Fantasy Football Week 5 Rankings: Defense/Special Teams

Week 5 of the NFL season is upon us, as the Thursday night game pits the improving Arizona Cardinals vs the St. Louis Rams. We have four teams on a bye this week, including Dallas, Detroit, Oakland and Tampa Bay, and I imagine Oakland and Detroit's defense/special teams is owned in only the deepest of fantasy football leagues, or leagues where points given up is a category.

Before I get to the Week 5 rankings, let's take a look at the teams who have scored the most defensive touchdowns through the first four weeks of the season:

The Bears scored two of their three defensive touchdowns on Monday Night Football, taking two errant Tony Romo passes to the house. Defensive touchdowns are nice, but they don't happen all that often, so let's take a look at the defenses who have sacked the quarterback the most thus far:

I have included other defensive scoring categories including sacks, interceptions, fumble recoveries and points allowed. As you can see, the Bears defense is one of the best at taking the football away from their opponents, and the get to the quarterback quite often as well.

The Bengals sack the quarterback more than any other team, but are not forcing turnovers, so their points allowed is one of the highest in the NFL. The Cardinals defense is also very good at forcing turnovers and rushing the quarterback as well.

Now let's take a look at the Defense/Special Teams Rankings for Week 5: