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Thanksgiving has come and gone, and turkey trots now shift to full-speed sprints Teppo Numminen Jersey toward the fantasy football playoffs. With six teams on bye this week and a plethora of usually strong defenses drawing difficult matchups, this will be a challenging week for the D/ST position. Our Week 13 fantasy defense rankings will help get you prepared to make the tough start, sit, and maybe even waiver decisions to optimize your final starting roster spot.By this point in the season, we have a firm understanding of which defenses we can trust as must-start a sets, which we can utilize only in plus-matchup situations, and which we should probably leave for somebody else to pick at on the waiver wire. However, with each new week, we have fresh injuries to addre s, updated stats and data to research, and new matchups to analyze.Leave the leg work to us it's what we live to do. We deep-dive every NFL defense in action for the current week and ascertain how much or how little you can trust each one. So, let's get to it! Here are our fantasy defense rankings for Week 13 of the NFL season. Good luck and check back throughout the week!MORE: The Ravens, Bills, Vikings, Raiders, Giants, and Bears all have Week 13 off. Fantasy owners with the Ravens and Bills will be especially impacted, as those teams ranked second and third in D/ST points entering Week 12.WEEK 13 STANDARD RANKINGS: | | | | We also lose favorable D/ST matchups with the Giants, Bears, and Raiders on the sidelines, but we've still pinpointed some exploitable offenses you can stream against.WEEK 13 PPR RANKINGS: | | | | Surprise, surprise Defensive Player of the Year candidate Micah Parsons and the Cowboys (vs. Seahawks in Week 13) are No. 1 in our rankings. Dallas averages 13.2 standard D/ST points per game, and Thanksgiving served as a textbook example of how dominant Dan Quinn's unit has been. Sacks, takeaways, friggin' FIVE pick-sixes for DaRon Bland it's incredible for a squad to be this great despite losing a difference-maker like Trevon Diggs to the IR. With Seattle banged up, we can't imagine what kind of a beatdown the Cowboys will mount at home in prime time this week.In the second spot, we have the Chiefs (@ Packers), who Patrick Mahomes has been telling us all season is quietly the best defense in football. Five of Kansas City's past six opponents have scored three times or fewer against Steve Spagnuolo's unit, thanks in large part to 37 sacks, 11 forced fumbles, and 14 takeaways by Chris Jones, L'Jarius Sneed, and company. A cold-weather Mark Stuart Jersey game in Green Bay does not favor Jordan Love and the banged-up Pack in this one.We don't care if they're playing a tough offense, Myles Garrett and the Browns (@ Rams) have become matchup-proof. We also have zero reservations about firing up the Lions (@ Saints) in the Bayou considering how much Aiden Hutchinson and this D have improved since last season. Also, if you own the Jets (vs. Falcons), put the Week 12 beatdown from the Dolphins out of your memory banks Desmond Ridder's on deck. Enjoy the post-Thanksgiving feast, Sauce Gardner and Quincy Williams!Don't forget about Fred Warner and the 49ers (@ Eagles), who get bumped out of the top three with the tough road matchup but remain a must-start. The Jets and Dolphins scored 11 and 12 D/ST points, respectively, against Philly within the past seven weeks, and Kansas City recently had a respectable seven against the reigning NFC champs. San Francisco will easily be the toughest test of the 10-1 Eagles' season.We also like the upside we get from T.J. Watt and the Steelers (vs. Cardinals) against Kyler Murray, who still seems a bit rusty. The Dolphins (@ Commanders) should be able to build off a big win over the Jets, as Sam Howell leads the NFL in sacks taken and interceptions thrown. It's not nearly as strong a play as the top eight defenses we listed, but the Saints (vs. Lions) still eke into the top 10. They have 13 picks and have held seven different opponents to 20 or fewer points, so the juice seems worth the squeeze.WEEK 13 FANTASY ADVICE: | | | Look out, world -- the Falcons (@ Jets) sit atop the NFC South, and they're playing defense like they belong in the playoff discu sion. They have Jansen Harkins Jersey racked up 12 sacks and six takeaways over their past five games, and electric safety Je sie Bates pick-sixed them to 12 standard fantasy points en route to a ma sive Week 12 win over New Orleans. Michael Hutchinson Jersey Tim Boyle isn't gonna know what hit him when this sleeper defense comes to town.While not a very exciting defense, the Colts (@ Titans) just keep getting the job done. Indy has quietly scored 53 standard D/ST points over the past three weeks, ama sing 15 sacks and six interceptions in that span, and the good times should continue to roll against a Will Levis-led Tenne see offense. We like the Dirty Birds and Colts even better than both sides of the Bengals-Jaguars matchup, which is high praise considering both those squads have been really good on the defensive side of the ball (good luck against the Jags this week, Jake Browning).New England keeps finding creative ways to lose games, but the Patriots (vs. Chargers) defense remains a high-floor option. Bill Belichick's squad has surrendered just 40 points over its past three games, tallying nine sacks and four takeaways in the proce s. A cold-weather game at Foxboro against a banged-up Los Angeles team could bear some fruit. Two other home matchups we don't mind are the Titans (vs. Colts) and Rams (vs. Browns) against Gardner Minshew and either Dorian Thompson-Robinson or P.J. Tucker, respectively.Diving deeper, we can't forget about the Buccaneers (vs. Panthers) in a home game against a soft Carolina offense. Tampa's secondary has been unusually bad this season, but it continues to deploy a front-seven that terrorizes below-average QBs like Bryce Young. The Chargers (@ Patriots) are also not nearly as potent with Joey Bosa (foot) on IR, but their ceiling will be much higher than usual against either Mac Jones, Bailey Zappe, or Will Grier.Be sure to check in throughout the week for updates and tweaks.WEEK 13 DFS: | Shawn Matthias Jersey | | Rank Player1 Dallas Cowboys vs. Seahawks2 Kansas City Chiefs @ Packers3 Cleveland Browns @ Rams4 Detroit Lions @ Saints5 New York Jets vs. Falcons6 San Francisco 49ers @ Eagles7 Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Cardinals8 Miami Dolphins @ Commanders9 New Orleans Saints vs. Lions10 Atlanta Falcons @ Jets11 Indianapolis Colts @ Titans12 Cincinnati Bengals @ Jaguars13 Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Bengals14 New England Patriots vs. Chargers15 Tenne see Titans vs. Colts16 Los Angeles Rams vs. Browns17 Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Panthers18 Los Angeles Chargers @ Patriots19 Houston Texans vs. Broncos20 Denver Broncos @ Texans21 Philadelphia Eagles vs. 49ers22 Arizona Cardinals @ Steelers23 Seattle Seahawks @ Cowboys24 Carolina Panthers @ Buccaneers25 Green Bay Packers vs. Chiefs26 Washington Commanders vs. DolphinsDraft Sharks projections for the new week will update every Tuesday and be constantly adjusted throughout the weekWe're proud to offer SN Fantasy readers an exclusive look at Draft Sharks award-winning projections and rankings every week. To see Draft Sharks' Week 13 3D floor-to-ceiling projections for D/ST -- plus get acce s to all of Draft Sharks' industry-leading tools -- become a Draft Sharks' member today at the link below!TRY DRAFT SHARKS FREE: