Cardinals D/ST or Vikings D/ST: Who Should You Start?

Vikings edge a shaky streaming week over Arizona, but neither is a plug-and-play defense

Minnesota gets the call less because it looks scary and more because Green Bay is a low-total, low-turnover offense that Vegas trusts to stay in control, and the Vikings get to do it at home. Arizona actually forces more pressure and takeaways on paper, but that's against a Chargers offense Vegas has at 28.5 with an 11.5-point spread — the kind of game where a defense on the road gets stretched thin trying to keep pace. The gap here is thinner than the SIT/TOSS-UP labels suggest; this is really a choice between two bench-caliber units, and the crowd already leans Vikings by a wide margin. The risk with Minnesota is a capped ceiling — Green Bay simply doesn't give the ball away much, so even a clean game likely tops out modestly.

What flips it: A negative game script that keeps Arizona rushing the passer deep into the fourth quarter despite the 11.5-point line would tip this back to the Cardinals.

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Head-to-head stats

Signal breakdown

• 3.4 vs 4.1 projected PPR pointsVikings D/ST +
• Started rank 32 vs 15 (0% vs 10% of leagues)Vikings D/ST +
• 3.8 sacks / 1.2 TO vs 2.1 sacks / 0.8 TO per game allowedCardinals D/ST +
• Opponent implied 28.5 vs 23.0 pointsVikings D/ST +
• Away vs HomeVikings D/ST +

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Week 1243 players

ALLRBWRTEQBKD/STFLEX

Player A

D/ST · Cardinals D/ST

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Player B

D/ST · Vikings D/ST

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