Pre-Week 1 NFL Defense Rankings

by Gus Elmashni

For example, a GE number of +1 means that a team's defense, for the most part, is above average compared to the rest of the league and is worthy of top 5 or top 10 consideration. A GE number of +2 or close to +2 would indicate a record breaking defense. After the 1985 Bears (my data goes as far back as 1997), arguably the best three defense the league has seen were the 2000 Ravens, 2002 Bucs, and 2013 Seahawks. All dominated the competition and all won the Super Bowl very convincingly. Strangely the Ravens were favored by just 3 points in that Super Bowl while the Bucs and Seahawks were underdogs. There was definite value to be had if one could recognize that these defense were not just good, but historically good.

An defensive GE number of 0 would indicate that a team's defense is pretty much average. GE numbers for defenses that are at -1 of course would be at the bottom of the barrel. Last year New Orleans had the worst defensive GE number: -1.449. How Rob Ryan keeps getting defensive coordinator jobs is beyond me. Maybe being with his brother in Buffalo this season will help him learn how to coach but we shall see! If a team has an defensive GE number of -2, then play the over in their games or use offensive players going against them in your daily fantasy leagues! The 2008 Detroit Lions which went 0-16 had a defensive GE number of -1.838.

Well, here are the pre-Week 1 rankings for defensive GE numbers.

1 Houston 1.368295539

2 Seattle 1.296618916

3 NY Jets 1.293598499

4 Kansas City 1.12149727

5 Denver 1.031117078

6 Cincinnati 0.992430606

7 St. Louis 0.886261338

8 New England 0.777190945

9 Carolina 0.767164016

10 Minnesota 0.576372585

11 Pittsburgh 0.47441669

12 Washington 0.183277786

13 Arizona 0.163235235

14 Oakland 0.161746107

15 Buffalo 0.078613073

16 NY Giants -0.053431848

17 San Francisco -0.097999762

18 Detroit -0.152353959

19 Jacksonville -0.18107109

20 Green Bay -0.260067883

21 Tampa Bay -0.275797314

22 Chicago -0.462300298

23 Dallas -0.512504888

24 Philadelphia -0.565626029

25 San Diego -0.74787554

26 Atlanta -0.878356259

27 Tennessee -0.88554377

28 Baltimore -0.962918775

29 New Orleans -0.970165932

30 Indianapolis -1.159585467

31 Cleveland -1.178156376

32 Miami -1.828080493

Houston and Seattle should still be the most feared defenses in the league. Miami's defense is expected to be terrible and don't be surprised if they lose by at least 20 points this Sunday in the Legion of Boom.