Best defenses for Week 6 Fantasy Football: Steelers, Broncos, Texans ranked

Fantasy Football Week 6 throws up some enticing defensive matchups for some of the best defensive units in the National Football League. Eyebrows were raised when the New England Patriots finally elevated rookie Drake Maye to QB1 status after a pretty dire loss to the Miami Dolphins.

And while Patriots fans have been calling for Maye to line up under center, the fact that the Patriots decided for Week 6, where they will go up against arguably the best pass rush in the league, suggests that plan may have some holes.

So without further ado, here are three defenses that will be nightmare matchups for offenses in Week 6.

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Best defenses for Week 6 Fantasy Football ranked

NFL: Dallas Cowboys at Pittsburgh Steelers - Source: Imagn

1) Pittsburgh Steelers

The Steelers may not rank among the top three defenses in the National Football League heading into Week 6, but this matchup is just too good for Pittsburgh. They will take on the Las Vegas Raiders, who just named Aidan O'Connell the starter after a pretty poor game from Gardner Minshew.

The Raiders will also not have Davante Adams for this game, with the All-Pro wide receiver still nursing a hamstring injury.

In any case, one look at the numbers suggests the Steelers will have this in the bag. Over the first three weeks of football, the Steelers held offenses to 10 points and under. Those numbers ballooned to 27 and 20 points against the Indianapolis Colts and Dallas Cowboys, respectively, but the Raiders matchup presents the perfect opportunity for the Steelers to get back to their lockdown ways.

2) Houston Texans

This Patriots offensive line is a disaster, there's no other way to put it. Through five weeks of football, they've allowed the third-most sacks (17) and are 31st in QB hits (42).

Meanwhile, the Texans are more than happy to go after quarterbacks, especially with Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter in the scheme of things. Houston has the fifth-highest pressure rate in the league. You combine that with the prospect of facing the leakiest OL in the National Football League, and all we'll say is good luck, Drake Maye.

3) Denver Broncos

You could argue that the only reason why the Broncos are in a respectable 3-2 position heading into Week 6 is Vance Joseph's defense.

The Broncos haven't had the hottest start to the year. But if someone would have told you that Denver would have a better record after five games with a rookie quarterback who many believed was overdrafted, as compared to the New York Jets, who were designed to be all-in on contention, you'd call them crazy.

This week, Denver will go up against the Los Angeles Chargers.

For some reason, the Chargers have decided against utilizing their greatest strength on offense—Justin Herbert's arm. Consider this: Herbert is yet to throw for over 200 yards in a single game this season.

The Chargers have also been going run heavy under Greg Roman, which we should have expected after how he game-planned with Baltimore. This Broncos defense has no problem stopping the run. They've been more than comfortable going up against running backs through five weeks of football.

The Broncos don't have the highest ceiling of the other defenses we've listed, but they're also among the safest options this week. You could also make a case for the Eagles here, who go up against a Cleveland Browns offense that just hasn't figured out what's going on with Deshaun Watson.

Best defenses for Week 6 Fantasy Football ranked

Interestingly, Sportskeeda's Start/Sit Optimizer is higher on the Broncos than the Steelers and the Texans this week.