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Many of the best defenses in the NFL turned in underwhelming performances in Week 16.
The top-rated Texans’ defense gave up two touchdowns of 50-plus yards to the Raiders, who have the league’s worst offense. The Broncos allowed a season-high 34 points to the Jaguars at home. Even the Seahawks and Rams, who squared off in last Thursday’s overtime thriller, gave up nearly 40 points to each other.
How does that impact the standing of their defenses?
Ahead of Week 17, here’s my tiered ranking of all 32 units (see Week 16 here):
Houston Texans
Philadelphia Eagles
Los Angeles Chargers
Denver Broncos
Seattle Seahawks
In what marked a bad week for many of the NFL’s top defenses, the Chargers stood out. They held the high-powered Cowboys, who rank fifth in the league in scoring, to 17 points — their lowest total since Week 9.
Los Angeles has held opponents under 100 rushing yards in three of its past four games. And since Week 10, the Chargers have 13 takeaways. Defensive coordinator Jesse Minter has helped his head-coach candidacy exponentially down the stretch.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Los Angeles Rams
Green Bay Packers
Cleveland Browns
New England Patriots
Chicago Bears
The Bears in the past several weeks have climbed from “Mediocre” and “Competitive” to the “Bet the Under” tier.
Leading the NFL with 31 takeaways, Chicago has given up just one touchdown in the last two games combined and has allowed 17 or fewer points in four of its past six appearances. In last week’s OT thriller against the Packers, the Bears held the Packers to 0-for-5 in the red zone, including three stops in goal-to-go territory.
Minnesota Vikings
New Orleans Saints
Carolina Panthers
Pittsburgh Steelers
San Francisco 49ers
Baltimore Ravens
Kansas City Chiefs
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Buffalo Bills
Indianapolis Colts
Mike Tomlin’s defense has been up and down all season, but Pittsburgh’s ability to stop the run has been spectacular as of late. The AFC North-leading Steelers have allowed just 78 rushing yards combined in the past two games, including just 15 (!) to the Lions in Week 16.
The Saints, far out of the national spotlight, have had a sneaky strong defense for the better part of the last month and a half. Over its past six games, New Orleans is allowing just 15.8 points per contest, coming off a game in which it had two takeaways and gave up only six points to the Jets.
Atlanta Falcons
Detroit Lions
Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins’ defense found its groove in the middle of the season, when Miami went 5-1 from Weeks 8-14. But the unit has unraveled in back-to-back losses, first giving up 28 points to the Steelers on Dec. 15 and then allowing 45 points — including six touchdowns — to the Bengals on Sunday.
Takeaways were a staple for Miami during its mini-winning streak, and those have evaporated in the past couple of weeks. The Fins didn’t force a turnover against Pittsburgh or Cincinnati.
Las Vegas Raiders
New York Giants
Cincinnati Bengals
Tennessee Titans
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys’ defense, which was on an upward trajectory in the immediate aftermath of the trade deadline, has reverted to the struggling unit we saw at the beginning of 2025.
Dallas gave up 34 points to the Chargers on Sunday, the third consecutive game in which it has allowed at least 34 points. The Cowboys have given up at least 28 points in four straight contests.
Defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus is looking at a one-and-done stint.
Washington Commanders
New York Jets
Arizona Cardinals
A terrible year got even worse for Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon and his defense Monday, when two starters — cornerback Garrett Williams and first-round rookie defensive lineman Walter Nolen III — were placed on season-ending injured reserve.
Arizona has given up at least 26 points in six of its past seven games, including 40 points three times. The Cardinals have also allowed 140-plus rushing yards in three consecutive games.
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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