Week 13: NFL Report Card for All 32 Secondaries

The NFL has become a pass-first (and really, second, third and fourth) league. Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, and Drew Brees are on their way to each rewriting the record books for passing yards and possibly single season touchdown passes. 

So in this day and age the team that can successfully stop—or at least slow down—the opposing team's passing game has a tremendous advantage. 

Of course, only a novice would assume that every completion and touchdown pass is directly the fault of the safety or cornerback: Teams with no pass rush or poor zone coverage in the flats and short-middle are never going to succeed.

Still, the bulk of the responsibility does fall to those four, five, or six smaller guys who run the 4.4 40-yard dash and wear lower numbers on their jerseys.

Here's how each secondary performed in Week 13.

NOTE: For San Diego and Jacksonville, who play on Monday Night, grades are cumulative for the entire 2011 season. 

Dallas Cowboys

Opponent: at Arizona Cardinals

Stats: 224 yards, 1 TD allowed

Grade: B+

Going into Sunday's game with the Cardinals, the Cowboys' number one priority had to be containing Larry Fitzgerald...the old "let someone else beat us" mentality.

Well, that's exactly what happened. 

Not once did Fitzgerald get deep on the Cowboys—he only caught  four passes, none of which went for more than 18 yards—and the Cowboys still lost. Unfortunately, all that attention on Fitzgerald left things open for Andre Roberts, who had a career day.

Still, the game-winning, overtime touchdown pass from Kevin Kolb to LaRod Stephens-Howling was hardly on the secondary: It was a screen in which corners and safeties had no shot in the open field and against the Cardinals' convoy. 

New York Giants

Opponent: Green Bay Packers 

Stats: 360 yards, 4 TD allowed

Grade: C-

Given all the injuries and a visit from Aaron Rodgers, the Giants had almost no hope of slowing down Green Bay's passing attack. 

And despite a few moments in which they silenced Rodgers or forced him from the pocket, that's how the script played out.

Rodgers spread the ball around, not simply to backs out of the backfield or short hitches, but repeatedly, converting on third down. In fact, Green Bay recorded 21 first downs....just on pass plays!

Sure, the Packers have done that to just about every defense this year, but that's no excuse.   

Philadelphia Eagles

Opponent: at Seattle Seahawks 

Stats: 173 yards, 1 TD allowed

Grade: C

Considering how Marshawn Lynch tore apart the front seven, the Eagles probably could have done a lot worse on Thursday Night: The Seahawks just don't have the talent in the passing game to rack up huge plays and yardage.

And although Tarvaris Jackson had very good stats—completing 13 of his 16 passes—several of his attempts were underneath and short. So to limit the Seahawks on that front, without Nnamdi Asomugha throughout the entire second half, was admirable. 

Still, allowing the Seahawks' passing game even a decent effort in a game where your season is on the line is pretty poor. 

Washington Redskins

Opponent: New York Jets

Stats: 165 yards, 1 TD allowed

Grade: B

Although the Jets passing attack has been much-maligned, they still have plenty of weapons, so for the Redskins to largely shut them down is a noteworthy performance.

Mark Sanchez struggled on third down, and (aside from the touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes) failed to get the ball downfield. Remember, after halftime, the Jets' offense collected just one first down until midway through the fourth quarter.   

If they had any answer for Shonn Greene in the second half, the Redskins would have won their first home game since Week 2. 

Chicago Bears

Opponent: Kansas City Chiefs 

Stats: 139 yards, 1 TD allowed

Grade: B+

You can't really blame the Bears defense—and especially the secondary—for much today. Even that touchdown pass that Dexter McCluster hauled in deserves an asterisk: It was a Hail Mary that was only caught on the rebound.

And, if you're going to point the finger at anyone on that side of the ball, it should probably be the front seven, who did allow a few big runs from Thomas Jones and McCluster. 

So given their enormous troubles on offense (Jay Cutler's absence, the early injury to Matt Forte), the Bears' entire defense deserves a tremendous pat on the back. 

Still, for a defense as ferocious as that to not take greater advantage of the poor play of Tyler Palko, the injury to Kyle Orton, and finally the return of Palko, was a bit surprising.

Detroit Lions

Opponent: at New Orleans Saints

Stats: 333 yards allowed, 3 TD

Grade: D

Especially at home, the Saints' passing game is a nightmare to defend, so we can't exactly be surprised by what happened Sunday night in the Superdome. The boatload of penalties they drew and the suspension of Ndamukong Suh (who they absolutely needed to apply pressure to Drew Brees) made this challenge enormous.

