Pittsburgh Steelers and 2 Other Must-Start Defenses in Week 17 Fantasy Football
In this story:
Defenses Win Championship. Picture it. Frame it. Do whatever you please. You must pick the right unit to start should you be playing in your Fantasy Football Championship this week. If you start the wrong team, they can literally net you negative points. Let's try to avoid this and, instead, go for high-scoring results on your road to victory. These are three must-start units in Week 17.
Detroit Lions (@ Vikings)
Though this could be a trap game, it probably is not. The Vikings are abysmal in efficiency metrics. They are 28th in Sacks Allowed and 32nd in Giveaways.
As for the Lions, they are 6th in Sacks per Game and 13th in Takeaways. Recent games may point to bad play, but their defense performs well in key defensive metrics that result in Fantasy Football success.
The Lions are favored by (6.0) points with an over/under of (44.5). This implies Minnesota to score (18.25) points at home on Christmas Day.
Pittsburgh Steelers (@ Browns)
The steelers run defense vs top end RBs this year
— FraziersBurgh✝️ (@MinkahBurgh39) December 22, 2025
- Jahmyr Gibbs: 2 yards
- Devon Achane: 60 yards
- Josh Jacobs : 33 yards
- Jonathan Taylor: 45 yards
The Derrick Harmon effect pic.twitter.com/55xwxxEDlt
The Steelers have won (1) of their last 6 Games in Cleveland. This trend may be overplayed as the Browns had been better, and the Steelers had been a bit worse in past years. They are favored to beat the Browns by (3.5) points to an over/under of (34.5), implying the Browns to score (15.5) points at home.
The Steelers are surging to be 4th in Sacks and Takeaways per Game. The Browns are 24th in Sacks Allowed and 26th in Giveaways per Game. The Browns are also the FPI 32nd best defense, and by a wide margin. They are (-12.5), with the next best defense being the Dolphins (-7.5).
New England Patriots (@ Jets)
Aaron Glenn announced that Brady Cook will remain the starter against the Patriots on Sunday.
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) December 22, 2025
Cook has thrown for 1 TD and 6 INT in 3 games (2 starts) this season. pic.twitter.com/A9mHzAKwB1
The Jets look so much worse with Brady Cook. At least with Justin Fields and Tyrod Taylor, they surprised at times. This version is waiting for the offseason to show up.
The Jets are 32nd in Sacks Allowed and 26th in Giveaways. Low output for a highly-hoped offensive line. The Patriots are just 23rd in Sacks and 20th in Takeaways per Game. Nonetheless, the Jets allow for the Patriots to have their softest matchup in awhile. The Jets are the FPI 29th best offense.
The betting lines for this game show the Patriots are (13.5) point favorites. The over/under is (42.5) points, implying the Jets to score (14.5) points.
More Fantasy Sports On SI News:
Thomas Carelli is a sportswriter based on Northern New Jersey. He is a massive New York Jets and Mets fan, but that is not where is sports fandom stops. He loves to watch and play golf, all things football, baseball, and much more. If he can watch it, he will. Thomas graduated from William Paterson University in 2018 with a Bachelor's Degree in Sport Management. He spent 4 years working at a local golf course, volunteered past PGA events, and spent some part-time experience with the New York Jets events team. His passions for sport runs deep and his articles show for it.