The fantasy football season is officially in its final stretch. With the trade deadline passed in the majority of leagues, the only way to improve your roster is through smart waiver claims. No matter how good your roster is, you’ll need to make at least one or two moves on the waiver wire if you’re to win your championship. With that in mind, the Arizona Cardinals and Carolina Panthers defenses should be good fantasy football week 11 defenses available on the waiver wire.
Fantasy Football: Top Week 11 Running Back Waiver Claims
Fantasy Football: Top Week 11 Wide Receiver Waiver Claims
Fantasy Football: Top Week 11 Quarterback Waiver Claims
Arizona Cardinals, Carolina Panthers Highlight Fantasy Football Week 11 Defenses
Arizona Cardinals
There may not be a less inspiring offense than the Oakland Raiders. Because of this, any defense facing off against the Raiders should be considered a strong start. Not only are the Raiders underwhelming as a whole, but they also lost Jordy Nelson and Martavis Bryant in Week 11. It’s anyone’s guess how this offense will manage to move the ball, and the Cardinals should be startable against this objectively bad offense.
For what it’s worth, the Arizona Cardinals defense has actually been pretty serviceable throughout the 2018 season. The Cardinals recorded five sacks against the high-powered Kansas City Chiefs offense. One week earlier against San Francisco, Arizona recorded an additional four sacks and limited the offense to 13 points. Arizona should put together another strong outing against a hapless Oakland offense.
Carolina Panthers
The Carolina Panthers defense has not played up to the sum of its’ parts in the 2018 season. Because of this, the normally dominant unit is owned in just 58.1% of NFL.com fantasy leagues. It’s hard to blame fantasy owners for bailing, as the unit is the 18th-best fantasy defense in standard scoring. However, Carolina faces a favorable matchup in Week 11 which makes them an easy streaming candidate
Carolina faces off against a Detroit Lions offense which looks lost without slot receiver Golden Tate. Quarterback Matthew Stafford is holding the ball longer and having a harder time finding open receivers. Because of this, Stafford has tossed two interceptions in the past two games without Tate while the Lions offense is averaging 15.5 points per game. It’s highly unlikely Detroit magically solves their offensive woes in one week, so Carolina should take advantage of a Detroit Lions offense stuck in transition.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Full disclosure, there are not many good defensive streamers this week. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense has been nothing short of horrific for the grand majority of the season. This unit ranks 31st in the league in standard scoring, which is obviously not good. However, in today’s pass-happy NFL, it’s worth taking a shot on a defense when they’re playing a bad offense.
The 2018 New York Giants have a terrible offense. Eli Manning is worn down and struggles to even find Odell Beckham, and Saquon Barkley isn’t capable of carrying the whole offense. Tampa Bay showed last week that they are capable of stopping bad offenses when they recorded three sacks against the Washington Redskins. Putting Tampa Bay here isn’t so much a vote of confidence in the Buccaneers as it is a vote of no confidence in the Giants offense.
The final recommendation in this column is always meant to give matchup advice for players/teams that are definitely available in your league. Unless you’re in an incredibly deep league, there’s probably a better option than Tampa Bay on the waiver wire. However, if you play in a deep league and your rostered defense is on a bye, I guarantee you that nobody in your league owns the Buccaneers defense.
Fantasy Football: Top Week 11 Running Back Waiver Claims
Fantasy Football: Top Week 11 Wide Receiver Waiver Claims
Fantasy Football: Top Week 11 Quarterback Waiver Claims
Main photo:
Embed from Getty Images
