ClutchPoints
The first week of any NFL season is always full of surprises. A few teams that we thought would be terrible are always a pleasant surprise. Looking at you, Colts. And other teams, like the Lions, look a lot worse than anyone would have dared imagine before the regular season.
Week 2 of the fantasy football season is a unique challenge. Smart fantasy football manager know that now is the time for discipline. Week 1 can be incredibly fluky. If you let it have too big of an influence on your decisions, it could come back to bite you.
Now that we’ve got one week under our belts, what do we know? Is there anything that we can learn from Week 1? Or do we still need more information to choose the best unit?
Let’s cut through the noise and find some winners.
Below we’ll explore some of the best and worst defenses for fantasy football before Week 2 of the 2025 NFL season.
The Ravens are the perfect example for why the opponent is so important for fantasy football.
Baltimore literally had the worst D/ST for fantasy football in Week 1. It was not because the Ravens are a bad team. They just so happened to be playing Josh Allen and the Bills.
Baltimore allowed 41 points and actually cost you points if you started them last week.
Thankfully, everything is different in Week 2.
Baltimore is facing off against Cleveland on Sunday. The Browns are one team you’ll want to bet against almost every week this season.
Joe Flacco did not look great last week, throwing two interceptions and getting sacked twice. And (no offense), that was against Cincinnati’s defense.
The Ravens are a completely different animal. Kyle Hamilton, Nnamdi Madubuike, and the rest of the defense are a much more dangerous unit.
At worst, the Ravens will limit the Brown to a low amount of points. That’s good enough in fantasy football. But they could also force multiple turnovers or even score a defensive touchdown. That is gold for any fantasy defense.
The Ravens feels like one of the safest possible picks for Week 2.
Daniel Jones and the Indianapolis Colts were the most surprising story of Week 1.
The Colts absolutely demolished the Dolphins 33-8 and completely shut down Miami’s offense. They also forced a handful of turnovers.
For their effort, Indy was the second-best D/ST unit for fantasy football in Week 1.
Everything will be different in Week 2.
Indianapolis played excellent complementary football in the season opener. Largely because they were against an inferior opponent.
But the Denver Broncos are the exactly opposite.
The Broncos have a functional offense, which should keep the Colts playing honestly on defense. One side effect of that is the Colts won’t be playing from a lead as much as they did last week.
The Broncos...
