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The final week of the fantasy football regular season is upon us. Owners are looking to secure the No. 1 seed, making sure they don’t lose their spot in the playoffs, or trying to sneak in at the last second.
For those of you in the latter two categories, I wish you luck. Waiver wire claims, lineup changes and playing the matchups are all strategies racing around your head. To put your mind at ease, here’s a bit of sound advice: add the New England Patriots defense if you can. They are owned in about 85 percent of ESPN.com leagues, so pick them up if they are available.
They play the Houston Texans, a team that only scored six points against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Texans allow 10.8 fantasy points to opposing defenses, fourth-worst in the league. The Patriots recovered three fumbles on Sunday night and picked off Peyton Manning once. They have at least one interception in all but two games this season.
The Patriots rank sixth in sacks, eighth in interceptions and ninth in points allowed per game, all favorable stats heading into their matchup with the Texans.
Despite the amount of yards Knowshon Moreno picked up in Week 12, Ben Tate is not Moreno. There is no way the Patriots will allow 224 rushing yards again. Tate hasn’t scored since Week 6 and with Dennis Johnson stealing some carries, neither back will fare well. The passing game isn’t what it was in previous weeks. After scoring 47 fantasy points in Weeks 9 and 10, Case Keenum has scored just 12 points in the last two games.
The Patriots’ defense has been on and off throughout the season. However, with the Texans averaging 18.1 points per game, 30th in the league, the Patriots have a good chance of being a top-five defense this week.
Bill Pivetz is a fantasy football writer for Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @Mr_Piv1127.
