D/ST Strength of Schedule: Best Fantasy Football Defense Streamers and Matchups (Weeks 15-17)

Andrew Ball looks at 2025 D/ST fantasy football strength of schedules for Weeks 15-17, and the best fantasy football D/ST matchups for the rest of the season. Target these D/STs.

What's the last piece of a perfect fantasy football lineup, capable of winning a championship? That'd be the D/ST.

Here at RotoBaller, we're helping you complete the puzzle. This article dives into several key metrics that help us pinpoint league-winning defenses.

At the end of this article, we'll discuss options for every week of the fantasy football playoffs to help you win your league. Note: All stats, percentages, metrics, figures, data are through Week 13.

• 2025 fantasy football rankings
• Running back (RB) rankings
• Wide receiver (WR) rankings
• Quarterback (QB) rankings
• Tight end (TE) rankings
• Defense (D/ST) rankings
• Kicker (K) rankings
• FLEX rankings
• Dynasty rankings

Fantasy Football Top Scoring D/STs

The later in the season it gets, the better it gets to gauge the strength of schedule for fantasy football D/STs. With the most moving parts, on both sides of the football, it's the most volatile metric.

Strength of schedule matters. For example, the Texans, although considered a great defense, have played the Tennessee Titans twice. They are giving the second-most fantasy points to defenses. Here's the rest of the top five:

1. Minnesota Vikings (11.5 points per game)
2. Tennessee Titans (10.8)
3. Las Vegas Raiders (10)
4. Cleveland Browns (9.7)
5. New Orleans Saints (9.6)

For the most part, bad offenses are the stickiest part of the D/ST equation. Despite positive matchups sprinkled throughout the season, these offenses are among the units putting the fewest points on the scoreboard, frequently turning the ball over, and getting sacked the most.

It's easiest to predict sacks, but to do so, there are a couple of stats to look at. We'll start with a quarterback's time to throw. This is an indication that a quarterback is holding onto the football for too long in the pocket, and those pass rushers are closing in.

Here are the 10 quarterbacks who take the longest to get rid of the football, and their sack percentage (min. 150 plays).

1. Caleb Williams (2.99 seconds) (4.27%)
2. Brock Purdy (2.97) (2.35%)
3. J.J. McCarthy (2.88) (10.58%)
4. Jalen Hurts (2.8) (6.87%)
5. Tyrod Taylor (2.78) (13.25%)
6. Lamar Jackson (2.77) (9.75%)
7. Jacoby Brissett (2.75) (7.56%)
8. Cam Ward (2.75) (10.02%)
9. Josh Allen (2.72) (6.75%)
10. Jordan Love (2.72) (4.28%)

You'll notice a larger time in the pocket versus a low sack rate for Allen and Williams. The Bills and Bears rank first and second, respectively, in pass block win rate, so the quarterbacks can afford to let routes develop a hair longer. Pass block win rate measures whether one of the big boys up front can hold a block for 2.5 seconds or longer. Since this is an article aimed at finding the best D/STs, we're going to look at the worst pass-blocking lines.

• 32. New Orleans Saints (54%)
• 31. Los Angeles Chargers (55%)
• 30. Detroit Lions (55%)
• t-28. Houston Texans (56%)
• t-28: Cincinnati Bengals (56%)

Inversely, here are the top-5 pass rush win rates on the defensive side of the ball:

1. Cleveland Browns (49%)
2. Pittsburgh Steelers (46%)
3. Minnesota Vikings (44%)
4. Denver Broncos (43%)
5. Atlanta Falcons (42%)

One more thing we'll look at is pressure rate. While pressures lead to sacks, they can also force turnover-worthy throws or fumbles by the quarterback. We'll also compare a team's pressure rate to the average pressure rate allowed for their opponents.

Note: The table is sorted from highest to lowest pressure rate. An opposing rate allowed over 40% is highlighted in green, and a rate under 35% in red.

If the New York Jets are on a team's remaining schedule, chances are they have a favorable pressure-rate schedule. With a league-leading 49.2% pressure rate allowed, both Justin Fields and Taylor have shown a tendency to take sacks. The New England Patriots draw that matchup in Week 17, championship weekend.

