Week 15 is finally here and with it comes the first week of the fantasy football playoffs and all our Best Ball playoffs kick off as well!

And wouldn’t you know it, with all 32 teams officially through the Bye week portion of the schedule we get 12 games for this week’s main slate, so we have plenty of options for our cash games and tournament contests on DraftKings and FanDuel.

 

 

 

Let’s take a look at the latest NFL DFS Week 15 D/ST Coach!

NFL DFS Week 15 D/ST Coach For FanDuel & DraftKings Fantasy

The Week 14 main slate was a fun one, but yours truly got destroyed at D/ST. With every lineup I made, I paid down to the Chicago Bears as a value play. I thought they’d have a little more fight with extra rest, they fired their head coach, and the San Francisco 49ers were a little beat up all around. The Bears absolutely laid an egg in Week 14.

Overall, the D/ST position was a bit of an odd one last week. No specific D/ST, or tight end for that matter, really broke the slate as a necessary requirement to have in your lineups to win big. Some value plays did come through and there were some underwhelming performances overall from the expensive options, but for this position of variance no team really broke the slate.

 

 

 

NFL Week 15 Defense/Special Teams

We finally have a much larger slate to dissect for Week 15 and I couldn’t be more thrilled to have additional options. 10-game slates tend to consolidate rostership numbers a bit too much for my liking. Give me a nice 12-or-13-game slate to spread things out a bit and provide variety.

This week’s slate once again has a lot of team’s living in this 42-to-46-point range in terms of implied totals. But there is one team on this slate lining up to be massive 16-point favorites and you can assume they’ll be quite popular in cash games.

Across all the pricing tiers we still have you covered with the NFL DFS Week 15 D/ST Coach!

 

 

 

NFL DFS D/ST Top Tier Picks For Week 15

Baltimore Ravens - DraftKings: $3,900 | FanDuel: $5,000

I can tell you straight up I will not be able to afford this D/ST, but I won’t recommend them as a fade either. They’re expensive and the biggest favorite by far on the main slate. As of Thursday morning, the Ravens are currently 16-point favorites and the implied total is at 42.5 points.

So Vegas is giving the G-Men an implied team total of 13.25 points, which might be the lowest implied total we’ve seen this season. I don’t particularly think the Ravens are any good defensively this season. They had plenty of personnel and coaching turnover in the offseason.

But they’re good for a few sacks per game but they don’t force many turnovers. Luckily, we just need them for this week if you’re so keen on playing them. The Giants are in shambles and their injury report on Wednesday featured just about everyone on the roster.

The Giants will have to start Tommy DeVito in this matchup, and he got one start earlier this year and took four sacks against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers so it wouldn’t surprise anybody if the Ravens had an easy path to a 10-point floor on DraftKings and FanDuel this weekend.

Washington Commanders – DraftKings: $3,400 | FanDuel: $4,700

We don’t know who is officially starting at quarterback for the New Orleans Saints, but interim head coach Dennis Rizzi said he’ll announce that on Friday. Derek Carr is in concussion protocol and he’s nursing a hand injury as well. If the Saints are forced to play either Spencer Rattler or Jake Haener, then we upgrade Washington’s D/ST.

We also have Washington coming off their Bye week, so they’re rested for their playoff push. It’s also fascinating because there’s a revenge game narrative as Marshon Lattimore will be making his debut for the Commanders after spending the first seven years of his career with the Saints.

Prior to their Bye week, the run defense and secondary had been playing better and this D/ST can force multiple turnovers per game. Washington isn’t as favored as heavily as the Ravens, but they are the second biggest favorite on the slate at -7.5 and the Saints have an implied team total of 18 points for this game.

 

 

 

NFL DFS D/ST Mid-Tier Picks For Week 15

Pittsburgh Steelers – DraftKings: $2,800 | FanDuel: $4,300

I’m not afraid to take some risks on a 12-game slate and this option may not come with a ton of rostership. The Steelers just played four straight games against their AFC North division rivals. In each game they had three takeaways with 10 total sacks.

