Will the NFL ever see another defense as dominant as the 2000 Ravens?

In the last two decades, the NFL hasn’t seen another defense as dominant as the 2000 Baltimore Ravens. Will a defense ever be that good again?

ESPN Films recently released its latest 30 for 30 ‘Bullies of Baltimore’, taking a look at the 2000 Baltimore Ravens defense, arguably the greatest defense of all time. The debate, however, is between the Ravens and the great defenses that preceded them because there hasn’t been a defense as good as Baltimore’s since their historic Super Bowl run in 2000. While the film painted a picture of how stifling and frightening the defense was, the stats paint the full picture.

During the 2000 season, Baltimore allowed just 10.3 points and 247.9 yards a game. The Ravens limited teams to a measly 60.6 rushing yards a game and just 187.3 passing yards a game. They also took the ball away, averaging an incredible three takeaways a game. That type of production across the board defensively is unheard of in today’s NFL. It actually hasn’t been replicated since the Ravens did it.

Since the year 2000, no other defense has held teams to an average of 10 points. Between that season and the most recent NFL season, the lowest average a defense has allowed was 12.3 points a game by the 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Like the 2000 Ravens, Tampa’s defense in 2002 led the Bucs to a 12-win season and a Super Bowl victory. Even still, they weren’t as dominant as Baltimore, allowing two more points a game, five more yards a game, and having 11 fewer takeaways.

In the 22 NFL seasons since the Ravens held opponents to 10.3 points a game, there have only been five seasons where the best-scoring defense limited opponents to under 14 points a game. All five of those seasons came before 2009. Each year, the top defenses are allowing more and more points. Here’s a look at how many points per game the top-scoring defense allowed each season since 2000:

• 2000 Ravens: 10.3
• 2001 Bears: 12.7
• 2002 Buccaneers: 12.3
• 2003 Patriots: 14.9
• 2004 Steelers: 15.7
• 2005 Bears: 12.6
• 2006 Ravens: 12.6
• 2007 Colts: 16.4
• 2008 Steelers: 13.9
• 2009 Jets: 14.8
• 2010 Steelers: 14.5
• 2011 Steelers 14.2
• 2012 Seahawks: 15.3
• 2013 Seahawks: 14.4
• 2014 Seahawks: 15.9
• 2015 Seahawks: 17.3
• 2016 Patriots: 15.6
• 2017 Vikings: 15.8
• 2018 Bears: 17.7
• 2019 Patriots: 14.1
• 2020 Rams: 18.5
• 2021 Bills: 17.0
• 2022 49ers: 16.3

Were the Baltimore Ravens the last all-time great defense?

The standard for a great defense in 2023 is way different than the standard for a great defense in 2000. Obviously, standards are supposed to evolve over time but they usually get stricter. Dunking from the free-throw line isn’t as impressive as it once was. Athletes are expected to run faster and jump higher etc. However, the standard for NFL defenses has gotten much more lenient.

Look at the 2022 San Francisco 49ers for example, the league’s top defense this season. They allowed 16.3 points and 300.6 yards a game and had 30 takeaways. As a result, they were viewed as an elite, stifling defense, which they are in today’s NFL. However, San Francisco’s 16.3 points allowed per game, which was No. 1 in 2022, would’ve been ranked No. 7 in 2000. The 49ers’ second-ranked 300.6 yards allowed per game would’ve been 10th in the league in 2000. San Fran’s 30 takeaways, second-most in 2022, would’ve been 14th-most in 2000.

Now, obviously, there are a ton of different factors. NFL offenses have continued to evolve and current rules assist offenses more than ever. Today’s offenses aren’t only explosive but the adage that offense sells tickets is as true as ever. So the league is certainly designed for a lot of points to be scored. Additionally, with player health being emphasized more than ever, there are a ton of rules that make the game harder for the defense. Between the desire for high-scoring games and the emphasis on safety, the modern football game is designed to limit how great a defense can be.

With everything stacking up against today’s NFL defenses, it’s fair to ask if we’ll ever see a defense as dominant as the Ravens were in 2000. Sure there will be great defenses, but will a future defense ever statistically be better than the Ravens?

How dominant can NFL defenses be in today’s game?

The simple answer is probably not. The reason it’s a documentary on the 2000 Ravens’ defense is that what they did is extremely special. Even in the surrounding years of that era when offenses and rules were the same, Baltimore still stood out. The defense was an anomaly. However, there’s a chance that in the coming years, there will be a defense that trends toward that level of dominance. While they might not be as elite as the Ravens were, they could be one of the better defenses of the last two decades.

Why is that? Because of trends. As older folks like to say, there’s nothing new under the sun. Everything goes in cycles. One minute baggy clothes are in and then the style is tight-fitting apparel, and then eventually, the mainstream will transition back to the baggy look. The NFL is no different.

In the early 2000s, the entire NFL was scoring fewer points. Offenses were running the ball more and passing it less. That style of football made way for really dominant defenses to emerge. Eventually, offenses started to switch things up, spread things out and began passing the ball around a lot more. As a result, the points started exploding and defenses were being left in the dust.

In order to keep up, defenses had to adjust. So what did they do? They got smaller but faster and more athletic. Linebackers needed to be able to run with receivers, edge rushers needed to be prepared to rush the passer all game, and coaches had to be ready to employ packages with five or six defensive backs. It was the only way defenses were going to be able to keep up.

Unfortunately for defenses, offenses always have the upper hand because they set the trend. By nature, defense is all about reacting. Soon, defenses will have to react to the current trend that offenses are taking part in. The trend of running more, passing less, and overall playing bigger and more physically. Recognizing that defenses have gotten smaller and faster, offenses have returned to running the ball since a lot of defenses have been built to stop the pass.

This isn’t just evident by watching games every week, the stats map the trend as well. In 2000 when the Ravens had their dominant defensive season, offenses league-wide averaged 20.7 points a game on an average of 63 plays a game. Of those plays, offenses were attempting 32.9 passes a game and rushing 27.6 times a game.

During the offensive boom over the last decade, the three highest-scoring seasons were 2013, 2018, and 2020. Here’s what the league-wide averages looked like in those same categories.

• 2013: 23.4 points a game, 65 plays a game, 35.4 passes a game, 27.1 runs a game
• 2018: 23.3 points a game, 62.9 plays a game, 34.5 passes a game, 25.9 runs a game
• 2020: 24.8 points a game, 64.3 plays a game, 35.2 passes a game, 26.9 runs a game

That’s a lot of points, a lot of plays, and a lot of passes, but not necessarily a lot of running. However, 2022 showed that offenses may be reversing course. The averages this past season were 21.9 points a game, 63 plays, 33.3 passes, and 27.3 runs a game. These averages are closer to the 2000 averages than they are to the high averages of 2013, 2018, and 2020. Now the question is if offenses will stay on this track for a couple of years.

If they do, that means defenses will have to respond by bulking back up and returning to a more physical brand of football. If that happens, there will probably be a quick two-to-three-year window where a few elite defenses emerge and can match the physicality of offenses that try to run through defenses. In order for one of those defenses to rival the 2000 Ravens, it would have to be a perfect storm of sorts, because a couple of things would have to happen. NFL offenses would have to commit to this era of trying to bully defenses, and some defenses would have to be good enough to bully the bullies.

If both of those things actually happen, we may be lucky enough to witness a defense whose dominance can be compared to the 2000 Baltimore Ravens. But that probably won’t be the case.