Tell your friends (just not your leaguemates until next week)

by Optimus Staff

Published On: December 2nd, 2025

Every fantasy manager hits that point in the season where the stars are locked in, the trades are done, and all that’s left is uncovering the missing piece that completes the championship map. It’s the moment where managers start squinting at playoff schedules like they’re ancient documents, trying to decipher which defenses are about to face backup quarterbacks and which kickers will lead them to gold.

Fortunately for you, we’ve already done the treasure hunting. Channeling our inner Benjamin Franklin Gates (aka Nicholas Cage), we followed the clues, decoded the symbols, traced the hidden routes, and dug deep into the waiver-wire value to unearth the DST streamers everyone else has overlooked. These aren’t just streamers; they’re the secret passages on the fantasy playoff map, the ones that could carry you past teams with more talent but less foresight.

a close up of a man wearing glasses with different lenses on his eyes .

No, we’re not stealing the Declaration of Independence today, but we are about to steal some playoff wins. And the best part? Your league mates won’t even see it coming.

Kickers will be covered in Part 2 of this series tomorrow. Stay tuned. 

Stealing the Secret Map: DST Streamers That Complete Your Playoff Plan (Part 1)

How This Works:

You’ve made it this far! Congratulations. Now, before we truly dive in, we want to make this accessible for everyone. We here at Optimus may be huge data nerds (sorry, not sorry), but that doesn’t mean you are or have to be.

Compared to most charts, this one is pretty simple. “Well, that’s great, but how does it work?”

Column A is very simple – it’s just the name of the DST. Column B is how many points they average over their last four games. Pretty straightforward, right? 

Column C is where the magic happens. That’s Points Above Expectation, or PAE. Have you ever had the thought of, “Well, yeah, they did well, but they did it against Minnesota and J.J. McCarthy, it’s not that impressive”? Well, then, you’ve already kind of internalized PAE. It’s all about how much more a DST scores than we expect. So it rewards teams for being average against really tough matchups and great against good matchups. That’s the whole idea.

Columns D, F, and H are the weekly matchups, along with their ranking. Fun fact: we’ve color-coded them for your convenience so you can tell at a glance whether a particular matchup is good, bad, or average.

Still with me? We are almost there.

Columns E, G, and I are the sum of the average that the opponent has scored against them over the last four games, plus the PAE from Column C. In other words, these are our actual expectations for what these DSTs will score for each of these weeks, regardless of the quality of the matchup. Pretty cool, huh?

Column K is the average of Columns E, G, and I, sorted from highest to lowest. Pretty simple.

Column J is the Grade associated with the average from Column K. Without getting too lost in the sauce, a DST has to be significantly better or worse than the middle of the pack to receive an A or F, respectively. In a similar fashion, a DST has to be reasonably better or worse than the middle of the pack to earn a B or D, respectively.

Best Options for Week 15:

Dallas Cowboys vs. Minnesota Vikings | 10% Rostered

Declaration of Independence 

Dallas started the year as a defense that made you lick your lips when your fantasy players faced them. Then they acquired Quinnen Williams and Logan Wilson, and things started to turn around. In the last three games with these two key additions, they’ve played Las Vegas, Philadelphia, and Kansas City. In these three games vs their previous nine games without Williams and Wilson they are averaging 85 fewer yards allowed per game (-21.4%), allowing seven fewer plays to opposing offenses per game (-10.6%), five fewer first downs per game (-21.8%), and opponent time of possession is down by nearly three minutes per game (-8.6%). 

The Cowboys have eight guys on their team in the top 100 for QB pressures. To put it into perspective, the Texans and Browns have only two guys in the top 100, and the Packers have only three. We consider these three defenses to have elite pass rushes. This Cowboys pass rush is getting pressure on QBs, and pressure results in sacks and turnover opportunities. I didn’t expect to be gushing about the Dallas D/ST at any point this year after they traded away Micah Parsons and their rough start to the season, but here we are…

 



In Week 15, Dallas faces the Vikings, who give up the most points to opposing D/STs in football. The Vikings have given up the 3rd most sacks this year. Week 15 could be a huge week for the Cowboys’ pass rushers, as they lead the league in QB Pressure % and are 2nd in the league for total QB Pressures. Pressures on the QB turn into sacks and turnovers. The Vikings are still figuring out their QB situation, with Max Brosmer‘s horrendous Week 13 performance and J.J. McCarthy recovering from a concussion.  

Dallas also has the most electric and arguably most dangerous return man in the league in KaVontae Turpin. I’m not banking on return TDs from my D/ST, but when you have a player who’s dug up treasure for both punt and kick return TDs last year, it’s nice to know it could happen during your playoff weeks. 

Dallas’ offense will continue to put up points, which is somewhat of a double-edged sword. On one hand, it creates the need for opposing offenses to score points. On the other hand, offenses will have to throw the ball to keep up with Dallas, which could lead to more sacks and turnovers.

Miami Dolphins @ Pittsburgh Steelers | 17% Rostered

Heere at the Wall

Do you know what’s fun about playing against a team with an old QB who doesn’t want to get hit? Who also happens to have a broken wrist and busted nose? You get to tee off on them. Since Miami sold off significant parts at the trading deadline, we’ve seen them play with a fire in their bellies they lacked throughout the first half of the season. Even Buffalo’s leaky defense managed to shut down Pittsburgh in Week 13.

