We don’t waste any time as we quickly turn the weekly calendar to the second main slate of the young 2025 NFL season. Week 1 was about as unpredictable as you could imagine, as the play calling was rather suspect, a few stud receivers failed to come through, and the production from quarterbacks was all over the place.

But these teams are not yet in full swing, so we’ll hopefully find some spots where DFS players are too reliant on what they saw in Week 1. Pricing is still relatively soft across the board as it’s early in the season, and with a $4,000 starting quarterback on the main slate for Week 2, we may not need to save too much salary at D/ST. Let’s take a look at the NFL DFS Week 2 D/ST Coach!

NFL DFS Week 2 D/ST Coach for FanDuel & DraftKings Fantasy

Last week went pretty well to kick off the 2025 season. The Denver Broncos were pricey, but as the Play of the Week, they returned 14 fantasy points on DraftKings. The Bengals were the fade last week and only returned 7 fantasy points. Paying up to the Broncos for $200 more would’ve yielded more production for your lineups. 

The mid-range picks of the Patriots and Packers were downgraded just ahead of roster lock, given the respective news of Christian Gonzalez and Micah Parsons. But Parsons still made quite the impression without a full snap share, so I do feel good about the call for tournament contests. The Jaguars didn’t make the D/ST Coach, but they came close to breaking the slate with a pick six that was called back due to a penalty, so the Broncos topped the slate as the top scoring D/ST.

 

 

 

NFL Week 2 Defense/Special Teams

We have another 12-game main slate Sunday afternoon, so there’s a healthy amount of games to look at when considering the last piece of our NFL DFS lineup puzzle. There are some low totals across the board and some obvious spots with four games sitting at 42.5 points or fewer. Across all the pricing tiers, we have you covered with the NFL DFS Week 2 D/ST Coach!

NFL DFS D/ST Top Tier Pick for Week 2

Baltimore Ravens – DraftKings: $3,700 | FanDuel: $5,000

The Ravens are the most expensive team on the DFS main slate but that worked out just fine for us last week with the Denver Broncos. We can’t really hold their Week 1 performance against the Ravens. They went on the road and played the Buffalo Bills in primetime. They lost the game to the reigning NFL MVP. That’ll happen to a lot of teams.

The Ravens get a bounce-back spot in Week 2 with a home matchup against the Cleveland Browns in the Art Modell Bowl. For as bad as the Cincinnati Bengals' defense is, they held the Browns to under 50 rushing yards and just 16 points while forcing two turnovers and a pair of sacks. If a bad defense can do that to the Browns in Cleveland, what do we think a better defense can do against this offense at home in a hostile environment?

This game currently has the widest spread of any game on the main slate. The Ravens are favored by 11.5 points, and the Browns roll in with an implied team total of 17 points, which is on the lower end of the spectrum for this slate. The Ravens cannot afford to go 0-2, and they’re certainly too talented to end up in that spot. I’m not expecting much mercy for the Browns in Week 2.

 

 

 

NFL DFS D/ST Mid-Tier Picks for Week 2

Los Angeles Rams – DraftKings: $3,100 | FanDuel: $4,500

The Rams will be a popular mid-range pick in Week 2 after an impressive showing against the Houston Texans in Week 1. My read on the Rams' defense is pretty simple. The defensive front is very good. The secondary leaves a little to be desired. Time will tell if I’m right or wrong, but this is a matchup where I’m not too worried about the shortcomings of the secondary.

The Rams play in the early window in Nashville against the Tennessee Titans. Cam Ward was rather atrocious in his NFL debut, completing just 42.9% of his pass attempts for 112 yards while losing a fumble. Now it was a tough road matchup in Denver, but for all the reasons we attacked the Broncos last week, we will also attack the Rams.

It’s a rookie quarterback who had his struggles in camp and once again has to deal with a formidable pass rush. The Broncos pressured Ward at the eighth-highest rate in Week 1 (35.3%) and sacked him six times at a 17.6% rate, which was the highest in the NFL last week. Ward did have some positives last week. His receivers didn’t gain much separation, but he did make some impressive throws into tight coverage (despite the bad completion rate). But he also displayed some bad pocket awareness. Braden Fiske and Jared Verse are probably licking their chops at this matchup.

A good pivot off the Rams on both sites will be the Pittsburgh Steelers. They’re favored by a field goal in a home matchup against Seattle. The Seahawks did nothing to inspire confidence in Week 1, and that game has one of the lowest implied totals on the slate.

Philadelphia Eagles – DraftKings: $3,000 | FanDuel: $4,200

I’m surprised this game isn’t in primetime, as it’s a Super Bowl rematch, but it’s out of my hands. If the Rams are the mid-tier cash game play, then the Eagles are the tournament pivot.

So long as Jalen Carter can keep his bodily fluids to himself, the Eagles' run defense should be much better in Week 2 than what we saw against Javonte Williams and the Dallas Cowboys in Week 1. But against the Chiefs, the Eagles come in with momentum. I’m not going to say there’s a significant “rest” advantage because both teams received some extra days off following Week 1.

