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There’s a new No. 1 fantasy defense after eight weeks—and it’s one that exactly zero people would expect to be in this spot.
After picking off Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. off four times in a rainy 16-0 shutout last week, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers sit atop the NFL in fantasy points among defenses.
These aren’t the Derrick Brooks and Warren Sapp-led Buccaneers who won the franchise’s first Super Bowl. Or the unit spearheaded by Lavonte David and Shaquil Barrett that made Patrick Mahomes so uncomfortable in Super Bowl LV. There’s no shortage of young talent in players like linebacker Josiah Trotter and edge-rusher Rueben Bain Jr. But there’s not a lot of star power in Todd Bowles’ squad.
What there is is an aggressive scheme—Bowles never saw an A-Gap blitz he didn’t like. The Buccaneers lead the NFC in run defense at just 80 yards per game. The Bucs have allowed the sixth-fewest points per game at 18.9. The Buccaneers lead the league in takeaways with 16, and despite a lack of big names in the pass-rush the team ranks inside the top-10 in sacks with 23.
Too bad they won’t be much good in Week 9. This week the Buccaneers head to Chicago to take on the red-hot Bears. After dropping 34 points on the Seahawks in Seattle last week, the Bears are third in the league in total offense and sit outside the top-20 in fantasy points per game allowed to defenses.
The Buccaneers have been a great get for fantasy managers. Just not this week.
The Jaguars would have been a start even if the Ravens were at full-strength. But they are very much not at full strength, and that makes fantasy’s No. 4 fantasy defense in points per game arguably the best play of the week—even on the road. But from all indications, undrafted free agent rookie Joe Fagnano will start for the Ravens under center—on a bad ankle. Add in that Derrick Henry will be facing the NFL’s No. 1 run defense, and this has the makings of a truly ugly affair.
Among the defenses that were drafted “early” this season the Broncos have done the best job of trying to live up to that price tag—Denver hasn’t been great in terms of yards or points allowed, but thanks to the fourth-most sacks (23) and a decent number of takeaways the Broncos are sixth among all defenses in fantasy points. Over the past couple of weeks, the Panthers have regressed badly—Bryce Young has been dropped 11 times and Carolina leads the league in fantasy points per game allowed to defenses over that span.
Chicago’s offense is getting all the run, but the defense in the Windy City has quietly stepped up in 2026 as well. Granted, no one is going to confuse them with the 1985 iteration of the team. The Bears are ninth in the league in total defense, fourth in the league in run defense and eighth in points allowed. Chicago has also been a top-12 fantasy defense for the season, and that run defense will be especially important against the Buccaneers—Tampa has thrown for 64 yards in the last two games combined.
After the Seahawks lost to the Bears, the Niners come out of their bye week with a chance to put a stranglehold on the division. They also come out of the off week with a potentially rebuilt defensive line—tackle DeForest Buckner is back in the Bay Area after a trade with the Colts, and there’s optimism that edge-rusher Nick Bosa could be back for this contest as well. The Raiders are scrappy this year, but the 49ers can make them one-dimensional. Then the new-look DL eats. Kirk Cousins is many things. Mobile is not one of those things.
The Texans have been far and away the biggest disappointment among fantasy defenses this year—drafted as an elite option at the position, the Texans currently sit outside the top-20 in fantasy points. There’s no easy thing to point to, either—the talent is there. The Texans just aren’t playing well defensively. But DeMeco Ryans has taken over playcalling, and Houston has had an extra week to prepare for the dumpster fire that is the Bolts. Hopefully the Texans made better use of the off week than the Chargers did.
It might seem a little weird to see Seattle’s defense listed here after their Week 8 faceplant against the Bears—the “Dark Side” got roasted at home to the tune of 363 yards and 34 points. But simply put, the Arizona Cardinals ain’t the Bears offensively, and we have seen this movie before with Gardner Minshew—a good game followed by, well, a not good one. At 4-4, the Seahawks aren’t just worried about the NFC West. Making the playoffs period is the priority now. They’ll bounce back at home against a familiar foe.
The Browns have had some struggles on the road this season, including a blowout loss in Pittsburgh last week. But entering Week 9 the Cleveland defense sports a secondary that ranks sixth in the league against the pass and a pass rush that has registered 21 sacks. Cleveland’s leaky run defense would be a problem if the Saints could run the ball at all, but they rank 28th in the league in that regard. Shake off last week’s Steel City disappointment and buy the rebound.
The Bengals have turned a penchant for big plays this season into the fifth-most fantasy points at the position, and even in last week’s shootout win over the Titans the Bengals posted an OK line. That the Titans dropped 36 on the Bengals gets them dropped from “No Doubter” territory, but the Falcons are an excellent fantasy matchup—the team leads the NFC in giveaways with 16, the team ahs surrendered an equal number of sacks and only the winless Chargers have surrendered more fantasy points per game to defenses.
Had you told me before the season that this matchup would be a streaming play and that I wouldn’t feel great about it, I’d have chuckled. Maybe guffawed. But welcome to 2026. The Commanders looked pretty good coming out of the bye, the Rams are beat up at cornerback and Myles Garrett’s potential return to practice won’t help the pass rush in Week 9. But the Rams are fifth in the league in total defense, and I have less confidence in the Commanders stacking good games than I do the Rams.
The Chiefs defense looks a lot like the Chiefs defenses from the past several years—good, but not great. The team’s pass rush has generated no shortage of pressure, but sacks have been hard to come by—Kansas City’s nine sacks for the season is tied for the fewest in the league. However, Kansas City has managed top-15 fantasy numbers despite a relatively low big-play tally, and this week a Jets team visits that is competitive one week and gets boatraced the next. The Jets were competitive in Week 8.
To be clear, the Saints have had their struggles defensively—New Orleans has given up the fifth-most yards and fourth-most points per game and sit 20th in fantasy points at the position for the season. However, in terms of fantasy points per game the Saints have been productive over the last month, ranking third over that span. The Browns have surrendered the fourth-most fantasy points to defenses in 2026, and no quarterback has been sacked more times this year than Deshaun Watson.
For most of the season, Todd Bowles’ ultra-aggressive defense in the Twin Cities has sat near the top of the league in many categories, and the Vikings still lead the NFC in sacks with 25 and lead all defenses in fantasy points per game. The Vikings pulled out a decent fantasy outing (four sacks and a takeaway) last week in Detroit, but things aren’t going to get any easier on Monday night against Josh Allen and the Bills—Buffalo sits 28th in fantasy points per game given up to defenses.
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