Defense...in perspective

[gollum]

I was bored tonight so I put together some various rankings of defenses...nothing not already known, but our D has been playing lights out recently and I was curious how it compared to other teams.

Before I start, I believe ranking teams by yards/game is a poor measure of defensive ranking. The main objective of defense is to prevent the other team from scoring. You may disagree with me, but that's how I feel. That being said, here is the current defensive ranking (by yards/game according to nfl.com):

"Official" defensive ranking(y/g)
Rk[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Team[/FONT] Yds/G
1[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Pittsburgh Steelers[/FONT] 239.1
2[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Baltimore Ravens[/FONT] 257.5
3[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Philadelphia Eagles[/FONT] 274.4
4[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Tennessee Titans[/FONT] 281.0
5[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Washington Commanders[/FONT] 284.8
6[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]New York Giants[/FONT] 285.8
7[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Dallas Cowboys[/FONT] 287.0
8[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Minnesota Vikings[/FONT] 292.9
9[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Tampa Bay Buccaneers[/FONT] 299.4
10[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Carolina Panthers[/FONT] 315.9
11[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Miami Dolphins[/FONT] 317.2
12[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Indianapolis Colts[/FONT] 317.2

Here's the ranking by points per game(also nfl.com) for the season:

Rk[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Team[/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif] Pts/G [/FONT]
1[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Pittsburgh Steelers[/FONT] 13.7
2[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Tennessee Titans[/FONT] 14.1
3[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Baltimore Ravens[/FONT] 15.2
4[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]New York Giants[/FONT] 17.6
5[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Tampa Bay Buccaneers[/FONT] 17.9
6[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Carolina Panthers[/FONT] 18.9
7[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Washington Commanders[/FONT] 19.0
8[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Miami Dolphins[/FONT] 19.2
9[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Philadelphia Eagles[/FONT] 19.5
10[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Indianapolis Colts[/FONT] 19.6
11[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Dallas Cowboys[/FONT] 20.6
12[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Minnesota Vikings[/FONT] 20.7

I think these numbers are inaccurate. Why? Because that is the average points their opponents scored...no matter how. That includes any defensive or special teams touchdowns and/or safeties. To penalize a defense for their own offense's or special team's screw up is wrong. So here are the ranking for the season excluding all of that type of scoring:

Real Pts/Game (Season)
Rk[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Team[/FONT] Pts/G
1[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Baltimore Ravens[/FONT] 12.71
2[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Pittsburgh Steelers[/FONT] 12.93
3[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Tennessee Titans[/FONT] 14.07
4[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]New York Giants[/FONT] 15.57
5[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Minnesota Vikings[/FONT] 15.57
6[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Philadelphia Eagles[/FONT] 16.86
7[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Carolina Panthers[/FONT] 16.86
8[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Tampa Bay Buccaneers[/FONT] 16.93
9[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Washington Commanders[/FONT] 17.00
10[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Miami Dolphins[/FONT] 17.07
11[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Indianapolis Colts[/FONT] 17.43
12[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Dallas Cowboys[/FONT] 19.00

Minnesota's defense is much better than purported using this method because their opponents average 5.13 points scored per game on either defensive or specials teams scoring.

Since Wade has taken over the defense, here's is a breakdown by "real" defensive points allowed for a recent trending:

Real Pts/Game(last 7 games)
Rk[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Team[/FONT] Pts/G
1[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Pittsburgh Steelers[/FONT] 11.71
2[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Baltimore Ravens[/FONT] 11.71
3[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Minnesota Vikings[/FONT] 13.29
4[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Dallas Cowboys[/FONT] 14.86
5[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Miami Dolphins[/FONT] 15.29
6[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Tennessee Titans[/FONT] 15.71
7[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Indianapolis Colts[/FONT] 16.00
8[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Philadelphia Eagles[/FONT] 16.14
9[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]New York Giants[/FONT] 16.86
10[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Washington Commanders[/FONT] 18.71
11[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Tampa Bay Buccaneers[/FONT] 19.57
12[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Carolina Panthers[/FONT] 21.86

Real Pts/Game(last 6 games)
Rk[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Team[/FONT] Pts/G
1[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Baltimore Ravens[/FONT] 10.33
2[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Pittsburgh Steelers[/FONT] 12.67
3[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Minnesota Vikings[/FONT] 13.17
4[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Miami Dolphins[/FONT] 15.00
5[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Tennessee Titans[/FONT] 15.67
6[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Dallas Cowboys[/FONT] 15.83
7[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Indianapolis Colts[/FONT] 16.17
8[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Philadelphia Eagles[/FONT] 17.67
9[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]New York Giants[/FONT] 18.50
10[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Washington Commanders[/FONT] 19.00
11[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Tampa Bay Buccaneers[/FONT] 20.67
12[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Carolina Panthers[/FONT] 21.67

