It's not often that the top three in our fantasy football defense/special teams rankings are road teams, but that's the case in Week 5. We love the matchups for the red-hot Broncos at Oakland and the Cardinals at mistake-prone Detroit enough to move both units ahead of the Seahawks, who meet a surging Bengals offense away from Seattle.
There are also quite a few D/ST sleepers and streaming options based on matchups and injury absences, so let's take a look at the full fantasy football defense rankings for Week 5.
MORE: Week 5 fantasy football rankings:
Quarterbacks | Running backs | Wide receivers | Tight ends | Kickers
Week 5 fantasy football rankings, Defenses
1. Broncos at Raiders. The Raiders offense has improved, but the Broncos are fantasy's leading D/ST through four weeks.
2. Cardinals at Lions. We'll go against Matthew Stafford any chance we get.
3. Seahawks at Bengals. Tough road matchup, but always trust the Seahawks.
4. Eagles vs. Saints. Drew Brees is no longer feared with a weak shoulder and even weaker pass-catchers. Fire up the Eagles D/ST at home.
5. Bills at Titans. The Bills D has been underwhelming, but the Titans are allowing 12 fantasy points per game to defenses and four sacks per game. Rookie QB Marcus Mariota could make some mistakes if the Bills can pressure him.
6. Chiefs vs. Bears. Even with Jay Cutler and maybe Alshon Jeffery back, this is a great matchup for the Chiefs. The Bears are allowing the second-most FPPG to defenses.
MORE: Best fantasy football pickups for Week 5
7. Patriots at Cowboys. You know the Patriots are going to focus on shutting down Terrance Williams and pressuring Brandon Weeden into mistakes.
8. Packers vs. Rams. The Rams are allowing 12.5 fantasy points per game to D/STs, though the emergence of Todd Gurley is a bit of a concern.
9. Ravens vs. Browns. The Browns are allowing 3.5 sacks per game and putting the ball on the ground twice per contest. Expect the Ravens to take advantage.
10. Bengals vs. Seahawks. The Seahawks are actually allowing four sacks per game, which plays to the strength of Cincinnati's talented defense, which has 11 QB takedowns and seven takeaways.
11. Texans vs. Colts. The Texans' D is struggling horribly, BUT this home matchup in primetime looks pretty good whether Andrew Luck (shoulder) plays or not.
12. Giants vs. 49ers. No team allows more FPPG to defenses than the 49ers, thanks to Colin Kaepernick's (and the entire 49ers offense's) continued struggles.
13. Falcons vs. Redskins. The Falcons D/ST could continue making big plays against a turnover-prone Redskins team.
14. Lions vs. Cardinals. Carson Palmer looked mortal (and immobile) last week against St. Louis and could be in for another rough day against Detroit's pass rush. We worry about a high-scoring game, though.
15. Steelers at Chargers. The Chargers are allowing a dozen FPPG to defenses.
16. Jaguars at Bucs. Deep sleeper vs. Jameis Winston, who already has eight turnovers.
Best of the rest
17. Colts at Texans
18. Browns at Ravens
19. Rams at Packers
20. Cowboys vs. Patriots
21. Chargers vs. Steelers
22. Redskins at Falcons
23. Saints at Eagles
24. Buccaneers vs. Jaguars
25. Bears at Chiefs
26. Titans vs. BIlls
27. Raiders vs. Broncos
28. 49ers at Giants
BYES: Dolphins, Jets, Panthers, Vikings
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