Mile High Report
What does it take for a pass defense to one of the best ever?
The 2025 Denver Broncos pass defense was good, but not great. They have a chance to be great this season, but what does it mean to be a great pass defense. I discussed the defense as a whole earlier this off-season.
In order for a defense to be one of the best ever at defending the pass, they have to be able to cover as well as rush the passer. The 2024 Bronco defense was good at both - leading the league in sacks and finishing sixth in passer rating allowed. The additions and returns could have the 2025 Bronco pass defense in the conversation with the best ever. We need to define that first.
I am calling any defense that allows a passer rating of 70 or lower an elite passing defense -with some qualifications. Many recent seasons have had no pass defenses that held opposing passers below 70. We will get into more details later.
For historical comparisons, though, we need context. There were 21 NFL defenses in 1977 that allowed a passer rating on 70 or less and there were ONLY 28 NFL teams. That season the Falcons allowed a passer rating of 37.4. There were NOT 21 elite passing defenses in 1977. In 2012 there were no teams that allowed a passer rating of 70 or lower for the first time in NFL history.
The 1977 Falcons look really impressive until you realize that the 1973 Steelers held opposing passers to a rating of 33.1, which is the lowest since the merger. Only four teams since the merger have held opposing QBs to less than 40. The other two are the 1975 Raiders (37.2) and 1973 Dolphins (39.9). Those four teams combined to allow 39 passing TDs and pick off QBs 119 times. That’s over three picks per passing TD. That’s insane relative to the modern NFL where an average QB throws two TDs for every one pick. So let’s bring in more historic context.
The average passer rating in the NFL (post-merger) hit its nadir in 1977 at 61.2. It peaked at 93.6 in 2020.
So while those great defenses in the 70s were good against the pass, relative to league average they weren’t as good as the 2002 Buccaneers, for example. The 2002 Tampa D allowed a passer rating of 48.4 which was 32.0 better the league average. That was the best difference ever (A minus B is a difference not a differential), but that is only a smidgeon better than the 73 Steelers who were 31.8 better than average (table below).
It’s also interesting to note that (using passer rating allowed) only three passing defenses have repeated as the league leader post-merger and only one team has been best for three straight seasons.
We had three elite passing defenses in 2011 and we have not had a season since with more than one. We also haven’t seen one elite...