It’s important to note that a DST TD scored by Buffalo is propping up Pittsburgh’s average scored against them. While DST TDs are pretty random, over a four-game span, they only increase the average by 1.5 points total, so it’s not like there’s not a good base there to work with. So even with Miami’s marginal PAE, you still get a juicy matchup for Week 15.

Aaron Rodgers under pressure, last 3 games:

BUF: 0/4 for 0 yds

CIN: 1/3 for 5 yds

LAC: 0/5 for 0 yds

— Mina Kimes (@minakimes.bsky.social) November 30, 2025 at 9:18 PM

Carolina Panthers @ New Orleans Saints | 6% Rostered

The Secret Lies with Charlotte

The Carolina Panthers defense will come out of their Week 14 bye week rejuvenated and will most definitely have read and flipped over the New Orleans Saints Declaration of Independence, which will reveal the map to punishing a pitiful Saints offense. The Saints have given up the 10th most sacks on the year and are giving up the 7th most fantasy points per game to opposing defenses. In the past four weeks, Tyler Shough has been sacked an average of three times per game, and was sacked twice the last time these teams faced off. The Saints are the 3rd-worst in the league in time of possession (TOP) this season and will likely watch the Panthers run the clock out, as they have the 10th-best TOP. We won’t be surprised if the Saints struggle to put up 14 points in this one – they’re averaging 13.5 points over their last four games.

The Carolina Panthers rank 10th in percentage of drives ending in a turnover. Carolina Panthers CB Jaycee Horn has been the treasure beneath Trinity Church for the Panthers’ secondary, and expects to play in Week 15 against the Saints. Horn is allowing 44% of passes thrown his way to be completed, good for the 3rd-best in the league. He’s also tied for 2nd in the league for interceptions with five total. 

This New Orleans team will be in contention for the No. 1 overall pick in next year’s NFL draft and might decide to pull the plug on their key offensive players, creating additional opportunities for a surging Panthers team to capitalize on miscues from the Saints’ backups. There’s extra fuel in this fire, as New Orleans tried to pull an Ian Howe in their Week 10 victory over the Panthers. 

Chicago Bears vs. Cleveland Browns | 18% Rostered

Trinity Church

There was a point not long ago when fantasy players needed to target the Chicago Bears’ defense week in and week out to chase fantasy production. The NFL season is a long and winding road, though, and it’s important that we find our way through, lest we fall victim to Boston’s lamps. Really, we can point to Chicago getting healthier on defense as the season has worn on. They’ve welcomed Austin Booker, their rising DE, back to the fold, as well as stalwart Montez Sweat. In addition, they’ve gotten healthier on the back end, with both CB Jaylon Johnson and CB Kyler Gordon just coming back from injured reserve. 

What a terrible day to be a rookie QB on the Cleveland Browns. The nice thing is, we don’t care which QB, Shedeur Sanders or Dillon Gabriel, starts. In his five full games as a starter, Gabriel averaged over 3.5 sacks per game and threw in a pair of interceptions to boot. In his 2+ games as a starter, we’ll call it three to be generous, Sanders averages two sacks per game and one fumble or interception per game. The Bears lead the league in takeaways, and stuff their treasure chests with more in this matchup.

San Francisco 49ers vs. Tennessee Titans | 41% Rostered

The Entrance Shall Only Be Found Under a Cloudless Rain

This one is more about the Tennessee Titans than it is about the 49ers. The Titans have allowed the most sacks in the league, with 48 sacks. They’re on pace to have the third-most-sacked season of all time. The 49ers are dead last in sacks on the year, but you can expect them to convert on a few against Cam Ward, who’s being sacked four times per game. San Fran is tied for the 15th most takeaways in the league. Tennessee is giving up the 13th most points per game to opposing DSTs. 

The 49ers are 13th in the league in time of possession (TOP), while the Titans are 26th. Expect the 49ers to play keep away from the Titans and dominate TOP, which will, in turn, keep Tennessee off the board. 

Best Options for Week 16:

Dallas Cowboys vs. Los Angeles Chargers | 10% Rostered

John Wilkes Booth’s Diary 

Please reference Week 15’s write-up (above) on the Dallas DST if you happened to scroll past it. If you have the Dallas DST in Week 15, you’re certainly going to fire them up again in Week 16 against the “Lost” Angeles Chargers. The Chargers have given up the 6th most sacks this year. The Chargers’ Justin Herbert underwent surgery for a fractured left hand on Monday. As we mentioned before, the Dallas Cowboys lead the league in QB Pressure Rate and are 2nd in total QB Pressures. I expect Dallas to have no problem busting through the offensive line that’s missing their tackles in Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater. 

Justin Herbert with giant glove on his left hand.

The Chargers are hoping no one gets a peek at their treasure map, as they are allowing the 3rd most kick return yards/return and 2nd most punt return yards/return in the league this year. Oh yeah, and they’ve given up a punt return TD. KaVontae Turpin has a chance to run one back in Week 16. 

Carolina Panthers vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 6% Rostered

The Debt That All Men Pay

I’ll be the first one to tell you that there’s some risk here, but that’s what happens when you go dumpster diving at the sub-10% rostership threshold. We’re not here to be comfortable. We’re here to be bold, stream DSTs, and win championships. It’s easy to miss, but Carolina’s defense is riding a bit of a hot streak. They’ve only racked up four sacks in as many games, but they’ve clocked in with eight turnovers!

