Bears Blitz

NFL’s Most Overrated and Underrated Defenses of 2008

Published by Shaun Leistikow on September 3, 2009
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

The current defensive rankings are flawed. You cannot judge a team by yards alone as everyone seems to be doing as of late. The defensive ranking should be yards/plays. However, I’m going to do an adjustment to that as well since turnovers are a huge part of the game. I’m subtracting 40 yards for each turnover that the teams took. Here is the list:

POS	Team	Plays	Yds/Game	Yards	INT	FUMB	Adj. Yds/Play
1	Pittsburgh Steelers	974	237.2	3795	20	9	2.71
2	Baltimore Ravens	928	261.1	4177	26	8	3.04
3	Philadelphia Eagles	994	274.3	4389	15	14	3.25
4	Tennessee Titans	1,022	293.6	4698	20	11	3.38
5	Chicago Bears	1,087	334.7	5355	22	10	3.75
6	Minnesota Vikings	946	292.4	4679	12	13	3.89
7	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	945	306.1	4898	22	8	3.91
8	Dallas Cowboys	969	294.3	4709	8	14	3.95
9	New York Jets	1,020	329.4	5270	14	16	3.99
10	Indianapolis Colts	983	310.9	4975	15	11	4.00
11	New York Giants	931	292	4672	17	5	4.07
12	Arizona Cardinals	993	331.5	5304	13	17	4.13
13	Miami Dolphins	979	329	5264	18	12	4.15
14	Washington Redskins	933	288.8	4621	13	5	4.18
15	Carolina Panthers	1,026	331.2	5299	12	13	4.19
16	Cincinnati Bengals	1,013	325.5	5208	12	12	4.19
17	Green Bay Packers	1,003	334.3	5349	22	6	4.22
18	San Francisco 49ers	1,027	326	5216	12	6	4.38
19	New England Patriots	920	309	4944	14	8	4.42
20	Cleveland Browns	1,004	356.5	5704	23	8	4.45
21	San Diego Chargers	1,041	349.9	5599	15	9	4.46
22	Buffalo Bills	971	326.1	5217	10	12	4.47
23	New Orleans Saints	999	339.5	5432	15	7	4.56
24	Oakland Raiders	1,045	360.9	5775	16	8	4.61
25	Houston Texans	935	336.6	5385	12	10	4.82
26	Atlanta Falcons	998	348.2	5566	10	8	4.86
27	Kansas City Chiefs	1,041	393.2	6291	13	16	4.93
28	Seattle Seahawks	1,058	378	6048	9	11	4.96
29	Jacksonville Jaguars	922	330.9	5295	13	4	5.01
30	St. Louis Rams	975	371.9	5950	12	14	5.04
31	Denver Broncos	990	374.6	5993	6	7	5.53
32	Detroit Lions	1,009	404.4	6470	4	16	5.62

If we take this new ranking system and compare it to the old, outdated, and highly insufficient ranking system we can now see who is actually overrated and who is underrated.

The top five overrated defenses from 2008 are as follows:

5. New York Giants drop six places.

4. Buffalo Bills drop eight places.

3. New England Patriots drop nine places.

2. Washington Redskins drop 10 places.

1. Jacksonville Jaguars drop 12 places and are the most overrated defense of last year.

The top five underrated defenses from 2008 are as follows:

t5. Kansas City Chiefs increase four places.

t5. San Diego Chargers increase four places.

4. Cleveland Browns increase six places.

3. Arizona Cardinals increase seven places.

2. New York Jets increase seven places.