There's a lot to be said for reliability in fantasy football. Everyone doesn't have to be a star, but the fewer that totally go bust, the better. In the realm of fantasy defenses, your best bets over the past four seasons to be steady performers both hail from the NFC West.

Using a scoring system that gives fantasy points for sacks (1), turnovers (2) and defensive or special teams touchdowns (6), the Cardinals and Rams have both finished in the top 10 in each of the last four seasons. That's impressive -- no other fantasy defense has done so more than twice. The NFC West's other two teams, Seattle and San Francisco, are both included in that group (though San Francisco is trending the wrong way, finishing last in fantasy points last season).

Many scoring systems have a points allowed component, and these rankings don't take that into account. Seattle, in particular, would grade out higher in such systems. But this gives you a sense of what -- based on the last four years -- are the most reliable fantasy defenses in sack- and turnover-driven scoring systems.

Fantasy defense rankings over the last four seasons are presented below, sorted by total number of top-10 finishes.

FANTASY DEFENSE RANKINGS, 2012-2015
Team2012201320142015Top 10s
Arizona96814
St. Louis1035-694
Buffalo2173232
Carolina20512-1322
Chicago18-922302
Cincinnati6-8426152
Denver3121132
Houston6-8322122
Kansas City3212542
New England2115-6142
Philadelphia30-3115152
Pittsburgh2726762
San Francisco418-198-9322
Seattle6-8218-21132
Dallas261014-16311
Green Bay14-1519-21417-181
Indianapolis2416-1718-21101
Miami2524-259271
Minnesota12-1322-2314-1671
San Diego43128291
Tennessee524-252724-261
Washington12-13132981
Atlanta22-232724280
Baltimore14-1519-211724-260
Cleveland1616-1714-1624-260
Detroit2922-2312-13210
Jacksonville282818-21200
New Orleans172931220
NY Giants111818-21110
NY Jets18-19303017-180
Oakland30-3119-2132190
Tampa Bay22-231423160

--Andy Richardson