As we head into the final month of the 2018 NFL regular season, which has been dominated by offenses, let’s give the defenses some love. We’re ranking every NFL team’s defense based on how it has performed this season…
General manager Ryan Pace's vision for the defense came together with the Khalil Mack trade, which gave Chicago the threat on the edge its pass rush desperately needed. A well-coached secondary has taken a massive leap forward and transformed this unit into the league's best.
DE Everson Griffen's absence hurt this defense more than we had imagined it would, but he's back now and the unit is starting to play better of late thanks to a talented pass rush. If Mike Zimmer can just get his cornerbacks to play more soundly, Minnesota will have the Super Bowl-level defense we all expected it to have before the season.
J.J. Watt's return to his dominant form has revived this defense, which is getting surprising contributions from its aging cornerback group. Tyrann Mathieu's arrival has also helped the secondary. Give Romeo Crennel a lot of credit. He took over for Mike Vrabel as defensive coordinator and has been a major factor in the turnaround.
Sean McDermott deserves some Coach of the Year votes for the work he's done with this defense. Jerry Hughes has been unblockable at defensive end, and the secondary has continued to play well after a breakout year in 2017. That combination has made it awfully difficult to pass on these Bills.
Surprisingly, the Chargers' vaunted pass rush has been this unit's biggest weakness this season. But that is starting to change now that Joey Bosa is back in the lineup. The secondary has been suffocating, and it's making more plays thanks to rookie Derwin James.
While no Ravens defender is having a particularly dominant season, there isn't really a weakness to be found in this unit. The pass rush has been better than expected which has made up for the secondary underachieving.
The Broncos' rookie class has helped rejuvenate this once-great defense. Bradley Chubb has thrived playing opposite of Von Miller, who is still a superstar. And rookie LB Josey Jewell has helped on the second level. The secondary isn't what it once was, but it's good enough to keep the Denver defense in the top-10.
Aaron Donald is running away with the Defensive Player of the Year award, and he's starting to get help from his mates on the front seven, including Samson Ebukam. This team desperately needs Aqib Talib back if it's going to play at an elite level because the Marcus Peters experiment has been a disaster thus far.
Don't blame the defense for the Jaguars' fall from grace. It may not be sacking the quarterback or turning over opponents at the rate it did last year, but it's still playing at a high level. Jalen Ramsey has taken some heat for the Jags' struggles, but he's taken on a star-studded lineup of receivers and more than held his own. He is the best corner in the game.
The Cowboys are getting tremendous contributions from the defense's youngest players. The linebacker duo of Leighton Vander Esch and Jaylon Smith has made plays all over the field. Switching Byron Jones from safety to corner looks like one of the smarter moves of the offseason.
The Saints secondary has been an issue all season, but the emergence of DT Sheldon Rankins as a bona fide star has helped make up for it. Opposing offenses just haven't been able to block Rankins and Cameron Jordan. Rookie DE Marcus Davenport has also chipped in to create a formidable pass rush. The line has also dominated in the run game.
The stats aren't pretty, but Bill Belichick doesn't care about numbers. He cares about getting key stops when the game is on the line, and his coaching staff is still getting it done in that regard.
The Eagles secondary hasn't played well all season and now it's down to fourth- and fifth-stringers. Fortunately for Philly, the defensive line is still playing at a high level — even if it's not quite the level it played at in 2017.
So much for Pete Carroll losing the Seahawks locker room. After losing several key veteran pieces in the offseason, Seattle's defense has played better than anyone could have imagined before the season started. The young secondary shows tremendous promise and hasn't taken a major step back after Earl Thomas' season-ending injury.
Myles Garrett has been the stud we all expected him to be, but the strength of this unit has been the secondary, led by rookie Denzel Ward. Gregg Williams' aggressive scheme puts so much pressure on the secondary, but Cleveland's defensive backs have been up to the challenge.