Real Pts/Game(last 5 games)
RkTeam Pts/G
1[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Baltimore Ravens[/FONT] 9.80
2[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Pittsburgh Steelers[/FONT] 10.40
3[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Dallas Cowboys[/FONT] 12.00
4[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Minnesota Vikings[/FONT] 13.20
5[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Philadelphia Eagles[/FONT] 14.00
6[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Indianapolis Colts[/FONT] 15.40
7[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Miami Dolphins[/FONT] 15.60
8[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Tennessee Titans[/FONT] 16.00
9[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]New York Giants[/FONT] 16.00
10[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Washington Commanders[/FONT] 18.20
11[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Tampa Bay Buccaneers[/FONT] 19.40
12[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Carolina Panthers[/FONT] 24.80

Real Pts/Game(last 4 games)
RkTeam Pts/G
1[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Baltimore Ravens[/FONT] 6.50
2[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Pittsburgh Steelers[/FONT] 10.50
3[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Minnesota Vikings[/FONT] 11.75
4[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Dallas Cowboys[/FONT] 12.50
5[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Indianapolis Colts[/FONT] 12.50
6[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Philadelphia Eagles[/FONT] 14.25
7[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Tennessee Titans[/FONT] 16.50
8[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]New York Giants[/FONT] 17.50
9[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Miami Dolphins[/FONT] 18.00
10[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Washington Commanders[/FONT] 19.25
11[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Tampa Bay Buccaneers[/FONT] 21.00
12[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Carolina Panthers[/FONT] 25.50

Real Pts/Game(last 3 games)
RkTeam Pts/G
1[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Miami Dolphins[/FONT] 8.00
2[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Baltimore Ravens[/FONT] 8.67
3[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Dallas Cowboys[/FONT] 9.33
4[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Indianapolis Colts[/FONT] 10.00
5[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Philadelphia Eagles[/FONT] 10.00
6[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Pittsburgh Steelers[/FONT] 10.67
7[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Tennessee Titans[/FONT] 10.67
8[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Minnesota Vikings[/FONT] 12.33
9[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]New York Giants[/FONT] 13.67
10[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Washington Commanders[/FONT] 20.00
11[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Carolina Panthers[/FONT] 21.33
12[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Tampa Bay Buccaneers[/FONT] 23.67

Like I said, nothing earth shattering other than showing who's playing well lately.

 

[THUMPER]

The fact that the last 4 games of our schedule are against top-6 teams is tough.

The encouraging thing is that we should have won against the Stealers, and we beat the Giants.

We'll see how we do against the Ravens and then the Eagles. If we win those two, we should win it all this year.

 

[burmafrd]

I too have always despised using total yards as the determining factor in what D is rated where.
I think you should have this combination to rank the D (sort of like the QB rating):
Pts scored by offenses on the defense (all special teams and opposing D scoring all taken out) MINUS
Pts scored by YOUR defense.
% of 3rd down conversion. The % multiplied by 100. (57% X100 = 57)
added to the total.
ypc in rushing X 10. ( 4.1 x 10 = 41) yards per passing play X 5 (11.6 X 5 = 58)
The ranking of rushing and passing yds allowed added to the total (6th against the rush, add 6; 12 against the pass add 12).

The teams are ranked by the lowest score and then going up.

 

[Shinywalrus]

Well, our problem this year has never been yards. Our defense has been passable in that respect, even when Newman and Pac were out or injured.

It's always been how easily we allowed teams to translate yards into points:

http://www.coldhardfootballfacts.com/Articles/2_988_Bendability_Index.html

This has changed to some extent, although it's been over a short enough time not to make a trend. Usually, however, when teams are scored on very easily for the amount of yards they give up, it is a scheme problem or a mismatch of players and scheme.

 

[Doomsday101]

The fact that the last 4 games of our schedule are against top-6 teams is tough.

The encouraging thing is that we should have won against the Stealers, and we beat the Giants.

We'll see how we do against the Ravens and then the Eagles. If we win those two, we should win it all this year.

I agree which is why I have not been down on Garrett like others, these teams are not pad you stat type teams these are the real deal defense and you don't just move up and down the field on them easy. As for the question regarding our defense I think this defense is starting to come into their own now and are playing with extreme confidence in their ability to play as a unit. I see a lot less chasing of the ball and more discipline in taking care of their assignments

 

[theebs]

I guess paul paqualoni doesnt suck afterall, like many of the bloggers insisted.