Now some of Brees' brilliance was hard to blame purely on the secondary: The pass rush didn't get any pressure on the passer and there were times where Gunther Cunningham's scheme created total mismatches that were impossible to defend. How many plays was Jimmy Graham matched up one-on-one with a safety?

But Lions corners were also completely incapable of sticking with Lance Moore, Marques Colston and especially Robert Meacham when the ball was in the air. 

Green Bay Packers

Opponent: at New York Giants 

Stats: 347 yards, 3 TD allowed

Grade: D

Although the Packers and Giants essentially trade blow-for-blow today with both quarterbacks lighting up the other team's secondary, I thought Green Bay looked worse in the process.

For one, the Giants receiving corps features a beat-up Hakeem Nicks, a recently undrafted free agent in Victor Cruz (although he is having an outstanding season), and two tight ends no one had heard of before a few weeks ago. Yet Eli Manning utilized the options he had and spread the ball around brilliantly. 

In fact, had Jake Ballard not screened Manning on Clay Matthews' pick-six, the Packers might not be undefeated any longer. 

Minnesota Vikings

Opponent: Denver Broncos 

Stats: 186 yards, 2 TD allowed

Grade: D

Just in case you're wondering, that "D" isn't simply because they were beaten by Tim Tebow, who is quickly making a lot of defenses look bad.

No, the reason the Vikings get such a poor grade is because Tebow only completed four passes (three to Demaryius Thomas, one to Erik Decker) of any note and two went for touchdowns. 

It makes you wonder: How bad would the Vikings' defense be if Jared Allen wasn't in the lineup?

Atlanta Falcons

Opponent: at Houston Texans 

Stats: 175 yards, 1 TD allowed

Grade: C-

The Falcons were hampered by injuries today: Ray Edwards left the game, Stephen Nicholas couldn't play, and neither could Brent Grimes. If you told me a month ago they were going to hold the Texans to just 17 points on the road, I would have said that's a nice game.

But not when Houston is playing T.J. Yates—making his first career start—and losing Andre Johnson to another hamstring injury.

Yates really only completed a few passes downfield, but when he did, the Falcons made it easier for him. You get the feeling that had Matt Schaub been healthy, the Texans would have torn up Atlanta. 

Carolina Panthers

Opponent: at Tampa Bay Buccaneers 

Stats: 207 yards, 1 TD allowed

Grade: B+

Any team who plays against a backup quarterback has a tremendous advantage, but you can only play the opponent on your schedule.

Ron Rivera's secondary did a fine job against Josh Johnson and the Bucs today: Those stats would have been ten times more impressive had it not been for some "garbage time" yards and points in the fourth quarter. Really, the only mistakes the secondary made all day were two first-half longs by Mike Williams and Arrelious Benn.  

But more so than anything, the fact that the Panthers repeatedly limited the Bucs to lengthy field goal attempts rather than reaching the red zone is why they dominated on the defensive side of the ball. 

New Orleans Saints

Opponent: Detroit Lions

Stats: 409 yards, 1 TD  allowed, 1 INT

Grade: D

Although the final score didn't quite reflect it, the Saints-Lions Sunday Night game was more of a shootout than the Aaron Rodgers vs. Eli Manning battle today in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Neither team had any answers for the other team's passing attack. And although the Saints earned a decisive victory against a good Detroit team, that secondary hardly sparkled. 

Matthew Stafford completed 31 passes, several of which were down the field for 20 or more yards and stupid penalties were as much to blame for the Lions' loss as the Saints' secondary.  

The Packers and Saints seem to be on a collision course for the NFC Championship, and since neither team showed any ability on Sunday to stop the opponent's passing attack, that game could be the largest scoring contest in NFL history. 

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Opponent: Carolina Panthers 

Stats: 222 yards, 1 TD allowed, 

Grade: C-

For the Bucs, Cam Newton's legs were more of a problem today than his arm, but because 10 of his 12 completed passes were for first downs, Tampa Bay's secondary was below par. 

And make no mistake about it, most of those completions went to wide receivers, not the backs out of the backfield. 

Now the Bucs are certainly facing an uphill climb when they try to defend the pass: Their front four is so limited right now, but they did very little to slow down the Panthers' passing attack.

Arizona Cardinals

Opponent: Dallas Cowboys 

Stats: 261 yards, 1 TD allowed

Grade: A

The Cardinals' secondary wasn't perfect against Dallas: Tony Romo completed a few throws deep downfield to Laurent Robinson, Dez Bryant, and Jason Witten.  But that was it.

Certainly no one is talking about it these days. There are far more intriguing stories and exciting teams out there, but Arizona is quietly putting together a remarkable secondary.

