It was a low-scoring slate of games this week, let’s take a look around the NFL and see how every team’s defense compares!
32. Indianapolis Colts (Last Week #31)
There’s no denying that the Colts fought hard this week, but they followed up a 37-point allowed performance by allowing 39 to P.J. Walker and the Browns. Safe to say they are dead last for the time being.
31. BYE Carolina Panthers (Last Week #32)
Carolina is lucky it was on bye this week and gave the Colts a chance to drop beneath them in the rankings. The Panthers have been one of the worst defensive units in the league all season.
30. Las Vegas Raiders (Last Week #21)
The Raiders defense embarrassed themselves this week, allowing 30 points to a Bears team led by undrafted rookie quarterback Tyson Bagent.
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29. Denver Broncos (Last Week #32)
Denver played fairly well on the defensive side of the ball this week, but they’ll have their work cut out for them with the Chiefs coming to town next week.
28. Arizona Cardinals (Last Week #25)
Geno Smith carved up the Cardinals defense for most of the afternoon Sunday, completing 18 of 24 for 219 yards and two touchdowns. I suppose Arizona deserves a bit of credit for holding Seattle to only field goals in the second half, but that’s a moral victory at best.
27. Green Bay Packers (Last Week #24)
Green Bay’s defense has been up and down in 2023 and this was not their best week. The Packers let Russell Wilson have one of his better games of the year and Denver edged them out at home.
26. Chicago Bears (Last Week #29)
Chicago had another strong showing defensively this week, holding the Raiders to just 12 points and just 235 yards of total offense.
25. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Last Week #11)
Granted, the Bucs defense was put in some tough spots by Baker and the offense this week, but Atlanta really did move the ball well against them and they were only bailed out by Desmond Ridder’s incompetence.
After all, Atlanta did put up of 400 yards of total offense against a group that was supposed to be amongst the best in the league.
24. Los Angeles Chargers (Last Week #16)
Granted, the Chargers had their work cut out for them this week trying to slow down Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, but even against the Chiefs, you need to find a way to play more competitive defense than Brandon Staley’s group did this week.
23. New England Patriots (Last Week #28)
The Patriots defense is working against quite a deficit with how they’ve played defensively thus far in 2023, but they finally made a significant stride in the right direction this week, limiting Josh Allen and the Bills to 25 points.
New England was particularly stout against the run, holding Buffalo to 81 rushing yards.
22. Washington Commanders (Last Week #27)
Washington played well enough to win on the defensive side of the ball, holding the Giants to just 14 points, though we’d have liked to see them create a little more trouble for Tyrod Taylor, who was able to freely operate in and around the pocket most of the afternoon.
21. BYE Tennessee Titans (Last Week #22)
Tennessee’s defense got a chance to regroup this week on the bye. They will have a favorable matchup at home this week, hosting Desmond Ridder and the Atlanta Falcons inconsistent and, at times, incompetent offense.
20. Miami Dolphins (Last Week #14)
Miami’s defense got walked all over this past week by Philadelphia. The Eagles were able to move the ball at will as they compiled 355 total yards of offense and 31 points.
19. Los Angeles Rams (Last Week #18)
Week 7 was a big step back for the Rams defense as they struggled against what has been an otherwise anemic Steelers offense. Pittsburgh put up 24 points on them and Kenny Pickett had one of his best games of the year completing 17 of 25 passes for 230 yards.
18. Cincinnati Bengals (Last Week #20)
Cinci had a much-needed bye this week after rallying to revive their season during the couple of weeks prior. Their defense has really been playing well during their recent push helping to shoulder the load while Joe Burrow continues to nurse his ailing calf. It will be interesting to see how they look off the bye against high-level competition in the 49ers.
17. Detroit Lions (Last Week #3)
As good as the Lions D was against the Bucs Week 6, they were bad against Lamar and the Raiders Week 7. The former league MVP absolutely carved Detroit up for 357 yards and three touchdowns as the Lions were humiliated in what was supposed to be a big “prove it” game for them.
