Fantasy Football D/ST Rankings: Week 8 2026

The fantasy football season nears the halfway point. And some players are still proving their worth . But looking ahead, here are the fantasy football defense and special teams rankings for Week 8 of the 2026 NFL season.

It's another week where the byes come into play. The Texans, although they've been very disappointing, are off. Also taking a rest are the 49ers, Saints, and Giants. And that leaves some interesting teams at the top.

It's a good week to take a chance on the Bengals. They have a great matchup against the offensive emptiness of the Titans. In full fairness, the Titans showed a little bit of life against the Browns in a 27-24 loss in Week 7.

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But the Bengals really showed their teeth. They gave up 13 first-half points to the Ravens, but shut them down the rest of the way. Along the way, they had four sacks and an interception.

Edge rusher Boye Mafe has made a big difference for this Bengals defense, according to Pro Football Focus.

"Mafe starred against the Ravens, producing an initial 90.2 overall PFF grade — a mark that would set a new career high," Bradley Locker wrote. "His impact was most felt as a pass-rusher, generating five pressures and two sacks on a gaudy 23.1% pass-rush win rate over 27 pass-rushing snaps.

"Mafe's career-best outing in Week 7 punctuates what's been a revelatory season for the first-year Bengals. Through seven weeks, Mafe has produced an 88.9 overall PFF grade, the fourth-highest among edge rushers to play 200 or more snaps this season."

Another strong point for the Bengals has been their red zone work. They rank No. 3 in the NFL, allowing only 35% of opportunities to result in touchdowns, according to cleveland.com.

"I think they're playing with a lot of confidence," Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said. "It's calls we review every week and do a really good job walking through, trying to practice them on Fridays, what we're gonna do."

And they succeeded against the Ravens despite being on the field a lot.

"Sometimes it's after long drives where you've been on the field yesterday for eight minutes," Taylor said. "And it's defeating because they've converted third downs and gotten big plays. And you got to overcome adversity, and then you got to just buckle up and hold them to a field goal. That's what we did twice yesterday. And that turned out to be really significant in the first half to hold them to those field goals and not touchdowns."

As for the Titans, Tony Pollard is coming off a big game with 129 yards rushing and three touchdowns. Don't look for Pollard to be able to repeat that type of performance against the Bengals. That's true even though the Bengals have been below average against the run, ranking No. 18 with 116.3 yards allowed per game.

As high on the list are the Rams. They get a home game against the struggling Chargers. The Chargers rank No. 27 in the NFL with just 287.2 yards per game. They've struggled to get quarterback Justin Herbert rolling.

And the Rams seemed to find something on both sides of the ball last week against the Raiders.

Unfortunately, the Rams still don't know when Myles Garrett will be back on the field, according to a post on X by Nate Atkins.

"The Rams have not made a determination yet on whether or not to open the practice windows for Myles Garrett or Terrance Ferguson, per Sean McVay."

Even without Garrett, the Rams should have a shot at making some splash fantasy plays against the Chargers.

The Steelers' defense has been solid if nothing else. And they have a good matchup against the Browns this week. It should be a low-scoring game.

They are coming off a game where they held the Saints to 18 yards on 17 carries. Confidence is brimming , according to Post-Gazette.com.

"We have a lot of confidence in creating turnovers and creating those splash plays," said outside linebacker T.J. Watt. "We've done a really good job trying not to press too hard to make those plays happen, and they've been coming to us."

The Browns have been one of the most surprising teams in the NFL. But this could be the week the offense gets overwhelmed and can't keep up.

Another good fantasy pick this week is the Jaguars. They're coming off a bye week and have a matchup against the shaky Colts' offense. If they can keep Jonathan Taylor from cutting loose, they have a shot to make plays when the Colts pass the football.

Overall, the opportunity is there , according to rotoballer.com.

"The Jacksonville Jaguars D/ST has one of the best matchups of the week," Joey Pollizze wrote. "The Colts have had a hard time moving the ball this season. They rank 25th in EPA/play, 20th in points per game, and 24th in sacks allowed per game. Daniel Jones has also thrown an interception in six of seven contests, and Indianapolis has been held to under 24 points in four of the last five weeks."

Oh, you have to be brave to go here. But the Commanders have a nice matchup against an inept Eagles offense. With Saquon Barkley pulling up gimpy against the Cowboys on Monday, the Eagles can't exactly throw a scare into the Commanders.

What you're banking on is a good sack effort. The Commanders have been able to get better pressure on opposing quarterbacks this season. But they haven't finished a lot, with only 11 sacks on the season.

Another sleeper pick is the Browns. They get the Steelers this week. That's not a great matchup, but Aaron Rodgers is immobile. If the Browns can get pressure, they have a chance for a strong fantasy outing.

Fantasy Football Week 8 Defense Rankings

1. Cincinnati Bengals (CIN) vs. TEN 2. Los Angeles Rams (LAR) vs. LAC 3. Pittsburgh Steelers (PIT) vs. CLE 4. Jacksonville Jaguars (JAC) vs. IND 5. New England Patriots (NE) at MIA 6. Seattle Seahawks (SEA) vs. CHI 7. Kansas City Chiefs (KC) at DEN 8. Denver Broncos (DEN) vs. KC 9. Cleveland Browns (CLE) at PIT 10. Washington Commanders (WAS) vs. PHI 11. Minnesota Vikings (MIN) at DET 12. Detroit Lions (DET) vs. MIN 13. Las Vegas Raiders (LV) at NYJ 14. New York Jets (NYJ) vs. LV 15. Atlanta Falcons (ATL) at TB