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 ranks are updated as of Monday, September 22. You can find an analysis of all 32 defenses immediately below for how each team fared in Week 3. We’ll have our Week 4 fantasy defense rankings and NFL defensive stats released on Tuesday.
The Green Bay Packers’ defense had nothing to do with that upset loss in Week 3 at Cleveland. After all, the Browns’ offense averaged just 3.9 yards per play and had a 30.8 percent third-down conversion rate. Through three games, Jeff Hafley’s defense has allowed the third-fewest total yards per game (232.2), the sixth-lowest third-down conversion rate (31.8 percent) and the fourth-fewest first downs (46). All of this, mind you, has happened with a pair of matchups against two of the league’s best offenses. Expect Micah Parsons to rebound in his return to Dallas in Week 5, especially since the Cowboys might be without CeeDee Lamb (ankle).
Read More: Week 5 College Football Rankings
The Minnesota Vikings defense feasted on the Joe Burrow-less Bengals in Week 3. Just to put the dominance into perspective, cornerback Isaiah Rodgers (pick-six and fumble return touchdown) single-handedly outscored the Bengals’ offense. Cincinnati averaged just 3.3 yards per play and 13.15 yards per drive, with Jake Browning throwing 2 interceptions and taking 4 sacks. We won’t put a ton of stock into what the Vikings’ run defense did -53 rushing yards allowed and 2.5 ypc average- given the circumstances, but there is a great opportunity for Minnesota to build off that momentum in Week 4 against a Steelers’ offense that has the second-worst rushing offense (63 rush ypg and 2.8 ypc) in the NFL this season.
Related: NFL Week 4 Power Rankings, Evaluating Every Team
No Devon Witherspoon and Julian Love, no problem for this Seattle Seahawks defense. After a relatively quiet rookie campaign, 2024 first-round pick Byron Murphy II now has 2.5 sacks and 4 quarterback hits in the last two games. Pair his emergence with the presence of Leonard Williams, with the talent already in the secondary, it’s easy to see how Seattle’s defense has managed to hold opponents to a 77.6 QB rating (sixth) with a 4-5 TD-INT ratio through three games. Assuming Witherspoon returns in Week 4, this Seahawks’ defense absolutely has the personnel to hold Arizona under 20 points. If that happens, Seattle will have held each of its opponents in September under 20 points.
Credit for the most stunning win of the 2025 NFL season goes to the Cleveland Browns defense. Sure, the Packers went 10-for-18 on third...
