Week 1 Fantasy Football Defensive Streaming: Fly Eagles Fly

Philadelphia Eagles

Owned: ESPN 17.9%, Yahoo 47%
numberFire Projected Rank: 12th

In general, when we're looking to stream a defense, our primary targets are home favorites likely to produce multiple turnovers.

The first team to fit that profile in Week 1 is the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles will welcome the Cleveland Browns and Robert Griffin III to the City of Brotherly Love for the season opener Sunday. While the game has one of the lowest over/unders of the week at 41, the Eagles are 4-point favorites, and their underrated front seven gets the first chance to test Griffin in a Cleveland uniform.

Griffin last played for Washington in 2014, and through nine games, Griffin completed 68.7 percent of his passes for 4 touchdowns and 6 picks while taking 33(!) sacks. Griffin has looked respectable in the preseason, completing 57.9 percent of his passes for 5 touchdowns and 1 interception. But in the Browns' third preseason game, Griffin absorbed five sacks against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Meanwhile, in the Eagles' third preseason game, the starters on defense produced three first-half sacks and a fourth-down stop against the Indianapolis Colts.

This might actually be one of the few times the Eagles show up on this list. A talented unit headlined by Fletcher Cox is now under the direction of new defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, who has coached up some disruptive defenses in Detroit and Buffalo Bills. After starting with Cleveland in Week 1, the Eagles face Jay Cutler in Week 2. Their ownership should rise with two solid matchups to start the season.

Start the Birds with confidence in Week 1.