Week 9 Report Card for All 32 Defensive Coordinators

Some assistant coaches tend to stand out more than others. Buddy Ryan always did, and fittingly, so did his son Rex in Baltimore and other son Rob in Dallas. 

And there's always a "genius" offensive coordinator out there, who figures to be a shoo-in for a head coaching gig someday: Jon Gruden, Mike Holmgren and Brian Billick come to mind. 

But nine times out of 10, assistant coaches—even the offensive and defensive coordinators—aren't terribly well known outside of their local setting. 

So in the spirit of egalitarianism, this list gives each team's defensive coordinator the spotlight...for at least one slide. 

Check out these report cards for every NFL defensive coordinator's effort this Sunday. . 

NOTE: For defensive coordinators whose team did not play on Sunday (the four teams with byes, the two teams playing on Monday Night) a cumulative, Week 1 through 8, report card was given.

Dennis Allen: Denver Broncos

Stats: 24 points, 100 yards rushing, 316 yards passing

Grade: B+

Oakland's receivers made some fantastic plays today—did you see that catch by Jacoby Ford?—so it's hard to pin that type of stuff on Allen.

And in the second half, the pass rush really showed improvement—Von Miller continues to be the front-runner for NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year—as they repeatedly pressured Palmer. 

But the Raiders running game, sans Darren McFadden, was again impressive despite limited opportunities. 

Still, a win is a win and as much as Tim Tebow and Eddie Royal dominated the highlights, Denver's defense—which picked off Palmer, then forced three straight, then picked off Palmer again—was the biggest reason why Denver got its third win. 

Romeo Crennel: Kansas City Chiefs

Stats: 31 points, 244 yards passing, 107 yards rushing

Grade: F

Those above statistics don't tell the whole story here.

Sure 31 points isn't a good outing, but the reason why RAC gets an F here is who scored those 31 points—the putrid Dolphins offense. 

Matt Moore was almost perfect, completing 17-of-23 attempts for three touchdowns, while Reggie Bush was extremely elusive for a second straight week. 

The Dolphins might not be quite as they seem, but because they scored more offensive touchdowns on Sunday (four) than they did in their previous three games (three), that's F-worthy. 

Chuck Bresnahan: Oakland Raiders

Stats: 31 points, 298 yards rushing, 113 yards passing

Grade: D

Wow, I'm not sure what to make of the performance by the Raider defense. 

On the one hand, they really put a ton of pressure on Tim Tebow, allowed just 10 completed passes and kept the Broncos at 25 percent conversion on third downs.

But when Tebow wasn't doing it, Willis McGahee ran through the Raiders defense at will. Worse of all, when they didn't get in Tebow's face and allowed him to sit comfortably in the pocket. At times, he exploited bad coverage in the secondary.

Bresnahan repeatedly gambled with blitzes, assuming that Tebow wouldn't be able to defeat man-coverage, and he lost on a few critical downs. 

Greg Manusky: San Diego Chargers

Stats: 31 points, 136 yards rushing, 232 yards passing

Grade: C-

Considering the level of competition cuts both ways, dominating a terrible offense isn't necessarily enough to earn an A. So being whipped by an incredible offense, like the Green Bay Packers have, isn't necessarily enough to earn an F.

And although their overall point total was embarrassing, two of those touchdowns came by way of a Philip Rivers-crafted pick-six. 

Having said that, the Chargers pass defense was terrible Sunday afternoon. Did Aaron Rodgers even throw an incompletion? It certainly didn't seem like it.

Arguably even more concerning was how well the Packers ran the ball. Both James Starks and Rodgers found plenty of room to run. 

Chuck Pagano: Baltimore Ravens

Stats: 20 points, 118 yards rushing, 354 yards passing

Grade: B

The lion's share of the credit for Sunday Night's huge win over Pittsburgh goes to the offense: in crunch time Joe Flacco, Anquan Boldin and Torrey Smith really played well. 

And at times, the Ravens defense did look fairly pedestrian against both the Steelers running game and passing attack. Rashard Mendenhall had a few healthy runs, and Ben Roethlisberger displayed his vintage scramble-then-throw-on-the-run brilliance.

But against a passing game that is quickly becoming on of the most explosive (i.e. Mike Wallace) in football, Pagano's group did just enough to win the game.

When they needed to keep Pittsburgh from running out the clock so Baltimore's offense could get the ball back, they stopped the Steelers on third down, kept them from attempting a field goal and set up the game-winning score. 

