Defenses don't often win championships in fantasy football, but we might have to make an exception in the case of the 2019 New England Patriots.
The Patriots defense is off to one of the best starts in NFL history, and the unit will enter Week 7 leading the league in interceptions, takeaways, yards allowed per game and points allowed per game. In fact, New England's defense is the only one giving up fewer than 10 points per game. The Pats also have tallied the second-most sacks.
The Patriots gave another stellar performance in their Week 6 win over the New York Giants on Thursday night. The defending champs tallied a sack, three interceptions, a fumble recovery, a defensive touchdown (on the fumble recovery), a punt block and a special teams touchdown (on the punt block).
New England's defense has been among the most consistent and highest scorers of all defense/special teams and players in fantasy football this season. The Patriots earned 28 points in ESPN standard scoring in Week 6, and that was the seventh-highest total of any player or defense/special teams entering "Monday Night Football".
Here's a list of fantasy stars the Patriots defense/special teams is outscoring based on average points in ESPN standard scoring:
Patriots, D/ST: 20.3 points/game
Tom Brady, QB, Patriots: 20
Carson Wentz, QB, Eagles: 19.4
Dalvin Cook, RB, Vikings: 18.9
Ezekiel Elliott, RB, Cowboys: 15.2
Aaron Rodgers, QB, Packers: 15.1
Jimmy Garoppolo, QB, 49ers: 13.9
Alvin Kamara, RB, Saints: 12.9
Adam Thielen, WR, Vikings: 12.1
Julio Jones, WR, Falcons: 11.8
Travis Kelce, TE, Chiefs, 9.3
New England Patriots
The Patriots' schedule will get tougher pretty soon, but after what should be a tough five-game stretch from Week 9 through Week 14, their defense will finish with three favorable fantasy football matchups against the Cincinnati Bengals, Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins. New England forces turnovers, effectively rushes the quarterback and doesn't give up many points -- the essential ingredients for an excellent fantasy football defense/special teams.
NFL legend thinks this team will be Pats' toughest AFC challenger>>>
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