DFS Defense Rankings: NFL Conference Championship

Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times via Getty

Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Zack Baun reacts after stopping Los Angeles Rams running back Kyren Williams for a loss in the fourth quarter.

The saying goes “defense wins championships” often doesn’t apply to DFS champs, but I would argue picking the top scoring unit when there are only four units in play is essential to your chances of winning a big guaranteed prize pool.

Here is a closer look at the rankings of every defensive DFS option for the 2024 NFL Conference Championship Round slate of games.

Philadelphia Eagles

The Philadelphia Eagles defense entered the postseason as the best defensive unit in the league and have mostly lived up to those high standards through the first two playoffs games.

This regular season the Eagles finished as a top 10 unit in every major statistical category, which includes scoring (2nd), total yards (1st), rushing (10th), and passing (1st) defense. They have allowed just 32 points through the first two rounds, which has included seven sacks and six turnovers forced.

The Eagles defense did get torched by Jayden Daniels back in Week 16 to the tune of 339 total yards and five touchdown passes, but they did dominate this unit back in Week 11 when they were at home.

Daniels is certainly playing at a high level, but expect this talented defense to show up with a Super Bowl appearance on the line.

Kansas City Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs defense has been a great unit for a second straight year and flexed their might in a solid Divisional Round performance against the Houston Texans – where they gave a grand total of just 14 points.

The Chiefs did allow the Texans to produce 336 total yards, but ultimately made timely plays in the form of eight sacks of C.J. Stroud.

This unit finished 9th in total defense allowing an average of 320 yards per game this season, which was led by a stingy run defense that ranked 8th in the league at 101 yards per game – which could slow down a productive rushing attack of the Buffalo Bills.

In their only meaningful loss of the year, this Chiefs defense did allow the Bills to score 30 points back in Week 11 while failing to sack Josh Allen once.

The Chiefs defense is a battle tested unit that rarely misses an opportunity to punish opponents who put the ball in harms way, but will need to bring their A game to slow down Allen in this contest.

Buffalo Bills

If the Buffalo Bills are going to get over the hump, they will have to slay the dragon that is Patrick Mahomes in a playoff setting.

This unit did manage to have a fair amount of success in their Week 11 victory over the defending champs by forcing two interceptions and sacking Mahomes on two occasions while allowing just 21 points.

The Bills didn’t have Matt Milano for their first encounter, but could be without starting safety Taylor Rapp who exited the Divisional Round game against the Baltimore Ravens shortly after picking off Lamar Jackson in the first half.

The Bills did an excellent job bottling up Travis Kelce back in Week 11, who was held to just two catches for 8 yards in that contest. If they can repeat this performance against arguably the best tight end to ever take the field – then the Bills defense could have a chance of mirroring their previous success against this offense.

Washington Commanders

After generating five turnovers and a pick six against arguably the best offense in the league, it is very difficult to put the Washington Commanders defense at the very bottom of this list.

Yet, the entire body work throughout the season and even in the two playoff victories – this defense hasn’t exactly been an elite unit. They still gave up 31 points against the Lions and were fortunate to get the one turnover they got against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with a late Christmas gift from Baker Mayfield in the form of a self inflicted fumble.

Saquon Barkley has rushed for just under 300 yards combined in the two previous matchups against the Commanders earlier this year, which has me wanting to stay away from the Commanders defense in DFS this week.