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Overall, we didn’t see the best of NFL defenses this past week. Twelve of the 28 teams in action scored at least 28 points. Seven put up 34 or more points. So, not exactly what you’d expect as we dive into December, where playoff positioning heats up.
But we did see an epic defensive battle Sunday night between the Texans and Chiefs, a playoff-caliber game. How should we rank the defenses of those teams after their performances?
Ahead of Week 15, here’s my tiered ranking of all 32 defensive units (see Week 14 here):
Houston Texans
Seattle Seahawks
Los Angeles Rams
Denver Broncos
New England Patriots
Green Bay Packers
The Texans’ defense once again played lights out in prime time, this time holding Patrick Mahomes to arguably the worst game of his career. Houston’s No. 1 ranked defense held Kansas City to a season-low 274 yards and registered three interceptions, eight quarterback hits and seven pass breakups.
The Texans not only have the NFL’s best defense in 2025, but they also have a strong argument for having one of the best of the past decade. Houston this season has held Mahomes and Josh Allen — two of the best quarterbacks of this era — to a combined zero touchdowns with five interceptions, sacking them 10 times.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Philadelphia Eagles
Cleveland Browns
Los Angeles Chargers
After giving up 425-plus yards in consecutive weeks, the Eagles’ defense is back in the top 10. It gave Philadelphia every chance to win in a 22-19 loss to the Chargers on Monday. The Eagles pressured Bolts quarterback Justin Herbert on 68.3% of his dropbacks — the sixth-highest pressure rate in any game since 2018, according to Next Gen Stats — and sacked him a career-high seven times. Vic Fangio’s unit also had two takeaways (the Eagles had three as a whole) and held Los Angeles to one touchdown.
Kansas City Chiefs
Baltimore Ravens
Dallas Cowboys
Minnesota Vikings
San Francisco 49ers
Buffalo Bills
Chicago Bears
Miami Dolphins
Detroit Lions
Indianapolis Colts
Carolina Panthers
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Chiefs’ defense at its best is as good as any in the league — see its second half in Sunday night’s loss to the Texans, particularly the third quarter — but third-down efficiency and pass-rush production are major issues.
Kansas City is allowing a 43.1% conversion rate on third down, which ranks 26th, and has just 25 sacks, which is tied for 24th. Part of the issue there is that the blitzes that Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo calls so often aren’t getting home at an efficient rate, leaving the unit vulnerable in the back end.
The Chiefs also have just one takeaway in their past five games.
New Orleans Saints
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Atlanta Falcons
Excluding Rashid Shaheed’s 100-yard kickoff return touchdown, the Falcons still gave up 30 points in last week’s home loss to Seattle. Atlanta, which has been eliminated from playoff contention, has allowed at least 27 points in five of its past seven games.
The Falcons this season have finally solved their years-long pass-rush issues, thanks in large part to rookie first-round edge rushers James Pearce Jr. and Jalon Walker. A year after registering just 31 sacks (31st in the NFL), they’re at 43 through 14 weeks (third). But Atlanta’s defense struggles to get off the field, and it’s in the bottom third of the NFL in stopping the run. The Falcons are allowing an average of 6.2 plays per drive, tied for 20th in the league, and 131.0 rushing yards per game, which is 24th.
Las Vegas Raiders
Arizona Cardinals
New York Jets
The Cardinals had their worst defensive performance under coach Jonathan Gannonn in last week’s loss to the Rams, giving up 530 yards of offense (306 by halftime) and six touchdowns. Arizona has allowed 40-plus points in three of its past five games.
Tennessee Titans
Washington Commanders
New York Giants
Cincinnati Bengals
The Titans have pieces on defense (DE Jeffery Simmons, LB Cedric Gay, DBs Kevin Winston Jr. and Marcus Harris), but they miss a lot of tackles and give up explosive plays at a high rate. In Sunday’s narrow win, Tennessee gave up 394 total yards and four touchdowns to Browns QB Shedeur Sanders, who was making his third career start.
Ben Arthur is an NFL reporter for FOX Sports. He previously worked for The Tennessean/USA TODAY Network, where he was the Titans beat writer for a year and a half. He covered the Seattle Seahawks for SeattlePI.com for three seasons (2018-20) prior to moving to Tennessee. You can follow Ben on Twitter at @benyarthur.
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