Let’s Stream Defenses: Week 12 (2025 Fantasy Football)

We’re almost though the bye weeks. We have four this week, none next week, and then the last four in Week 14, the last or second-last week of the fantasy regular season in most leagues. The gap in byes next week will be a good time to stash defenses for their playoff matchups. For now, we still need to focus on getting through these byes and into the playoffs.

After several weeks of relative stability, a lot happened in Week 11 to shake up the quarterback landscape. So let’s go over the teams that have seen QB chances and if they’re good defense matchups or not:

• The Atlanta Falcons: QB Michael Penix Jr. and WR Drake London are both dealing with knee injuries, so Kirk Cousins will take over at QB without his best receiver to throw to. Cousins is a veteran with some great seasons under his belt, but he’s a few years removed from that and a backup for a reason. I expect the Falcons to be a good but turnover-dependent matchup, with Cousins taking fewer sacks than is typical for an offense on this level.
• The Cleveland Browns: It’s Shedeur time. Fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel suffered a concussion last week, leading to Shedeur Sanders making his NFL debut in the 2nd half, and starting this week. The results for Sanders were pretty bad, but it’s not a surprise given that was his first time throwing to the first team offense. That can happen when you’re 3rd or 4th on the QB depth chart. I expect Sanders to improve from here, but it will continue to be rough for at least a few weeks. The Browns are a good defense matchup, albeit one that offers limited turnover upside thanks to their run-first nature.
• The New York Giants: Jaxson Dart is expected to return from concussion protocol this week. That’s good news for Giants fans, but it will continue to be a struggle with his two best weapons – Malik Nabers and Cam Skattebo – both out for the season. Dart is an exciting player but he does still take sacks at a pretty high rate. The Giants are a viable matchup for good defenses, of which they have a few on their schedule.
• The New York Jets: Justin Fields has been officially benched, making Tyrod Taylor the starter. Taylor is not the worst backup QB, but I expect him to struggle inheriting a Jets offense that’s missing Garrett Wilson. I expect a fair number of sacks related to nobody getting open downfield. The Jets are at the stage of the season where they should be most focused on next year’s draft pick, and remain an excellent matchup for defenses.
• The Pittsburgh Steelers: Aaron Rodgers injured his non-throwing wrist last week, turning the QB job over to Mason Rudolph. Rudolph has spent most of his career as the Steelers’ backup QB, and re-signed there this year after a year in Tennessee. He played well in the second half last week, but that was against a truly awful Bengals defense. With Rudolph I expect the Steelers to be an OK matchup for good defenses, but like the Browns, a run-first offense leading to limited turnover upside.

Streaming Defenses: Fantasy Football Waiver Wire & Start/Sit Advice (Week 12)

We have four teams on bye (LAC, DEN, MIA and WAS), but it’s still an excellent week for streaming. All the worst offenses are playing, and they’re mostly playing good defenses. Rostership numbers are from Yahoo, where 10-team leagues are the majority. You can find me on Bluesky.

