BLAST FROM THE PAST - WEEK 3 - Defenses and Special Teams

Week three of the 2014 season is off to a thrilling start (NOT), with the Atlanta Falcons thrashing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 56-14.  The blowout was a total team effort from the Falcons, who scored touchdowns on three Matt Ryan passes, a Steven Jackson run, a Devin Hester reverse, a Devin Hester punt return, and a Kemal Ishmael interception return.  In fact, the Atlanta D/ST blew up in terms of fantasy production this week, scoring 26 points, including 5 total turnovers. Fantasy Football Evil Empire decided to take a look back at defensive and special teams' production from week 3 of 2013 and found it to be an extremely strong week.  Twelve teams scored in double digits in that week, lead by the Bears and Ravens who scored two TDs each, and by the Carolina Panthers who pitched a shutout against the New York Giants.  Other defenses including the Kansas City Chiefs, the Green Bay Packers, and the Cincinnati Bengals scored touchdowns along with the Dallas Cowboys, the New Orleans Saints, and the Indianapolis Colts holding their opponents under eight points.

Based off of the schedule this week, we could see similar results for some current D/STs since there are plenty of lopsided matchups. According to the odds makers,  the Eagles, Bengals, Colts, Patriots, Ravens, and Saints are all 7 point or more favorites, which usually means good things for their respective defenses and special teams. If you have one of those defenses, we expect you to be happy by the end of week three.

Results from the 2013, week 3 defenses and special teams top performers.

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Week 3, 2013
D/ST	PA	INT	FR	TDs	FF POINTS
Chicago Bears	23	2	3	2	25
Kansas City Chiefs	16	2	3	1	23
Green Bay Packers	34	1	3	1	20
Baltimore Ravens	9	1	0	2	20
Carolina Panthers	0	2	1	0	18
Cincinnati Bengals	30	2	2	1	18
Cleveland Browns	27	1	2	0	12
Dallas Cowboys	7	0	1	0	11
Minnesota Vikings	31	3	1	0	11
New Orleans Saints	7	2	0	0	11
Seattle Seahawks	17	2	1	0	10
Indianapolis Colts	7	1	1	0	10