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Houston Texans Retain No. 1 Spot in NFL STOP Defense Rankings
September 29, 2012
The Houston Texans remained undefeated with a 31-25 win over the Denver Broncos last week. The Texans' defense, which had given up only one field goal and one touchdown in their first two games, allowed three Denver field goals and two fourth-quarter TD passes in the victory over the Broncos.
The Texans “D” has stopped the opposition from scoring in 29 of the 36 possessions in the first three games of the season, an 80.6 STOP Factor, tops in the NFL. The Texans are one of only four NFL teams to keep their opponents from scoring in 70 percent or more of their offensive possessions.
At the other end of the rankings are the Carolina Panthers who have stopped their opponents from scoring only 12 times n 27 possessions, a STOP Factor of only 41.4 percent.
(The STOP Factor is based on the premise that it is the defense’s job to stop their 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—offensive unit TD or field goal—by the number of total possessions by the opposition.)
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 3 games).
Team, Opponents’ Scoreless Possessions/Opponents’ Possessions, STOP Percentage
1. Houston, 29 stops in 36 possessions: 80.6
2. Chicago, 26 stops in 35 possessions: 74.3
3. Atlanta, 22 stops in 30 possessions: 73.3
4. Seattle, 21 stops in 29 possessions: 72.4
5. San Diego, 21 stops in 30 possessions: 70.0
6. Green Bay, 22 stops in 32 possessions: 68.8
7. Arizona, 24 stops in 35 possessions: 68.6
8. Dallas, 19 stops in 28 possessions: 67.9
9. Philadelphia, 25 stops in 37 possessions: 67.6
10. New York Giants, 19 stops in 29 possessions: 65.5
11. Miami, 24 stops in 37 possessions: 64.9
12. Cleveland, 22 stops in 34 possessions: 64.7
13. San Francisco, 18 stops in 29 possessions: 62.1
14. Baltimore, 21 stops in 34 possessions: 61.8
15tie. New England, 19 stops in 31 possessions: 61.3
15tie. St. Louis, 19 stops in 31 possessions: 61.3
17. Jacksonville, 21 stops in 35 possessions: 60.0
18. Washington, 22 stops in 37 possessions: 59.5
19. Tampa Bay, 20 stops in 34 possessions: 58.8
20. Minnesota, 18 stops in 31 possessions: 58.1
21tie. Buffalo, 17 stops in 30 possessions: 56.7
21tie. New York Jets, 17 stops in 30 possessions: 56.7
23. Denver, 18 stops in 32 possessions: 56.3
24. Pittsburgh, 14 stops in 26 possessions: 53.8
25tie. Cincinnati, 17 stops in 33 possessions: 51.5
25tie. Kansas City, 17 stops in 33 possessions: 51.5
27. Indianapolis, 16 stops in 32 possessions: 50.0
28. New Orleans, 18 stops in 37 possessions: 48.6
29. Oakland, 15 stops in 31 possessions: 48.4
30. Detroit, 13 stops in 27 possessions: 48.1
31. Tennessee, 15 stops in 33 possessions: 45.5
32. Carolina, 12 stops in 27 possessions: 41.4
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