A good lesson was taught to us on Black Friday by the Chicago Bears of all teams. Control the football for nearly 40 minutes and those defensive issues can nearly disappear. Even the Carolina Panthers gave up 28 points but ultimately upended the Los Angeles Rams, who gave up 31! Minnesota did not play too poorly on defense either but the offense was another story.

Week 14 features some classic divisional rivalries. Sadly the New York Giants are on a bye. Although, their defense might be benched versus the bye. San Francisco, Carolina, and New England are the other teams off this week.

Let us examine some defenses to sit. Remember to keep shopping for those presents, decorate the house, and check out three of the must start defenses for Week 14.

Arizona Cardinals (vs Los Angeles Rams)

The Los Angeles Rams were openly ticked about losing to the Carolina Panthers last week. Los Angeles did not force a turnover for the first time since the bye week. This is a team that ranks second in the NFL in points allowed. However, both teams might get sat this week when it comes to defense.

As for Arizona, they have yielded a whopping 85 points in their previous two division matchups (40+ to both San Francisco and Seattle). For better or for worse, Jacoby Brissett opens up the offense but at the expense of the defense. While yardage is not so bad here, points are!

The Rams had a -3 turnover margin against Carolina in Week 13. A normally efficient and lethal offense looked disjointed. Expecting that to happen two weeks in a row seems less likely.

Buffalo Bills (vs Cincinnati Bengals)

The up and down season that is the Buffalo Bills faces what appears to be an easy opponent in the Cincinnati Bengals. However, Buffalo’s rushing defense has become more and more of a red flag as 2025 has progressed.

Currently, the Bills’ pass defense ranks 1st in yards allowed and 2nd in touchdowns. Meanwhile, the run defense is in the bottom three in yards, yards per carry, and touchdowns. Buffalo has bounced back with two very good efforts after two duds. However, playing a banged up Aaron Rodgers was probably just what the doctor ordered.

A few clips of the Steelers offense from Sunday before we move on from the Buffalo debacle.

I talked a lot yesterday about the Steelers’ defense getting gashed by the Bills’ use of heavy formations. One big culprit was PIT’s failure to set an edge. The Bills bounced runs outside… pic.twitter.com/YGF5znGVG4

— Kevin Smith (@KTSmithFFSN) December 2, 2025

Buffalo may not be able to do this as often against Joe Burrow. Burrow found his rhythm against the Baltimore Ravens and the Bengals took it from there. With how much better Chase Brown and the Cincinnati defense has looked since their bye week, there is a little worry with the Bills.

Buffalo cannot fall two games back of division leading New England which places even more pressure on them. Sunday could feel a little like a high-scoring game given the game total here is at 52.5 points currently.

Chicago Bears (@ Green Bay Packers)

The Chicago Bears defense feels like it has flirted with disaster all season. Chicago’s first two games saw it gets burnt often. The Bears improved and have won nine of 10 contests since. However, the overall numbers are still not good. They are 30th in rushing yards per carry and 22nd in passing yards yielded.

Green Bay likes playing at home in December when it is freezing cold. Sunday will be no exception with temperatures in the teens. The Packers will not let Chicago control the ball for nearly 40 minutes.

NFL Defense’s Yards Allowed per Play each game. No surprise who the top defenses are:

1) Denver Broncos (10-2) *9 game win streak
2) Seattle Seahawks (9-3) *9-2 since losing in wk 1
3) Cleveland Browns (3-9) *If only this poor defense had an offense.
4) Green Bay Packers… pic.twitter.com/WiAatNL4UP

— Excelerated Fantasy 🏈 (@NFLExcelerated) December 3, 2025

Again, the Packers are 4th here and the Bears are 26th. This is a step up for Chicago and now does reality set in? No one truly knows this answere but history seems to side with Green Bay on Sunday evening.

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