Top 12 Fantasy Football Defense Rankings for Week 3

This Buffalo Bills defense might be for real. That unit struggled coming out of the gate last year, but the Bills put together an impressive late-season run. Through two weeks, Buffalo has had little trouble keeping that momentum going, surrendering just 11.5 points per game (PPG) after shutting out the Miami Dolphins in Week 2.

That's just one of the many surprises we've seen so far this season. If you need help figuring out which defense to start this week, here are our top-12 defense rankings for Week 3 in fantasy football.

Fantasy Football Defense Rankings Week 3

12. New York Giants (vs ATL)

11. New Orleans Saints (at NE)

10. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (at LAR)

9. Las Vegas Raiders (vs MIA)

8. Cleveland Browns (vs CHI)

7. Arizona Cardinals (at JAX)

6. Buffalo Bills (vs WFT)

Is Taylor Heinicke for real? Who knows. But this Buffalo Bills defense is. ProFootballFocus has given Buffalo its fourth-highest defensive grade. Buffalo also owns the seventh-most pressures in the league (14) and second-most sacks (8). You have to think Heinicke will come crashing down to earth sometime soon. It could happen as soon as this Sunday.

5. Baltimore Ravens (at DET)

4. New England Patriots (vs NO)

3. Carolina Panthers (at HOU)

This ranking has more to do with the Houston Texans' offense than the Carolina Panthers' defense. With rookie Davis Mills starting in favor of Tyrod Taylor, things could get ugly fast. But let's not totally ignore this Carolina defense, either. Led by burgeoning star Brian Burns, the Panthers' pass-rush has the second-most pressures in the league (18) and leads the NFL in sacks (10). This unit could rack up sacks and turnovers against the inexperienced Mills.

2. Pittsburgh Steelers (vs CIN)

1. Denver Broncos (vs NYJ)

Zach Wilson has proved to be incapable of taking care of the football. He's thrown 5 interceptions through two games, also taking a whopping 10 sacks during that time. Until he cleans up the INTs, Wilson is going to be a goldmine for fantasy defenses. It's hard to envision him turning things around against the Denver Broncos. Denver has only given up 26 points (No. 5) and has surrendered the fifth-fewest passing yards in the league thus far. Look for the pass-rush to bully a shorthanded New York Jets' OL.

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Max Staley is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Max Staley also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username mstaley1212. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.