Patriots D/ST or Buccaneers D/ST: Who Should You Start?
Preliminary board2026 Week 1 · deterministic head-to-head · Verdicts based on PPR scoring.
Verdicts sharpen as practice reports land.
Start the Patriots — the lineup-share and opponent scoring edges are too wide to ignore.
Patriots D/ST is started in more leagues (started rank 9 to 16) and faces the lower-scoring offense (24.0 implied points to 27.0). No signal favors the Buccaneers this week. The gap is comfortable.
Patriots D/ST
D/STNEvs SEA
4.74.74.7 Projected Points
Sit
Buccaneers D/ST
D/STTBvs CIN
4.54.54.5 Projected Points
Sit
Why Patriots D/ST
SitSit — a bottom-tier defensive matchup this week (No. 19): Vegas has SEA at 24 points, and 4.7 pts projected vs SEA.
- SEA's offense gives up 2.1 sacks and 1.6 turnovers a game (2025), near league average.
- Vegas has SEA at 24 points as 3.5-point favorites.
- Over-started: 58% of leagues have them in, 9th among defenses, against a No. 19 matchup.
Why Buccaneers D/ST
SitSit — a bottom-tier defensive matchup this week (No. 20): Vegas has CIN at 27 points, and 4.5 pts projected vs CIN.
- CIN's offense gives up 2.1 sacks and 1.4 turnovers a game (2025), near league average.
- Vegas has CIN at 27 points as 3.5-point favorites.
- Over-started: 9% of leagues have them in, 16th among defenses, against a No. 20 matchup.
Head-to-head stats
| Metric | Patriots D/ST | Buccaneers D/ST |
|---|---|---|
| Projected points | 4.74.74.7 | 4.54.54.5 |
| Projection rank | Proj.DST19 | Proj.DST20 |
| Started in | 58% of leagues | 9% of leagues |
| Opponent sacks allowed / game | 2.1(2025) | 2.1(2025) |
| Opponent turnovers / game | 1.6(2025) | 1.4(2025) |
| Opponent implied total | 24.0 | 27.0 |
| Home / away | Away | Away |
Signal breakdown
- 4.7 vs 4.5 projected PPR pointsPatriots D/ST +
- Started rank 9 vs 16 (58% vs 9% of leagues)Patriots D/ST +
- 2.1 sacks / 1.6 TO vs 2.1 sacks / 1.4 TO per game allowedPatriots D/ST +
- Opponent implied 24.0 vs 27.0 pointsPatriots D/ST +
- Away vs Awayeven
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- D. GoedertDallas GoedertTEPHIvs WSHJ. FergusonJake FergusonTEDALvs NYG
- J. HurtsJalen HurtsQBPHIvs WSH
D. PrescottDak PrescottQBDALvs NYG
- D. PrescottDak PrescottQBDALvs NYGJ. DartJaxson DartQBNYGvs DAL
- J. DartJaxson DartQBNYGvs DALJ. HerbertJustin HerbertQBLACvs ARI
- J. HerbertJustin HerbertQBLACvs ARIC. WilliamsCaleb WilliamsQBCHIvs CAR
- C. WilliamsCaleb WilliamsQBCHIvs CART. LawrenceTrevor LawrenceQBJAXvs CLE
- T. LawrenceTrevor LawrenceQBJAXvs CLEB. PurdyBrock PurdyQBSFvs LAR
- C. DickerCameron DickerKLACvs ARI
J. BatesJake BatesKDETvs NO
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- D. SwiftD'Andre SwiftRBCHIvs CARJ. WilliamsJameson WilliamsWRDETvs NO
- D. MooreDJ MooreWRBUFvs HOUT. PollardTony PollardRBTENvs NYJ
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