As it is, Tampa Bay’s offense isn’t what it was at the start of the season. I know we kind of know that, especially if you’re an Emeka Egbuka or Baker Mayfield manager. But their last four DSTs have averaged 7.1 points per game against them. That’s decent enough on its own, even without Carolina’s solid 2.1 PAE. If you take a look at Week 15’s Panthers matchup against the Saints, you will find a lot of the advanced metrics that back this up, too.

New York Giants vs. Minnesota Vikings | 4% Rostered

French Statue of Liberty

The New York Giants have four players in the top 100 for QB Pressures, led by Brian Burns at No. 5 with 32 pressures. The Vikings get sacked a lot, 3rd most in the league, and have thrown a league-leading 19 interceptions on the year. The Vikings lead the league in turnovers and percentage of possessions ending in a turnover, too. 

We’re not sure who will be the Vikings’ QB in Week 16, but their options will likely struggle to sustain drives and avoid the Giants’ pass rush. 

Yesterday, I asked if the Vikings played their worst offensive game ever by DVOA yesterday.

HOLY HELL YES.

No. 30 worst offensive DVOA game ever, even after adjusting for Seahawks D which is now No. 1 again.

30% worse than any other game.

(fixed the title on the table)

[image or embed]

— Aaron Schatz (@aaronschatz.com) December 1, 2025 at 7:55 AM

Cincinnati Bengals @ Miami Dolphins | 2% Rostered

Ottendorf Cipher

Don’t look now, but over the last month, Cincinnati has turned its defense around in a big way! They’re not great by any stretch of the imagination, but they’re not the lost cause they were earlier in the year, either. In fact, they only have a -0.3 PAE over their last four games. That’s essentially ‘average.’ That’s a tremendous step up for them. 

As much as Miami has played better recently, its offense still has major issues—namely, Tua Tagovailoa. Tua likes to go on turnover and sack sprees seemingly randomly at times, and always at the worst possible time for the Dolphins. With Cincinnati playing rejuvenated football thanks to Joe Burrow‘s presence, look for one of Tua’s patented meltdowns to come to fruition. 

Best Options for Week 17:

Miami Dolphins @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 17% Rostered

The Legend Writ

We’ve already talked about both of these teams, so I don’t want to rehash too much. After all, you’re smart, you know what we said 300 words ago still applies now. However, one aspect that has gone unremarked is the Miami Dolphins’ overall team speed. Every RB and WR Miami has seems to be faster than the last one. That means any time they have a punt or kickoff return, they have a chance of taking it all the way back for six. And as you know, those are huge swings when it comes to DST scoring. 

New York Giants @ Las Vegas Raiders | 4% Rostered

$100 Bill

The Raiders are second in the league in opponents’ sacks, giving up 46 on the season. They will try to prevent Brian Burns, Dexter Lawrence, Abdul Carter, and Kayvon Thibodeaux from getting to whichever sad sap they have standing behind their porous offensive line. 

The Raiders are 8th in the percentage of drives ending in a turnover at 12.8% and are also 8th in total turnovers. If you’re forced to stream a defense in the championship week, you’ll want to play the DST going up against the Raiders, which happens to be the New York Giants. 

Takeaways:

All hope is not lost if you don’t have one of the ‘big guys’ at DST. You don’t have to have a Denver, a Houston, a Cleveland to dominate the DST landscape. But that said, you owe it to yourself to at least check your waiver wire to see if any of the top options are there. Obviously, a top option with a good matchup is preferable to a lesser option with a good matchup. But with this article, you hopefully have enough to steal the…championship.

For more advice, head over to our Discord channel and ask our analysts! For breaking news and injury updates, follow Optimus Fantasy News on Bluesky!

Every fantasy manager hits that point in the season where the stars are locked in, the trades are done, and all that’s left is uncovering the missing piece that completes the championship map. It’s the moment where managers start squinting at playoff schedules like they’re ancient documents, trying to decipher which defenses are about to face backup quarterbacks and which kickers will lead them to gold.

Fortunately for you, we’ve already done the treasure hunting. Channeling our inner Benjamin Franklin Gates (aka Nicholas Cage), we followed the clues, decoded the symbols, traced the hidden routes, and dug deep into the waiver-wire value to unearth the DST streamers everyone else has overlooked. These aren’t just streamers; they’re the secret passages on the fantasy playoff map, the ones that could carry you past teams with more talent but less foresight.

a close up of a man wearing glasses with different lenses on his eyes .

No, we’re not stealing the Declaration of Independence today, but we are about to steal some playoff wins. And the best part? Your league mates won’t even see it coming.

Kickers will be covered in Part 2 of this series tomorrow. Stay tuned. 

Stealing the Secret Map: DST Streamers That Complete Your Playoff Plan (Part 1)

How This Works:

You’ve made it this far! Congratulations. Now, before we truly dive in, we want to make this accessible for everyone. We here at Optimus may be huge data nerds (sorry, not sorry), but that doesn’t mean you are or have to be.

Compared to most charts, this one is pretty simple. “Well, that’s great, but how does it work?”

Column A is very simple – it’s just the name of the DST. Column B is how many points they average over their last four games. Pretty straightforward, right? 

Column C is where the magic happens. That’s Points Above Expectation, or PAE. Have you ever had the thought of, “Well, yeah, they did well, but they did it against Minnesota and J.J. McCarthy, it’s not that impressive”? Well, then, you’ve already kind of internalized PAE. It’s all about how much more a DST scores than we expect. So it rewards teams for being average against really tough matchups and great against good matchups. That’s the whole idea.

