Week 4 Report Card for All 32 NFL Defenses

There are a lot of factors that affect how an NFL defense is graded on any given Sunday. Sometimes a mediocre defense has the advantage of going up against a mediocre offense, and that results in a good grade. Sometimes a bad defense, like the Denver Broncos, has to go up against Aaron Rodgers and gets torched, which results in a bad grade.

Here is a report card for each of the 30 teams that played on Sunday.

Carolina Panthers

The Carolina Panthers were good against the pass on Sunday, only allowing Jay Cutler to throw for 102 yards. Cutler threw one interception and no touchdowns.

The problem for the Panther defense was that it allowed Matt Forte to rush for 205 yards. That will get a team beat almost every time. It did the Panthers in on Sunday and earned their defense a D for the day.

Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears defense played well enough to win on Sunday, but that is about all. It gave up a lot of yards through the air to Cam Newton, 374 to be exact.

The Chicago defense did manage a touchdown when D.J. Moore returned an interception for 20 yards.

The grade cannot be too low because of the touchdown, but it also has to suffer after giving up 543 total yards and 29 points. They get a C for the day.

Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals defense was solid on Sunday. It only allowed the Buffalo offense, which had been playing really well, to gain 273 yards of total offense. It held Ryan Fitzpatrick to zero touchdowns on 199 yards.

It also limited Fred Jackson to 66 yards on 17 carries, but he did find the end zone once.

The Bengals get a B+ for their effort in Sunday's win.

Buffalo Bills

The Bills defense allowed 458 yards of offense to the Bengals on Sunday. Andy Dalton threw for 298 yards, and Cedric Benson rushed for 104 yards on 19 carries. This adds up to a C- for the day.

Tennessee Titans

The Titans defense was really good on Sunday. It only allowed the Browns to score 13 points and held Peyton Hillis to 46 yards.

It also returned an interception for a touchdown.

Colt McCoy did throw for 350 yards, but it took him 61 attempts to get there.

The Tennessee defense gets an A for its performance.

Cleveland Browns

The Cleveland defense let the Titans pile up 416 yards of total offense on Sunday. It allowed Matt Hasselbeck to throw for 220 yards on just 10 completions. Chris Johnson also got his first 100-yard game of the season.

The Browns get a D for their efforts on Sunday.

Detroit Lions

The Lions defense was not great on Sunday. It allowed Tony Romo to throw for 331 yards and three touchdowns, but it did intercept him three times.

The Lions were much better in the second half, returning two interceptions for touchdowns. They get a B for their performance on Sunday.

Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys defense was outstanding in the first half. It only allowed the Lions to score three points.

The second half was a different story. It gave up two touchdowns to Calvin Johnson late in the game. All of that adds up to a C- on the day.

Minnesota Vikings

The Vikings defense was pretty good on Sunday. It gave up 350 total yards and held the Chiefs to just one touchdown.

The problem was it allowed the Chiefs to kick five field goals in the loss. It gets a C for the day.

Kansas City Chiefs

Any defense that keeps Adrian Peterson out of the end zone and under a hundred yards deserves a high grade. The Chiefs did just that on Sunday.

It did give up some rushing yards to Percy Harvin, but that is not enough to keep the Chiefs defense from getting a B+ on the day.

Washington Redskins

The Washington defense was outstanding on Sunday. It held Steven Jackson to 45 yards on 17 carries. Sam Bradford was also unable to find much success against the Redskins defense. He threw for just 164 yards.

The 'Skins defense gets an A for its performance Sunday.

St. Louis Rams

The Rams defense did a pretty good job of limiting Rex Grossman on Sunday. He was only able to throw for 143 yards and posted two interceptions.

It was not very good against the Redskins' rushing attack, however. It allowed 196 yards on 40 carries.

The St. Louis defense earns a C for its efforts on Sunday.

San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers defense came up big in the second half. After allowing 20 points in the first half, it held Michael Vick and company to just three points after the break. It sacked Vick twice and intercepted him once.