So they are very capable of stepping up in the most vital games. And not to place higher values on some games while diminishing others, but this Week 15 matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles is one that’ll have many eyes on it in the afternoon window.

The Eagles aren’t in shambles, but there are certainly difficult matchups here and there’s been a lot made about A.J. Brown’s drop in targets and a potentially damaged friendship with Jalen Hurts. This makes for a great squeaky wheel game, but we are still getting a discount on the Steelers despite the matchup on the road.

 

 

 

NFL Week 15 DFS D/ST Value Picks

Carolina Panthers – DraftKings: $2,700 | FanDuel: $3,400

I’ve talked myself into playing the Carolina Panthers and truly hope this doesn’t end up like the Chicago Bears from a week ago. But the Dallas Cowboys are on the road for this matchup and they just took a loss on Monday Night Football.

So they have some travel on the books and it’s a short week of preparation. It’s rare we get a value D/ST that’s actually favored at home, but that’s what we have with Carolina for the NFL DFS Week 15 D/ST Coach. The Panthers are favored by a field goal and Dallas has an implied team total of 20 points.

Carolina’s run defense is an abomination, we all know this. On the year, Carolina’s giving up 170.1 rushing yards per game. By far the worst in the NFL. That bodes well for Dallas who just saw Rico Dowdle rush for 131 yards on Monday Night Football.

But we need to take some risks and stands if paying down here for a D/ST. The Panthers do have at least four sacks in three straight games and that Dallas Cowboys offensive line is a bit beat up.

 

 

 

NFL DFS D/ST Fades For Week 15

Cincinnati Bengals - DraftKings: $3,500 | FanDuel: $4,000

The Bengals are actually priced in a reasonable fashion on FanDuel. While I still wouldn’t play them, the pricing isn’t egregious by any means. However, I don’t really think Cincinnati should be priced as the third-most expensive option on DraftKings.

If you’re hellbent on playing a D/ST in the top tier, try and get to Baltimore or Washington, or just pay down at this position. The Tennessee Titans, led by Will Levis, are certainly a wild card. Levis isn’t the most accurate passer and he has 13 turnovers in 10 games this year. It seems like every week there’s a Will Levis meme popping up on social media.

However, Tony Pollard is still a strong running back and he gets volume as he’s fresh off 23 touches last week in an effort to limit mistakes by Levis. But also, the Bengals aren’t a good defense at the end of the day. Not to mention, they just played on Monday Night Football in Dallas so it’s a short week, and they have more travel on the agenda.

The Bengals give up 27.7 points per game (fourth-most in the NFL) and 365.5 yards per game (seventh-most in the NFL). If Sheldon Rankins can’t go once again for the Bengals, that’s a massive downgrade to their run defense and it could be a big day for Tony Pollard.

 

 

 

NFL DFS Week 15 D/ST Play Of The Week

Denver Broncos – DraftKings: $3,200 | FanDuel: $4,800

The Broncos are easier to get on DraftKings than FanDuel, but the ceiling is there all the same. Both the Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos are coming off their Bye week, but this is a home game at elevation for the Broncos. We love the blitz and pressure rate so let’s see if they can give Anthony Richardson fits.

Richardson had a decent game two weeks ago against the New England Patriots, but he still threw two interceptions. Since reclaiming the starting quarterback job for Indianapolis, he’s completing just under 60% of his pass attempts. Against the Patriots and the Lions, he completed just 44.2% of his passes.

Pat Surtain can neutralize Indy’s best pass catcher and the Broncos are giving up the sixth-fewest rushing yards per game. Where the Colts might catch Denver off guard is when they draw up roughly 8-to-10 designed runs for Richardson. But the Broncos are currently clocking in as four-point favorites at home and the Colts have an implied total of 20 points.

If you want a more expensive D/ST with high upside, the Kansas City Chiefs are in play on the road in Cleveland. Jameis Winston has thrown six interceptions over his last three games. Sure, the Chiefs tend to play to the level of their opponents, but we also saw the Broncos bring back two interceptions for touchdowns against Winston back in Week 13.
 

 

 

NFL DFS Week 15 Defense/Special Teams Projections