The final week of the fantasy football regular season is here. If you are reading this article, congratulations on having a team still in playoff contention. Hopefully you are in a relatively comfortable position in your league standings, but if this is a must-win week, you are in the right spot. Fantasy Life has you covered with the projections, fantasy football rankings, waiver advice, and start/sit recommendations you need to maximize your chances of winning.

Week 14 brings the return of bye weeks with the Carolina Panthers, New York Giants, New England Patriots, and San Francisco 49ers all off for the final reduced slate of the year. None of those defenses is too highly rostered right now, but I expect at least two of them to feature in next week's streaming article due to great Week 15 matchups.

DST Streamers For Week 14 Fantasy Football

I am looking for DSTs with the ability to create sacks and turnovers rather than minimizing points allowed to the other team, although those two things are correlated. I think this is one of the bigger mistakes fantasy managers make when thinking about fantasy defenses. As you will see in this article, I am generally focused on three things: offensive line play, QB turnover rates and game script.

A poor offensive line matched up against a strong defense line is one of the best signs for a fantasy defense. Putting the opposing QB under pressure increases the likelihood of sacks, fumbles, and interceptions. However, not all QBs are created equal, so we also want to target those who have a history of turning the ball over. Lastly, a defense on a team that is heavily favored is another good sign because it means the other team may be forced to call more pass plays as a result of a negative game script, and pass plays are more likely to lead to scoring opportunities for the defense than rush attempts are.

If you are comfortably in the playoffs already and interested in stashing a DST with a great Week 15 matchup, I want to call your attention to the San Francisco 49ers, Chicago Bears and Carolina Panthers. The 49ers face the Titans, the Bears get the Browns and the Panthers square off against the Saints. These are three of the best possible matchups for a DST, and all three defenses are widely available and should remain available heading into next week.

The 49ers and the Panthers are on bye this week, while the Bears travel to Green Bay and are unlikely to be a popular streaming option. You can probably wait until next week to add these teams, but if you want to play a week ahead and stash a DST for next week, these are three of the best options who are almost certainly available in your league.

Kansas City Chiefs - 42% rostered

The Chiefs season is on the line and they need to win the majority, if not all, of their remaining games in order to make the playoffs. Somehow, it still feels like they will find a way to make it happen, but the paths are narrowing and the odds are getting longer by the week. 

The offense has gotten more of the attention, but it's been a rough few weeks for their DST. They haven't scored more than two fantasy points in any of their last four games. Those disappointing performances have all come in tough matchups and the schedule eases up, at least from the perspective of their defense. The Chiefs next three games come against the Texans, Chargers and Titans. Those are three of the worst offensive lines in the NFL as measured by pass block and run block win rates.

Kansas City is pretty average as both a pass and rush defense, but that still gives them the advantage against these porous offensive lines. Cam Ward and Justin Herbert rank first and third, respectively, among the most sacked QBs in the NFL, while the combined entity of C.J. Stroud and Davis Mills would be tied for seventh-most. These are matchups where Kansas City should be able to generate pressure and force the opposition into multiple mistakes.

I expect the game against Houston to be a bit of a defensive struggle, but the Chiefs offense should be able to score against the Chargers and Titans, so those both set up as potentially positive game scripts for their defensive line to get after the opposing QB. 

The Texans have been playing better recently, so Kansas City may not be the absolute best Week 14 matchup, but at this time of year, I love being able to pick up a DST that I can play for multiple weeks, which makes the Chiefs a priority pickup for me.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers - 28% rostered

The Bucs have the best remaining schedule of any widely available DST. Their remaining games are home against the Saints and Falcons, and then on the road against the Panthers and Dolphins. That is an incredible run of below-average QB play for one of the NFL's most blitz-heavy defensive schemes. Tampa should be able to blitz with reckless abandon while having little fear that the opposing signal caller can make them pay. Shough, Young, Cousins, and Tua all get the ball out quickly, so getting quick pressure is the best way to rack up sacks against them. Tua and Shough in particular have been vulnerable to that quick pressure, with pressure-to-sack rates north of 20%. 

Cousins has been better at avoiding sacks, but his conservative play has led to a relatively toothless Atlanta passing game with just a 2.7% TD rate on his pass attempts and 6.3 YPA, which ranks 31st. Bryce Young has actually been playing the best football of this group recently, but he's still been prone to turning the ball over this year with nine interceptions and six fumbles so far. 

I don't think the Bucs defense is as talented as the Chiefs but they do have a slightly better schedule and could be picked up and started all the way through the fantasy championship. They're a close second on my streaming priority list.

Washington Commanders - 5% rostered

As usual, we'll conclude with the deep league streaming option available in more than 90% of leagues. The Commanders have the good fortune of taking on the gift that is the Minnesota Vikings QB room. After a disastrous start from Max Brosmer last week, the Vikings are expected to have J.J. McCarthy back for this game. Whether that is an improvement remains to be seen. 

McCarthy has been especially poor in his recent starts, throwing just two TDs vs six INTs in his three starts from Week 10 through Week 12. PFF has him graded with the second-highest rate of turnover-worthy plays, with Jake Browning the only worse qualifying QB. His 25.3% pressure-to-sack rate is third-worst in the league, and the dysfunction seems to be growing in Minnesota. 

The only issue with this matchup is that it is in Minnesota and neither team has much to play for, which can lead to unexpected outcomes. All that being said, I will continue to target McCarthy by streaming the opposing defense until he shows he is capable of playing good football for more than one quarter at a time.

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