The 49ers earn an A- for their performance in this game considering how well they played late.

Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles defense was the opposite of the 49ers on Sunday. It surrendered just three points in the first half but was bad after halftime, allowing 21 points. It only forced one turnover in the game.

The Philadelphia defense gets a C- for its performance.

New Orleans Saints

The Saints defense held the Jaguars to 10 points on Sunday. It sacked Blaine Gabbert three times and forced him to throw an interception. It gets an A for its performance in this contest.

Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jaguars defense actually played pretty well on Sunday. It gave up 23 points but held the Saints to nothing but field goals in the second half.

It intercepted Drew Brees twice in the game. It was not a great performance, but it was good enough to earn the Saints a C+ on the day.

Pittsburgh Steelers

That mighty Steelers defense seems to have taken a step back this year. It let Arian Foster run wild on Sunday. He ended the game with 155 yards on 30 carries.

The Texans did not have that much success throwing the ball, but it did not matter because they were running it so well.

The Steelers get a C for their effort.

Houston Texans

The Texans defense has been better early in the season than anyone expected it to be. It was solid once again on Sunday, holding the Steelers to under 300 yards of total offense and 10 points.  

The Texans tallied five sacks in the contest.

They get an A for their effort.

New York Giants

The Giants defense gave up a ton of yards on Sunday. The Cardinals totaled 368 yards; 158 of those yards were on the ground. Beanie Wells had three touchdowns.

In the end, the Giants defense was good enough to get a win, so it gets a C for the day.

Arizona Cardinals

The Arizona defense was able to stop the run on Sunday and force the Giants to be one-dimensional. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the Giants were still able to throw for 321 yards and two touchdowns on their way to a win.

The Cardinals defense gets a C- for its performance.

Atlanta Falcons

The Atlanta Falcons have not been as good as they were expected to be so far this season. They won the game on Sunday, but they gave up 372 yards and 28 points. The Falcons are going to need to be better than that to contend.

They get a C- for their effort in Seattle.

Seattle Seahawks

Seattle held Michael Turner to 70 yards on 26 carries. That is about all it did right. Turner scored on two of those carries.

Matt Ryan threw for 291 yards and another score on the way to a 30-point afternoon. Thirty points allowed will get you a D every single time.

Denver Broncos

Torched is the word that comes to mind when looking at the 408 yards Aaron Rodgers threw for against the Broncos on Sunday afternoon. He threw four touchdowns and ran for two. The Packers scored 49 points, and Denver gets an F.

Green Bay Packers

Kyle Orton was able to throw three touchdown passes against the Packers on Sunday, but he also threw three interceptions. One of those interceptions was returned for a touchdown. Most of Orton's 273 yards came with the game out of reach.

The Packers get an A for their performance.

New England Patriots

The Patriots were the ultimate "bend but don't break" defense on Sunday. Oakland piled up 504 total yards but was only able to manage 19 points.

The Patriots will not be able to get away with all of those yards given up against better teams.

They get a B- for their trip to Oakland.

Oakland Raiders

Tom Brady threw for 226 yards and two touchdowns in Oakland on Sunday, but most of the damage was done on the ground by the Patriots. They added 183 rushing yards and two touchdowns. The Raiders did not force any turnovers and gave up 31 points. That gives them an F for the day.

Miami Dolphins

It was a rough afternoon for the Dolphins defense. It gave up 411 total yards at the hands of Philip Rivers and the Chargers. That earns it an F for the day.

San Diego Chargers

The Chargers defense played well on Sunday. It only allowed 248 total yards and 16 points to the Dolphins. The Chargers did not give up a touchdown after the first quarter. That gives them a B+ for the day.

New York Jets

The Jets defense was not nearly as bad as the final score would lead you to believe. Three Baltimore touchdowns scored on turnovers by the New York offense. The Jets defense held the Ravens under 300 yards. That earns it a B for the night.

Baltimore Ravens

All you really need to know about the Ravens defense is that it scored three touchdowns. Three defensive scores will always earn an A.