Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2001

De-fense … de-fense!

They’re usually underappreciated, but defenses are making an impact in fantasy football

By Jeff Agrest, Senior editor

But lately, defenses have reached the scoring sheet, with five accounting for touchdowns this past week (not including special-teams scoring). Whether QB play is deteriorating or turnovers are on the rise, we’re not sure. But so far this season, defenses are making my Draft Day strategy look silly.

What follows is a look at four of the hotter defenses in the league and a revised draft board to make your lineup decisions a little easier.

Chicago — The Bears have scored on a long fumble return in consecutive weeks, and they’ve held each of their four opponents to 17 points or fewer. The unit is playing with heightened confidence and has some good matchups ahead with games against the Bengals and Browns. The Bears’ success lies in their run defense, which ranks in the league’s top 10 at 87.0 yards per game against. DTs Ted Washington and Keith Traylor have done a good job protecting their speedy linebackers, and a young secondary has performed well in coverage. The Bears haven’t been sack monsters, but they’ve recorded 11 in four games. They’ve also forced a whopping seven fumbles.

N.Y. Jets — They Jets’ defense didn’t score last week, but it returned two fumbles for scores the previous week. Though they’ve switched from a 3-4 to a 4-3 alignment and rank near the bottom of the league in yards allowed, the Jets have forced a league-high 17 turnovers, and that’s what fantasy owners look for in a defense. They recorded four takeaways and three sacks Sunday, so while they didn’t score, they still made plays. The Jets have a very active LB corps, featuring Marvin Jones, who already set a career high with three interceptions. They also have some emerging sack artists in John Abraham and Shaun Ellis. The will be put to the test this week with the Rams coming to town.

Pittsburgh — By a mere two-tenths of a yard, the Steelers lead the Ravens for the top defensive ranking in the league. They’ve accounted for two defensive scores, have held their last three opponents to 17 points or fewer and have a favorable schedule coming up (Tampa Bay and Tennessee in the next two weeks). The Steelers haven’t come up big in turnovers, but they’ve recorded 11 sacks, including four from third-year DE Aaron Smith (1.5 off Chad Brown’s AFC lead). The 3-4 scheme they run is hard for opponents to adjust to, and coordinator Tim Lewis is one of the best around.

St. Louis — The unit isn’t scoring like it did in 1999, but the Rams’ defense is indeed the most improved in the league. St. Louis has held four of its five opponents to fewer than 20 points, and it’s recorded 17 sacks and 13 takeaways. Led by first-year coordinator Lovie Smith, the Rams have taken the Buccaneers’ cover-2 defense and made it work for them. The unit also is deep, with reserve DL Leonard Little leading the team with five sacks. You can learn more about the league’s most improved defense in the pages of Pro Football Weekly’s print edition.

Revised defensive draft board

1. Rams
2. Steelers
3. Ravens
4. Raiders
5. Bears
6. Packers
7. Eagles
8. Dolphins
9. Giants
10. Jets
11. Saints
12. Buccaneers
13. Chargers
14. Patriots
15. Browns
16. Seahawks
17. Broncos
18. Bengals
19. Jaguars
20. Titans
21. Chiefs
22. 49ers
23. Panthers
24. Vikings
25. Falcons
26. Cardinals
27. Lions
28. Colts
29. Cowboys
30. Bills
31. Redskins

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