Best Fantasy Football D/ST Streaming Options for Week 15: Commanders, Cardinals, Falcons, Panthers

If you are reading this article, congrats on making it to the fantasy football playoffs! (Or, if you’re in a league where the toilet bowl matters, good luck in avoiding the dreaded last-place finish.) For the vast majority of leagues, this week is the first week of the playoffs, which means it is more important than ever to pick the best D/ST streaming options.

First, however, let’s take a look back at last week’s results, which were perhaps the best I have had all season. All four recommended streaming options scored at least eight points and finished among the top seven D/STs of the week. The Buccaneers (DST2), Titans (tied for DST3), and Saints (tied for DST5) were all top-five units. That’s an absolutely stellar week, and I hope those picks were able to help some of you punch a ticket into the fantasy football playoffs. Hopefully we can keep that hot streak going this week. Let’s get started! 

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Week 15 Fantasy Football Defense Streaming Options

Washington Commanders (27.8% Rostered) @ New Orleans Saints 

Derek Carr doesn’t get enough credit for what he has been able to do this season. The Saints have probably the second-worst pass-protecting unit in the league, behind only the mess that the Patriots call an offensive line. But Carr ranks first among 42 qualified quarterbacks with a pristine 8.5% pressure-to-sack rate, so he is averaging less than one sack per game. 

Now, Carr is set to miss this week while dealing with a fractured hand and a concussion. We don’t know yet whether Jake Haener (who took over for Carr on Sunday) or Spencer Rattler (who started when Carr missed three games earlier this season) will start, but they both have been far more sack-happy than Carr, with pressure-to-sack rates of 16.7% and 31.1% (!) respectively. In the three games Rattler started, the Saints’ opponents scored 17.0, 20.0, and 9.0 fantasy points. I can’t imagine that Haener, a former fourth-round pick, would fare much better.

For their part, the Commanders’ defense has had an interesting season. Despite a hot start, they still look like an average or slightly below-average defense overall, ranking 17th-best in points allowed and 12th-best in yards allowed but 24th in EPA per play given up. But they aren’t truly terrible, and that should be all they need to take advantage of this Saints offense without Carr (and Chris Olave, and Rashid Shaheed, and Taysom Hill, and Bub Means). 

Arizona Cardinals (32.6% Rostered) vs. New England Patriots

As I mentioned in the previous blurb, the Patriots have far and away the league’s worst offense line. They give up an absurd 41% pressure rate, 11.6% above expected according to Fantasy Points Data. Drake Maye’s mobility allows him to escape the pressure sometimes, but he still ranks sixth among qualified quarterbacks with a massive 8.9% sack rate. The rookie also ranks 10th among 40 qualified quarterbacks in turnover-worthy play rate, tied with Will Levis.

Even with Maye now having started the majority of their games, the Patriots still rank second-worst in both points per game and yards per game. Even if we only include games started by Maye, they rank 23rd in the league in EPA per play, just between the Bears and the Jaguars. They are undeniably one of the top offenses to target every single week.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals’ defense has been much improved in recent weeks … with the exception of last week, when they were run all over by the Seahawks. Still, even including last week’s implosion, they still rank as the ninth-best defense in EPA per play since Week 10. Outside of last week, they have scored at least seven fantasy points in each of their last four matchups. Even if they regress back to being just an average defense, an average defense is more than enough to be a smash play against this New England offense. 

Atlanta Falcons (6.9% Rostered) @ Las Vegas Raiders 

It’s a tough week for streaming this week. A lot of the top matchups are claimed by defenses that are already widely rostered (although check your waivers — I’ve noticed the Ravens available in a shocking amount of leagues coming off their Week 14 bye, and a few other premium defenses may have slipped through the cracks). With that in mind, we have to plug our noses and dig deep for these last two plays, starting with the Falcons. Atlanta has one of the league’s worst defenses, ranking in the bottom 10 in both points per game and yards per game allowed. They’ve been even worse in recent weeks, ranking fourth-worst in EPA per play allowed since Week 10 and having been blown up in two of their last three games.

However, this is a dream matchup. The Raiders rank sixth-worst in points per game, eighth-worst in yards per game, and dead last in EPA per play. Now, they might be without Aidan O’Connell, instead forced to start Desmond Ridder for a “revenge” game. In 2023, with these same Falcons (a much better offensive environment than he now has in Vegas), Ridder ranked second among 41 qualified QBs with a 5.6% turnover-worthy play rate, 11th with a 22.3% pressure-to-sack rate, and dead last in PFF Offense Grade. 

There is a chance that AOC will be healthy for this week, as what initially looked like a season-ending injury has now been reported as just a bone bruise. If he does play, this matchup gets downgraded from incredible to just very good, and the Falcons go from a priority streaming pick to more of a desperation play. If I had to guess, though, O’Connell misses at least one week, opening up a revenge spot for Atlanta’s defense, which Ridder often let down during his Falcons tenure. 

Carolina Panthers (1.0% Rostered) vs. Dallas Cowboys

I wasn’t lying when I said there weren’t many options this week, as I am quite literally scraping the bottom of the barrel here — the Panthers rank 32nd out of 32 NFL teams in roster percentage. If they aren’t available in your league, I can’t help you. With that said, the Panthers are a slightly appealing streaming option this week in a matchup with Cooper Rush and the Cowboys.

Since Rush took over as Dallas’ starting quarterback, defenses against Dallas have averaged 9.6 fantasy points per game. To be fair, those numbers have been lower in recent weeks as the Commanders (three), Giants (zero), and Bengals (six) have all had mediocre results. Meanwhile, the Panthers rank dead last in points per game allowed, second-worst in yards per game allowed, and second-worst in EPA per play allowed … why am I recommending this play again?

At the end of the day, the Cowboys rank dead last in EPA per play with a shockingly bad -0.202 since Rush took over in Week 10. The Panthers overall have been playing much better in recent weeks, and I like their chances to at least give us a solid outing at home against the flailing Dallas offense. It’s not the most comfortable play in the fantasy playoffs, but sometimes, we’ve got to make the best of what’s out there.

Ted Chmyz is a fantasy football contributor for FantasyPros.com. Find him on Twitter @Tchmyz for more fantasy content or to ask questions.