Week 4 is a wrap. Now it is time to take a look around the league and see where every NFL team’s defense stacks up!
32. Chicago Bears (Last Week #31)
Another week, another terrible showing from the Bears defense. They were smashed by a mediocre Broncos offense, surrendering 31 points.
31. Denver Broncos (Last Week #32)
Once again, Denver struggled on the defensive side of the ball, allowing 28 points to a Bears team that had barely been able to score the ball up until this point. Justin Fields went from not being able to complete a pass downfield to over 300 yards and four touchdowns on them.
30. New England Patriots (Last Week #15)
That is not what we are used to seeing out of a Bill Belichick-coached defense. Granted, the Pats D had its work cut out for with the position their offense kept putting them in, nevertheless giving 38 points is a tough look.
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29. Green Bay Packers (Last Week #20)
Green Bay’s defense got absolutely pummeled by David Montgomery’s downhill running style and the physicality of the Lions offensive line. Detroit marched all over them to 34 points and a convincing win.
28. Washington Commanders (Last Week #21)
Washington was up against it this week facing the reigning NFC Champion Eagles, but it is still two straight disappointing weeks for a defense that was believed to be among the upper echelon coming into the season.
This outing was particularly frustrating because the Commanders D looked strong in the first half, allowing just 10 points, but broke down in the later parts of the game ultimately giving up 34 in an overtime loss.
27. Carolina Panthers (Last Week #30)
The Panthers defense looked slightly improved this week, allowing just 21 points to Kirk Cousins and a Vikings offense that has done well to score points this year, but Carolina will have to string one or two more strong performances together to make any significant movement in the rankings.
26. Las Vegas Raiders (Last Week #27)
The Raiders defense got off to a slow start against the Chargers giving up 24 first-half points, but rallied impressively, shutting out Justin Herbert and the rest of a strong LA offense in the second act, nearly stealing the game.
25. Indianapolis Colts (Last Week #22)
Indy had a tough task this week facing a Sean McVay-orchestrated Rams offense and seemed to struggle to keep up with the steady, schematic Rams attack. Credit to the Colts for fighting back, but if their defense can do better than allowing 29 points next time they might not come up short.
24. Arizona Cardinals (Last Week #16)
Arizona’s defense has looked scrappy all year, but the high-flying, explosive 49ers offense proved to be too much for them to handle Week 4, causing an eight-slot slide.
23. Cincinnati Bengals (Last Week #14)
It looked like the Cincinnati defense was turning a page, but after seeing the holes that Tennessee’s ground-and-pound game ripped through them, powering to 173 rushing yards and 27 points, it now appears the Bengals season is very much hanging in the balance.
22. New York Giants (Last Week #29)
New York may have given up 24 points, but the defense really wasn’t to blame. Daniel Jones couldn’t stop turning the ball over. Between his pick-six, turnover on downs, his fumble, and his other interception—this one was squarely on Jones and the offense.
21. Jacksonville Jaguars (Last Week #28)
Jacksonville did it exactly what it needed to defensively against a one-dimensional Falcons offense. Desmond Ridder hasn’t been great this year, but the Jags pressured him into multiple interceptions in what was his worst game of the year.
20. Miami Dolphins (Last Week #11)
Miami had a tough matchup this week against an extremely motivated Buffalo team. 48 points is a tough look. The Dolphins D gets a little bit of grace because its been solid thus far, but if they put up another stinker next week this nine-slot skid may get a whole lot worse.
19. Los Angeles Rams (Last Week #13)
The Rams defense looked great early, shutting the Colts offense out in the first half, but when you give up 15 fourth-quarter points and nearly squander the win—you are going to get docked.
18. Atlanta Falcons (Last Week #17)
Considering Atlanta’s defense was consistently put in untenable positions by Desmond Ridder and the Falcons offense, 23 points to the Jaguars really isn’t that bad. Arthur Smith’s gang gave Trevor Lawrence a good bit of trouble all game.
17. Pittsburgh Steelers (Last Week #10)
Pittsburgh’s defense didn’t look great this week against C.J. Stroud and the Texans, but they were routinely put in challenging situations by an anemic offense. That said, 451 yards and 30 points to a rookie quarterback is a tough look.
