All-Time Best Defense for Every NFL Team, Ranked

Know the adage that defense wins championships? Well, we’ll take half a sack, please. Balance wins championships more.

Yet as we shall see soon, an elite D can remove a lot of warts, turn an average team into a good one or even a good team into a great one on occasion.

Here is the best defense for each franchise in the expansion era, and to make things even more interesting, we ranked them.

The criteria was a combination of historical achievement, statistical data, metrics, strength of schedule, the Simple Rating System (courtesy of Pro Football Reference) and the eye test, not necessarily in that order.

Defenses with Super Bowl pedigrees received bumps in the order. In a few cases, they made the cut over ones that performed better in the regular season. 

Note: All stats are per-game averages.

Record: 10-6 (first, AFC South)

Points allowed: 17.4 (fourth)

Total yards allowed: 229.8 (first)

Rush yards allowed: 87.9 (first)

Pass yards allowed: 141.9 (third)

Sacks: 4.1 (first)

Takeaways: 3.4 (third)

Coordinator: Wade Phillips 

Notable players: Linebacker Brian Cushing, cornerback Johnathan Joseph, ends Antoine Smith and J.J. Watt

Finish:  Lost to Baltimore Ravens 20-13 in divisional round

Bottom line: A dominant pass rush was the hallmark of this unit, which was consistent across the board.

This won’t be the last time you see a Wade Phillips-coached defense on this list.  

Record: 11-5 (second, NFC West)

Points allowed: 18.7 (fifth)

Total yards allowed: 368.2 (24th)

Rush yards allowed: 108.7 (13th)

Pass yards allowed: 259.5 (29th)

Sacks: 2.2 (24th)

Takeaways: 1.6 (14th)

Coordinator: Todd Bowles

Notable players: End Calais Campbell, linebacker Larry Foote, cornerbacks Antonio Cromartie and Patrick Peterson

Finish: Lost to Carolina Panthers 27-16 in wild-card round

Bottom line: Their basic numbers don’t begin to tell the story.

This is the hidden one that matters — third in red-zone percentage (43.9) in the league.

That’s the definition of bend but don’t break, kids.

Record: 12-4 (first, AFC West)

Points allowed/game: 15.4 (second)

Total yards allowed/game: 278.5 (fifth)

Rush yards allowed/game: 119.2 (eighth)

Pass yards allowed/game: 159.3 (seventh)

Sacks/game: 2.6 (11th)

Takeaways/game: 2.9 (third)

Coordinator: Jackie Simpson 

Notable players: End Fred Dean, tackle Gary Johnson, linebackers Woodrow Lowe and Ray Preston

Finish: Lost to Houston Oilers 17-14 in divisional round

Bottom line: While the Air Coryell attack hogged the headlines, this big-play defense quietly went about its business.

It thrived on interceptions (28) and fumble recoveries (18). 

Record: 12-4 (first, AFC North)

Points allowed: 17.4 (second)

Total yards allowed: 340.8 (11th)

Rush yards allowed: 92.3 (seventh)

Pass yards allowed: 248.5 (20th)

Sacks/game: 2.7 (10th)

Takeaways: 1.75 (sixth)

Coordinator: Paul Guenther 

Notable players: Tackle Geno Atkins, end Carlos Dunlap, cornerback Adam Jones, safety Reggie Nelson

Finish: Lost to Pittsburgh Steelers 18-16 in wild-card round

Bottom line: This defense was at its best on obvious pass downs, when Carlos Dunlap (13.55 sacks) and Geno Atkins (11.0) could tee off on quarterbacks.

Only four defenses had a higher red-zone percentage (47.4) than the Bengals.