Matchups

1. SEA @ TEN: This is as much of a slam dunk as defenses get. The Cam Ward Titans are top-tier matchup: 9 of their 10 opponents have finished as the DST8 or better. Ward is the most-sacked quarterback in the league by a clear margin, with an average of 4.1 per game. The Seahawks are one of the league’s best defenses, and have shown they can record huge sack totals in good matchups. Any time the Vegas-implied point projection for a team is less than 18, that’s a matchup for the defenses. The Titans’ projection of 13.5 is rock-bottom.
2. GB vs MIN: Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy had another bad game last week, recording a pair of interceptions against the Browns. McCarthy has cleaned up the sacks, however: after taking 14 in this first 3 games, he has just 1 in the past two weeks. I have no reason to think the interceptions won’t continue, and it would not surprise me to see the sacks bounce back against Micah Parsons and company.
3. LV vs CLE: Shedeur Sanders made his NFL debut last week, playing the second half for the Browns after Dillon Gabriel suffered a concussion. Sanders was bad, completing just 4/16 pass attempts with an interception and two sacks against the Ravens. It’s hard to lay very much blame on Shedeur considering the reporting that he had never practiced with the 1st-team offense before this game. He should develop over time, but I expect more struggles in the short term. The Raiders’ defense is easy to underrate. The numbers don’t look pretty, but they’ve had a brutal schedule so far. Their first 10 weeks were like a tour of all the best teams in the AFC. The only good matchup the Raiders have faced was the Titans in Week 6, and they were the DST2 that week. I feel no hesitation to start them against Shedeur.
4. CLE @ LV: Myles Garrett incredible. Last week he recorded 4 of the Browns’ 5 sacks against Lamar Jackson of all people. That gives him the league lead with 15 sacks, while only one other player has more than 10 (Brian Burns with 13). That also marks his 8th consecutive season with 10+ sacks. The Raiders and Geno Smith are an excellent illustration of why matchups matter so much for sack projections. Against the Cowboys last week the pass protection wasn’t bad, but Geno simply couldn’t get the ball out quick enough. It doesn’t help that no one not named Brock Bowers can get open. This will be a fun one to watch for us defense aficionados, with the best players in the game being both teams’ defensive lines.
5. BAL vs NYJ: Justin Fields has officially been benched, so it’s Tyrod Taylor time in New Jersey. Taylor played a good game in his only start against the Buccaneers in Week 3, but this week he won’t have Garrett Wilson to throw too. It’s easy to give Lamar Jackson the credit for the Ravens’ recent resurgence, but the defense has been a big part of it too. They currently have a 5-game streak of allowing 20 or fewer points, and I would be shocked if that ended this week.
6. DET vs NYG: The Giants are expected to get rookie sensation Jaxson Dart back this week, but he’s coming back to a tough situation with Malik Nabers and Cam Skattebo both on IR, facing a Lions defense that has been dominant in good matchups lately. For the Lions’ defense the last couple weeks have been better in real life than in fantasy. They kept the Commanders in check in a blowout win, and kept things close last week while their offense couldn’t beat 16 points from the Eagles. The Lions only had 3 sacks in those two games, but this should be a good opportunity to bounce back for 4 or 5 sacks like we’ve seen from both the Lions and Jaxson Dart earlier in the season.
7. BUF @ HOU: C.J. Stroud is still in concussion protocol and Houston plays on Thursday, so it appears that we’ll be getting another week of Davis Mills. Mills has played well in 2 starts, but they’ve been relatively good matchups against the Jags and Titans. Last week he gave up 4 sacks, tying the Titan’s season-high. The Bills aren’t an amazing defense but the are above average and a notable step up from the Titans. I expect more sacks this week, even if the outlook for Turnovers is modest.
8. ATL @ NO: The Falcons’ pass rush has been on a roll lately, recording 18 sacks in their last 3 games. Though 3 games, Saints rookie QB Tyler Shough has not allowed more than 2 sacks in a game, but the Saints also scored a total of just 30 points in those games. I expect the Falcons to deliver Shough’s first game with 3+ sacks, and the risk of the Saints scoring very much is low.
9. NO @ ATL: It’s not very often that two different games put both defenses in the top 10, but that’s what can happen with all these quarterback injuries. Falcons sophomore QB Michael Penix Jr. landed on IR with a combination of knee injuries, so veteran Kirk Cousins will start for the Falcons. He’ll be doing it without his #1 WR Drake London, who is expected to miss at least one week with his own knee sprain. Cousins has an impressive resume with several good seasons for the Commanders and Vikings between 2015 and 2022, but the 37-year-old is a few years removed from that. Cousins started most of last season for the Falcons, but was benched for then-rookie Penix going into Week 16, after a 5-game stretch of 9 interceptions to just one TD. In relief last week he completed just 6/14 passes in an overtime loss. I don’t expect all that many sacks, but I do expect poor offense with a strong likelihood of turnovers.
10. CHI vs PIT: Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers suffered a wrist injury on his non-throwing side last week, and though it’s been reported that it won’t require surgery, he will miss some time. Mason Rudolph played well last week in the second half against the Bengals, scoring 10 points on offense to help turn a close game into a blowout, aided by two defensive touchdowns. The Bengals are the worst defense in the league, so it doesn’t mean a ton. In 6 starts last season he didn’t take all that many sacks, but did throw 9 interceptions. The Bears have participated in some shootouts, but their defense has shown an ability to turn in good results in good matchups, and this is certainly one of those.