Columns D, F, and H are the weekly matchups, along with their ranking. Fun fact: we’ve color-coded them for your convenience so you can tell at a glance whether a particular matchup is good, bad, or average.

Still with me? We are almost there.

Columns E, G, and I are the sum of the average that the opponent has scored against them over the last four games, plus the PAE from Column C. In other words, these are our actual expectations for what these DSTs will score for each of these weeks, regardless of the quality of the matchup. Pretty cool, huh?

Column K is the average of Columns E, G, and I, sorted from highest to lowest. Pretty simple.

Column J is the Grade associated with the average from Column K. Without getting too lost in the sauce, a DST has to be significantly better or worse than the middle of the pack to receive an A or F, respectively. In a similar fashion, a DST has to be reasonably better or worse than the middle of the pack to earn a B or D, respectively.

Best Options for Week 15:

Dallas Cowboys vs. Minnesota Vikings | 10% Rostered

Declaration of Independence 

Dallas started the year as a defense that made you lick your lips when your fantasy players faced them. Then they acquired Quinnen Williams and Logan Wilson, and things started to turn around. In the last three games with these two key additions, they’ve played Las Vegas, Philadelphia, and Kansas City. In these three games vs their previous nine games without Williams and Wilson they are averaging 85 fewer yards allowed per game (-21.4%), allowing seven fewer plays to opposing offenses per game (-10.6%), five fewer first downs per game (-21.8%), and opponent time of possession is down by nearly three minutes per game (-8.6%). 

The Cowboys have eight guys on their team in the top 100 for QB pressures. To put it into perspective, the Texans and Browns have only two guys in the top 100, and the Packers have only three. We consider these three defenses to have elite pass rushes. This Cowboys pass rush is getting pressure on QBs, and pressure results in sacks and turnover opportunities. I didn’t expect to be gushing about the Dallas D/ST at any point this year after they traded away Micah Parsons and their rough start to the season, but here we are…

 



In Week 15, Dallas faces the Vikings, who give up the most points to opposing D/STs in football. The Vikings have given up the 3rd most sacks this year. Week 15 could be a huge week for the Cowboys’ pass rushers, as they lead the league in QB Pressure % and are 2nd in the league for total QB Pressures. Pressures on the QB turn into sacks and turnovers. The Vikings are still figuring out their QB situation, with Max Brosmer‘s horrendous Week 13 performance and J.J. McCarthy recovering from a concussion.  

Dallas also has the most electric and arguably most dangerous return man in the league in KaVontae Turpin. I’m not banking on return TDs from my D/ST, but when you have a player who’s dug up treasure for both punt and kick return TDs last year, it’s nice to know it could happen during your playoff weeks. 

Dallas’ offense will continue to put up points, which is somewhat of a double-edged sword. On one hand, it creates the need for opposing offenses to score points. On the other hand, offenses will have to throw the ball to keep up with Dallas, which could lead to more sacks and turnovers.

Miami Dolphins @ Pittsburgh Steelers | 17% Rostered

Heere at the Wall

Do you know what’s fun about playing against a team with an old QB who doesn’t want to get hit? Who also happens to have a broken wrist and busted nose? You get to tee off on them. Since Miami sold off significant parts at the trading deadline, we’ve seen them play with a fire in their bellies they lacked throughout the first half of the season. Even Buffalo’s leaky defense managed to shut down Pittsburgh in Week 13.

It’s important to note that a DST TD scored by Buffalo is propping up Pittsburgh’s average scored against them. While DST TDs are pretty random, over a four-game span, they only increase the average by 1.5 points total, so it’s not like there’s not a good base there to work with. So even with Miami’s marginal PAE, you still get a juicy matchup for Week 15.

Aaron Rodgers under pressure, last 3 games:

BUF: 0/4 for 0 yds

CIN: 1/3 for 5 yds

LAC: 0/5 for 0 yds

— Mina Kimes (@minakimes.bsky.social) November 30, 2025 at 9:18 PM

Carolina Panthers @ New Orleans Saints | 6% Rostered

The Secret Lies with Charlotte

The Carolina Panthers defense will come out of their Week 14 bye week rejuvenated and will most definitely have read and flipped over the New Orleans Saints Declaration of Independence, which will reveal the map to punishing a pitiful Saints offense. The Saints have given up the 10th most sacks on the year and are giving up the 7th most fantasy points per game to opposing defenses. In the past four weeks, Tyler Shough has been sacked an average of three times per game, and was sacked twice the last time these teams faced off. The Saints are the 3rd-worst in the league in time of possession (TOP) this season and will likely watch the Panthers run the clock out, as they have the 10th-best TOP. We won’t be surprised if the Saints struggle to put up 14 points in this one – they’re averaging 13.5 points over their last four games.

The Carolina Panthers rank 10th in percentage of drives ending in a turnover. Carolina Panthers CB Jaycee Horn has been the treasure beneath Trinity Church for the Panthers’ secondary, and expects to play in Week 15 against the Saints. Horn is allowing 44% of passes thrown his way to be completed, good for the 3rd-best in the league. He’s also tied for 2nd in the league for interceptions with five total. 

