Washington Redskins Boast League's Top Defense

As someone with occasionally too much time on his hands, I often get annoyed about things that really shouldn't affect me. 

One of those things is:  Why is the NFL's system of ranking defenses so antiquated? 

Using total yards allowed in today's NFL is an idea that is way past its time.  There are so many yards that a defense is willing to give up in today's pass-heavy NFL, that defenses tend to be unfairly judged. 

For instance under the NFL's way of doing things, you can make the argument that no team with a dominant offense (in terms of yardage and points) can have a top-rated defense. 

The reason for that argument is that, once teams have a big lead, there is a certain amount of yardage that a team is willing to give up as long as they don't allow enough points for their opponent to get back into the game. This holds true in the fourth quarter of a lot of games. 

The NFL's current system fails to take into account the most important thing a defense can do—get the ball back into the hands of its offense. 

To this end, I have created the NFL's Aggregate Defensive Ranking.  It takes into account total points allowed, rushing yards allowed, and a majority of passing yards allowed. 

However, it also takes into account the factors that allow defenses to get off of the field—third down conversion percentage against, total sacks, and total turnovers created. 

With that in mind, here is a look at the Aggregate Defensive Rankings through Week 4 of the NFL season: 

Ranking

Team

Total Pts.

Total Rushing Yds

Total Passing Yds

Total Yards / Gm

Turnovers

3rd Conversion %

Sacks

ADR

1	Washington Redskins	63	338	848	296.5	6	26.0%	15	13.9
2	Baltimore Ravens	57	290	848	284.5	14	33.0%	11	14.1
3	New York Jets	95	522	721	310.8	10	26.0%	9	16.8
4	Detroit Lions	76	452	885	334.2	11	33.0%	9	21.1
5	San Francisco 49ers	75	296	1136	358.0	11	33.0%	9	22.1
6	Dallas Cowboys	101	247	920	291.8	6	38.0%	13	22.6
7	New York Giants	87	466	977	360.8	8	34.0%	12	23.5
8	Cincinnati Bengals	74	347	755	275.5	4	32.0%	10	24.3
9	Houston Texans	70	435	857	323.0	7	39.0%	12	25.3
10	Cleveland Browns	93	498	782	320.0	5	34.0%	11	26.7
11	Philadelphia Eagles	101	558	871	357.2	4	37.0%	15	27.3
12	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	77	404	1068	368.0	6	33.0%	10	28.6
13	Tennessee Titans	56	351	848	299.8	7	44.0%	10	29.2
14	Green Bay Packers	97	284	1343	406.8	11	44.0%	11	30.5
15	New Orleans Saints	98	376	1016	348.0	3	38.0%	13	31.8
16	Arizona Cardinals	87	422	1131	388.2	6	37.0%	10	34.0
17	Chicago Bears	98	497	1206	425.8	7	34.0%	8	36.7
18	San Diego Chargers	85	406	785	297.8	5	43.0%	8	38.3
19	Oakland Raiders	113	544	1095	409.8	6	43.0%	11	40.2
20	Minnesota Vikings	96	305	1145	362.5	3	46.0%	12	42.1
21	Buffalo Bills	96	518	1102	405.0	11	41.0%	4	42.4
22	Jacksonville Jaguars	85	428	915	335.8	5	38.0%	6	44.6
23	Carolina Panthers	102	575	812	346.8	4	33.0%	6	45.1
24	Atlanta Falcons	105	389	1102	372.8	8	42.0%	5	46.2
25	Indianapolis Colts	108	532	1029	390.2	7	48.0%	7	51.9
26	Denver Broncos	111	411	1100	377.8	5	43.0%	7	52.2
27	Pittsburgh Steelers	72	478	630	277.0	1	39.0%	7	52.9
28	St. Louis Rams	113	719	899	404.5	5	46.0%	8	56.5
29	New England Patriots	98	435	1475	477.5	9	48.0%	6	57.2
30	Seattle Seahawks	97	420	946	341.5	2	37.0%	5	69.8
31	Kansas City Chiefs	126	520	971	372.8	4	44.0%	5	71.9
32	Miami Dolphins	104	430	1228	414.5	2	43.0%	6	84.8

On the strength of a seven-sack performance and 172 net yards allowed against the St. Louis Rams, the Washington Redskins (yes, the Washington Redskins) have vaulted to the top of the rankings. 

They have racked up a total of 15 sacks so far this season and are allowing only 26 percent of third downs to be converted.  They lead the league in both categories (However, the Redskins will not get to play Sam Bradford and the Rams again this season). 

On their heels are the Baltimore Ravens.  Anybody who watched their performance against the New York Jets on Sunday Night Football can understand why.  The Ravens are creating turnovers at an alarming rate.  It will be interesting to see if they can stay near the top, once opposing offenses are a little more careful with the ball and adjust to the Ravens' multiple blitz packages.

Even though the Jets have struggled against the run, they come in this week at number three because of their strong third down, sack, and turnover totals thus far. 

One team to watch as we get later into the season is the Dallas Cowboys, currently ranked sixth (fourth quarter meltdowns not withstanding).  They currently are the league's stingiest against the run and are capable of racking up huge sack numbers with DeMarcus Ware and Rob Ryan's aggressive blitzing defense.  The Cowboys should only get better against the pass, as they continue to learn Ryan's new system. 

Tom Brady and the Patriots will be a huge test coming off of their bye.  The league's most disappointing defense for me thus far has been the aforementioned Patriots.  Conventional wisdom going into this season was that they were loaded on both sides of the ball.  They have given up a ton yards (granted, a lot them have come after the Pats have already built huge leads), but their third down and sack numbers thus far are troublesome.  I do expect improvement as the weather gets worse in the Northeast—fewer passing yards and closer games most likely. 

That'll do it for this week.  See you next week with the Week 5 ADR!