The Eagles are surprisingly only favored by a point-and-a-half, but this is a road matchup, and Arrowhead is a tough environment to play in. But the Chiefs are looking pretty short-handed. They still won’t have Rashee Rice as he’s serving his suspension. Xavier Worthy probably isn’t playing in this one as the Chiefs decide if he needs surgery on his shoulder. And Jalen Royals still isn’t practicing. So Patrick Mahomes doesn’t have the greatest pass catchers at his disposal currently.

While the Eagles weren’t stellar in Week 1, they also weren’t very disciplined. But they still held Dak Prescott to under 200 passing yards, and with the Chiefs a bit beat up, I expect a better defensive effort overall, assuming Carter doesn’t get himself ejected again.

 

 


 

NFL Week 2 DFS D/ST Value Picks

New England Patriots – DraftKings: $2,800 | FanDuel: $4,400

The Patriots are reasonably priced on DraftKings, but they’re the sixth-most expensive option on the board on FanDuel. Prior to the Week 1 main slate lock on Sunday, I added a note to last week’s D/ST Coach that I was slightly downgrading the Patriots since Christian Gonzalez was inactive. And after Gonzo didn’t practice on Wednesday, I’m a bit worried he’ll once again miss Week 2, so we proceed with caution.

But they visit the Miami Dolphins this week, and while I don’t want to fall into too much of a trap assuming they’ll be dusted two weeks in a row, that was probably the worst performance ever from a Mike McDaniel-coached team.

There are plenty of narratives about how the team is essentially hitting the reset button, Tyreek Hill wants out, the players don’t respect McDaniel, etc. So even if Gonzo can’t go, it seems like a spot where the Patriots can give fits to a bad offensive line and get pressure on Tua Tagovailoa.  The Pats did great containing the run and getting pressure on Geno Smith last week. They just struggled in the passing game with Gonzo sidelined. That could be a repeat performance this week, but I do want to keep them in the player pool until we get inactives on Sunday.

New Orleans Saints – DraftKings: $2,500 | FanDuel: $3,000

Hopefully won’t have to land here very often. I honestly gave some thought to putting the Saints in the next section as this week’s fade, but I wanted to find a secondary value recommendation this week. The San Francisco 49ers are beat up across the board. Brock Purdy is going to miss 2-5 weeks, so the team will turn to Mac Jones as their starting quarterback on Sunday. They’ll also be without George Kittle, Brandon Aiyuk is not eligible to come off IR yet, and Jauan Jennings sustained a shoulder injury in Week 1.

Things are looking pretty grim for San Francisco early on. But honestly, part of the reason I wanted to lay off the Saints as a D/ST is because I’m going to be running a few Mac Jones/Christian McCaffrey stacks in DFS because it’s wildly affordable.

But the Saints still did enough to generate five sacks on Kyler Murray last week. But the 49ers have a better offensive line. And to that point, Kyle Shanahan will coach Mac Jones up appropriately to just move the chains and march down the field. Jones has plenty of NFL experience, and this is arguably the best offensive mind he’s worked with.

But as a paydown option, the Saints have a path to returning 7-8 fantasy points, which is perfectly fine for cash games. I don’t think I’d go here in tournaments because the ceiling is probably capped. 

 

 

 

NFL DFS D/ST Fade for Week 2

Detroit Lions – DraftKings: $3,200 | FanDuel: $3,800

The Bears go on the road for a divisional matchup against the Detroit Lions. It’s Ben Johnson’s first game back in Detroit after spending the past six seasons working his way through the ranks of the organization.

It won’t be pretty, but I expect the Bears to put some points on the board in this matchup. Caleb Williams completed only 60% of his passes for 210 yards and a passing touchdown in Week 1. But he did rush for 58 yards and a touchdown, which we didn’t see often during his rookie season. Chicago has upgraded the offensive line and provided him with more weapons. And if there’s one offensive mind who may know this defense and how to attack it better than anyone, it might be Ben Johnson.

There are some flaws to the argument against the Bears' offense, though, and I believe in full transparency. This is a shorter week for Chicago as they just played on Monday Night Football. But it’s not the most extensive travel going from Chicago to Detroit. And the sportsbooks are pretty bearish (pun intended) on Chicago with a 20.5-point implied team total. But I also just believe there are better options in the same pricing range as Detroit, so I’m not in love with this play for Week 2.

NFL DFS Week 2 D/ST Play of the Week

San Francisco 49ers - DraftKings: $3,600 | FanDuel: $4,800

I was tempted to swap the Ravens into this section and put the 49ers in the top-tier article, but alas, I’ll always target teams playing Spencer Rattler. The 49ers weren’t given any favors by the NFL. They start the year with consecutive road games in Seattle and New Orleans. And this game is in the early window, which should give us some pause.

But this defense looked great last week against the Seahawks. They allowed a total of just 230 yards and 13 points while forcing a pair of turnovers. Rattler only took one sack last week against the Arizona Cardinals, but he completed less than 60% of his pass attempts.

The Saints' offensive line is beat up as well. As of Wednesday, Trevor Penning and Taliese Fuaga weren’t practicing, which isn’t a great indicator early in the week. But this offensive line was already bad enough entering the season. And not to mention, Chris Olave left last week’s game three times due to minor injuries. I don’t particularly love that for a player with an extensive injury history.

The travel could keep some DFS players off the 49ers this week, but it’s a matchup with some upsid,e especially if Rattler regresses and surrenders some sacks and turnovers.