This New Orleans team will be in contention for the No. 1 overall pick in next year’s NFL draft and might decide to pull the plug on their key offensive players, creating additional opportunities for a surging Panthers team to capitalize on miscues from the Saints’ backups. There’s extra fuel in this fire, as New Orleans tried to pull an Ian Howe in their Week 10 victory over the Panthers. 

Chicago Bears vs. Cleveland Browns | 18% Rostered

Trinity Church

There was a point not long ago when fantasy players needed to target the Chicago Bears’ defense week in and week out to chase fantasy production. The NFL season is a long and winding road, though, and it’s important that we find our way through, lest we fall victim to Boston’s lamps. Really, we can point to Chicago getting healthier on defense as the season has worn on. They’ve welcomed Austin Booker, their rising DE, back to the fold, as well as stalwart Montez Sweat. In addition, they’ve gotten healthier on the back end, with both CB Jaylon Johnson and CB Kyler Gordon just coming back from injured reserve. 

What a terrible day to be a rookie QB on the Cleveland Browns. The nice thing is, we don’t care which QB, Shedeur Sanders or Dillon Gabriel, starts. In his five full games as a starter, Gabriel averaged over 3.5 sacks per game and threw in a pair of interceptions to boot. In his 2+ games as a starter, we’ll call it three to be generous, Sanders averages two sacks per game and one fumble or interception per game. The Bears lead the league in takeaways, and stuff their treasure chests with more in this matchup.

San Francisco 49ers vs. Tennessee Titans | 41% Rostered

The Entrance Shall Only Be Found Under a Cloudless Rain

This one is more about the Tennessee Titans than it is about the 49ers. The Titans have allowed the most sacks in the league, with 48 sacks. They’re on pace to have the third-most-sacked season of all time. The 49ers are dead last in sacks on the year, but you can expect them to convert on a few against Cam Ward, who’s being sacked four times per game. San Fran is tied for the 15th most takeaways in the league. Tennessee is giving up the 13th most points per game to opposing DSTs. 

The 49ers are 13th in the league in time of possession (TOP), while the Titans are 26th. Expect the 49ers to play keep away from the Titans and dominate TOP, which will, in turn, keep Tennessee off the board. 

Best Options for Week 16:

Dallas Cowboys vs. Los Angeles Chargers | 10% Rostered

John Wilkes Booth’s Diary 

Please reference Week 15’s write-up (above) on the Dallas DST if you happened to scroll past it. If you have the Dallas DST in Week 15, you’re certainly going to fire them up again in Week 16 against the “Lost” Angeles Chargers. The Chargers have given up the 6th most sacks this year. The Chargers’ Justin Herbert underwent surgery for a fractured left hand on Monday. As we mentioned before, the Dallas Cowboys lead the league in QB Pressure Rate and are 2nd in total QB Pressures. I expect Dallas to have no problem busting through the offensive line that’s missing their tackles in Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater. 

Justin Herbert with giant glove on his left hand.

The Chargers are hoping no one gets a peek at their treasure map, as they are allowing the 3rd most kick return yards/return and 2nd most punt return yards/return in the league this year. Oh yeah, and they’ve given up a punt return TD. KaVontae Turpin has a chance to run one back in Week 16. 

Carolina Panthers vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 6% Rostered

The Debt That All Men Pay

I’ll be the first one to tell you that there’s some risk here, but that’s what happens when you go dumpster diving at the sub-10% rostership threshold. We’re not here to be comfortable. We’re here to be bold, stream DSTs, and win championships. It’s easy to miss, but Carolina’s defense is riding a bit of a hot streak. They’ve only racked up four sacks in as many games, but they’ve clocked in with eight turnovers!

As it is, Tampa Bay’s offense isn’t what it was at the start of the season. I know we kind of know that, especially if you’re an Emeka Egbuka or Baker Mayfield manager. But their last four DSTs have averaged 7.1 points per game against them. That’s decent enough on its own, even without Carolina’s solid 2.1 PAE. If you take a look at Week 15’s Panthers matchup against the Saints, you will find a lot of the advanced metrics that back this up, too.

New York Giants vs. Minnesota Vikings | 4% Rostered

French Statue of Liberty

The New York Giants have four players in the top 100 for QB Pressures, led by Brian Burns at No. 5 with 32 pressures. The Vikings get sacked a lot, 3rd most in the league, and have thrown a league-leading 19 interceptions on the year. The Vikings lead the league in turnovers and percentage of possessions ending in a turnover, too. 

We’re not sure who will be the Vikings’ QB in Week 16, but their options will likely struggle to sustain drives and avoid the Giants’ pass rush. 

Yesterday, I asked if the Vikings played their worst offensive game ever by DVOA yesterday.

HOLY HELL YES.

No. 30 worst offensive DVOA game ever, even after adjusting for Seahawks D which is now No. 1 again.

30% worse than any other game.

(fixed the title on the table)

[image or embed]

— Aaron Schatz (@aaronschatz.com) December 1, 2025 at 7:55 AM

Cincinnati Bengals @ Miami Dolphins | 2% Rostered

Ottendorf Cipher

Don’t look now, but over the last month, Cincinnati has turned its defense around in a big way! They’re not great by any stretch of the imagination, but they’re not the lost cause they were earlier in the year, either. In fact, they only have a -0.3 PAE over their last four games. That’s essentially ‘average.’ That’s a tremendous step up for them. 

