the other side of things, the Bears are one of the more forgiving teams in terms of D/ST scoring, allowing just over 10 points per game to their opponents. Although the Niners have yet to surpass the 10 point mark this season, I’m telling you that this will be the week that changes, and remind you that there are at least WORSE options out there in the streaming world. So, why not give them a go.

Not Sold:

NO vs CAR (Proj: 11.4 pts)

LAR @ ARI (Proj: 3.3 pts)

BAL vs DET (Proj: 10.1 pts)