Fantasy Football Defense Rankings: Who to Start in Week 9?

We face four defenses on bye after last week’s six-team fiasco, which helps ease the pain a little when it comes to setting fantasy lineups. However, two of the six-best fantasy football units are on hiatus, including the top-ranked Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Even still, we find serviceable matchup plays in Jacksonville, Green Bay, Cincinnati, and Chicago to help ease the burden.

Be sure to check back for updated Week 9 fantasy football rankings through Sunday’s kickoff!

Week 9 Fantasy Defense Rankings

Defensive/special teams rankings: Week 9
Rk	Player	Pos	Tm	Opp
Tier 1
1	Los Angeles Chargers	DST	LAC	@TEN
Tier 2
2	Green Bay Packers	DST	GB	CAR
3	Detroit Lions	DST	DET	MIN
4	Indianapolis Colts	DST	IND	@PIT
Tier 3
5	New England Patriots	DST	NE	ATL
6	Los Angeles Rams	DST	LAR	NO
7	Jacksonville Jaguars	DST	JAC	@LV
8	Denver Broncos	DST	DEN	@HOU
9	Seattle Seahawks	DST	SEA	@WAS
Tier 4
10	Cincinnati Bengals	DST	CIN	CHI
11	Buffalo Bills	DST	BUF	KC
12	Kansas City Chiefs	DST	KC	@BUF
13	Pittsburgh Steelers	DST	PIT	IND
Tier 5
14	Chicago Bears	DST	CHI	@CIN
15	San Francisco 49ers	DST	SF	@NYG
16	Baltimore Ravens	DST	BAL	@MIA
17	Houston Texans	DST	HOU	DEN
18	New York Giants	DST	NYG	SF
19	Las Vegas Raiders	DST	LV	JAC
20	Washington Commanders	DST	WAS	SEA
21	Minnesota Vikings	DST	MIN	@DET
Tier 6
22	Miami Dolphins	DST	MIA	BAL
23	Arizona Cardinals	DST	ARI	@DAL
24	New Orleans Saints	DST	NO	@LAR
25	Atlanta Falcons	DST	ATL	@NE
26	Carolina Panthers	DST	CAR	@GB
27	Dallas Cowboys	DST	DAL	ARI
28	Tennessee Titans	DST	TEN	LAC
—	Cleveland Browns	DST	CLE	BYE
—	New York Jets	DST	NYJ	BYE
—	Philadelphia Eagles	DST	PHI	BYE
—	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	DST	TB	BYE

Green: Player moved up in the latest rankings update.
Red: Player moved down in the latest rankings update.

Fantasy Football Defense Scoring Format

2 points per sack
3 points per takeaway
3 points per safety
6 points per defensive/special teams TD

More Fantasy Football Week 9 Positional Rankings

Veteran fantasy football expert Cory Bonini will publish and update free fantasy football PPR rankings with tiers throughout the season. You can find more of his work at Athlon Sports.