Pittsburgh Steelers vs Denver Broncos defense: Week 6 fantasy projections and picks

So this week was pretty eventful, wasn't it? The New York Jets decided they had seen enough of the Robert Saleh and let their head coach go first thing Tuesday morning after a long flight back from London.

The New England Patriots decided they had seen enough of Jacoby Brissett under center and decided to give the starting quarterback job to third overall pick Drake Maye, but the rookie will go up against arguably the best pass rush in the league, the Houston Texans. That's a good matchup, but is it enough to dethrone the Steelers and the Broncos as the best defenses in Week 6?

Pittsburgh Steelers defense fantasy outlook for Week 6

The Steelers' defense has always been their calling card and that trend continued early in the season ... until the Indianapolis Colts and Dallas Cowboys came calling. The Steelers defense's points allowed through the first three weeks reads like this - Week 1: 10, Week 2: 6, Week 3: 10.

Somehow, Pittsburgh started to crumble over the past two weeks. From allowing an average of 8.6 points the first three weeks, the Steelers allowed 23.5 points the past two weeks. That's a big leap from a lockdown defense.

Fortunately for the Steelers, they will go up against a Las Vegas Raiders team that's still undecided on who the starting quarterback will be the rest of the way. Gardner Minshew essentially threw the game away last week and Aidan O'Connell is unlikely to shake things up enough to pull the Raiders out of their doldrums.

Two things are in the Steelers' favor here:

1] The Raiders offense ranks bottom 10 in scoring

2] The Steelers have the fifth-highest pressure rate in the league.

You could make a case for the Texans, Broncos and the Bears, but this Steelers defense will likely be at the top of every ranking in Week 6.

Denver Broncos defense fantasy outlook for Week 6

The Broncos are somehow 3-2 entering Week 6 but the eye test says a lot about why the Broncos have a winning record. The offense has not exactly gotten things going with Bo Nix under center, which was to be expected, but we didn't know it would be this bad.

To make up for a lack of production on offense, Vance Joseph has quietly masterminded one of the league's toughest defenses through five weeks of football.

In Week 4, the Broncos hassled Aaron Rodgers all day long and racked up five sacks and one fumble recovery in a 10-9 win. Rodgers had to leave the field limping after that last sack and didn't look like himself a week later when the Jets fell to another loss against the Vikings in London.

The Broncos weren't at their best in Week 5 against the Raiders, but they still forced three turnovers and registered three sacks on Sunday. At this point, you have to give Vance Joseph his flowers for keeping the Broncos in a respectable position.

In Week 6, they will go up against a Chargers offense that hasn't exactly utilized Justin Herbert's talents to the fullest. The Saints and Panthers matchups should also be comfortable enough for this Broncos defense so the sun's clearly shining in Denver.

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Steelers or Broncos defense: Final verdict

Both Pittsburgh and Denver have favorable matchups this week but we're inclined to pick the Steelers. The Raiders just don't have an identity on offense and even if they do get Davante Adams back this week from a hamstring injury (which appears unlikely), there's not much you can rely on for optimism.

Steelers vs Broncos defense: Week 6 fantasy projection

Sportskeeda's Start/Sit Optimizer agrees with us, projecting a return of 9.5 points for the Steelers' defense as opposed to 8 points for the Broncos' defense in Week 6.