Fantasy Football 2013 Defense/Special Teams Rankings: Week 1
In Week 1 of the 2013 fantasy football season, opportunity knocks for the New England Patriots' and Tampa Bay Buccaneers' defenses. Both of these teams will be facing rookie quarterbacks making their NFL debuts, which is why both DSTs are top-five fantasy options to open the season. Seattle, San Francisco, Houston, Chicago and Cincinnati all should remain solid weekly starts, but it's the Patriots who appear to have the best matchup in Week 1, which is why they come in at No. 1 in Athlon Sports' defense/special teams rankings.
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.
2013 NFL Week 1 Fantasy Football Rankings — Defense/Special Teams
Rk | Team | OPP | Notes |
1 | New England Patriots | at BUF | Pats' opportunistic D vs. rookie QB. |
2 | Seattle Seahawks | at CAR | Hawks D vs. Cam will be fun. |
3 | Houston Texans | at SD (Mon.) | Texans' D gets Cushing back, maybe Reed? |
4 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | at NYJ | Bucs' new secondary could torment Geno. |
5 | Cincinnati Bengals | at CHI | Bengals 2nd in sacks last season. |
6 | Chicago Bears | vs. CIN | Bears ready to show their not old just yet. |
7 | Pittsburgh Steelers | vs. TEN | Is the Steel Curtain fraying? |
8 | San Francisco 49ers | vs. GB | 49ers will have hands full w/ Rodgers and co. |
9 | Indianapolis Colts | vs. OAK | Oakland's offense does not scare anyone. |
10 | St. Louis Rams | vs. ARI | Rams looking to abuse Cards' O-line. |
11 | Cleveland Browns | vs. MIA | Browns' D could be sneaky solid. |
12 | Denver Broncos | vs. BAL (Thurs.) | Broncos will miss Von Miller. |
13 | Green Bay Packers | at SF | Pack couldn't stop CK last time out. |
14 | Kansas City Chiefs | at JAC | Can the Chiefs' D bounce back? |
15 | Arizona Cardinals | at STL | Cards' D has new coordinator. |
16 | Baltimore Ravens | at DEN (Thurs.) | Will the Ravens' "new" D hold up in Denver? |
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 1 Positional Rankings