As much as Miami has played better recently, its offense still has major issues—namely, Tua Tagovailoa. Tua likes to go on turnover and sack sprees seemingly randomly at times, and always at the worst possible time for the Dolphins. With Cincinnati playing rejuvenated football thanks to Joe Burrow‘s presence, look for one of Tua’s patented meltdowns to come to fruition. 

Best Options for Week 17:

Miami Dolphins @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 17% Rostered

The Legend Writ

We’ve already talked about both of these teams, so I don’t want to rehash too much. After all, you’re smart, you know what we said 300 words ago still applies now. However, one aspect that has gone unremarked is the Miami Dolphins’ overall team speed. Every RB and WR Miami has seems to be faster than the last one. That means any time they have a punt or kickoff return, they have a chance of taking it all the way back for six. And as you know, those are huge swings when it comes to DST scoring. 

New York Giants @ Las Vegas Raiders | 4% Rostered

$100 Bill

The Raiders are second in the league in opponents’ sacks, giving up 46 on the season. They will try to prevent Brian Burns, Dexter Lawrence, Abdul Carter, and Kayvon Thibodeaux from getting to whichever sad sap they have standing behind their porous offensive line. 

The Raiders are 8th in the percentage of drives ending in a turnover at 12.8% and are also 8th in total turnovers. If you’re forced to stream a defense in the championship week, you’ll want to play the DST going up against the Raiders, which happens to be the New York Giants. 

Takeaways:

All hope is not lost if you don’t have one of the ‘big guys’ at DST. You don’t have to have a Denver, a Houston, a Cleveland to dominate the DST landscape. But that said, you owe it to yourself to at least check your waiver wire to see if any of the top options are there. Obviously, a top option with a good matchup is preferable to a lesser option with a good matchup. But with this article, you hopefully have enough to steal the…championship.

For more advice, head over to our Discord channel and ask our analysts! For breaking news and injury updates, follow Optimus Fantasy News on Bluesky!

Every fantasy manager hits that point in the season where the stars are locked in, the trades are done, and all that’s left is uncovering the missing piece that completes the championship map. It’s the moment where managers start squinting at playoff schedules like they’re ancient documents, trying to decipher which defenses are about to face backup quarterbacks and which kickers will lead them to gold.

Fortunately for you, we’ve already done the treasure hunting. Channeling our inner Benjamin Franklin Gates (aka Nicholas Cage), we followed the clues, decoded the symbols, traced the hidden routes, and dug deep into the waiver-wire value to unearth the DST streamers everyone else has overlooked. These aren’t just streamers; they’re the secret passages on the fantasy playoff map, the ones that could carry you past teams with more talent but less foresight.

a close up of a man wearing glasses with different lenses on his eyes .

No, we’re not stealing the Declaration of Independence today, but we are about to steal some playoff wins. And the best part? Your league mates won’t even see it coming.

Kickers will be covered in Part 2 of this series tomorrow. Stay tuned. 

Stealing the Secret Map: DST Streamers That Complete Your Playoff Plan (Part 1)

How This Works:

You’ve made it this far! Congratulations. Now, before we truly dive in, we want to make this accessible for everyone. We here at Optimus may be huge data nerds (sorry, not sorry), but that doesn’t mean you are or have to be.

Compared to most charts, this one is pretty simple. “Well, that’s great, but how does it work?”

Column A is very simple – it’s just the name of the DST. Column B is how many points they average over their last four games. Pretty straightforward, right? 

Column C is where the magic happens. That’s Points Above Expectation, or PAE. Have you ever had the thought of, “Well, yeah, they did well, but they did it against Minnesota and J.J. McCarthy, it’s not that impressive”? Well, then, you’ve already kind of internalized PAE. It’s all about how much more a DST scores than we expect. So it rewards teams for being average against really tough matchups and great against good matchups. That’s the whole idea.

Columns D, F, and H are the weekly matchups, along with their ranking. Fun fact: we’ve color-coded them for your convenience so you can tell at a glance whether a particular matchup is good, bad, or average.

Still with me? We are almost there.

Columns E, G, and I are the sum of the average that the opponent has scored against them over the last four games, plus the PAE from Column C. In other words, these are our actual expectations for what these DSTs will score for each of these weeks, regardless of the quality of the matchup. Pretty cool, huh?

Column K is the average of Columns E, G, and I, sorted from highest to lowest. Pretty simple.

Column J is the Grade associated with the average from Column K. Without getting too lost in the sauce, a DST has to be significantly better or worse than the middle of the pack to receive an A or F, respectively. In a similar fashion, a DST has to be reasonably better or worse than the middle of the pack to earn a B or D, respectively.

Best Options for Week 15:

Dallas Cowboys vs. Minnesota Vikings | 10% Rostered

Declaration of Independence 

Dallas started the year as a defense that made you lick your lips when your fantasy players faced them. Then they acquired Quinnen Williams and Logan Wilson, and things started to turn around. In the last three games with these two key additions, they’ve played Las Vegas, Philadelphia, and Kansas City. In these three games vs their previous nine games without Williams and Wilson they are averaging 85 fewer yards allowed per game (-21.4%), allowing seven fewer plays to opposing offenses per game (-10.6%), five fewer first downs per game (-21.8%), and opponent time of possession is down by nearly three minutes per game (-8.6%). 