Mike Zimmer: Cincinnati Bengals

Stats: 17 points, 78 yards rushing, 200 yards  passing

Grade: A-

The Titans offense is pretty average so Zimmer doesn't necessarily get high marks on that front. Furthermore, in the early going, Tennessee strung together three really, long time-consuming drives to take a 17-7 lead just before halftime.

But obviously, it's much more important to play your best defense after halftime. And the Titans certainly did that.

Pitching a shutout in the second half allowed Andy Dalton and that young Bengals offense to mount a pretty impressive comeback—one that kept them on pace in the AFC North. At the opening of the third quarter, Zimmer's group forced back-to-back three-and-outs, then two more punts from Tennessee.

And when the game was on the line, needing to keep the Titans out of the end zone, they did. 

Dick Jauron: Cleveland Browns

Stats: 30 points, 261 yards rushing, 119 yards passing

Grade: C-

You can look at the passing statistics that Cleveland allowed today and think "wow, only 119, pretty nice effort." But why on earth would Gary Kubiak repeatedly throw the ball when their rushing attack absolutely dominated the game?

Houston allowed 6.5 yards per carry, 14 rushing first downs, converted 9-of-14 third downs and controlled the clock.

And even though the second-half defensive effort—just two field goalslooks respectable, remember that the Texans only had three offensive possessions in the second half and all three consisted of 10 or more plays. That's dominance. 

Dick LeBeau: Pittsburgh Steelers

Stats: 20 points, 52 yards rushing, 314 yards passing

Grade: B-

It's safe to assume that the Steelers game plan on defense was to bottle up Ray Rice and dare Joe Flacco to beat them. Well, they achieved that goal, as Rice had just 28 yards on 18 carries.

And they did get plenty of pressure on Flacco, especially with James Harrison. To achieve that without LaMarr Woodley and James Farrior was extremely impressive. 

But time and time again, Flacco did beat them. He was incredible on third down and much of that needs to be chalked up to the game LeBeau called. More often than not, the Steelers attempted to rattle Flacco with blitzes, and it left Ike Taylor and William Gay in man-coverage.

And it came back to bite them, whether it was on that pass-interference penalty in the end zone or the dropped touchdown by Torrey Smith or the touchdown by Torrey Smith.

Wade Phillips: Houston Texans

Stats: 12 points, 44 yards rushing, 128 yards passing

Grade: B+

Let's temper the zeal for what Phillips' unit accomplished today. 

Sure, it was impressive and is the type of effort the Texans didn't routinely show last season. 

But, come on. It came against the Browns, who have maybe the worst offense in the NFL right now. Again, Peyton Hillis didn't play, Colt McCoy couldn't complete anything downfield and the Browns depleted receiving corps again looked overmatched. 

Still, Wade's boys can only play the team in front of them, and they didn't play down to the level of competition.

Larry Coyer: Indianapolis Colts

Stats: 31 points, 163 yards rushing, 269 yards passing

Grade: D

Peyton Manning doesn't play defense, right? 

I can appreciate the fact that the Colts bad offense doesn't do the defense any favors by being so terrible, but that excuse wasn't needed against Pittsburgh, or Tampa Bay, when the Colts defense played fairly inspired football. 

For the Colts to allow Michael Turner to pound the ball consistently is one thing. But even with Robert Mathis and Dwight Freeney, they put almost no pressure on Matt Ryan, who was only sacked once. Not surprisingly, the Falcons receivers—specifically Julio Jonesfound all kinds of running room and exploited that fact. 

Mel Tucker: Jacksonville Jaguars (Cumulative Grade)

Stats: 20.4 points per game, eighth against the run, 14th against the pass

Grade: A-

If you're not impressed by what the Jags have been able to accomplish on defense this year, then you're not paying close enough attention. 

The offense has not put them in good spots, but that hasn't kept Jacksonville from playing well above expectations this season.

You know about how tightly they clamped down on the Ravens and two weeks earlier in the second half at Pittsburgh. But ever since that embarrassing loss to the Jets, they've been pretty stellar. By far, Cam Newton's least productive game this year came against Tucker's defense. 

Jerry Gray: Tennessee Titans

Stats: 24 points, 109 yards rushing, 210 yards passing

Grade: C+

In the first half, Tennessee really clamped down on Cincinnati, only allowing one score; the other three Bengals drives ended with punts. 

And at the start of the second half, Tennessee continued their defensive charge, forcing punts on the Bengals first two series. 

But when the team could have put the game away, Gray's unit failed to produce. Andy Dalton drove the Bengals on back-to-back touchdown drives. 

