Week 9 is in the books—and what an exciting week of football it was! Now—it is time to take a look around the NFL and rank every team’s defense.
32. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Last Week #24)
Tampa Bay’s defense is starting to come apart at the seams. The Bucs were gashed by CJ Stroud and the Texans for 39 points and 496 yards, 443 of which came through the air.
31. Atlanta Falcons (Last Week #23)
It is tough to get embarrassed worse than the Falcons were defensively this week, as they allowed 31 points to the Vikings, who were down to their third string quarterback that had joined the squad mere days before being thrust into action.
30. Arizona Cardinals (Last Week #26)
With the way the Cardinals played on offense, the D had no chance this week—even against Deshaun Watson and the Browns.
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29. Chicago Bears (Last Week #27)
Chicago’s defense had nothing for Derek Carr and the Saints in Week 9. New Orleans converted 50% of their 3rd down attempts and dominated the Bears most of the afternoon.
28. New York Giants (Last Week #4)
After a couple of great showings defensively, the Giants completely collapsed this week. With Aidan O’Connell playing quarterback and Antonio Pierce head coaching his first-ever NFL game, the Raiders lit New York up for 334 yards and 30 points.
27. New England Patriots (Last Week #28)
It wasn’t a horrible week for the Pats, who surrendered just 20 points, but the issues with their defense are undeniable. New England allowed Washington to run all over the field—and the Commanders finished with 432 total yards.
26. Indianapolis Colts (Last Week #32)
After giving up 37, 39, and 38 points in three straight games, the Colts showed signs of life this week, holding an admittedly terrible Panthers team to 13 points.
25. Seattle Seahawks (Last Week #13)
This was an ugly one for Pete Carroll’s Seahawks. Seattle got torched by Baltimore to the tune of 37 points and nearly 300 rushing yards.
24. Washington Commanders (Last Week #30)
There were many questions floating around about what Washington would look like this week after it traded away two of its best defensive players in a mid-season fire sale, but credit to the coaching staff because they got the defense ready to play this week.
Washington held New England to 17 points and was stout on 3rd down, holding the Pats to just three successful conversions.
23. Carolina Panthers (Last Week #18)
Granted, the Panthers defense had its work cut out for it with Bryce Young throwing interceptions left and right, but this defense is simply not good. There are holes all over the roster and it shows.
22. BYE Denver Broncos (Last Week #22)
Denver had a chance to rest of this week on bye, but they’ll be put to the test defensively next week, as they are set to play the Bills on the road on Monday Night Football.
21. Los Angeles Rams (Last Week #31)
It was another bad week for Los Angeles, as the Rams got beaten thoroughly by Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers. 20 points may not jump off the page at you, but consider the fact that Green Bay has been one of the worst offenses in the league all season—and they went for nearly 400 yards of total offense.
20. Green Bay Packers (Last Week #25)
It may have come against a Matt Stafford-less Rams team, but we have to move the Packers up a few slots for the way they performed this week. Holding a team to three points in the NFL is no small feat.
19. Las Vegas Raiders (Last Week #29)
With Josh McDaniels out of the picture now, anything seems possible for the Raiders. Interim Head Coach, Antonio Pierce had that defense balling out against the Giants in Week 9. Now, let’s see what happens when they take a step up in class and don’t just have to contain Tommy Devito.
18. New Orleans Saints (Last Week #19)
New Orleans finally managed to avoid a slew of penalties, as the Saints took just one for five yards in an impressive defensive showing against an admittedly bad Bears side.
17. Tennessee Titans (Last Week #15)
Tennessee did a good job against the pass this week in Pittsburgh, but was gashed on the ground. The Steelers were able to dominate the flow of the game thanks to their massive 166 rushing yard performance.
16. Houston Texans (Last Week #12)
Houston struggled on the defensive side of the ball this week, allowing Baker Mayfield and the Bucs to run up 37 points, but considering how steady they’ve been most of the year, we’ll give them a bit of leniency before they really plummet in the rankings.
15. Buffalo Bills (Last Week #9)
Buffalo’s defense wasn’t terrible this week against a rejuvenated Bengals team, but it wasn’t great either. The bills did well to limit Cinci on the ground, but Burrow absolutely shredded their secondary to the tune of 348 yards and two scores.
14. Los Angeles Chargers (Last Week #17)
The Chargers defense looked good on Monday Night Football, as it was forcing turnovers left and right, but let’s face it—against Zach Wilson and the Jets offense—that doesn’t prove much.
13. BYE Detroit Lions (Last Week #16)
After a nice bounce-back performance Week 8 against the Raiders, Detroit was on bye this week. Their defense will have an interesting matchup in Week 10, when they travel out to L.A. to face Justin Herbert and the Chargers.
12. Miami Dolphins (Last Week #20)
After a sluggish start, Miami played pretty well defensively against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in Germany, shutting them out entirely in the second half.
11. BYE Jacksonville Jaguars (Last Week #14)
Some shakeups around the league allowed Jacksonville to move up in the rankings while on their bye week. They will be put to the test in Week 10 when they host a 49ers team that will be eager to get back on track now that a couple of their key offensive guys were able to rest up during the bye.
10. Dallas Cowboys (Last Week #10)
Dallas actually played pretty well on the defensive side of the ball against Philly this week, particularly in the second half as they tried to steal the win out from under the opposition.
They managed to keep them under 300 yards—and shut them out in the fourth quarter.
9. Pittsburgh Steelers (Last Week #21)
The Steelers defense bounced back this week on Thursday Night Football against Tennessee and its exciting rookie quarterback, Will Levis. Pittsburgh really managed to bear down in key situations, holding the Titans to 3/13 3rd down efficiency and forcing a turnover on downs.
8. BYE San Francisco 49ers (Last Week #8)
San Fran stayed put this week while on the bye, but man, will it be exciting to see what their defense looks like in the coming weeks with the additions they made at the trade deadline. We could see them rocket back up to the top of the table very easily.
7. Minnesota Vikings (Last Week #6)
It wasn’t the best showing from Minnesota defensively, but they tightened up nicely down the stretch and ultimately secured a crucial win that established the Vikes as contenders—with or without Kirk Cousins.
6. Philadelphia Eagles (Last Week #5)
It was a bend don’t break kind of game for Philly this week against Dallas. The Cowboys shredded their secondary for 333 yards through the air, but credit to the Eagles for holding them on a number of key third downs.
5. Cincinnati Bengals (Last Week #11)
Once again, the Bengals brought it on the defensive side of the ball. Cinci used a variety of different looks that gave Josh Allen trouble and helped them to knock off Buffalo.
4. Cleveland Browns (Last Week #7)
Cleveland has been great on defense most of the year, but this week was special. The Browns shut out Arizona and held them to an insane 58 yards of total offense.
3. Baltimore Ravens (Last Week #3)
Baltimore had itself a big week on the defensive side of the ball, as it bullied the Seahawks, holding them to three points, and firmly declaring themselves serious Super Bowl contenders.
2. New York Jets (Last Week #1)
The Jets defense has to be ready to throw its collective hands in the air at this point. It posted another dominant performance—this time, on Monday Night Football against the Chargers, but it was to no avail because the offense was so terrible.
1. Kansas City Chiefs (Last Week #2)
This Chiefs defense is for real. They held the high-flying Dolphins to just 14 points and under 300 total yards in Germany this week.
