Texans D/ST or Raiders D/ST: Who Should You Start?

Preliminary board

2026 Week 1 · deterministic head-to-head · Verdicts based on PPR scoring.

Verdicts sharpen as practice reports land.

Start the Texans — the lineup-share and projection edges are too wide to ignore.

Texans D/ST is started in more leagues (started rank 5 to 27) and projects 5.3 to the Raiders's 4.8. the Raiders's edge is the opponent total, 19.3 to 23.5 opponent implied points. The gap is comfortable.

Texans D/ST

D/STHOUvs BUF

Projected Points

Sit

Raiders D/ST

D/STLVvs MIA

Projected Points

Start

Why Texans D/ST

Sit

Sit — a bottom-tier defensive matchup this week (No. 15): 5.3 pts projected vs BUF.

  • BUF's offense gives up 2.9 sacks and 1.1 turnovers a game (2025), near league average.
  • Vegas has BUF at 23.5 points as 1.5-point favorites.
  • Over-started: 87% of leagues have them in, 5th among defenses, against a No. 15 matchup.

Why Raiders D/ST

Start

Start — the No. 18 defensive matchup this week: 4.8 pts projected vs MIA.

  • MIA's offense gives up 2.9 sacks and 1.4 turnovers a game (2025), near league average.
  • Vegas has MIA at 19.3 points as 3-point dogs.
  • Under-started: only 1% of leagues have them in, 27th among defenses, against a No. 18 matchup.

Head-to-head stats

MetricTexans D/STRaiders D/ST
Projected points
Projection rankProj.DST15Proj.DST18
Started in87% of leagues1% of leagues
Opponent sacks allowed / game2.9(2025)2.9(2025)
Opponent turnovers / game1.1(2025)1.4(2025)
Opponent implied total23.519.3
Home / awayHomeHome

Signal breakdown

  • 5.3 vs 4.8 projected PPR pointsTexans D/ST +
  • Started rank 5 vs 27 (87% vs 1% of leagues)Texans D/ST +
  • 2.9 sacks / 1.1 TO vs 2.9 sacks / 1.4 TO per game allowedRaiders D/ST +
  • Opponent implied 23.5 vs 19.3 pointsRaiders D/ST +
  • Home vs Homeeven

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