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, December 7. You can dive into our analysis of all 32 defenses after Week 14. We’ll release our Week 15 fantasy defense rankings on Tuesday.
The Houston Texans defense should feast on a banged-up Chiefs offensive line on Monday Night Football. Houston has the best pass-rushing tandem in the NFL, matchup-winners versus Kansas City’s tackles, and the corners to effectively take away Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy and Hollywood Brown. Perhaps Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce make some plays, but the Texans defense is perfectly built to shut down Kansas City given the current circumstances.
Just another week of excellence from the Seattle Seahawks defense, although this now seems to be the standard under head coach Mike Macdonald. Rookie defensive back Nick Emmanwori looks like he should have been a top-15 pick in this scheme, and he made his presence felt again on Sunday, blocking a field goal and intercepting a pass. From Weeks 7 through 14, the Seahawks defense has held opponents to 164.1 passing yards and 101.6 rushing yards per game with just 16.3 first downs per game and a 26.3 percent third-down conversion rate in seven games. Set to face the Colts offense starting a backup quarterback in Week 15, Seattle could hold Indianapolis under 14 points.
The Denver Broncos defense now has 55 sacks on the season, averaging 4.23 sacks per game, putting them well on pace to break the NFL single-season record for most sacks in a season by a team (72). Of note from Sunday’s performance in Las Vegas, the Raiders offense put up 71.6 percent of its total yardage in the fourth quarter with 164 yards and 10 points. There might not be a better matchup on tap in Week 15 than the Packers offense versus the Broncos defense. It’s safe to expect Green Bay to target whichever of Romeo Doubs or Christian Watson is covered by Riley Moss.
In the first half of Sunday’s game, the Green Bay Packers defense limited Chicago to 3 points and 81 total yards (16.2 yards per drive) on five drives. Ben Johnson made adjustments at halftime, and the Bears offense bounced back, putting up 18 points and 234 total yards (58.5 yards per drive) in the second half. It was certainly evident this unit missed Devonte Wyatt, and the league’s best rushing attack had great success (138 yards and 4.3 ypc) versus Green Bay. The good news for the Packers? Denver hasn’t been as effective on the ground this year, and Bo...
