The 2025 NFL season greeted fans with highs and lows for fanbases nationwide and internationally. While some defenses were what we thought they were — thank you, Dennis Green — some lacked in their initial display of the 2025 season.
So, our 2025 NFL Defense Rankings aim to appropriately react to the first game and better rank the defensive units.
PFSN’s Defense Impact rankings combine statistics such as yards per play, points per drive, sack percentage, turnover percentage, success rate against the run and pass, third-down conversion rate, red-zone efficiency, pressure percentage when not blitzing, and various expected points added (EPA) measures against both the run and pass.
In weighing these items correctly, combining last season’s roster, the carryover players from last season, the value of these players inherent to their respective rosters, and a mix of the success (or lack thereof) in Week 1, we have our first comprehensive rankings of the 2025 season.
1) Denver Broncos
Preseason Rank: 1st
The Broncos were back to their usual selves in Week 1, dominating an undermatched offensive unit for all four quarters.
Highest-graded NFL defenses from Week 1, according to our Defense Impact metric:
🔒Broncos – 93.3
🔒Commanders – 87.4
🔒Rams – 83.9
🔒Jaguars – 82.2
🔒Packers – 81.4
🔒Raiders – 81.2
🔒Titans – 80.2
🔒49ers – 79.6
🔒Browns – 79.6
🔒Vikings – 78.1 pic.twitter.com/d6Z7196hg8— PFSN (@PFSN365) September 9, 2025
Despite their offensive struggles, the Broncos ranked first in defensive pass success rate, defensive EPA allowed per dropback, and got home with a league-best 17.6% sack rate on a 44.0% pressure rate. That’s a good enough recipe to win football games.
2) Minnesota Vikings
Preseason Rank: 3rd
The Vikings’ defense gave up seemingly one poor possession in Week 1 against the Bears. That came early, and then they put the proverbial clamps down on Chicago. Ultimately, they ranked ninth in points allowed per drive and 12th in defensive EPA allowed per dropback.
In a division with dominant offenses, this is their way forward.
3) Philadelphia Eagles
Preseason Rank: 2nd
Philadelphia struggled to stop Dallas’ rushing attack without Jalen Carter, finishing with a 42.9% defensive rush success rate, their lowest rate since Week 13 of the 2023 season and their second-lowest rate since 2019.
The Eagles also allowed Dallas to convert on 58.3% of their third/fourth-down attempts, the second-highest rate since the start of last season, despite safely stopping Dallas on its final possession of the game.
4) Los Angeles Chargers
Preseason Rank: 4th
Los Angeles went on a business trip to Brazil and delivered big time. The Chargers limited the Chiefs in all facets and performed admirably against Kansas City’s passing attack.
They ranked in the top half of every passing metric that delivers our DEFi metric, including a 56.5% defensive pass success rate.
5) Green Bay Packers
Preseason Rank: 10th
Micah Parsons got on the board with his first sack in a Packers uniform on Sunday. However, what makes Green Bay scary is how effective the defense looked without the All-Pro edge rusher fully up to speed.
The Packers stifled the Lions to 3.8 yards per play, highlighted by a 36.8% non-blitz pressure rate. For context, only the Browns and Broncos posted better marks in 2024. With Parsons still getting ramped up after skipping the entire offseason, the Packers’ Super Bowl hype train will be full speed ahead after this impressive win.
6) Houston Texans
Preseason Rank: 7th
The Texans were the seventh-best turnover differential team a year ago, but lost that battle against the Rams (-1). They also finished the game with more penalties (11) than points scored (nine) and struggled to stop the one spot Matthew Stafford kept going to (Puka Nacua caught 10 of 11 targets for 130 yards).
7) Cleveland Browns
Preseason Rank: 9th
The Browns’ defense was one of the most stout units in Week 1, specifically in the second half against the Bengals. They had the league’s fourth-highest defensive pass success rate and made Joe Burrow think twice about moving to his secondary reads with a ridiculously high pressure rate of 40.0%.
NFL Wide Receiver Rankings Following Week 1: Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Zay Flowers Lead the Way Despite Tough Losses
It was all undone by their offense and special teams, but it was an encouraging outing for Browns fans.
8) Seattle Seahawks
Preseason Rank: 6th
Seattle’s defense struggled to defend the pass against San Francisco, allowing the league’s second-highest pass success rate as a unit. That equated to a poor showing by EPA, which ranked second-to-last.
This, among many other facets, will need to improve, especially because the 49ers weren’t firing on all cylinders in this one.
9) Detroit Lions
Preseason Rank: 5th
After conceding scores on the first three drives of the game, the Lions’ defense steadied over the final 2.5 quarters. However, a unit that thrived in creating chaos last season didn’t force a single turnover or sack, a disappointing outcome against a Green Bay offense that has been prone to negative plays.
