It's been a rough year for the Jets. The Aaron Rodgers acquisition didn't pan out, and let's not overlook the Rodgers-related investments in Allen Lazard, Randall Cobb and offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett; anyone applauding those moves? But their defense has played well.
Despite the regular losses (and weekly deficits), New York's defense has somehow managed to rank 7th in yards allowed and 11th in points. And in fantasy terms it has 39 sacks and 12 interceptions, currently 13th in both categories, making for a viable fantasy defense most weeks.
Now it gets its best matchup, with struggling Sam Howell and the Washington Commanders in town.
Howell leads the league in both sacks (59) and interceptions (15). He was benched last week, but will start again in this game, with Ron Rivera offering tepid support. (Asked if Howell would still be starting over Jacoby Brissett if the team was in the playoff hunt, he said, well, that's a different scenario.) That's been a very good thing for opposing defenses.
Here are the fantasy points scored by opposing defenses in each of Howell's starts this season (1 point for sacks, 2 for takeaways, 6 for touchdowns). These are just points off Howell; they don't count the team's other lost fumbles. Table sorted by FF points. Five double-digit performances, two more with 7-8. Not too shabby in fantasy leagues.
I will likely be using the Jets defense in fantasy leagues this week.
| FANTASY DEFENSES VERSUS HOWELL | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opp | Sk | Int | Fum | TD | Pts |
| Buff. | 9 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 23 |
| Ariz. | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 16 |
| NYG | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 16 |
| at Dall. | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 12 |
| Mia. | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 11 |
| at NYG | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Chi. | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| at Phil. | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| at Atl. | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| at N.E. | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| at Sea. | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| at Den. | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Phil. | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| at LAR | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
--Andy Richardson