Houston Texans Top NFL with Best STOP Defense After Week 2

The Houston Texans are not only one of six NFL teams that have started the season 2-0, but they are currently first in the league in fewest points allowed, with 17.

The Texans are also ranked as the No. 1 defense in the STOP Factor. The Texans defense has only allowed two scores (one touchdown and one field goal) on 22 defensive series, meaning it has prevented its opponents from scoring 20 of 22 times in the first two games—a .909 STOP Factor.

They defeated the Miami Dolphins 30-10 in Week 1, allowing the Dolphins to only score once on offense—a field goal—on 11 possessions (Miami scored its only TD on a punt return). In Week 2, the Texans limited the Jacksonville Jaguars to only one score—a TD—on 11 possessions in a 27-7 victory.

At the other end of the scale are the Buffalo Bills, who have had 18 series on defense and have allowed the opposition to score on 11 of them, good for a .389 STOP Factor.

The STOP Factor is based on the premise that it is the defense’s job to stop its opponents from scoring on each possession. To get a team’s STOP Factor, you divide the number of times a defense stops the offense from scoring by the number of possessions.

Following is each team's STOP Factor. Listed is how many times each team stopped the opponents from scoring, the number of possessions their opponents had and the percentage of possessions that each team prevented the other team from scoring (stats are through Week 2 games).

Team, Opponents’ scoreless possessions/opponents’ possessions, pct.

1. Houston: 20/22 .909

2tie. San Diego: 15/20 .750

3tie. Seattle: 15/20 .750

4. Philadelphia: 20/28 .714

5tie. Baltimore: 17/24 .708

5tie. Chicago: 17/24 .708

7tie. Atlanta: 14/21 .667

7tie. New England: 14/21 .667

9. Cleveland: 15/23 .652

9tie. Green Bay: 15/23 .652

11tie. Arizona: 16/25 .640

11tie. Miami: 16/25 .640

13. St. Louis: 14/22 .636

14. San Francisco: 12/19 .632

15tie. Pittsburgh: 10/16 .625

15tie. Washington: 15/24 .625

17. Dallas: 10/17 .588

18. New York Giants: 12/21 .571

19. Tampa Bay: 13/23 .565

20. Carolina: 11/20 .550

21. Denver: 10/19 .526

22. Minnesota: 11/21 .524

23. Jacksonville: 12/23 .522

24. New York Jets: 9/18 .500

25tie. Indianapolis: 10/21 .476

25tie. Oakland: 10/21 .476

27. Detroit: 8/17 .471

28. New Orleans: 10/22 .455

29. Tennessee: 9/20 .450

30tie. Cincinnati: 8/20 .400

30tie. Kansas City: 8/20 .400

32. Buffalo: 7/18 .389

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