10) Chicago Bears
Preseason Rank: 13th
Chicago’s offense struggled for three quarters while its defense was nearly lights out. Unfortunately, a quarter’s worth of undoing was enough to seal their fate.
Overall, the Bears’ defense ranked third in defensive EPA allowed per dropback (many thanks to their pick-six) and earned a sack on 13.0% of their snaps, good enough for third in the league for Week 1.
11) Washington Commanders
Preseason Rank: 17th
While their offense worked on picking up speed, the Commanders’ defense did its thing against a seemingly hapless Giants’ offense. Washington’s defense limited New York so well in both facets that it was one of just four teams across the league to field a defensive success rate against both the run and the pass of over 60.0%.
12) Baltimore Ravens
Preseason Rank: 8th
After any shootout, it’s natural to question the defenses on both sides of the ledger. Was Week 1 a matter of the Ravens’ defense not being good enough to hang, or was the Buffalo offense just too powerful?
Time will tell, but our stable metrics like Josh Allen’s ability to dissect the Ravens defense from a clean pocket. Doing so in crunch time could ultimately be the fatal flaw of this Baltimore defense.
13) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Preseason Rank: 16th
If Tampa wants to win more football games, or at least win them comfortably, it’ll have to improve the pass defense. The Bucs allowed a successful pass rate over 50% of the time against Atlanta, ranking in the bottom third among all our secondary metrics.
2025 NFL Offense Rankings After Week 1: Ravens, Bills Surge to the Top While the Broncos Falter
In Week 1, they allowed 5.0 yards per play and had the league’s 20th-best unit by EPA allowed.
14) Las Vegas Raiders
Preseason Rank: 21st
Las Vegas recorded four sacks of Drake Maye, and while the counting numbers were high, the efficiency wasn’t (6.2 yards per attempt). This was the 26th-ranked pressure defense in 2024. The unit looked much better on Sunday. It helped them limit the Pats to just four conversions on their 14 third downs.
15) Miami Dolphins
Preseason Rank: 11th
Miami’s secondary was once full of highly paid veteran stars, but the young, new-look unit got off to a rough start in Week 1. The Dolphins had no answers for Daniel Jones and the Colts, posting a 42.4% pass defense success rate.
They only had one game with a lower pass defense success rate in 2024 (Week 13 vs the Packers: 39.3%).
16) Tennessee Titans
Preseason Rank: 22nd
The Titans were a disaster on both sides of the ball in Week 1, though there were some signs of life (and reasons for optimism) on defense. Tennessee limited Denver’s offensive success rates in both the run and pass games to under 40% — one of only four teams to accomplish such a feat in Week 1.
17) Los Angeles Rams
Preseason Rank: 24th
Is the tide turning for the Rams’ defense? In Week 1, they ranked sixth in defensive rush success rate, a marked change from years past, when they struggled by this metric. Elsewhere, however, they were a middling unit stopping the pass, so it all evened itself out.
18) Pittsburgh Steelers
Preseason Rank: 12th
Yes, Pittsburgh won, and yes, they allowed the highest defensive success rate against the pass, making former Steelers QB Justin Fields look like a superstar under center.
Is this just Fields turning the corner, or is this something to worry about for the rest of the 2025 season? Time will tell, but we know that they cannot continue allowing a successful pass on 64.0% of their snaps (an NFL-worst mark for Week 1).
19) Kansas City Chiefs
Preseason Rank: 14th
It was a performance to forget for the Chiefs on defense. Kansas City ranked near the bottom of almost every important pass defense category, including EPA per dropback, in which they allowed 0.4 EPA per pass attempt from Justin Herbert and Co.
If they want to hang their hats on anything from their night in Brazil, they can look at the fact that they generated pressure on 38.5% of their snaps without a blitz, basically just the Chris Jones base pass-rush situations.
20) New York Jets
Preseason Rank: 15th
Former New York QB Aaron Rodgers undid the Jets, thanks largely to some clutch and crucial throws, but their defense was not quite at its best across the board. They failed to stop Rodgers and offensive coordinator Arthur Smith’s short-area passing attack. The Jets also ranked 11th-worst in rush-stopping rate.
Both facets must improve to cash in on Fields’ early successes.
21) New Orleans Saints
Preseason Rank: 19th
The Saints allowed the third-most yards per carry before contact to running backs in 2024, and while the defense looked good for much of Week 1, the 52-yard run by Trey Benson was reminiscent of what we saw last season.
In all, this unit was better than expected on Sunday, but that was a low bar to clear.