There are four teams below 30%: Pittsburgh (28.3%), Los Angeles Rams (28.9%), Miami (29.2%), and Seattle (29.6%). Those offenses have quick-release passing games and/or lean on the running game. Cleveland plays one of those teams (Pittsburgh), along with Chicago and Buffalo, which we already mentioned have the best pass-rush win rates.

The Indianapolis Colts, a top-10 fantasy defense, have the seventh-lowest pressure rate and an unfavorable schedule for the fantasy playoffs. Here are the rest of the top 10 D/STs, on a per-game basis, entering Week 14 (one point per sack, two points per turnover, safety, or blocked kick, six points per touchdown).

1. Seattle Seahawks (11)
2. Houston Texans (9.5)
3. Los Angeles Rams (8.8)
4. Pittsburgh Steelers (8.3)
5. Jacksonville Jaguars (8.2)
6. New England Patriots (8.1)
7. Cleveland Browns (8.1)
8. Denver Broncos (7.9)
9. Indianapolis Colts (7.7)
10. Atlanta Falcons & Philadelphia Eagles (7)

D/ST Fantasy Playoffs Strength of Schedule (Weeks 15-17)

The following table shows each team's schedule for the fantasy football playoffs (Weeks 15-17). The bigger the number, the easier the matchup against the D/ST position. The lower numbers indicate more difficult matchups. The ranks are averaged to give each team a strength-of-schedule score for the rest of the season.

Are you more of a reading learner than a visual learner? Here are the top 10 defenses based on rest-of-season strength of schedule. Included in parentheses is the roster percentage for each team. I've also added the plus matchups (opponents ranked 22nd or worse versus D/STs) for the rest of the season, and specifically the fantasy playoffs.

1.  New York Giants (2%)
   • Plus Matchups (Playoffs): Two
2.  Houston Texans (82%)
   • Plus Matchups (Playoffs): Three
3.  New Orleans Saints (8%)
   • Plus Matchups (Playoffs): Three
4. Cincinnati Bengals (3%)
   • Plus Matchups (Playoffs): Two
5. Dallas Cowboys (11%)
   • Plus Matchups (Playoffs): Two
6. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (60%)
   • Plus Matchups (Playoffs): Two
7. New York Jets (9%)
   • Plus Matchups (Playoffs): One
8. Kansas City Chiefs (46%)
   • Plus Matchups (Playoffs): Two
9.  Philadelphia Eagles (67%)
   • Plus Matchups (Playoffs): One
10.  Arizona Cardinals (4%)
    • Plus Matchups (Playoffs): One

If you're forced to stick to one defense for the postseason (a strategy I wouldn't recommend, but there are some roster and transaction restraints out there), there are two units with a plus matchup in all three weeks; one is rostered heavily, the other not so much. If you're in the 18% of leagues where Houston is on the waiver wire, add them now.

The rest of us can take a hard look at New Orleans. They have three great matchups and have averaged 9.6 fantasy points in the last three games. Two of those games were against teams that we deemed a plus matchup. The Saints draw Tennessee on championship weekend.

Can you trust the Dallas defense? That will be a question that fantasy managers ask themselves ahead of the first round of the fantasy playoffs. They're generating pressure at the third-best rate in football, and J.J. McCarthy has been sacked 20 times in six starts, in addition to whatever turnovers he provides. However, the Cowboys are still surrendering the most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks.

D/ST Streaming Road Map (Weeks 15-17)

Let's blend the stats, the schedule, and the eye test, and roll it all up into one road map. For each week, I will provide my top streaming option (Option 1) and a secondary option (Option 2). These D/STs will have a roster share under 60%, and, a reminder, things change! If a backup quarterback is starting, certain D/STs could look more appealing.

Week 15:

• Option 1: Jacksonville Jaguars (44% rostered, 10th-best matchup against New York Jets)
• Option 2: Chicago Bears (22% rostered, fourth-best matchup against Cleveland)

Week 16:

• Option 1: Kansas City Chiefs (46% rostered, second-best matchup against Tennessee)
• Option 2: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (25% rostered, ninth-best matchup against Carolina)

Week 17:

• Option 1: New Orleans Saints (8% rostered, second-best matchup against Tennessee)
• Option 2: Detroit Lions (59% rostered, best matchup against Minnesota)

Good luck for the rest of the fantasy football season, and feel free to reach out to me on X (@ajball4real) if you have questions as the season progresses!

More Fantasy Football Analysis