Week 6 is here and we get another 10-game slate early in the season. We have four teams getting the week off (the Kansas City Chiefs, Minnesota Vikings, Miami Dolphins, and the Los Angeles Rams) while eight teams are playing in games off the main slate this week. 

And we get another London game Sunday morning to lead us up to this week’s action. Let’s start looking at the Vegas odds and matchups to identify our top plays for the NFL DFS Week 6 D/ST Coach!

 

 

 

NFL DFS Week 6 D/ST Coach For FanDuel & DraftKings Fantasy

Week 5 was another great week for us as we’re starting to really hit our stride. The Week 6 Play of the Week, the Denver Broncos, pulled through with 16 fantasy points at just $2,900 on DraftKings. They weren’t much of a secret as they were heavily rostered. But the matchup was great and we read it correctly. But I won’t lie, I was fuming a bit when they gave up that early Brock Bowers touchdown.

We did fade the 49ers last week, but they did okay overall, by returning 11 fantasy points. But still you could’ve eaten the chalk and saved $1,300 by playing Denver. The Cleveland Browns did fine at $2,700 to deliver six fantasy points. That’s not great by any means, but for a value play, they didn’t kill any lineups. The Green Bay Packers returned 13 fantasy points at $3,000. 

I have obvious regrets about adding the Seattle Seahawks as a late addition. I had been aware of their injuries and sub-par play but couldn’t pass up the matchup since the New York Giants were without Devin Singletary and Malik Nabers. Alas, they were a bust. But if you went heavy on Denver like I did, then you did just fine.

 

 

 

NFL Week 6 Defense/Special Teams

As we dig into Week 6, you’ll see that we have a few games on the main slate that we can consider avoiding for the D/ST position. Four games have implied totals at or above 47 points at the time of this writing. But by comparison, there are some smash spots for us as well.

There are three games with implied totals at or below 38 points, and one team (that we’ll get to) is favored by a touchdown going against a rookie quarterback. And even in those games that fall into the middle of the implied totals range, we have some interesting tournament options. Let’s look at our best options for the NFL DFS Week 6 D/ST Coach.

 

 

 

NFL DFS D/ST Top Tier Picks For Week 6

Pittsburgh Steelers - DraftKings: $3,700 | FanDuel: $4,900

The two most expensive teams on DraftKings and FanDuel lead off the NFL DFS Week 6 D/ST Coach. But on DraftKings, neither price tag is necessarily prohibitive. Will I be playing either team? It’s unlikely because I usually lean into salary relief at this position. But the matchups are good all the same.

The Steelers go on the road to Vegas this week coming off a heartbreaking loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football. Despite giving up 20 points last week, the Cowboys still returned 11 fantasy points on the back of three turnovers and a pair of sacks. Pittsburgh has one of the best edge rushers in the game in T.J. Watt and we’ve seen them limit opposing offenses to 10 or fewer points three times already this year.

The over/under for this game is set at 36.5 points and the Steelers are favored by a field goal. Overall, the sportsbooks aren’t expecting a ton of offense in this game either. We just saw the Broncos hold this offense to 18 points last week and in doing so they forced three turnovers with three sacks. The Steelers definitely feel like they have a good floor in a bounce back matchup.

Houston Texans – DraftKings: $3,600 | FanDuel: $5,000

Similar to the Steelers, the Texans go on the road for their Week 6 matchup, but they do get to introduce Drake Maye to the NFL. Maye was New England’s third overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft and has been getting rave reviews in training camp and during practice about his progress. Unfortunately, the offensive weapons at his disposal aren’t great and the offensive line is terrible.

The Houston Texans have an above average pass rush. You wouldn’t think so evidenced by the two sacks they have in their last two games, but this is a team that sacked Caleb Williams seven times back in Week 2. The New England Patriots have arguably the worst offensive line in the NFL. As a Patriots fan, I’ve watched their games over the last handful of weeks and often thought “Okay, I get why they are hesitant to play Maye.”

But that changes this week. Maye gets the start and my one reservation with the Texans D/ST is that New England could take a run heavy approach. That basically limits the upside for Houston. Running the ball tends to mean less sacks and less turnover opportunities. 

But the implied game total is at 38 points and the Texans are favored by seven points. I won’t be landing on Houston very much, but this isn’t a bad price tag for such a heavy favorite, and they could very well give this offensive line problems all day.

 

 

 

NFL DFS D/ST Mid-Tier Picks For Week 6

Philadelphia Eagles – DraftKings: $3,400 | FanDuel: $4,800

I actually gave the Eagles some consideration as the Play of the Week but couldn’t quite pull the trigger. And they are rather pricey on both sites but DraftKings’ pricing is very soft this week so $3,400 is reasonable for the mid-tier.

The Eagles get the distinct advantage of hosting the Cleveland Browns coming off their bye week and a lot of consensus season-long rankings have the Eagles as the best D/ST for Week 6. The Eagles haven’t been great defensively this year, but they’re rested and the Browns are forced to constantly play Deshaun Watson every week.

