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, January 4. We lead off by rankings the best and worst defenses in the NFL playoffs. After that, the defenses from eliminated teams are ranked with offseason analysis for each of them.
It’s splitting hairs when comparing the best defenses in the NFL playoffs. The Seattle Seahawks and Philadelphia Eagles have great coaching and a standout defensive line. What the Houston Texans bring is a cornerback tandem that is more than capable of locking down a team’s two best receivers. When you can generate one of the highest pressure rates in the NFL without blitzing and your secondary can shut down passing lanes for a quarterback under duress, you’re an absolute nightmare to face. Expect a defensive clinic from Houston on the road against the Ravens.
During the regular season, the Seattle Seahawks’ defense held an opponent under 20 points in 11 games. It allowed the second-lowest yards-per-play average (4.6) and scoring rate (28.7 percent) in the NFL. Mike Macdonald has all the chess pieces he needs defensively, with Seattle just as adept at shutting down the run game (3.7 yards per carry, first in the NFL) as it is the passing attack (6.0 yards per attempt, first in the NFL). With two weeks to prepare, this group should look even better.
From Weeks 8–17, opponents averaged just 15.1 points and 291.4 total yards per game against the Philadelphia Eagles’ defense. That came with quarterbacks completing just 54 percent of their pass attempts with a 5.02 yards-per-attempt average and a 68.4 passer rating, taking more than five times as many sacks (31) as passing touchdowns thrown (six). This unit is single-handedly capable of winning a playoff game for Philadelphia, and this team is going to become much more dangerous if the offense can maintain any form of consistency.
Despite having arguably the league’s worst offensive line for half the season, the Los Angeles Chargers made the playoffs and won 11 games. That is a testament to Jesse Minter’s defense. Heading into Week 18, Los Angeles boasted the sixth-best defense on third down (35.3 percent conversion rate), allowed the fourth-fewest red-zone touchdowns (23), and ranked sixth in yards per drive allowed (27.9). You can guarantee that Minter will have this defense very well-prepared for the Wild Card Round, and great coaching will be crucial to slowing down Drake Maye.
As dominant as this Denver Broncos defense was for a majority of the season, it did start to drop off a bit late in the year. From...
