Each week during the NFL season, we will rank enough players at each position to appease everyone from those in 8-team leagues to 16-team leagues, those that can start two QBs, two TEs, three RBs and four WRs. We cut out the rest, because if you're looking at who the 50th-best running back or the 17th-best kicker is for that week, you need more help than any Web site can give you.
2012 NFL Week 14 Fantasy Football Rankings — Defense/Special Teams
| Rk | Player | OPPONENT | Notes |
| 1 | San Francisco 49ers | vs. MIA | 49ers get rookie Tannehill at home w/ no Jake Long. |
| 2 | Seattle Seahawks | vs. ARI | How will secondary fare w/o Browner? |
| 3 | Denver Broncos | at OAK (Thurs.) | Second in league w/ 38 sacks, 7 D/ST TDs. |
| 4 | Chicago Bears | at MIN | Bears could be w/o several defensive starters. |
| 5 | Pittsburgh Steelers | vs. SD | Chargers have turned ball over 24 times. |
| 6 | New York Jets | at JAC | Jaguars have allowed 38 sacks, second-most in NFL. |
| 7 | Cleveland Browns | vs. KC | Chiefs have 32 TOs, Browns have forced 26. |
| 8 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | vs. PHI | No. 1 vs. the run, which is only thing Eagles can do. |
| 9 | San Diego Chargers | vs. PIT | No. 7 fantasy DST, Steelers' QB situation uncertain. |
| 10 | St. Louis Rams | at BUF | Had 3 sacks, safety, fumble recovery last week. |
| 11 | Arizona Cardinals | at SEA | Cards are No. 8 in fantasy scoring among DSTs. |
| 12 | Cincinnati Bengals | vs. DAL | Has allowed 13 or fewer pts. in each of last 4. |
| 13 | Houston Texans | at NE (Mon.) | Texans need to shore up pass D vs. Patriots. |
| 14 | New England Patriots | vs. HOU (Mon.) | No. 9 rushing defense vs. Arian Foster and Co. |
| 15 | Atlanta Falcons | at CAR | Falcons picked Brees off five times last week. |
| 16 | Baltimore Ravens | at WAS | RGIII on tap, Ray Lewis may be back this week. |
Rankings are based upon Athlon Sports' standard scoring system:
DEFENSIVE SCORING
0 points allowed = 12 points
1-6 points allowed = 10 points
7-13 points allowed = 8 pts
14-20 points allowed = 6 points
21-27 points allowed = 2 pts
28+ points allowed = 0 points
Safeties = 2 points
Fumbles recovered = 2 points
Interceptions = 2 points
Sacks = 1 point
Defensive/Special Teams TDs = 6 points
Additional Week 14 Positional Rankings
Quarterbacks
Running Backs
Wide Receivers
Tight Ends
Kickers
