The most important thing that a defense can do is not break. The best teams don’t bend and don’t break. Some teams bend but don’t break. Other teams bend all the way and then break. Breaking means points and points mean that a defense isn’t doing its job.
A decent statistic to measure that is the Defensive Scoring Rate (DSR). Pro Football Reference’s definition is “Percentage of drives ending in an offensive score.” For PFR, that means both field goals and touchdowns.
From a bird’s eye view, it’s a measure of how successful a defense is, because if they’re not allowing points, then they’re doing their job.
Now, it’s not a perfect stat. A lot of the time, a defense holding an offense to a field goal is totally fine and should count as a defensive win. Also, this takes into account drives at the end of halves, drives at the end of games, or clock-killing drives. In a lot of those end-of-half and end-of-game drives, teams are playing for a field goal, killing time to end a game, or taking a knee to go into halftime. That’s only a couple of drives every game, but they still count.
AFC East
Rank | Team | DSR (NFL Rank) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Patriots | 33.6% (4th) | 11-3 |
2 | Bills | 39.2% (14th) | 10-4 |
3 | Dolphins | 40.0% (17th) | 6-8 |
4 | Jets | 47.1% (30th) | 3-11 |
We’re not going to look at the teams the Patriots have played and how good or bad their offenses are. We’re not going to do that. It’s a top-five defense, and this number proves that.
Everything else kind of makes sense. The Bills' defense is very middle-of-the-road, and their offense has to pull almost all of the weight. The Dolphins are right there in the middle with them, which is impressive because they started the season off so terribly.
Remember how, through the first three weeks, they allowed points on 17-of-25 drives? That’s 68% and then they’ve dropped it to 40%. It’s all for naught, but it’s still impressive.
AFC South
Rank | Team | DSR (NFL Rank) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Texans | 25.8% (1st) | 9-5 |
2 | Jaguars | 32.7% (3rd) | 10-4 |
3 | Colts | 40.0% (18th) | 8-6 |
4 | Titans | 45.1% (26th) | 2-12 |
The Texans’ defense is awesome. Not much more needs to be said other than that.
It’s still really hard to believe that the Jaguars are a good football team. Yeah, their offense has been doing some really good stuff under Liam Coen, but their defense is actually living up to its potential. That defense never lives up to its potential, and it feels wrong.
It’s the Jags, they’re supposed to just choke everything away. Take last week against the Jets: Yes, Jacksonville took them behind the barn and beat them senseless, which isn’t super impressive because it’s the Jets… but that’s a late-season game that they normally drop.
The Colts' defense was never really going to be a world beater, so them being in the middle isn’t surprising. That’s especially true given that they’ve been without DeForest Buckner and Charvarius Ward… also, they traded two first-round picks for Sauce Gardner, and he’s only played in three of the five games since.
They’re going to need that defense to get off the field a whole lot more often than they are if the Colts are going to sneak into the playoffs.
AFC West
Rank | Team | DSR (NFL Rank) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Broncos | 35.2% (7th) | 12-2 |
2 | Chargers | 37.1% (11th) | 10-4 |
3 | Chiefs | 37.5% (12th) | 6-8 |
4 | Raiders | 42.6% (24th) | 2-12 |
The Broncos' defense comes alive when it needs to, and that’s a great way to get your team to a 12-2 record.
The other big takeaway from the AFC West is that the Raiders aren’t ranked in the bottom five for DSR. They’re 2-12, have a -167 point differential (second worst), but there are eight teams that allow a higher percentage of scoring drives.
We all know that Vegas’ offense is infinitely worse than their defense, but when you put it all together, it really shows just how terrible a team that is.
AFC North
Rank | Team | DSR (NFL Rank) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Browns | 34.5% (5th) | 3-11 |
2 | Steelers | 42.1% (21st) | 8-6 |
3 | Ravens | 42.3% (23rd) | 7-7 |
4 | Bengals | 46.2 (28th) | 4-10 |
It’s cruel because Cleveland doesn’t deserve it, but I believe I speak for fans of the other 31 teams in the NFL when I say: Never change. If the Browns were ever able to put together a competitive offense, they would be a truly nasty team.
The Steelers' defense is very particular, but in a very Pittsburgh way. If they can out-physical an offense (like they did against the Dolphins), they’ll look like world beaters… There just aren’t that many offenses that they’re able to really out-physical. If/when they make it to the playoffs, their fate is going to be strictly in the hands of the team they match up with.
NFC East
Rank | Team | DSR (NFL Rank) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Eagles | 36.5% (9th) | 9-5 |
2 | Giants | 45.4% (27th) | 2-12 |
3 | Commanders | 47.5% (31st) | 4-10 |
4 | Cowboys | 48.7% (32nd) | 6-7-4 |
Nothing quite describes the NFC East by comparing each team's defense and how often they get scored on. We’re looking at an Eagles’ team that is, for the most part, getting carried by their defense… and then three other teams with defenses that can’t get off the field.
The funniest thing is that the Cowboys are very predictably the worst in the division and the league. When they got rid of Micah Parsons before the season started, they forfeited the season.
Did they add Kenny Clark and Quinnen Williams? Yep. Did those guys actually help their defense? It sure doesn’t look like it.
No matter who you are, and this includes Cowboys fans, there’s a part of you that loves Jerry Jones’ stupid decisions backfiring in his face… It’s just a much, MUCH bigger part for the people who aren’t Cowboys fans.
NFC South
Rank | Team | DSR (NFL Rank) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Buccaneers | 39.6% (16th) | 7-7 |
2 | Saints | 41.0% (20th) | 4-10 |
3 | Panthers | 42.1% (22nd) | 7-7 |
4 | Falcons | 42.8% (25th) | 5-9 |
The NFC South is a mess. It’s hard to take a division seriously when every defense is just as bad as the other. The Buccaneers keep points off the board with more consistency than any other team in the division, and they’re mediocre at it. It paints a really good picture of how this divisional race is an absolute mess, with teams that don’t look like they’re actually trying to come out on top.
NFC West
Rank | Team | DSR (NFL Rank) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Seahawks | 28.4% (2nd) | 11-3 |
2 | Rams | 33.6% (5th) | 11-3 |
3 | 49ers | 36.7% (10th) | 10-4 |
4 | Cardinals | 46.4% (29th) | 3-11 |
It’s poetic that the DSR of the NFC West actually makes sense. The Seahawks and Rams aren’t just at the top of their division, but at the top of the whole NFL. The 49ers are that frisky team looking to make their way into the top tier, and the Cardinals are just sad.
Aside from the Rams, those defenses are purely responsible for each team’s record. It’s just nice that football works out the way it’s supposed to sometimes.
NFC North
Rank | Team | DSR (NFL Rank) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Bears | 36.2% (8th) | 10-4 |
2 | Vikings | 39.1% (13th) | 6-8 |
3 | Packers | 39.4% (15th) | 9-4-1 |
4 | Lions | 40.1% (19th) | 8-6 |
It’s 2025, and the Chicago Bears’ defense stops teams from scoring points more often than any other team in the NFC North. That means Dennis Allen’s defense is objectively better at their job than Brian Flores’ Vikings and Jeff Hafley’s Packers… A Packers defense, mind you, that has had Micah Parsons for 13.75 games.
When you watch the Bears’ defense, it doesn’t pass the top-10 eye test. However, they’ve had 30 takeaways this season, and if you stop 30 offensive drives via turnover, you’re going to end up doing well and winning games.
It’s nice when you get one of those incomplete stats, and more often than not, it shows how well a team is doing.