Commentary

Week 16 Rankings: Defense/Special teams

Updated: December 19, 2008, 3:37 PM ET

By Fantasy staff | ESPN.com

These rankings are intended to rate how players will perform in Week 16 of the NFL season only and does not account for future matchups or season-long performance. They are a composite of Matthew Berry's, Christopher Harris', Eric Karabell's and Erik Kuselias' personal rankings for the week. ESPN's official fantasy projections and profiles for Week 16 can be viewed by clicking here.

Rankings were updated Friday to remove players from the Thursday Colts/Jaguars game, as well as to adjust for the latest injury news and emerging trends.

Week 16 defense/special teams rankings
Rank	Name	Opponent	Berry	Harris	Kuselias	Karabell	Average
1	Philadelphia Eagles	@Was	2	4	1	3	2.5
2	Baltimore Ravens	@Dal	6	1	6	2	3.8
3	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	SD	3	3	7	5	4.5
4	Tennessee Titans	Pit	5	9	3	1	4.5
5	Pittsburgh Steelers	@Ten	7	5	2	6	5.0
6	New York Giants	Car	8	7	4	7	6.5
7	Dallas Cowboys	Bal	11	2	10	9	8.0
8	Chicago Bears	GB	4	10	8	12	8.5
9	New York Jets	@Sea	10	11	5	11	9.3
10	San Francisco 49ers	@StL	9	13	12	4	9.5
11	Houston Texans	@Oak	1	14	15	10	10.0
12	Miami Dolphins	@KC	15	8	11	8	10.5
13	Minnesota Vikings	Atl	20	6	9	18	13.3
14	Carolina Panthers	@NYG	12	16	13	14	13.8
15	Cleveland Browns	Cin	14	19	16	13	15.5
16	Atlanta Falcons	@Min	13	26	20	15	18.5
17	San Diego Chargers	@TB	17	12	24	22	18.8
18	New Orleans Saints	@Det	21	23	19	17	20.0
19	New England Patriots	Ari	18	24	18	20	20.0
20	Cincinnati Bengals	@Cle	29	17	14	24	21.0
21	Oakland Raiders	Hou	19	25	22	19	21.3
22	Washington Redskins	Phi	16	27	26	16	21.3
23	Green Bay Packers	@Chi	24	22	17	23	21.5
24	Buffalo Bills	@Den	25	15	23	29	23.0
25	Seattle Seahawks	NYJ	23	21	25	26	23.8
26	Arizona Cardinals	@NE	22	20	27	28	24.3
27	Denver Broncos	Buf	26	30	21	21	24.5
28	Kansas City Chiefs	Mia	27	18	28	27	25.0
29	St. Louis Rams	SF	28	28	29	25	27.5
30	Detroit Lions	NO	30	29	30	30	29.8