CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – SEPTEMBER 21: The Chicago Bears defense celebrates after a play against the Dallas Cowboys during the fourth quarter at Soldier Field on September 21, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
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One of the best ways to get an advantage over your league mates in the fantasy football playoffs is by staying one step ahead of them. While a lot of people are focusing on Week 14 still, you can stash a defense on your bench for Week 15.
That way, you don’t need to fight with everyone else for a defense that you feel good about starting next week. For this exercise, we’ll only be looking at defenses that are under 50% rostered on ESPN.
1. Chicago Bears vs Cleveland Browns
On ESPN, the Chicago Bears are only rostered in 13.7% of leagues, but they’re set up for success in Week 15. While the Bears have been fine, averaging 5.6 PPG, that’s not the most important part when looking for these stashes.
When trying to find a bit of a sleeper defense, the team’s matchup is crucial. In Week 15, the Bears face off against the Cleveland Browns, who have allowed the 4th most PPG this year to opposing defenses at 9.9.
The Bears have been fine over the past few weeks, scoring seven, six, and five points. With a great matchup in Week 15, we could see the Bears cross over 10 points, which would help out your fantasy football team a lot.
2. Carolina Panthers @ New Orleans Saints
So far this season, the Carolina Panthers are already averaging 5.8 PPG, which is a solid mark regardless of matchup. They’ve also been playing well as of late, with six points in Week 12 and 12 in Week 13. In Week 15, the Panthers take on the New Orleans Saints, who have allowed the 5th most PPG to opposing defenses this year at 9.8.
Now the Bears have the slightly better matchup, the Saints and Browns are 0.1 PPG apart as of now. With those two teams also having a similar PPG mark, it doesn’t really matter which one of Panthers or Bears you decide to pick up.
If the Bears, for whatever reason, aren’t available on your waiver wire, the Panthers should be, and you can feel just as confident plugging them into your starting lineup.
3. San Francisco 49ers vs New Orleans Saints
Of the three defenses, the San Francisco 49ers actually have the best matchup. In Week 15, they take on the Tennessee Titans, who have allowed the 2nd most PPG to opposing defenses on the year at 11.
Now the main concern with the 49ers is how much better the other two defenses have been this year. On the year, the 49ers have only scored 3.8 PPG, which is the worst mark on this list.
Since all three defenses have really good matchups this week, we’re going to take the PPG mark into account a bit more than normal. However, if you prefer the 49ers over any of these other two defenses based on the information above, that’s totally understandable.
Week 15 has a ton of great options, so whichever defense from this list you want and are able to grab, you’ll be putting yourself in a fantastic spot to win in the fantasy football playoffs.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevebradshaw/2025/12/05/3-defenses-to-stash-for-the-fantasy-football-playoffs-nfl-week-15/