Still, when they absolutely had to get stops—early in the final period and again at the end of the game following that Jared Cook fumble—the Titans D made the plays to give Matt Hasselbeck an opportunity to come back. 

George Edwards: Buffalo Bills

Stats: 31 points, 126 yards rushing, 222 yards passing

Grade: D

Admittedly, Chan Gailey and Curtis Modkins deserve the same, or even worse, grades for how the Bills offense did today, scoring just one touchdown that actually mattered. 

But at least that came against one of the NFL's elite defense; the Jets offense has been inconsistent at best this season. 

Still, from the outset (i.e. the 87-yard drive on the Jets first possession), Edward's squad had no answers for Mark Sanchez, failing to put any pressure on him. And in the second half, any hopes of another miraculous second-half comeback were dashed when the Jets scored on four consecutive drives. 

Mike Nolan: Miami Dolphins

Stats: 3 points, 116 yards rushing, 227 yards passing

Grade: A-

The Dolphins defense did a fantastic job. They put a ton of pressure on Matt Cassel, recording five sacks and getting close on additional snaps and limited Jonathan Baldwin, who had a breakout game last week, to just one catch. 

More importantly, they came out strong in the second half, something critical for a winless team. Kansas City turned the ball over on downs in their first possession after halftime then posted consecutive three-and-outs. 

The only reason the unit doesn't earn the A? Well, they did allow the Chiefs to convert eight third downs. 

Bill Belichick: New England Patriots

Stats: 24 points, 111 rushing yards, 250 yards passing

Grade: C

Since 2009, Belichick, who has opted not to hire a defensive coordinator the past few years therefore gets the "defacto" tag. Thus, all their inadequacies fall at his feet. 

In the first half, that Pats defense started to show signs of a turnaround, shutting out Eli Manning and forcing punts on the Giants first six possessions. Then, the roof again caved in. 

Manning put 10 points on the board, then, in the fourth quarter put up back-to-back drives of 85 and 80 yards. On both those series, the flaws in the Belichick's group—a weak secondary and a very limited pass rush—cost New England their long-time regular season home-winning streak. 

Mike Pettine: New York Jets

Stats: 3 points, 96 yards rushing, 191 yards passing

Grade: A

I don't care if some people think the Bills have done it all with smoke and mirrors. They have consistently scored points—at least 20 every game prior to this Sunday—and do have an explosive capability. See the Raiders and Patriots victories.

So for the Jets to go into Buffalo, where the crowd was extremely raucous and completely shut down Ryan Fitzpatrick, that was impressive. They forced three turnovers and didn't allow the Bills any drives of significant length until late in the third period. 

And with the corners they have and today's ability to clamp down on tight ends over the middle (Scott Chandler), it doesn't really matter if New York didn't record a sack. 

Ray Horton: Arizona Cardinals

Stats: 9 points, 150 yards rushing, 233 yards passing

Grade: B

Wouldn't it have been a shame if the Cardinals had lost to the Rams? Horton probably would have thought so.

His unit only allowed three field goals and didn't let Steven Jackson run wild. Sure, he had 130 yards, but he did carry the ball 30 times. His longest run was just 19 yards. 

And Sam Bradford looked fairly average against a pass defense that is one of the league's worst.

So Horton coached 'em up well this week. Of course, since it came at home, against a Rams offense that has the NFL's worst pass protection (Bradford was sacked four more times) and has such a weak collection of pass catchers, Horton really doesn't deserve better than a B. 

Ken Flajole: St. Louis Rams

Stats: 13 points, 70 yards rushing, 262 yards passing

Grade: B-

Neither John Skelton nor the Cardinals rushing attack strike fear in the hearts of defensive coordinators so holding his Cardinals to just one touchdown is a relatively average achievement...even if Larry Fitzgerald is at his disposal. 

But the Rams defense did produce a pair of safeties (on consecutive drives, no less) and when the Cardinals offense got the ball back late in the fourth quarters needing just a field goal to win, Flajole's unit pressured Skelton, forced a punt and gave the ball back to Bradford.

Considering the fact that Arizona had all the momentum at that point in the game (84-yard touchdown drive followed by a fourth-down stop), Flajole did a solid job down the stretch. 

Vic Fangio: San Francisco 49ers

Stats: 11 points, 52 yards rushing, 251 yards passing

Grade: B+

As is the case with a few other entries on this list, I can't just give a defensive coordinator an A based on pure numbers. The quality of their opponent has to be factored in a bit, right?

