Ranking top 5 NFL defenses heading into Week 13 | NFL 2021-22 season
Another week, another look at the best NFL defenses going into the next round of matches. We look at the NFL defenses because they are vital in winning football games, especially come the end of the season. If you ever need to remind yourself of how important NFL defenses are come the crunch end of the regular season and the post-season, feel free to watch Peyton Manning's last Super Bowl victory or Tom Brady's win in the NFC Championship game last year. Even the greatest quarterbacks need a solid NFL defense on which to strut their stuff.
As an ode to defenses, we list down the best NFL defenses going into Week 13 of the 2021 season. As always in our rankings, we look at points allowed per game instead of yards, since we also want to capture the redzone defense capabilities of NFL defenses. Here are our top five NFL defenses going into next week.
#5 - Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers drop to fifth in our rankings of NFL defenses despite the Packers having won their last game against the Los Angeles Rams. They allowed 28 points in their win, dropping the points allowed per game to 20.2. The total points they have allowed so far is 242.
Packers defense is still feasting
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Their rushing defense is among the best in the NFL, just a notch higher than allowing 100 yards per game at 102.5. Their passing defense, however, has not been as good as they would have hoped. They have allowed 219.2 yards per game; the second-highest among the top five NFL defenses after the Denver Broncos. This leads to a cumulative 321.7 yards per game leading into their bye week in Week 13.
$4 - Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals are coming off a bye week in Week 12, but still feature in the top five NFL defenses because no-one could do well enough in the preceding week to knock them off the pedestal they currently occupy. The Cardinals have allowed just 18.4 points per game, which is a total of 202 points allowed in 11 games.
An in-depth look at Cardinals third-down defense with eye-opening numbers from Sunday's game against Seattle. Read my story: si.com/nfl/cardinals/…
Their defense has been underpinned by success against passing. They have allowed only 204 yards per game in passing. Their weakness, though, has been their rushing defense and they have allowed 113.8 yards on the ground per game. That's a total of 317.8 yards allowed per game.
Also Check Out: Complete NFL Bye Weeks 2021 Schedule