The Cowboys have eight guys on their team in the top 100 for QB pressures. To put it into perspective, the Texans and Browns have only two guys in the top 100, and the Packers have only three. We consider these three defenses to have elite pass rushes. This Cowboys pass rush is getting pressure on QBs, and pressure results in sacks and turnover opportunities. I didn’t expect to be gushing about the Dallas D/ST at any point this year after they traded away Micah Parsons and their rough start to the season, but here we are…

 



In Week 15, Dallas faces the Vikings, who give up the most points to opposing D/STs in football. The Vikings have given up the 3rd most sacks this year. Week 15 could be a huge week for the Cowboys’ pass rushers, as they lead the league in QB Pressure % and are 2nd in the league for total QB Pressures. Pressures on the QB turn into sacks and turnovers. The Vikings are still figuring out their QB situation, with Max Brosmer‘s horrendous Week 13 performance and J.J. McCarthy recovering from a concussion.  

Dallas also has the most electric and arguably most dangerous return man in the league in KaVontae Turpin. I’m not banking on return TDs from my D/ST, but when you have a player who’s dug up treasure for both punt and kick return TDs last year, it’s nice to know it could happen during your playoff weeks. 

Dallas’ offense will continue to put up points, which is somewhat of a double-edged sword. On one hand, it creates the need for opposing offenses to score points. On the other hand, offenses will have to throw the ball to keep up with Dallas, which could lead to more sacks and turnovers.

Miami Dolphins @ Pittsburgh Steelers | 17% Rostered

Heere at the Wall

Do you know what’s fun about playing against a team with an old QB who doesn’t want to get hit? Who also happens to have a broken wrist and busted nose? You get to tee off on them. Since Miami sold off significant parts at the trading deadline, we’ve seen them play with a fire in their bellies they lacked throughout the first half of the season. Even Buffalo’s leaky defense managed to shut down Pittsburgh in Week 13.

It’s important to note that a DST TD scored by Buffalo is propping up Pittsburgh’s average scored against them. While DST TDs are pretty random, over a four-game span, they only increase the average by 1.5 points total, so it’s not like there’s not a good base there to work with. So even with Miami’s marginal PAE, you still get a juicy matchup for Week 15.

Aaron Rodgers under pressure, last 3 games:

BUF: 0/4 for 0 yds

CIN: 1/3 for 5 yds

LAC: 0/5 for 0 yds

— Mina Kimes (@minakimes.bsky.social) November 30, 2025 at 9:18 PM

Carolina Panthers @ New Orleans Saints | 6% Rostered

The Secret Lies with Charlotte

The Carolina Panthers defense will come out of their Week 14 bye week rejuvenated and will most definitely have read and flipped over the New Orleans Saints Declaration of Independence, which will reveal the map to punishing a pitiful Saints offense. The Saints have given up the 10th most sacks on the year and are giving up the 7th most fantasy points per game to opposing defenses. In the past four weeks, Tyler Shough has been sacked an average of three times per game, and was sacked twice the last time these teams faced off. The Saints are the 3rd-worst in the league in time of possession (TOP) this season and will likely watch the Panthers run the clock out, as they have the 10th-best TOP. We won’t be surprised if the Saints struggle to put up 14 points in this one – they’re averaging 13.5 points over their last four games.

The Carolina Panthers rank 10th in percentage of drives ending in a turnover. Carolina Panthers CB Jaycee Horn has been the treasure beneath Trinity Church for the Panthers’ secondary, and expects to play in Week 15 against the Saints. Horn is allowing 44% of passes thrown his way to be completed, good for the 3rd-best in the league. He’s also tied for 2nd in the league for interceptions with five total. 

This New Orleans team will be in contention for the No. 1 overall pick in next year’s NFL draft and might decide to pull the plug on their key offensive players, creating additional opportunities for a surging Panthers team to capitalize on miscues from the Saints’ backups. There’s extra fuel in this fire, as New Orleans tried to pull an Ian Howe in their Week 10 victory over the Panthers. 

Chicago Bears vs. Cleveland Browns | 18% Rostered

Trinity Church

There was a point not long ago when fantasy players needed to target the Chicago Bears’ defense week in and week out to chase fantasy production. The NFL season is a long and winding road, though, and it’s important that we find our way through, lest we fall victim to Boston’s lamps. Really, we can point to Chicago getting healthier on defense as the season has worn on. They’ve welcomed Austin Booker, their rising DE, back to the fold, as well as stalwart Montez Sweat. In addition, they’ve gotten healthier on the back end, with both CB Jaylon Johnson and CB Kyler Gordon just coming back from injured reserve. 

What a terrible day to be a rookie QB on the Cleveland Browns. The nice thing is, we don’t care which QB, Shedeur Sanders or Dillon Gabriel, starts. In his five full games as a starter, Gabriel averaged over 3.5 sacks per game and threw in a pair of interceptions to boot. In his 2+ games as a starter, we’ll call it three to be generous, Sanders averages two sacks per game and one fumble or interception per game. The Bears lead the league in takeaways, and stuff their treasure chests with more in this matchup.

San Francisco 49ers vs. Tennessee Titans | 41% Rostered

The Entrance Shall Only Be Found Under a Cloudless Rain

This one is more about the Tennessee Titans than it is about the 49ers. The Titans have allowed the most sacks in the league, with 48 sacks. They’re on pace to have the third-most-sacked season of all time. The 49ers are dead last in sacks on the year, but you can expect them to convert on a few against Cam Ward, who’s being sacked four times per game. San Fran is tied for the 15th most takeaways in the league. Tennessee is giving up the 13th most points per game to opposing DSTs. 