16. Los Angeles Chargers (Last Week #24)
It is hard not to move the Chargers up after Week 4 when we saw an epic individual performance from Khalil Mack who set the single-game sack record, terrorizing Aidan O’Connell in his first NFL start and helping Los Angeles to a much-needed win.
15. Minnesota Vikings (Last Week #23)
Minnesota’s defense looked much improved this week, but that could also be a by-product of facing Bryce Young and the Panthers. Either way, we’ll give them their flowers for holding a team, even if it was Carolina, to 13 points and 232 total yards.
14. New Orleans Saints (Last Week #8)
The Saints defense got carved up this week by Baker Mayfield and the Bucs in a rather embarrassing fashion. Mayfield threw for three touchdowns and looked way too comfortable back there all game. New Orleans needs to step it up defensively in a big way next week.
13. Cleveland Browns (Last Week #3)
Cleveland may have been missing QB1 this week, but that is no excuse for the absolute egg the defense laid against the Ravens this week, especially if we are meant to believe that this Browns unit is one of the tops in the league.
12. Tennessee Titans (Last Week #26)
Tennessee finally started to look like the team we expected coming into the year with its performance against the Deshaun Watson-less Cleveland Browns. Let’s see if they can build on this and put together a second consecutive, strong defensive performance this week against the Colts.
11. Seattle Seahawks (Last Week #25)
Seattle played like savages on the defensive side of the ball Monday Night, holding Daniel Jones and the Giants to three points and sacking him an insane 11 times.
10. Houston Texans (Last Week #18)
Houston’s defense played great in Week 4, holding an admittedly weak Steelers offense to six points and 225 total yards. The Texans really bared down when it mattered most, holding Pittsburgh to just six of 14 third-down conversions and halting their one attempt on fourth down.
9. Detroit Lions (Last Week #12)
The Lions were all over Jordan Love and the Packers offense on Thursday Night Football, holding Green Bay to 20 points and making them work extremely hard for every one of the 230 yards they totaled.
8. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Last Week #19)
The Tampa Bay defense has looked like somewhat reminiscent of that 2020 Buccaneers D that led the charge towards Super Bowl glory. Week 4 they had an easy matchup with an ailing Derek Carr and the Saints, but this unit may just be legit!
7. Baltimore Ravens (Last Week #9)
The Ravens defense had a cupcake matchup against the Deshaun Watson-less Browns, but they did well with the opportunity, bullying the heck out of Cleveland. Baltimore held Cleveland to just 166 total yards and forced Dorian Thompson-Robinson into three interceptions during his first start as a pro.
6. Philadelphia Eagles (Last Week #2)
The Eagles defense wasn’t at its best this week, going down early to the Commanders, then allowing a game-tying drive at the end of the fourth quarter. Philly is only moving down four slots this week, but if it can’t manage to address the issues in its secondary, that trend will only increase.
5. Kansas City Chiefs (Last Week #6)
Heading into the week, everyone thought the Chiefs had a walk-in-the-park with Zach Wilson and the Jets, but the second-year quarterback was absolutely balling—through no fault of the Chiefs defense.
Credit to Kansas City for holding off a Jets team that was firing on all cylinders for the first time all year.
4. Dallas Cowboys (Last Week #7)
With the exception of that showing against the Cards, Dallas has had the best defense all year—and they reminded us of that this week with the way they brutalized Mac Jones and the Patriots. It will be fascinating to see how they hold up against the Niners in Week 5, their first real test of the year.
3. Buffalo Bills (Last Week #5)
Buffalo’s defense absolutely clowned the high-powered Dolphins offense, holding them to just 20 points in a pivotal AFC East matchup.
2. New York Jets (Last Week #4)
With the exception of the first quarter the Jets defense played a pretty perfect game on Sunday Night Football. They forced Mahomes into two picks and held them to 23 total points—with 17 coming in that aforementioned first quarter.
1. San Francisco 49ers (Last Week #1)
Here we are again, another week of NFL football, another dominant performance from San Francisco. The 49ers defense played most of the afternoon in cruise control as it dominated an overmatched Arizona Cardinals offense.
