In June, I projected the top 10 offenses for the 2025 NFL campaign. A month later, it’s time to shift prognostic focus to the other side of the ball.
For the offensive rankings, I looked to answer one straightforward question: Who will score the most points in 2025? Naturally, this defensive rundown aims to infer the opposite: Who will give up the fewest points in 2025? Now, there is one important caveat …
Traditional scoring defense catalogues the total number of points allowed by each team, including scores yielded by the offense (pick-six, fumble-six, safety) and special teams (return touchdown). Seeing how the objective of this file is to establish a defensive hierarchy, I’m refining the prompt to a more direct question:
Who will give up the fewest points in 2025 when the defense is on the field?
Basically, true scoring defense. For reference, let’s recap last season’s 10 stingiest units by that criterion.
10) Miami Dolphins: 345 total points allowed (20.3 per game)
9) Seattle Seahawks: 344 (20.2)
8) Detroit Lions: 334 (19.6)
7) Pittsburgh Steelers: 333 (19.6)
6) Kansas City Chiefs: 326 (19.2)
5) Minnesota Vikings: 323 (19.0)
4) Green Bay Packers: 318 (18.7)
3) Denver Broncos: 311 (18.3)
2) Los Angeles Chargers: 299 (17.6)
1) Philadelphia Eagles: 288 (16.9)
Which teams will fill those slots in 2025? Well, defenses typically fluctuate more than offenses from year to year, so it isn’t necessarily shocking that two of the top four teams from above don’t even make the list below. Or maybe I’m just an idiot. Regardless, here is my forecast, in countdown form.
JUST MISSED: Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns, Green Bay Packers, Los Angeles Chargers, San Francisco 49ers.
Source link
