Fantasy Football Week 3 Rankings: D/ST

Having reached Week 3, we're starting to get a good sense of which team defenses deserve to be considered a legitimate weekly start and which should be rotated based on matchups. While teams like the Saints, Jets and Broncos certainly deserve their recent accolades, the only real week-in week-out plays remain the tried-and-true Giants, Ravens, Vikings, Eagles, and Steelers.

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The Steelers are down Troy Polamalu, so they just barely make the automatic five. But hey, it's still the Steelers. And look for the Eagles to bounce back after getting torched last weekend by the high-octane Saints.

Beyond these five teams, you should be playing matchups and this week offers up some nice ones with the Packers leading the way against the cream-puff Rams and their lousy passing attack. The Jets against the Titans could go either way, but Chris Johnson should return from last week's interstellar orbit and we'll see a Titans team that more resembles the one we saw in Week 1. As well as the Jets have played, they are overdue to score some points on defense. Finally, the Broncos and Raiders both offer pretty interesting plays, but I like the Raiders defense against Orton. The Raiders defense has a bad rap because of their crappy offense, but the unit is tough and getting better each week.

1. Giants, NYG @ TB
2. Ravens, BAL vs. CLE
3. Steelers, PIT vs. CIN
4. Jets, NYJ vs. TEN
5. Vikings, MIN vs. SF
6. Packers, GB @ STL
7. Eagles, PHI vs. KC
8. Raiders, OAK vs. DEN
9. Broncos, DEN @ OAK
10. Saints, NO @ BUF
11. Falcons, ATL @ NE
12. Cardinals, ARI vs. IND
13. Seahawks, SEA vs. CHI
14. 49ers, SF @ MIN
15. Bears, CHI @ SEA
16. Cowboys, DAL vs. CAR
17. Titans, TEN @ NYJ
18. Dolphins, MIA @ SD
19. Colts, IND @ ARI
20. Panthers, CAR @ DAL
21. Patriots, NE vs. ATL
22. Chargers, SD vs. MIA
23. Redskins, WAS @ DET
24. Texans, HOU vs. JAX
25. Browns, CLE @ BAL
26. Bengals, CIN @ PIT
27. Bills, BUF vs. NO
28. Jaguars, JAX @ HOU
29. Rams, STL vs. MIN
30. Buccaneers, TB vs. NYG
31. Chiefs, KC @ PHI
32. Lions, DET vs. WAS