You know about Adrian Wilson: He's a perennial pro bowler. And you know about Patrick Peterson, who broke up three passes today and will soon be as well known for his cover skills as he is for his punt returning. Add in very good play from Richard Marshall and A.J. Jefferson, and what we saw from Arizona Sunday afternoon might become commonplace soon.

St. Louis Rams

Opponent: at San Francisco 49ers 

Stats: 245 yards, 2 TD allowed, 1 INT

Grade: D

Alex Smith and the 49ers might be greatly improved from a year ago, but not that greatly improved.

Smith didn't seem to miss any open receivers, heating up in the second half with two touchdowns including the deep one to Michael Crabtree.

Perhaps the only positive thing you could say about the Rams' performance Sunday in Candlestick was the fact that San Francisco trolled deep inside the Rams' red zone four times. And all four times they limited the 49ers to field goal tries. Twice those stops came with the Rams' secondary limiting Smith's options and forcing an incompletion.

No, that's not much silver lining. 

San Francisco 49ers

Opponent: St. Louis Rams 

Stats: 126 yards, 1 INT allowed

Grade: A

I'm not going to dock the 49ers grade just because they played a Rams team that was already putrid on offense and was playing with their second string quarterback. But at best all they really could do was live up to expectations, and the worst they could do was let A.J. Feeley rack up tons of yards. 

So give them credit for taking care of business against a bad team, something plenty of contenders (the Saints, the Ravens, the Cowboys, for example) have failed to do at points this season. 

But aside from officially clinching a division that had long since been wrapped up, Sunday's effort didn't produce very much.

Seattle Seahawks

Opponent: Philadelphia Eagles

Stats: 198 yards, 1 TD allowed, 3 INT

Grade: A

Sure, they were playing Vince Young, DeSean Jackson is self-destructive, and the Eagles have been a mess this year, but give Pete Carroll's secondary a huge pat on the back.

They really only allowed one big play (a long pass to Riley Cooper), picked off Young three times (linebacker David Hawthorne's was the fourth) and put some nice hits on the Eagles receivers. 

Say what you will about their offense, but the Seahawks' defense is really starting to come together: The pass rush is solid, but with all that youth (Brandon Browner, Earl Thomas, Richard Sherman) this could emerge as an elite group in the next few years. 

Buffalo Bills

Opponent: Tennessee Titans

Stats: 130 yards allowed

Grade: B 

In terms of secondary play, it's hard to find much fault in the Bills' effort today: They didn't allow anything deep, the Titans' wide receivers only caught 10 passes, and Tennessee only converted two of 11 third down attempts. 

But when Chris Johnson is cruising through the opposition, there's no need to even bother with the passing game. So, I'm almost tempted to give the Bills secondary an "I" for "Incomplete." 

Miami Dolphins

Opponent: Oakland Raiders 

Stats: 258 yards, 2 TD allowed

Grade: A+

Maybe Vontae Davis was on to something back in August when he announced that he and Sean Smith were the best cornerback tandem in the NFL, and maybe Tim Tebow is the second coming of John Elway.

All joking aside, the Dolphins' secondary was brilliant today.

Through three quarters, Miami completely shut out Carson Palmer and the Raiders, who sport one of the NFL's most explosive young receiving corps in the league. Sure they didn't have Denarius Moore or Jacoby Ford today, but Louis Murphy, Darrius Heyward-Bey, and Chaz Schilens were out there. 

Yet the Dolphins forced Oakland to punt on eight of their first nine possessions: the one time they didn't force a punt, they picked Palmer off. Translation: The Dolphins offered Palmer nothing any downfield (when the game mattered at least). Miami already led 34-0 in the fourth quarter when the Raiders put up their two scores and over 100 yards of their passing figures. 

New England Patriots

Opponent: Indianapolis Colts

Stats: 338 yards, 2 TD allowed

Grade: C-

Earlier in this slideshow, I gave the Carolina Panthers' secondary something of a pass for the Bucs scoring late in the game and racking up yardage through the air because it came in "garbage time," i.e. when the game was well out of hand and the outcome no longer in doubt.

But the Pats' pass defense has been so atrocious this (and last) year that there is no such thing as "garbage time." They need to get better every opportunity they can. And today, they really didn't.

Sure they were already ahead by four touchdowns, and the starters may have been taking a breather, but letting that terrible Colts offense (on their fourth string quarterback) put together touchdown drives of 86, 93, and 90 yards further exposes the only flaw that can keep New England from returning to the Super Bowl. 

New York Jets

Opponent: at Washington Redskins 

Stats: 204 yards allowed, 1 INT

Grade: B

Knowing the personnel on both sides of the field, I can't in good conscience give the Jets an outstanding grade today.

