2025 NFL Defensive Tiers Week 16: Broncos Surging; Packers Facing Uncertainty

The past week of NFL action gave us the full range of defensive football.

We saw three teams held to no more than three points — including two shutouts — and three others put up 40-plus. In many ways, it’s emblematic of the time of the year. While many of the league’s contenders are seeing their defenses round into form with the playoffs fast approaching, the offseason can’t come soon enough for the teams that have been eliminated from postseason contention.

Ahead of Week 16, here’s my tiered ranking of all 32 defensive units (see Week 15 here):

Houston Texans
Denver Broncos
Seattle Seahawks
Los Angeles Rams
Philadelphia Eagles
Los Angeles Chargers

The Broncos gave up 26 points to the Packers, but they were elite down the stretch. Denver held Green Bay to three points in the fourth quarter, recorded two second-half interceptions and came up with two fourth-down stops in the Packers' final six possessions. The Broncos won 34-26, extending their winning streak to 11 games and clinching a playoff berth.

Denver pressured Packers quarterback Jordan Love on 52.2% of his dropbacks (!), the highest single-game rate he’s faced as a starter, according to Next Gen Stats. The Broncos sacked Love three times, bringing their league-high total to 58, just 14 short of the NFL single-season record with three games left.

Jacksonville Jaguars
Cleveland Browns
New England Patriots
Green Bay Packers

The Packers’ defense faces massive uncertainty with Micah Parsons out for the year, but for the time being, they get some benefit of the doubt in this ranking. That's because last season, with many of the same starters but without the superstar edge rusher, the Green Bay defense ranked sixth in the league in points, fifth in yards and fourth in takeaways.

Now, however, defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley’s unit must win in a different way without Parsons, whose presence created playmaking opportunities for his teammates up front and in the secondary. Green Bay, which may have grown dependent on Parsons, no longer has any margin for error.

Kansas City Chiefs
Baltimore Ravens
Chicago Bears
San Francisco 49ers
Minnesota Vikings
New Orleans Saints
Indianapolis Colts
Pittsburgh Steelers
Carolina Panthers
Miami Dolphins
Buffalo Bills

The Bears gave up a season-low three points in their Week 15 win over Cleveland, generating a 52.4% pressure rate and five sacks on rookie QB Shedeur Sanders. Their 22 pressures were the team's most in a single game in five years, per NGS.

Before you say it’s just the Browns, it’s important to note that a Chicago defense that was overly reliant on takeaways early in the season is playing better football as of late — and still forcing turnovers in bunches. The Bears have given up 17 or fewer points in three of their past five games, a span in which they have 10 takeaways.

Atlanta Falcons
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Detroit Lions
Dallas Cowboys

While the Lions’ offense remains a juggernaut, their defense is regressing down the stretch.

Detroit gave up 41 points to the Rams, the fourth straight game it's allowed at least 27 points. In that span, the Lions have given up more than 400 yards three times, including 500-plus twice (Rams, Giants).

Washington Commanders
Las Vegas Raiders
Cincinnati Bengals

It’s hard to imagine Raiders coach Pete Carroll keeping his job after this season. In Week 15, his defense gave up 31 points to the Eagles — in just over 45 minutes. It's the fourth time in the past seven weeks that Las Vegas has allowed 30-plus points in a game.

New York Giants
Tennessee Titans
New York Jets
Arizona Cardinals

A reeling Jets defense gave up six touchdowns to Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence and allowed 48 points to Jacksonville, costing New York defensive coordinator Steve Wilks his job.

But no defense in football is currently playing worse than the Cardinals’, which has given up 40-plus points in back-to-back weeks and four times overall in the past six games. Jonathan Gannon’s days appear to be numbered as Arizona’s coach.

Ben Arthur is an NFL reporter for FOX Sports. He previously worked for The Tennessean/USA TODAY Network, where he was the Titans beat writer for a year and a half. He covered the Seattle Seahawks for SeattlePI.com for three seasons (2018-20) prior to moving to Tennessee. You can follow Ben on Twitter at @benyarthur.

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