The 49ers are 13th in the league in time of possession (TOP), while the Titans are 26th. Expect the 49ers to play keep away from the Titans and dominate TOP, which will, in turn, keep Tennessee off the board. 

Best Options for Week 16:

Dallas Cowboys vs. Los Angeles Chargers | 10% Rostered

John Wilkes Booth’s Diary 

Please reference Week 15’s write-up (above) on the Dallas DST if you happened to scroll past it. If you have the Dallas DST in Week 15, you’re certainly going to fire them up again in Week 16 against the “Lost” Angeles Chargers. The Chargers have given up the 6th most sacks this year. The Chargers’ Justin Herbert underwent surgery for a fractured left hand on Monday. As we mentioned before, the Dallas Cowboys lead the league in QB Pressure Rate and are 2nd in total QB Pressures. I expect Dallas to have no problem busting through the offensive line that’s missing their tackles in Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater. 

Justin Herbert with giant glove on his left hand.

The Chargers are hoping no one gets a peek at their treasure map, as they are allowing the 3rd most kick return yards/return and 2nd most punt return yards/return in the league this year. Oh yeah, and they’ve given up a punt return TD. KaVontae Turpin has a chance to run one back in Week 16. 

Carolina Panthers vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 6% Rostered

The Debt That All Men Pay

I’ll be the first one to tell you that there’s some risk here, but that’s what happens when you go dumpster diving at the sub-10% rostership threshold. We’re not here to be comfortable. We’re here to be bold, stream DSTs, and win championships. It’s easy to miss, but Carolina’s defense is riding a bit of a hot streak. They’ve only racked up four sacks in as many games, but they’ve clocked in with eight turnovers!

As it is, Tampa Bay’s offense isn’t what it was at the start of the season. I know we kind of know that, especially if you’re an Emeka Egbuka or Baker Mayfield manager. But their last four DSTs have averaged 7.1 points per game against them. That’s decent enough on its own, even without Carolina’s solid 2.1 PAE. If you take a look at Week 15’s Panthers matchup against the Saints, you will find a lot of the advanced metrics that back this up, too.

New York Giants vs. Minnesota Vikings | 4% Rostered

French Statue of Liberty

The New York Giants have four players in the top 100 for QB Pressures, led by Brian Burns at No. 5 with 32 pressures. The Vikings get sacked a lot, 3rd most in the league, and have thrown a league-leading 19 interceptions on the year. The Vikings lead the league in turnovers and percentage of possessions ending in a turnover, too. 

We’re not sure who will be the Vikings’ QB in Week 16, but their options will likely struggle to sustain drives and avoid the Giants’ pass rush. 

Yesterday, I asked if the Vikings played their worst offensive game ever by DVOA yesterday.

HOLY HELL YES.

No. 30 worst offensive DVOA game ever, even after adjusting for Seahawks D which is now No. 1 again.

30% worse than any other game.

(fixed the title on the table)

[image or embed]

— Aaron Schatz (@aaronschatz.com) December 1, 2025 at 7:55 AM

Cincinnati Bengals @ Miami Dolphins | 2% Rostered

Ottendorf Cipher

Don’t look now, but over the last month, Cincinnati has turned its defense around in a big way! They’re not great by any stretch of the imagination, but they’re not the lost cause they were earlier in the year, either. In fact, they only have a -0.3 PAE over their last four games. That’s essentially ‘average.’ That’s a tremendous step up for them. 

As much as Miami has played better recently, its offense still has major issues—namely, Tua Tagovailoa. Tua likes to go on turnover and sack sprees seemingly randomly at times, and always at the worst possible time for the Dolphins. With Cincinnati playing rejuvenated football thanks to Joe Burrow‘s presence, look for one of Tua’s patented meltdowns to come to fruition. 

Best Options for Week 17:

Miami Dolphins @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 17% Rostered

The Legend Writ

We’ve already talked about both of these teams, so I don’t want to rehash too much. After all, you’re smart, you know what we said 300 words ago still applies now. However, one aspect that has gone unremarked is the Miami Dolphins’ overall team speed. Every RB and WR Miami has seems to be faster than the last one. That means any time they have a punt or kickoff return, they have a chance of taking it all the way back for six. And as you know, those are huge swings when it comes to DST scoring. 

New York Giants @ Las Vegas Raiders | 4% Rostered

$100 Bill

The Raiders are second in the league in opponents’ sacks, giving up 46 on the season. They will try to prevent Brian Burns, Dexter Lawrence, Abdul Carter, and Kayvon Thibodeaux from getting to whichever sad sap they have standing behind their porous offensive line. 

The Raiders are 8th in the percentage of drives ending in a turnover at 12.8% and are also 8th in total turnovers. If you’re forced to stream a defense in the championship week, you’ll want to play the DST going up against the Raiders, which happens to be the New York Giants. 

Takeaways:

All hope is not lost if you don’t have one of the ‘big guys’ at DST. You don’t have to have a Denver, a Houston, a Cleveland to dominate the DST landscape. But that said, you owe it to yourself to at least check your waiver wire to see if any of the top options are there. Obviously, a top option with a good matchup is preferable to a lesser option with a good matchup. But with this article, you hopefully have enough to steal the…championship.

For more advice, head over to our Discord channel and ask our analysts! For breaking news and injury updates, follow Optimus Fantasy News on Bluesky!

By Published On: December 2nd, 2025

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