In addition to having the best cornerback in the NFL, they probably have the best pair of corners in the league, enough to make up for a pretty average group of safeties. So playing against a Rex Grossman-led passing attack that features rookies, undrafted free agents, and guys past their prime should have been a cakewalk.

But it wasn't. A few big plays from Fred Davis hurt the Jets and allowed the Redskins to make it a much closer game than it probably should have been. 

Still, they definitely came through in the second half and on third down, limiting the Redskins to field goal attempts and forcing mistakes from Grossman. 

Baltimore Ravens

Opponent: at Cleveland Browns 

Stats: 174 yards, 1 TD allowed, 1 INT

Grade: A

Before I get to the actual grade that the Ravens earned for Week 13, it's worth pointing out the tremendous disparity between the haves and the have-nots in terms of the NFL passing game: The Saints, Packers and Patriots have historic passing games, while teams like the Steelers, Giants, Lions, Panthers, and Falcons sport excellent or even great passing attacks of their own.

However, the other half of the coin consists of teams like St. Louis, Seattle, Washington, Tampa Bay, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, and Tennessee: teams who have limited or almost no passing threats.

And you can add the Browns to that tally.

So for the Ravens' secondary to flourish Sunday in Cleveland doesn't say that much.  

But, again, Baltimore could only defend the offense in front of them. And they certainly did that, allowing just the one deep pass downfield to Peyton Hillis and a meaningless touchdown to Evan Moore in the game's final minutes. 

Cincinnati Bengals

Opponent: at Pittsburgh Steelers 

Stats: 159 yards allowed, 2 TD allowed

Grade: C

Here's a great case of stats not telling the whole story: Yes, Ben Roethlisberger only had 176 yards passing and completed just 15 passes. But the Steelers ran the ball so effectively that the secondary wasn't challenged very often.

Worse yet, when it was tested, Roethlisberger and the Steelers' young crop of a receiver torched it. Mike Wallace scored twice and Antonio Brown had a long reception.

Had the Steelers' defense not played well and the game been close, Pittsburgh's passing game would have put up huge numbers.

Cleveland Browns

Opponent: Baltimore Ravens

Stats: 158 yards allowed

Grade: B

As was the case with the Titans in Buffalo, when you're on the road against a team with a losing record and you have a running back who can chew up yardage on the ground, who cares what you can gain through the air? It's meaningless.

That's what the Ravens said Sunday. They rammed Ray Rice and Ricky Williams down the Browns' throats for an easy victory.

There was no need for Joe Flacco to test Joe Haden, who may be one of the NFL's best young corners, but can only defend part of the field.

So while Anquan Boldin and Torrey Smith only combined for three catches, I refuse to give the Browns and A. 

Pittsburgh Steelers

Opponent: Cincinnati Bengals 

Stats: 128 yards, 1 TD allowed, 1 INT

Grade: A

A.J. Green made two nice plays for the Bengals, but aside from that, the Steelers' secondary absolutely dominated Cincinnati. 

Certainly James Harrison (three sacks) and the outstanding pass rush deserve a ton of credit for that, but Ike Taylor and William Gay locked up the sidelines and the tremendous safety duo of Troy Polamalu and Ryan Clark did a great job securing the middle. 

You do have to wonder, however, how much different the secondary play (and the outcome of the game itself) might have been if that false start penalty on their opening drive didn't negate an Andy Dalton touchdown pass to Jermaine Gresham. 

Houston Texans

Opponent: Atlanta Falcons

Stats: 267 yards, 1 TD allowed

Grade: C

They may have only allowed one score and made Matt Ryan deliver some pretty poor throws, but the secondary doesn't deserve the credit for that: the Texans' front seven really put a lot of pressure on Ryan.

When the Texans weren't able to get home and pressure Ryan, he made some big throws to Roddy White, Tony Gonzalez, and Julio Jones: Did you see how open White was on that game-tying touchdown pass in the third period? Inexcusable breakdown in the secondary.

Although it didn't cost them the game, when the Falcons needed to get downfield in a hurry during the final two minutes, they did.

Ryan had little trouble making plays and Julio Jones probably should have hauled in that ball on the game's final play. That was pretty poor coverage on Jones, who easily got separation. 

Indianapolis Colts

Opponent: at New England Patriots 

Stats: 289 yards, 3 TD allowed

Grade: D

The Colts had no defense for the Patriots' passing game: Everything Tom Brady did worked.

He got the ball to Wes Welker (10 more catches) and Deion Branch, allowing Brady to continue to utilize tight ends Aaron Hernandez and of course touchdown machine Rob Gronkowski. On both of his touchdown catches, Gronk was so wide open that you have to wonder if anyone in the secondary (or coaching staff) has watched film from the Pats lately. Those big mitts have hauled in red zone touchdowns seemingly every week.  