16. Jacksonville Jaguars (Last Week #17)
There is no denying that Jacksonville’s defense has been much improved in recent weeks—their outing against the Saints included. Unfortunately, they did falter down the stretch of the game, allowing New Orleans back into contention, so if they are to be the serious playoff contenders that they aspire to be they’ll have to eliminate those costly lapses.
15. New Orleans Saints (Last Week #9)
New Orleans was one of the better defenses in the league to start the season, but they’ve started to fall apart of late. The Jaguars gave them the business in Week 7 to the tune of 31 points and 330 yards of total offense.
14. Pittsburgh Steelers (Last Week #15)
Mike Tomlin really had the Steelers playing well this week coming off the bye. The defense gave Matt Stafford trouble all day—and T.J. Watt was the bonafide game-breaker we’ve come to expect him to be.
13. BYE Dallas Cowboys (Last Week #13)
Dallas was stationary this week on the bye, but prior to the vacation they’d started to pick it up again defensively. They’ll have a chance to build on that success next week, hosting the struggling LA Rams.
12. Buffalo Bills (Last Week #7)
If it wasn’t bad enough that the bills let T-Mobile ball out against them, how about the fact that Mac Jones had himself an afternoon?
The Patriots have been awful offensively all year long, yet they had no issue putting up points against this admittedly banged-up Bills defense.
11. Seattle Seahawks (Last Week #10)
Don’t look now, but Seattle is quietly regaining its early 2010s form with the way that its defensive secondary is playing. Devon Witherspoon is a bonafide star, so much so that we might end up seeing the Legion of Boom II built around him in the near future.
10. BYE Houston Texans (Last Week #8)
DeMeco Ryans had a well-deserved rest with his team on the bye this week. He’s been extremely impressive thus far with that young defensive unit. They should have a favorable matchup next week against the Panthers.
9. New York Giants (Last Week #23)
All of a sudden Brian Daboll has the G-Men humming defensively. New York balled out against the Commanders this week, holding Washington to just seven points, backing up its strong Week 6 performance against the Bills.
Sam Howell had a nightmare afternoon against the Giants defensive line taking six sacks and converting just one of 15 3rd down conversion attempts.
8. Cleveland Browns (Last Week #6)
So, maybe it wasn’t the best team defensive performance from the Browns, allowing 38 points to Gardner Minshew in that crazy game against the Colts… But with the preposterous game that Myles Garrett had, essentially single-handedly winning the game for Cleveland, we can’t drop them too far.
7. Minnesota Vikings (Last Week #19)
What a performance from the Vikings defense this week, as they gave Brock Purdy and the high-powered 49ers offense trouble all evening on Monday. Not only did they pick Purdy off twice, but they also managed to hold Christian McCaffrey to 45 yards on 15 carries.
6. San Francisco 49ers (Last Week #2)
San Francisco was good, but not great defensively this week against the Vikings. Allowing just 22 points is nothing to hang your head about, but I’d have liked to see them do a better job of limiting Jordan Addison, considering he was far and away Minnesota’s go-to option with Justin Jefferson out with an injury.
5. Baltimore Ravens (Last Week #12)
After struggling for a couple of weeks in the beginning of the season, Baltimore is really starting to hit its stride defensively. No one was anticipating that they would dominate Jared Goff and that potent Lions offense in the way that they did this week.
4. Atlanta Falcons (Last Week #26)
Atlanta’s defense was epic this week against Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They gave Baker fits all afternoon and were particularly effective against the run, holding Tampa to just 73 yards on the ground en route to their 16-13 win.
3. Kansas City Chiefs (Last Week #4)
Once again, Kansas City’s defense has looked scary good. They were all over Justin Herbert, sacking him five times, and held the Chargers to 17 points.
2. Philadelphia Eagles (Last Week #5)
After what we can now call an anomaly against the Jets, Philly rose to the occasion, creating havoc for Tua Tagovailoa and what was supposed to be one of the best offenses in the league.
Miami looked extremely mortal against the Birds D, scoring just 17 points and getting held to 244 yards of total offense.
1. BYE New York Jets (Last Week #1)
The Jets defense has been a force to be reckoned with all season and got a much-needed bye this week that should allow some of their key players to get healthy. They should have a favorable matchup this week playing a faux-home game against the Giants in the Meadowlands.