After a disastrous start to the season, the Steelers have ironed out all of their communication issues and have leaned on a stout front line. DE Cameron Heyward has been a monster inside, but Pittsburgh needs bigger (and more consistent) contributions from edge rushers T.J. Watt and Bud Dupree.
This unit has taken a major step back under first-year coach Steve Wilks, but it's still playing solid football thanks to veteran stars Chandler Jones and Patrick Peterson. The putrid Arizona offense has done its defense no favors.
Jamal Adams has led a young, exciting secondary but, for what feels like the 10th straight season, the Jets still lack a pass rush, which has held the defense back as a whole.
The Redskins got off to a hot start early in the season thanks to the defensive tackle pair of Jonathan Allen and Da'Ron Payne. But teams have found success attacking the weak linebacking corps, which is exactly why Washington was desperate enough to sign LB Reuben Foster just days after he had been arrested on a domestic violence charge.
Maybe our expectations for this defense were a little too high before the season. Especially with all the pressure on this young secondary. Rookie CB Jaire Alexander has lived up to the hype, but he hasn't received nearly enough help from his fellow defensive backs. And the pass rush has been just OK following the injury to offseason acquisition Muhammad Wilkerson.
The Titans led the league in points allowed not too long ago, but that wasn't really indicative of how this defense was playing. Tennessee's pass rush has been largely ineffective and the secondary hasn't improved much after the front office gave Malcolm Butler big money in the offseason.
Defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus has gotten the most out of a moderately talented bunch. What the Colts defense lacks in talent, it more than makes for with effort. Rookie LB Darius Leonard lacks neither. Forget about Rookie of the Year, Leonard should be on the short list of Defensive Player of the Year candidates.
If you can't stop the pass, you're going to have a hard time winning football games in 2018. Well, the Panthers can't rush the passer and have had a difficult time in coverage. Not ideal. Ron Rivera and first-year defensive coordinator Eric Washington don't seem to have any answers.
As many Lions fans feared before the season, Detroit has had no semblance of a pass rush. Making matters worse, the secondary -- which was considered the strength of the unit -- has not taken to Matt Patricia's scheme all that well.
It feels like the Dolphins defense should be much better than it has been in 2018. With breakout stars like Xavien Howard and Minkah Fitzpatrick in the secondary and Davon Godshaux on the defensive line, Miami has enough talent to play at a higher level. Consistency has been an issue. It's looking like the Dolphins need a change at defensive coordinator.
A handful of Giants defenders, including do-it-all safety Landon Collins and the defensive line, have played good football this season. Unfortunately, the rest of the defense has been so bad that it hasn't mattered.
Chiefs fans won't be encouraged by this ranking, but there are reasons to be hopeful about this defense: It doesn't need to be THAT good with how the offense is playing; the pass rush is starting to turn it on; and the secondary should get a big boost with the return of safety Eric Berry.
What happened to this defense? It looked so good on paper. And then it looked just as good early in the season. Then everything fell apart. The secondary has disappointed, and the linebacker group has been the worst in the league. It's difficult to play good defense without athleticism at the second level.
The 49ers learned why it's hard to bank on the development of young players. All of the players San Francisco needed to take a step forward this season in order to become a playoff contender failed to do so. Richard Sherman has been the lone bright spot, but he can only do so much.
We had high hopes for Dan Quinn's defense before the season, and then everyone got hurt. And the pass rush has been non-existent. The run defense has been even worse. Nothing has gone right for Atlanta in 2018.
The Buccaneers pass rush has been just fine, which we haven't been able to say in a long time. But outside of that, nothing has gone right for the defense. The linebackers have been hurt, and it's been made clear that the secondary needs a complete overhaul.
The Raiders defense was already among the worst in the league BEFORE it got rid of the league's best edge rusher. Unsurprisingly, it has gotten even worse. Jon Gruden will have to use most of those draft picks he's acquired addressing all of this unit's problems.