Well, the Redskins offense is atrocious and proved as much again today. Even their two scores probably deserve an asterisk: the touchdown came in garbage time, and their field goal was from 59-yards...meaning they didn't even cross the 49ers 40-yard line. 

But Fangio's unit took care of business against a bad team, so give them their due. Still, if they can do half as well next week against the Giants, he should earn an A.  

Gus Bradley: Seattle Seahawks

Stats: 23 points, 163 yards rushing, 279 yards passing

Grade: C

All in all, not a terrible effort by the Seahawks defense; clearly offense is the club's Achilles heel. 

And by halftime, Dallas only managed two field goals against Bradley's unit. But allowing consecutive lengthy drives of 96 and 86 yards proves they had their share of troubles. (And Dallas was in line to make it three straight long scoring marches had Dez Bryant not fumbled late in the second quarter). 

But because they were able to come up with a few stops—like allowing just a field goal attempt after Tarvaris Jackson's interception deep in their own territoryat least Seattle kept it respectable against a very talented offense. Of course, Miles Austin's injury probably helped. 

Rod Marinelli: Chicago Bears (Cumulative Grade)

Stats: 21.4 points per game, 12th against the run, 28th against the pass

Grade: B-

The Bears defense has been nearly as Jekyll and Hyde as their offensive counterparts.

They completely dominated the Falcons in Week 1, then were dismantled by the Saints, Packers and Panthers. But then again, few defenses haven't been dismantled this season by Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees and Cam Newton. 

So they should get a pass on that in some respects. And they have been opportunistic the previous two games, picking off Josh Freeman four times and helping put Donovan McNabb on the Vikings bench the week before. 

But they have a chance to greatly improve (or severely tank) their grade: they'll be in Philadelphia to try and slow down Michael Vick's Eagles Monday night. 

Gunther Cunningham: Detroit Lions (Cumulative Grade)

Stats: 18.4 points per game, 30th against the run, 6th against the pass

Grade: B+

The Lions have starred down a few of the league's more talented offenses—Dallas and Atlanta especially, but they also did a fairly decent job on Adrian Peterson—on their way to this great start. And they've racked up some very impressive numbers along the way, largely in those two thumpings of Denver and Kansas City. 

So Cunningham's Lions are certainly one of the better units in the NFL. But those numbers against the run have to be concerning for him and every Lions fan.

In three consecutive weeks, running backs (Michael Turner, Frank Gore and Matt Forte) topped the 100-yard mark and were able to control the clock at times. 

With a force like Ndamukong Suh in the middle, the 137.6 yards per game that they are allowing is pretty remarkable. 

Dom Capers: Green Bay Packers

Stats: 38 points, 85 yards rushing, 375 yards passing

Grade: C

I know the Packers are the only remaining undefeated team, they haven't lost a game since before last Christmas, and they have a quarterback who is playing at a level that probably hasn't been seen since Tom Brady's epic 2007 season. 

But that pass defense is just plan bad, and today was another example why. Philip Rivers led the Chargers on three touchdown drives of 80 or more yards and recorded an incredible 28 first downs. 

Of course the two pick-sixes were the difference in the game and credit them for it, but they didn't put much pressure on the opposing quarterbacktwo sacks and three hits on the quarterback in a game where Rivers attempted 46 passes is mediocre at best. 

Fred Pagac: Minnesota Vikings (Cumulative Grade)

Stats: 24.9 points-per-game, 5th against the run, 29th against the pass

Grade: C

Obviously, the outlier among those above stats is the run defense. But when you can't stop the pass, how much does it really matter that the run defense is allowing just 94.4 yards per game?

Still, the better question might be this: how bad would this Vikings defense be if Jared Allen wasn't having a fantastic season?

After Allen and his ridiculous 12.5 sacks, that unit has not been able to play well, especially the secondary that has been carved up by Cam Newton, Aaron Rodgers and even Jay Cutler. 

Brian VanGorder: Atlanta Falcons

Stats: 0 points, 83 yards rushing, 103 yards passing

Grade: B+

Again, I can't stress this enough: quality of opponent has to be factored in for these report cards. 

So it's great that the Falcons pounded Indianapolis today, essentially pitching a shutout since the Colts only points came on an interception returned for a touchdown. As a side note, can you believe Atlanta forced Indianapolis to punt on nine consecutive possessions?

But the Colts were essentially playing their third and fourth-string quarterbacks today and were again without Joseph Addai...not that he would have made that much of a difference. That's just not enough to earn a full-on A. 

