Fantasy football rankings, Week 2: Defense/special Teams

A year ago, the Kansas City Chiefs' defense/special teams was one of the biggest stars in fantasy through the first half. They put up 20-plus fantasy points four times in the first six weeks and were running away with first place in fantasy defenses.

Everyone knew it was unsustainable, but the point is that it was truly good times in Kansas City. Which has to make it all the more disheartening for Chiefs fans that the team managed only managed a single fantasy point Sunday. And it's even worse when you add in the fact that the team lost inside linebacker Derrick Johnson and defensive end Mike DeVito, each to torn Achilles tendons in the game, costing both their seasons.

The Chiefs' defense was a must-own, must-start unit in fantasy a year ago. This season, that unit might have "irrelevant" as the most optimistic adjective at its disposal.

A few other units surprised in Week 1, for the good and bad:

• The Jets' and Buccaneers' defenses were both in a good spot Sunday, going against a rookie quarterback (for the Jets) and a last-minute replacement (for the Bucs). Those situations led to optimism that those defenses might offer strong fantasy performance, but that optimism was unfounded. The Jets put up only six fantasy points, and Tampa Bay struggled to a single point.
• The Detroit defense, universally a subpar unit, still managed to put up 10 points Monday night, more a testament to what appears to be a hideous New York Giants offense than any great strength of the Lions' D.
• San Francisco has long been a super-strong defense, but there were reasons to be wary going into Sunday -- suspensions, injuries and a promising Dallas offense among them. Whether because the defense is even better than we knew or the Dallas offense is worse, it's hard to tell just yet, but the 49ers' D/ST did manage 17 fantasy points, indicating it might not be as bad off as some believed.

And now, our Week 2 D/ST ranks:

Consensus Writer Rankings

Individual Writer Rankings