D/ST rankings for Week 7 fantasy football

Saturday AM Covid-19 update

The Raiders and Saints did not have any new positive Covid-19 tests, per Saturday morning reports. The Saints placed Emmanuel Sanders on Covid-19 IR on Friday after a positive test, but none of the tests of close contacts came back positive.

Thursday PM Covid-19 update

The NFL has begun implementing contingencies around the Bucs-Raiders contest. The game was flexed out of Sunday Night Football to an afternoon start. The reasoning is concern over a potential need to postpone the game due to Covid-19. This will be something to track through Saturday and potentially into Sunday morning.

Thursday AM Covid-19 update

The Raiders-Buccaneers matchup is the lone game in question midway through the week. Raiders OT Trent Brown was placed on Covid-19 IR and the team sent home the rest of the starting offensive line. The game is still scheduled for Sunday, but this will be something to track into the weekend.

Week 6 was a good one for D/ST’s, as seven hit double-digits while the Steelers hit 19 fantasy points against the Browns and the Buccaneers went for 20 against the Packers! That, I did not see coming. Both teams returned interceptions for touchdowns, but also dominated throughout. These two have become the cream of the crop for D/STs and they’re both startable against almost any team.

Streaming against Andy Dalton, Joe Flacco and Kyle Allen worked out, as the Cardinals, Giants and Dolphins all hit double-digit fantasy points. Taking on Daniel Jones didn’t work quite as well, but still gave you six fantasy points, while using the Rams, Packers, Bills, and Titans all gave your team negative points. Playing D/STs isn’t a science, but give yourself a break and base your decisions on the opponent more than the defense itself.

Bye weeks

Minnesota Vikings, Indianapolis Colts, Baltimore Ravens, Miami Dolphins

The Ravens and Colts have been solid this season, while the Dolphins have been a good matchup D/ST. The Vikings, they’ve been awful. Scour those free agents for a good matchup this week.

Streaming options

Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles get to face Daniel Jones and the Giants poor offensive line this week, Philadelphia has been bad, especially their pass defense, but they can get to the quarterback and this quarterback is adept at turning the ball over.

Washington Football Team

If you could somehow stomach the last Monday night game, you saw that Andy Dalton hasn’t changed much. The Cowboys offensive line has also taken a huge hit this season, which Washington should be able to take advantage of this week.