Sean McDermott: Carolina Panthers (Cumulative Grade)

Stats: 25.9 points per game, 29th against the run, 14th against the pass

Grade: C

Even with a new defensive guru, Ron Rivera, at the helm, the re-signing of Charles Johnson, and the dynamic play of their rookie quarterback, we all knew that the Panthers defense was going to be a work in progress.

And the stats bear that out: not only have they've allowed 28 points or more in five games, but opponents are converting over 46 percent of their third downs. And each week they seemed to have no answer for the opponents ground game. 

But they've played respectable against a few of the NFL's best offenses like New Orleans and Green Bay, and in games that they should be fairly competitive, like the Redskins and Jaguars, McDermott's defense has come through. 

Gregg Williams: New Orleans Saints

Stats: 16 points, 84 yards rushing, 281 yards passing

Grade: B+

The Buccaneers offense doesn't quite fall into the same undesirable category as Cleveland's or Indianapolis' or Washington's. But it's certainly not "elite."

Yet, late in the first half, the Saints started to show some vulnerability, allowing three fairly long scoring drives by Josh Freeman's group. Those were hardly "garbage points" considering the game was reasonably close. 

Still, the great start that Williams' club got off to allowed the Saints to take control of the game from the outset and earn a critical victory in the NFC South.

Raheem Morris: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Stats: 27 points, 195 yards rushing, 258 yards passing

Grade: D

It's one thing to let the Saints passing attack carve your defense up—and make no mistake about it, Drew Brees certainly did that to the Bucs—but to be torn apart on the ground is an entirely different concern for Raheem Morris, who is the defacto defensive coordinator.

The Saints were able to repeatedly maintain drives, and the only reason the game was even close towards the end were self-imposed mistakes: the missed field goal by John Kasay, Drew Brees' interception inside their own territory, several costly penalties.  

I know that they've had injuries (they didn't have Gerald McCoy today), and the front seven is extremely young and raw, but with all that athletic talent, they should be able to put some pressure on Brees or at least get in Darren Sproles' way.

Rob Ryan: Dallas Cowboys

Stats: 13 points, 162 yards rushing, 219 yards passing

Grade: B

Come on! Please tell me you don't want me to give Rob Ryan an A for the performance today against Tarvaris Jackson's powerhouse offense? 

Credit the Cowboys for capitalizing on Jackson's three picks and clamping down to force a field goal attempt late in the second quarter after a long grueling drive. 

But the Seahawks passing attack is the terrible. Worse yet, knowing that—and that they could keep eight or nine defenders in the box they still let Marshawn Lynch average almost six yards per rush on 23 carries. 

Perry Fewell: New York Giants

Stats: 20 points, 106 yards rushing, 332 yards passing

Grade: A

Shutting out the opponent isn't the only way to earn an A; a clutch effort against a truly elite offense can also earn a defensive coordinator top marks. And that's exactly what Fewell did.

The Giants great front four applied some pressure up front, they didn't allow BenJarvus Green-Ellis or Danny Woodhead to rack up yards and forced three turnovers. 

Granted, Brady and the Pats put together a run in the late third and fourth quarter, scoring on four consecutive drives. But New England has so many weapons and is so dominant at home that holding them to just 20 points only allowing five third-down conversions is an unquestionable success. 

Juan Castillo: Philadelphia Eagles (Cumulative Grade)

Stats: 21.7 points per game, 19th against the run, 10th against the pass

Grade: C+

Because they spent so much money on Nnamdi Asomugha and Jason Babin, acquired Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and kept Asante Samuel, more was expected from this defense. 

But since, coming into Week 9, they had surrendered just as many points-per-game as the mighty Jets defense, and they've manhandled Dallas last week. They seem to have turned the corner. 

Still, in terms of a full season, allowing roughly 30 points per game during that miserable four-game losing streak, is enough to keep Castillo off the honor roll. 

Jim Haslett: Washington Redskins

Stats: 19 points, 138 yards rushing, 188 yards passing

Grade: B

No, they didn't win, and in the course of today's loss, the Redskins downward spiral continued. 

But in some ways, the defense did their part. Although Frank Gore had nice stats, and Alex Smith was again efficient, Haslett's crew repeatedly allowed field goal attempts instead of touchdowns. In fact, only one of David Akers four field goals capped off a lengthy drive—textbook example of the offense putting the defense in a bad spot. 

Maybe it's just by comparison to the Redskins terrible offense, but Washington's defense—which saw their two promising youngsters, Ryan Kerrigan and Brian Orakpo each record sacksat least looked competent today.