Start Lions D/ST over Titans D/ST — Week 1 Start/Sit Verdict

Start the Lions — the lineup-share and projection edges are too wide to ignore.

Lions D/ST is started in more leagues (started rank 8 to 19) and projects 7.4 to the Titans's 6.8. the Titans's edge is the opponent total, 18.3 to 20.8 opponent implied points. The gap is comfortable.

Lions D/ST

D/STDETvs NO

7.47.47.4 Projected Points

Start

Titans D/ST

D/STTENvs NYJ

6.86.86.8 Projected Points

Start· medium

Why Lions D/ST

Start

Start — the No. 4 defensive matchup this week: 7.4 pts projected vs NO.

NO's offense gives up 3.1 sacks and 1.4 turnovers a game (2025), near league average.
Vegas has NO at 20.8 points as 7-point dogs.
Under-started: only 63% of leagues have them in, 8th among defenses, against a No. 4 matchup.

Why Titans D/ST

Start· medium

Jets' 18.3 implied total and 3.8 sacks allowed per game make Tennessee a DST7 stream that only 5% of leagues have started.

NYJ's offense gives up 3.8 sacks and 1.4 turnovers a game (2025), well above league average.
Vegas has NYJ at 18.3 points as 3-point dogs.
Under-started: only 5% of leagues have them in, 19th among defenses, against a No. 7 matchup.

The call

The matchup is the whole case: New York carries an 18.3 implied total and has allowed 3.8 sacks with 1.4 turnovers per game, exactly the pressure-and-giveaway profile that fuels DST scoring.
Tennessee projects for 6.8 points and ranks DST7 this week, yet sits at just 5% started (crowd rank 19 of 32) — a clear leverage play over a replacement-level unit.
Home and favored by 3.0, the Titans should be able to sit on a low-volume offense; the projection of 2.9 sacks and 0.9 interceptions supports the sack-heavy floor.
Risk is the 19.6 projected points allowed — a defensive TD or multi-turnover game is still needed for a big week, which is why this is a confident stream rather than a lock.

Head-to-head stats

Metric	Lions D/ST	Titans D/ST
Projected points	7.47.47.4	6.86.86.8
Projection rank	Proj.DST4	Proj.DST7
Started in	63% of leagues	5% of leagues
Opponent sacks allowed / game	3.1(2025)	3.8(2025)
Opponent turnovers / game	1.4(2025)	1.4(2025)
Opponent implied total	20.8	18.3
Home / away	Home	Home