Week 10 of the NFL season is a wrap. Now—let’s take some time to take a look around the NFL and rank every team’s defense.
32. Los Angeles Chargers (Last Week #14)
For a group with big names on it like Khalil Mack and Joey Bosa, man was this a tough week for the Chargers defensively. The Lions absolutely torched them for 41 points in a heart-breaking loss.
31. New York Giants (Last Week #28)
As if last week’s showing against the Raiders wasn’t embarrassing enough. The Giants decided to double down this week against the Cowboys, who essentially scored at will all game long.
The only reason they aren’t dead last is because the team’s offensive ineptitude did essentially put the defensive in an impossible position.
30. Jacksonville Jaguars (Last Week #11)
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Well, as it turns out, the Jaguars defense was in fact NOT for real. They were gashed this week by the 49ers, who went for 34 points and 437 total yards.
29. Washington Commanders (Last Week #24)
It isn’t a huge surprise that Washington’s defense has lost some of its bite since trading away Montez Sweat and Chase Young.
They fought hard but simply lacked the firepower to contain the Seahawks in Week 10, allowing 29 points and 489 yards of total offense.
28. Seattle Seahawks (Last Week #25)
Seattle’s defense was weak again this week, allowing 26 points to the Commanders, but they did just enough right to allow Geno and the offense to eke out a much-needed win.
27. Atlanta Falcons (Last Week #31)
Atlanta has continued to struggle on the defensive side of the ball of late, as they allowed 25 points to the Cardinals during Kyler Murray’s first start back from his ACL tear.
26. Detroit Lions (Last Week #13)
So, it wasn’t the best showing from the Lions defense this week, as Justin Herbert and the Chargers offense were able to move the ball at will against them to the tune of 38 points and 421 yards.
25. BYE Los Angeles Rams (Last Week #21)
Los Angeles has looked rough on the defensive side of the ball for most of this season. It will have another challenging game ahead of it in Week 11, as the Rams are set to host Geno Smith and Seahawks.
24. Arizona Cardinals (Last Week #30)
Arizona had a nice showing on the defensive side of the ball after a couple of tough weeks. Having Kyler Murray back and the ability to play more complementary football should serve Arizona well in the coming weeks.
23. New England Patriots (Last Week #27)
The Patriots defense wasn’t the crux of the problem this week, as it allowed just 10 points to Gardner Minshew and the Colts, but they haven’t exactly been world-beaters in 2023. The secondary play is still inconsistent and they continue to struggle to get consistent pressure on opposing quarterbacks.
22. Carolina Panthers (Last Week #23)
Carolina’s defense looked okay on Thursday Night Football against the Bears, as it allowed just 16 points and 295 yards, but that was more a testament to Chicago’s inability to pass the ball than anything else.
21. Chicago Bears (Last Week #29)
Chicago did well to allow just 13 points this week—in one of the few games that they’ll actually want to win down the stretch of this lost season… But it did come against the lowly Panthers.
20. Green Bay Packers (Last Week #20)
Green Bay played reasonably well on defense against a Steelers team that, quite frankly, isn’t a huge threat offensively. At least in terms of defending the pass.
The Packers allowed 23 points, but got ran all over to the tune of 205 yards.
19. New Orleans Saints (Last Week #18)
New Orleans had no answer for Joshua Dobbs and the Minnesota Vikings offense this week. The Vikes ran a balanced attack, posting 263 passing and 125 rushing yards in route to a 27-19 win.
18. Tennessee Titans (Last Week #17)
Considering the advantageous starting position that Tennessee’s offense continued to give the Bucs, the defense played fairly well—with the obvious exception being containing Mike Evans, who had himself a day!
17. Cincinnati Bengals (Last Week #5)
The Bengals got off to another strong start defensively, holding C.J. Stroud and the Texans to just 10 points in the first half, but they could only bend but not break for so long. When all was said and done Houston had run up 30 points and 544 yards on them.