The Patriots' ability to contain Robert Mathis and Dwight Freeney was vital, but the Colts' secondary didn't help them out at all. The best proof of that? Chad Ochocinco even had a catch! 

Jacksonville Jaguars (Cumulative)

Opponent: San Diego Chargers 

Stats: 183 yards per game (4th in the NFL)

Grade: B-

The secondary may be the best unit on the Jaguars team.

After a rocky start, they did a fine job against Pittsburgh in the second half, and Baltimore was the first team to slow down Cam Newton and did a decent job containing the Saints and Drew Brees.

Doing all that when they have a subpar pass rush and pretty terrible offense is fairly remarkable. 

Still, when you look at the overall totals, keep in mind who they've played: horrific passing attacks in Cleveland and Indianapolis as well as two games with Houston, once when the Texans were without Andre Johnson and later when they were playing a second and then a third-string quarterback. 

Tennessee Titans

Opponent: at Buffalo Bills

Stats: 282 yards, 1 TD allowed

Grade: C

Although they were ahead by two scores at the time with just under nine minutes remaining in the game, victory was hardly secured for the Titans. So for that secondary to allow Ryan Fitzpatrick to connect on a handful of big plays in the passing game down the stretch warrants a low grade and largely negated all the good work they had done through three-and-a-half quarters. 

Trailing 23-10, Fitzpatrick completed eight passes (including a big gain to Steve Johnson and two to Brad Smith) on a touchdown drive that made the game close. Then, nursing a six-point advantage with 1:02 remaining, Tennessee's secondary again looked shaky, allowing that deep pass to Naaman Roosevelt.

Now they did stiffen up once the Bills reached midfield to preserve the victory, but it should have never been that close. 

Denver Broncos

Opponent: at Minnesota Vikings

Stats: 360 yards, 3 TD allowed, 1 INT 

Grade: B-

Talk about bend, but don't break.

The Broncos were torched by rookie Christian Ponder and especially Percy Harvin, but because they came up with critical plays down the stretch, it didn't matter.

You'd figure that a veteran secondary (Champ Bailey, Brian Dawkins) would do a better job tackling in the open field and be able to slow down an offense missing their lynchpin in Adrian Peterson, but that didn't happen. Of course, Von Miller's absence was a big contributor to the Broncos' occasional mishaps. 

Nevertheless, in the fourth quarter, they limited the VIkings' passing options, and on the game's most critical play, cornerback Andre Goodman picked off Ponder to set up the game-winning field goal. 

Kansas City Chiefs

Opponent: at Chicago Bears 

Stats: 88 yards allowed, 3 INT

Grade: A 

Yes, I know that the Bears were without Jay Cutler and Matt Forte, so Romeo Crennel's defense doesn't exactly deserve to be mentioned alongside the 1985 Bears, 1976 Steelers, or 2000 Ravens. 

Nevertheless, they thoroughly dominated Chicago today on the road, capitalizing on almost every mistake Caleb Hanie made. Not only did three different players in the secondary snag interceptions, but they stopped the Bears on every one of their 11 third down tries. 

Of course the seven sacks they recorded were a major shot in the arm, but a few of those had to be chalked up to coverage sacks. 

Oakland Raiders

Opponent: at Miami Dolphins

Stats: 153 yards, 1 TD allowed

Grade: C

While Hue Jackson's offense is going to be the scapegoat for Sunday's debacle in Miami, the defense's sad performance shouldn't be forgotten, except by Raiders fans. 

Sure, Matt Moore didn't light up the Raiders' secondary, but he didn't need to, considering how well they were running the ball. 

More to the point, the few times that Moore did drop back to pass and surgery the field, he made a few big plays, including two long completions to Brandon Marshall and another long one to Anthony Fasano, which set up the Dolphins' first touchdown. 

San Diego Chargers (Cumulative)

Opponent: at Jacksonville Jaguars 

Stats: 205 yards per game (9th in the NFL)

Grade: C

There are a whole host of reasons why the Chargers have slipped into a coma, losing six straight to fall out of the playoff race and probably cost their head coach his job. 

Despite the overall stats, the pass defense has been a noticeable part of it. Forget for a second how Aaron Rodgers tore through them a couple weeks ago; he's done that to just about every team he's played in the last 365 days. 

But during this skid, they were also ripped up by Mark Sanchez, Carson Palmer, Jay Cutler, and occasionally in crunch time last week, Tim Tebow. Not exactly a murderer's row of passers.