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Start 'Em, Sit 'Em

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2021 NFL Fantasy Football Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Week 6: Defenses

You have lineup questions. We have answers. At least we hope. Start 'Em & Sit 'Em has helped fantasy managers for years make those pressing lineup decisions. And you know what is a good decision? Starting Patrick Mahomes. But that's too obvious, so you won't see that here. Instead here are some of the most-pressing questions. And, if you can't find a player you are looking for, please check out latest NFL Fantasy lineup rankings right here.

Start 'Em

Dallas Cowboys
2021 · 4-1-0
New England Patriots
2021 · 2-3-0

The Cowboys are coming off a solid performance against the Giants in Week 5. And I don’t want to get ahead of myself here but, could the Cowboys defense be considered good? I mean, maybe right? Or at least Trevon Diggs is really good. Love the matchup this week against the Patriots who surrender a lot of points to fantasy defenses.

Indianapolis Colts
2021 · 1-4-0
Houston Texans
2021 · 1-4-0

I had to add the Colts defenses in a number of spots this week because, well, I kind of forgot on Sunday and it was them or the Chiefs. And I wasn’t about to do that. I picked the Colts mostly because of this matchup against the Texans. And I was hoping they didn’t get negative points against the Ravens. It wasn’t much, but it was positive. This isn’t automatic because the Patriots had just four points against the Texans last week, but I’ll allow this streaming option.

Cincinnati Bengals
2021 · 3-2-0
Detroit Lions
2021 · 0-5-0

The Bengals actually scored four points against the Packers last week. That’s like 20 against a normal team. Hey look, I have to be honest. I’m starting to feel really sad for the Lions. They don’t deserve all of this rotten luck that has fallen on them this season. And maybe they put up 60 on the Bengals. I feel like the Lions are due for a breakout game. But I’m willing to take a risk here.

Miami Dolphins
2021 · 1-4-0
Jacksonville Jaguars
2021 · 0-5-0

Game played at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.


The Dolphins haven’t looked right since they got blown out at home against the Bills. Then there was that last-second loss to the Raiders, a loss to the Colts and a terrible showing against the Buccaneers. And they used to do really well against Tom Brady. But there’s nothing wrong with streaming a defense against a rookie quarterback. I’d love to do it against Zach Wilson, but he’s off this week. (Not that you care, I never spell Zach’s name right the first time.)

Sit 'Em

Tennessee Titans
2021 · 3-2-0
Buffalo Bills
2021 · 4-1-0

Speaking of teams to stream against the Jaguars, here are the Titans. And I told you to stream the Titans last week. And if I didn’t, it was out of respect to AEW. But here’s my thing. I don’t think I’m doing you a great service by telling you to bench the Titans. But you might have forgotten you picked them up and this is your reminder to remove them. 

New England Patriots
2021 · 2-3-0
Dallas Cowboys
2021 · 4-1-0

The Patriots were rostered in 70 percent of leagues on Sunday. I’m sure that changed over the past couple of days. But like the Titans, a lot of us picked up the Patriots for the matchup against Davis Mills. And yeah, that worked out PERFECTLY. I mean, they smoked Justin Herbert last year, but Mills goes nuts against the Patriots. That’s just wonderful.

Baltimore Ravens
2021 · 4-1-0
Los Angeles Chargers
2021 · 4-1-0

A lot of you wouldn’t dream of benching the Ravens. Dude, James Koh and I have the Browns defense in a league where we are co-managers. We got negative six from our defense last week. I didn’t even know that was possible. It was worth one point in NFL.com leagues. Still not great, so they have to hit the bench. And as much as we loved watching Lamar Jackson on Monday night, dude really bailed out that defense. That got lit up by Carson Wentz. Carson. Wentz. 

Arizona Cardinals
2021 · 5-0-0
Cleveland Browns
2021 · 3-2-0

The Chargers actually had negative two points going up against the Browns last week. Which is too bad, because the Cardinals have been a good defense this year. Eight points last week against the 49ers. Still, if you have some better options, go for it. I mean, I don’t blame you if you have to start the Birds. I just don’t like it.

Follow Adam Rank on Twitter.

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