16. Houston Texans (Last Week #16)
Houston wasn’t great on the defensive side the ball this week, particularly in the first half, but they tightened up nicely on Joe Burrow when it mattered most.
15. Denver Broncos (Last Week #22)
After a horrendous start to the season on the defensive side of the ball the Broncos have really tightened things up, playing well against the Chiefs and the Bills in their last two games, with a bye sandwiched between.
14. Las Vegas Raiders (Last Week #19)
The Raiders seem to have a whole new identity with Antonio Pierce in the mix as interim head coach—and the defense has looked great—though, it is worth noting that both performances came against the offensively weak Jets and Giants.
13. Buffalo Bills (Last Week #15)
Buffalo’s is starting to trend in the right direction on the defensive side of the ball, but then again, they were facing the Russell Wilson-led Broncos, which aren’t exactly the Greatest Show on Turf.
12. BYE Miami Dolphins (Last Week #12)
Miami’s defense stayed put this week while on the bye. They should have a favorable matchup in Week 11 against Aidan O’Connell and the Raiders.
11. Indianapolis Colts (Last Week #26)
Indy has picked itself up by its defensive bootstraps in the last two weeks after three consecutive shellackings. Granted, it has been the Panthers and Patriots, but 13, then 10 points allowed is impressive regardless.
10. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Last Week #32)
Tampa Bay bounced back nicely after a couple of tough weeks that led many to speculate the team was on the brink of collapse. Granted, it was against the Saints—and Derek Carr got hurt mid-game, but holding a team to six points in a pivotal intra-division matchup is impressive nonetheless.
9. Baltimore Ravens (Last Week #3)
The Ravens were red hot on defense heading into this one—and with a pick-six in the first quarter, it looked like the good times were going to keep rolling.
Baltimore, however, seemed to run out of gas, allowing 24 second-half points, in a back-breaking loss to the Browns that could have serious implications in the AFC North playoff picture.
8. Pittsburgh Steelers (Last Week #9)
The Packers offense isn’t exactly the type of group that will instill fear in the heart of its opposition, but the Steelers still held them to 19 points in a huge win to move to 6 and 3.
7. Minnesota Vikings (Last Week #7)
Minnesota is rounding into form on the defensive side of the ball. New Orleans couldn’t get anything going on the ground against the Vikings this week, finishing with just 65 yards—and an undue amount of pressure being put on the quarterback.
6. BYE Philadelphia Eagles (Last Week #6)
Philly held its ground Week 10 on the bye, but hopefully they spent the time whipping up a killer gameplan for Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. The Eagles front four has been great this year, but they’ll need to sure up the secondary down the stretch to make another deep postseason run.
5. Dallas Cowboys (Last Week #10)
If we hadn’t seen this movie already, Dallas would’ve easily moved into the number one slot after the way it tortured the Giants in Week 10. The Cowboys have proven they can beat up on bad teams defensively, let’s see it happen against a legitimate playoff team for once.
4. San Francisco 49ers (Last Week #8)
San Francisco’s defense looks like it got its teeth back coming off the bye. It slammed a red-hot Jaguars team to a screeching halt this, holding them to three points and 221 total yards in Duval.
3. Cleveland Browns (Last Week #4)
The Browns were slow out of the gate this week against Baltimore, but again, proved why they are one of the top defensive units in the league, making things uncomfortable for Lamar Jackson all afternoon in route to a huge comeback win.
2. New York Jets (Last Week #2)
Credit to the Jets defense for continuing to fight hard despite its offense’s best efforts to blow every game before it starts. They held the Raiders to 16 points this week and were stifling on 3rd down limiting them to just a 33% conversion rate.
1. BYE Kansas City Chiefs (Last Week #1)
The Chiefs stayed put atop the rankings this week while they were on bye. They will have their work cut out for them next week, as they face off with the Eagles on Monday Night Football.