The Browns are doing their best to limit Deshaun Watson throwing the ball. Even in a blowout loss to the Washington Commanders last week, Watson only attempted 28 pass attempts. The week before he attempted 32. But he still has turned the ball over six times this year and he’s yet to throw for 200 yards in a game in 2024.

There is a lot of variance to this play. The Eagles haven’t shown much of a ceiling and the floor is pretty low. But the Browns are terrible enough that we can get a little exposure here if you’re okay with the pricing.

Denver Broncos - DraftKings: $3,200 | FanDuel: $4,700

The price tag is definitely more of a challenge on FanDuel, but the Broncos are still too affordable on DraftKings. And I understand I’m not offering up anything mind blowing going back to the Denver Broncos this week. But they’ve returned double-digit fantasy points in three straight games so why not go back to the well?

For transparency, it’s worth acknowledging that the Los Angeles Chargers are coming off their bye week. So they’re rested coming into this matchup. But also, this is still a home game at elevation for Denver. The only thing keeping me from recommending them as the Play of the Week again is how much the Chargers run the ball. 

The Broncos have Pat Surtain, who can take away the opposing offense’s best receiver and Denver has held four opposing quarterbacks to under 200 passing yards. But Justin Herbert hasn’t attempted more than 27 pass attempts in a game this year. Are we expecting them to change things up against Denver?

The Broncos can be beaten on the ground through volume, but at the same time they’ve allowed just 47 points to opposing offenses in their last four games all while collecting 17 sacks and six turnovers in that span. I don’t know if they have another massive game up their sleeve like last week. However, I do think there’s an opportunity for them to return 3X-4X value as the price tag continues to tick up.

 

 

 

NFL Week 6 DFS D/ST Value Pick

Tampa Bay Buccaneers – DraftKings: $2,600 | FanDuel: $3,700

So if you recall, in the first two editions of the NFL DFS D/ST Coach, I recommended teams facing the New Orleans Saints because I firmly believed heading into the year New Orleans would have a bottom five offense. That prediction looked terrible through the first two weeks. But it’s found some legs and been brought back to life over their last three games.

The New Orleans offense has scored just 49 points over their last three games and the team is riding a three-game losing streak. More importantly, the Saints will be without Derek Carr for this game and it’s a short week for the team as they just played on Monday Night Football last week. New Orleans did announce on Wednesday they’ll start Spencer Rattler, so this is a good spot to target a D/ST against a rookie quarterback.

 

 

 

NFL DFS D/ST Fade For Week 6

Atlanta Falcons - DraftKings: $3,500 | FanDuel: $3,800

The Falcons are by far more playable on FanDuel. On DraftKings, they’re the third-most expensive option on the slate. Either way, this is a spot you either pay up for Pittsburgh/Houston or you look for more value.

The Atlanta Falcons are riding high and are looking like the team we all thought they’d be. But the defense hasn’t been very good for daily fantasy football. In Week 4, against the New Orleans Saints, they did score a pair of touchdowns and were the optimal D/ST with 17 fantasy points. But in their other four games, they’ve returned either two or three fantasy points on DraftKings.

They’re averaging just a sack and a turnover per game and have allowed 330+ yards and 21+ total points to opposing offenses in three of their last four games. Additionally, the Carolina Panthers have committed to Andy Dalton in this game. If they were going back to Bryce Young, we’d obviously attack this spot. But with Dalton as the projected starter, the Panthers have an implied team total of about 20.5 points. So, I’ll be laying off the Falcons in Week 6.

 

 

 

NFL DFS Week 6 D/ST Play Of The Week

Indianapolis Colts - DraftKings: $3,100 | FanDuel: $4,000

The Colts might go overlooked on this slate, so I do like this play from a GPP perspective. Moreover, this defense hasn’t played well in two games on the road. All 12 of Indy’s sacks have come at home, and overall, they’ve allowed 380+ yards of offense in all five games this year.

But we’re jumping on board with this play if Will Levis gets the start for the Tennessee Titans. Levis got hurt early in their Week 4 matchup against the Miami Dolphins, but the Titans were off last week so he’s had time to heal up. There’s no word yet if the shoulder injury is okay, but if he starts, we have some interest here as Levis has already turned the ball over nine times in slightly over three starts this year.

The Titans have been a smash spot for opposing D/ST’s this year. In Week 1 the Chicago Bears put up 21 fantasy points against the Titans offense. In Week 3 the Green Bay Packers were able to put up 21 fantasy points on DraftKings. 

Even in Week 2, the New York Jets held them to just 17 points but collected four sacks and a pair of turnovers. There’s a good floor if Mason Rudolph starts, but the ceiling might be very high for Indianapolis if Levis gets the start given how prone he’s been to mistakes this year.

 

 

 

NFL DFS Week 6 Defense/Special Teams Projections