Fantasy Football Week 16 Defense Rankings: Cowboys Rise, Browns Must-Start?

Getty Jaylon Smith #54 of the Dallas Cowboys celebrates his interception alongside Steven Parker #40 during the third quarter of a game against the Washington Football Team.

Welcome to our Fantasy Football Defense Rankings for Week 16 of the 2020 NFL regular season.

* If you’re looking for more information on how to best set your lineup this coming week check out our Week 16 Defense Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em.

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Week 16 Fantasy Rankings: Defense

Cleveland Browns (DEF3) got handed a welcoming matchup this past Sunday night, as the Giants entered the game with their backup quarterback. They put up a respectable 8.0 points in the game, their most since Week 11. Still, the Browns defense has averaged just 3.75 ppg over their last four contests. Thankfully, a matchup with the Jets should help boost those numbers. Gang Green shocked the world in Week 15, upsetting the Rams. However, they’ve still allowed a league-high 9.71 ppg to defenses this season. Four of their last five opponents have scored 8.0-plus points.

The Dallas Cowboys (DEF11) are a tricky unit to hype. On one hand, they are the highest-scoring unit in fantasy over the past two weeks (16.5 ppg). On the other hand, they’ve played the likes of Brandon Allen and Nick Mullens over that span. While the jury may still be out on Jalen Hurts as a franchise quarterback, I’d take the rookie over either of the two aforementioned signal-callers any day of the week. The silver lining here for Dallas is that the Eagles did surrender 10.0 points to the Cardinals in Week 15. Philadelphia has now allowed at least 5.0 sacks in four of their last five games.

Baltimore Ravens (DEF1) bounced back last week, scoring double-digits for the first time since Week 9. This week, they get a Giants offense who looks to be in shambles. Whether it’s Daniel Jones or Colt McCoy, Baltimore is a rock-solid play against the league’s second-worst ranked total offense.

Rankings
[QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | DEF | Ks]

Start-Sit
[QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | DEF | Ks]

Matchup: Great | Avg | Tough

#

Defense TEAM

Opp.

1

Baltimore Ravens BAL

vs. NYG

2

Chicago Bears CHI

@ JAC

3

Cleveland Browns CLE

@ NYJ

4

Buffalo Bills BUF

@ NE

5

Pittsburgh Steelers PIT

vs. IND

6

Washington Football Team WAS

vs. CAR

7

New Orleans Saints NO

vs. MIN

8

Arizona Cardinals ARI

vs. SF

9

Carolina Panthers CAR

@ WAS

10

Houston Texans HOU

vs. CIN

11

Dallas Cowboys DAL

vs. PHI

12

Philadelphia Eagles PHI

@ DAL

13

Seattle Seahawks SEA

vs. LAR

14

Los Angeles Chargers LAC

vs. DEN

15

Los Angeles Rams LAR

@ SEA

16

Tampa Bay Buccaneers TB

@ DET

17

Indianapolis Colts IND

@ PIT

18

Miami Dolphins MIA

@ LV

19

Las Vegas Raiders LV

vs. MIA

20

Jacksonville Jaguars JAC

vs. CHI

21

Denver Broncos DEN

@ LAC

22

New England Patriots NE

vs. BUF

23

San Francisco 49ers SF

@ ARI

24

Cincinnati Bengals CIN

@ HOU

25

New York Giants NYG

@ BAL

26

Green Bay Packers GB

vs. TEN

27

New York Jets NYJ

vs. CLE

28

Kansas City Chiefs KC

vs. ATL

29

Minnesota Vikings MIN

@ NO

30

Tennessee Titans TEN

@ GB

31

Detroit Lions DET

vs. TB

32

Atlanta Falcons ATL

@ KC

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READ NEXT

• Week 16 Fantasy Rankings: QB
• Week 16 Fantasy Rankings: RB
• Week 16 Fantasy Rankings: WR
• Week 16 Fantasy Rankings: TE
• Week 16 Fantasy Rankings: K