D/ST Matchups to Target in Week 18 - Philadelphia Eagles, Denver Broncos, Houston Texans

Thunder Dan's favorite D/ST matchups to exploit for Week 18 of 2024 - DFS defenses to target on DraftKings and FanDuel. These D/ST matchups are GPP and cash game opportunities.

Nailing the right defense and special teams unit in DFS can be what takes you from the middle of the pack to the top of the leaderboard!

DFS players tend to pay down for cheap defenses in cash games to save as much salary as possible, but paying up for defenses with upside is one way to be contrarian in tournaments. And we don't have to avoid games with high totals; sometimes those games produce a lot of offensive value and value for defenses, too, through turnovers, defensive touchdowns, or special teams touchdowns.

So, let's break down what we think are this week's best options at this position.

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Philadelphia Eagles D/ST vs. New York Giants

$3.3k on DraftKings, $5.2k on FanDuel

The Eagles are going to be rolling with some type of combination of starters and backups, but targeting the Giants here still makes a lot of sense based on how they've allowed the third-most fantasy points to opposing defenses this season.

And while Drew Lock had an out-of-body experience last week - throwing for four touchdowns and running for another one - let's acknowledge that might be the biggest outlier result in the history of modern NFL football. Lock was sacked three times and threw two interceptions just one week earlier against the Falcons and has 27 career interceptions in five NFL seasons.

bro how fast is Cooper DeJean lol pic.twitter.com/jXL6P1k4Vw

— IcyVert (@IcyVert) December 29, 2024

While these stats were put up by the starters, the Eagles recorded 41 sacks and 12 interceptions this season, including a pick-six of Cooper Rush last week. And Pro Football Focus ranks the Giants offensive line as the second biggest mismatch for the Philly pass rush as well.

The Eagles are a better value on DraftKings as they are the most expensive defense on FanDuel, but that will also make them very lightly rostered.

Denver Broncos D/ST vs. Kansas City

$3k on DraftKings, $5k on FanDuel

We normally wouldn't be targeting the Chiefs with an opposing defense, but KC is resting Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and the majority of their starters in this one. And the Broncos are in a must-win scenario as they need this game to solidify their spot in the AFC playoffs, so we should get their starters playing at max effort.

Carson Wentz will be under center for the Chiefs, and he's no slouch, but he was picked off quite often in his last run as a starter in Washington in 2022 (9 INT in 7 starts).

The Broncos lead the NFL with three pick-sixes this season and have 15 total INT on the season. They've limited opponents to just 19.4 points this season (fifth-fewest in the NFL) and should be able to hold the Chiefs' backups in this one. The DK price is very affordable, and I view them as a pretty safe option with some upside, too.

Houston Texans D/ST @ Tennessee

$2.8k on DraftKings, $4.5k on FanDuel

Houston's defense has allowed over 22 points per game this season, but they have been a solid scoring unit for DFS, averaging 8.1 FD points and DK points per game. A lot of that production is a result of sacks and turnovers, as Houston has 19 interceptions (second-most in the NFL) and 47 sacks (third-most).

Defense getting after it 😤 pic.twitter.com/VqY9lxyLqk

— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) December 30, 2024

Whether it's Mason Rudolph or Will Levis under center for Tennessee, the Titans have been extremely turnover-prone. The two young QBs have combined for 21 interceptions over the first 16 games for the Titans.

While Houston can't move up or down in their seeding, they are still likely to play some of their starters at least part of this game. And we are banking on the Titans shooting themselves in the foot just as much as we are counting on the Houston guys to make plays.

At this price, it won't take much for Houston to pay it off, and we are getting a significant price cut here on FD compared to the pricy Denver and Philly units.

Thanks for reading, and good luck with your DFS contests!

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