Best available D/STs on the Week 9 waiver wire

Defense and special teams are probably the unit that’s changed the most on fantasy football rosters throughout the course of the year based on matchups, so searching for a new defense this week shouldn’t come as anything new to fantasy managers.

Unless you have an all-world defense, like the Buffalo Bills or Los Angeles Rams, you’re probably normally just going week by week seeing which D can give you an edge. This week, we have a couple of suggestions to make sure you get the most out of your defense and special teams

Week 9 byes: Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Football Team, Detroit Lions, Seattle Seahawks

New Orleans Saints D/ST (66% rostered)

Next up — Atlanta Falcons

The Saints have the fifth-best defense in terms of fantasy points allowed this season, so it’s a bit of a shock that they’re only rostered in 66% of leagues. A lot of that probably has to do with coming off a game against Tampa’s high-powered offense. If you have a chance to pick them up, take it. They take on the Falcons this week, who have been bad, scoring just 21 points per game in 2021. They’ve been held under 20 points three times, including last week, and have a high point total of just 30 this season, which came against the Miami Dolphins.

Chicago Bears D/ST (26.2%)

Next up — Pittsburgh Steelers

Yes, this is a bold move. But when you look at the numbers, you’ll notice it’s not the Bears defense that’s let them down this year as much as the offense has. Chicago is limiting opponents to just 24 points per game, which ranks 20th in the NFL. They’ll be taking on a Steelers team that is scoring under 20 points per game. They won last week against Cleveland, but only scored 15 points in that one. Their high point total on the season is 27 points, but they’ve only gone over 20 points three times in seven games. The Steelers also average a turnover per game while the Bears have caused eight this season.

Miami Dolphins D/ST (35.1%)

Next up — Houston Texans

This game could very well end in a 2-0 win for either team or a 0-0 tie. Both of these teams have struggled all season, but the Texans have struggled more. They rank dead last in points per game with an average of just 14.9 each week. They’ve failed to even hit the double-digit point mark four times. Houston has also turned the ball over an astonishing 13 times this year, including at least one in each of the last five weeks. Miami’s defense has struggled at times, ranking 29th in the NFL in points allowed. But last week against the Bills they looked very good for three quarters but just got worn out at the end due to lack of offensive production. They still allowed the high-powered Buffalo offense to just 26 points, seven of which were set up by an extremely short field after an INT. The unit has also caused nine turnovers this season.