Sportsnaut
Our weekly NFL defense rankings examine every unit across the league to determine the best defenses in the NFL. With the preseason wrapped up, let’s dive into our evaluations for the worst and best NFL defenses this season. We’ll update our NFL defense rankings, with analysis on all 32 teams, every Sunday night each week.
Our NFL defense rankings are updated as of Sunday, November 9. We’ve provided evaluations on NFL defenses for all 32 teams coming out of Week 10. Stay tuned on Tuesday for our Week 11 fantasy defense rankings.
The Seattle Seahawks defense made its mark early, with two strip-sack touchdowns by DeMarcus Lawrence and two three-and-outs on the first four drives. From there, holding a 28-point lead, Seattle’s pass rush could pin its ears back and wreak havoc against Jacoby Brissett. Arizona did put up 2 touchdowns in garbage time, but even one of those came on a short field (19 yards) after a Sam Darnold interception. Seattle’s defense, especially its secondary, is a fantastic matchup for the Rams in Week 11.
There’s another win delivered by this Denver Broncos defense. The unit certainly benefitted a bit from facing an offense that couldn’t exploit a secondary missing Pat Surtain, but it wouldn’t have mattered much anyway since the Broncos pass rush generated double-digit pressures, 11 QB hits and 6 sacks on Geno Smith. In the last two games without the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, the Broncos defense has still allowed just 11 points per game with opponents mustering just 4.6 yards per attempt with a 58.2 percent completion rate, averaging 152.5 passing yards per game. We are elated for next week’s fantastic matchup versus Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs receiving corps, but Denver’s pass rush will have the advantage.
Jacksonville put up 29 points on Sunday, but the Houston Texans defense was only responsible for 22 of those. Breaking that number down further, 10 points came almost immediately after turnovers, with the Jaguars offense set up inside the 30-yard line. So, while the point total is high, what really matters is that this Texans defense allowed just a 3.9 yards-per-play average and 213 total yards on 10 drives. A defensive clinic is coming from Houston in Week 11 against the Titans.
Takeaways were the propelling force for this Los Angeles Rams defense on Sunday. Mac Jones was picked off by Emmanuel Forbes on a fourth-down attempt, Jauan Jennings coughed one up, and San Francisco went 1-for-3 on its fourth-down attempts. Otherwise, the 49ers averaged 6.6 yards per play with Jennings and George Kittle having quite a bit of success versus the Rams secondary. Facing Seattle in Week 11, it will be the ultimate test for both sides. The history of this Rams defense in pressuring Sam Darnold is well-known, but the Seahawks receiving corps could pose real problems for Los Angeles if Darnold...