22) San Francisco 49ers
Preseason Rank: 26th
The 49ers’ defense came to play against what was potentially an improved Seattle passing attack. San Francisco ranked in the top five in defensive pass success rate and EPA allowed per dropback, while finishing in the top 10 in nearly every other metric.
23) Indianapolis Colts
Preseason Rank: 23rd
The first game of the Lou Anarumo era in Indianapolis couldn’t have gone much better. The Colts shut out the Dolphins in the competitive portion of the game, allowing Miami’s lone score when it was 33-0 late in the fourth quarter.
Indianapolis stifled Miami’s aerial attack, averaging 0.39 EPA per dropback. The pass defense was a decisive weakness in 2024, ranking 21st in that same category (-0.09). With new additions such as Charvarius Ward and Camryn Bynum, Indy’s new-look secondary could propel this unit to new heights.
24) New York Giants
Preseason Rank: 20th
The Giants struggled in both facets in Week 1. Sure, they “limited” the Commanders’ offense to just 21 points, but their defensive success rate against the run was the league’s second-lowest figure, and their success rate against the pass ranked 11th-worst.
25) Buffalo Bills
Preseason Rank: 18th
Buffalo’s defense did very little to even encourage hope for the rest of the season. Perhaps the Ravens’ offense was just too good. The same can be said about Baltimore’s star-laden defense. Still, the Bills’ defense ranked last in yards allowed per play, and not all of that was because of Lamar Jackson or Derrick Henry.
They struggled to keep plays in front of them or prevent big plays from happening on a per-drive basis.
26) Jacksonville Jaguars
Preseason Rank: 31st
The Jaguars were the second-worst defense in PFSN’s Defense Impact metric last season, ahead of only their Sunday opponents. While the Panthers have their own problems, Jacksonville’s Week 1 performance promised that this talented unit can improve in 2025.
The Jaguars’ pass defense averaged 0.17 EPA per dropback, their best in a game since 2023. The Jags only had three games all season with a positive defensive EPA per dropback in 2024. It remains to be seen if this was simply a byproduct of Carolina’s dysfunction, but it was an encouraging start after a wildly disappointing 2024.
27) Arizona Cardinals
Preseason Rank: 27th
Context is important, but baby steps are still progress. The Cardinals have been a bottom-five third-down defense in back-to-back-to-back seasons. Still, they held the Saints to five of 14 (35.7%) on Sunday. They had one bad play in the run game (an 18-yard run by Alvin Kamara). Otherwise, they were stout in a spot where they were expected to be.
28) Cincinnati Bengals
Preseason Rank: 28th
The Cincinnati defense kept everything in front of them against a short-area pass-heavy Browns unit in Week 1, but they were also unable to really affect Joe Flacco all game long.
Best Remaining NFL Free Agents After Roster Cuts: Jadeveon Clowney, Stephon Gilmore Among Top Players Available
In fact, despite pressuring Flacco on 39.1% of his dropbacks, the Bengals found a sack on just 4.3% of those attempts, one of the league’s lowest pressure-to-sack rates.
29) Dallas Cowboys
Preseason Rank: 25th
Micah Parsons who? The Cowboys generated pressure without sending extra rushers 37.5% of the time, which would have ranked fifth for games with Parsons in the lineup a season ago.
Despite all the Parsons talk, the Cowboys’ back seven struggled the most, limiting their defensive pass success rate to just 42.4%, lower than any game last season and their third-lowest total in the last five seasons.
30) Atlanta Falcons
Preseason Rank: 29th
While Atlanta’s offense found success, its defensive lapse in the clutch led to its demise. The Falcons allowed a total of -6.97 EPA in the outing, ranking 23rd in Week 1.
They could not stop Tampa’s offense when it mattered most. Atlanta also struggled to rush the passer, turning in the league’s second-lowest sack-to-pressure rate.
31) New England Patriots
Preseason Rank: 30th
The Pats forced just 12 turnovers a season ago, and after an early interception on Sunday, the Raiders’ offense didn’t look uncomfortable. Their run defense held up well in wet conditions (56 yards allowed on 24 carries), but their inability to take away the opposition’s strength was concerning (Brock Bowers and Jakobi Meyers combined for 18 of 33 Las Vegas targets).
32) Carolina Panthers
Preseason Rank: 32nd
For many reasons, the 2024 Panthers defense was historically abysmal, but run defense was paramount. Carolina ranked last in rushing success rate (50.9%), defensive EPA per rush (-0.09), yards per rush (5.2), and rush yards allowed (3,057).
Even with the return of defensive tackle Derrick Brown, the problem doesn’t look solved in 2025. Travis Etienne trampled the Panthers, who allowed exactly 200 rush yards in the loss. Carolina had a strong 59.4% defensive rush success rate, but allowed five carries of double-digit yards, undoing much of their down-to-down work.