Fantasy Football Week 8 Rankings: Defense/Special Teams

The surprising defensive matchup of the week should be the Seattle Seahawks at the Detroit Lions. Seattle is fifth in total yards per game allowed. They held San Francisco in check and allowed only thirteen points last week. I think the Seahawkswill allow thirteen points and cause two turnovers. Their defense will also put a lot of pressure on Stafford, sacking him three times. Detroit should be able to move the ball but I think Seattle will bend but not break and allow many points.

Detroit is a surprising eighth in total yards per game allowed but are twenty-second in points allowed with twenty-five points allowed per game. The Lions only allowed thirteen points on Monday night and could be turning around their season defensively. I feel the Lions will allow Seattle to score twenty points and intercept Russell Wilson once. They will beat the Seattle offensive line for three sacks of Wilson.

Let's take a look at the leaders in defensive touchdowns and fantasy scoring through Week 7:

The Bears continue to lead the pack and will probably put up another strong performance when they take on the struggling Carolina Panthers this week. I would not be shocked if they returned multiple turnovers for touchdowns. The Cardinals and 49ers will battle it out on Monday night, which will probably result in another NFC West defensive struggle. The aforementioned Seahawks will hold down the Lions but hopefully won't fall back into a prevent and allow some late garbage points.

The Cowboys and Steelers moved up a little after last week's games, while the Eagles were on a bye and had no chance to improve their totals. All three play strong offensive teams this week, which could demonstrate whether they'll be able to fix their deficiencies.

Here are the defenses that have been sacking the quarterback over the last three weeks:

St. Louis - 14

Green Bay, Minnesota - 10

NY Giants, Houston - 9

If you play in a league that rewards teams that allow the least amount of points, here are the top five defenses in points allowed over the last three weeks:

1. Chicago - 10

2. Miami - 27

3. Carolina - 35

4. San Francisco - 35

5. Detroit - 36

Here are my rankings for Week 8:

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