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, October 26. Following Sunday’s action, we have analysis on how each defense performed with reflections on defenses coming off bye weeks. Coming on Tuesday, we’ll release our Week 9 fantasy defense rankings.
Coming out of the bye, the Seattle Seahawks have the best defense in the NFL right now. Leonard Williams is having an All-Pro season, leading a defensive line that ranks fifth in both ESPN pass-rush win rate (44 percent) and run-stop win rate (34 percent), fourth in pressure rate (26.9 percent), and all of this is happening with Seattle having the third-lowest blitz rate (17.1 percent) in the NFL. That success up front has resulted in a defense that allows the fewest rushing yards per game (75.7) and the lowest yards-per-carry average (3.3) in football, all while surrendering the sixth-lowest average QB rating (84.5) and the third-lowest yards per pass attempt (6.4). The icing on the cake for Seattle is that it will get Julian Love and Devon Witherspoon back for the Week 9 matchup versus Washington.
Just another Sunday with a defensive clinic by the Houston Texans. The dominance showed up at the line of scrimmage, with Christian McCaffrey mustering just 3.1 yards per carry and the 49ers’ offensive line routinely getting beat and allowing pressure to rattle Mac Jones. Houston’s corners also had little trouble locking down Jauan Jennings and Kendrick Bourne, resulting in San Francisco mustering just 175 net passing yards on 34 dropbacks. Heading into a Week 9 matchup versus Denver, Houston is perfectly equipped to take away Courtland Sutton and make Bo Nix extremely uncomfortable.
An excellent response by this Denver Broncos defense after giving up a 30-burger to New York. On a day where Pat Surtain left with an injury, Denver still picked off Dak Prescott twice and this pass rush put up 2 sacks and 8 QB hits. This effort was much more in line with what the Broncos have done for a majority of the season. THe league’s best pass rush should wreak havoc on a typically porous Texans’ offensive line in Week 9.
The Los Angeles Rams defensive line is dominant once again. Through seven games, Los Angeles ranked 11th in ESPN pass-rush win rate (42 percent) and fourth in run-stop win rate (34 percent). Led by Jared Verse, who is becoming a Defensive Player of the Year-caliber pass rusher, this unit boasts the eighth-highest pressure rate (24.1 percent) in the league, and this front seven surrenders the seventh-lowest yards-per-carry average (3.9). All of...
