Barnwell ranks NFL's top 10 defenses

Minnesota is really playing great D and the rest of that division is lucky they lost a lot of their offense to injury already this year. I think there is a breadth to the Minnesota defensive strategy that Denver lacks and Belichick has it figured out. If you have great big TEs neutralize V.Miller, the Broncos defense is a very different beast. How long can Talib shut down a WR without pressure on the QB? That Denver D seems to have all its eggs in the Von Miller basket, so to speak. Not that he will be easy to shut down but if we can make JJ Watt invisible, I think we can work some BB magic on VM as well.

I don't see this in Minnesota. I see a more across-the-board team effort, without the lone big name superstar. They deserve credit for that. That makes things harder for a coach like Belichick that thrives off neutralizing the play of 1 or 2 superstars and forcing the rest of the mediocre team to beat his team. It will be interesting to play Denver again this year and see how they do with Bennett in the mix (and Scar, of course) as well as our depth at receiver. I'm not sure that is a recipe the Broncos are prepared for.

robertweathers said:

No shame with that list.

MN needs to do it in the playoffs to be considered elite

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They did it in the playoffs - remember? - their kicker gacked a chip shot field goal that would have bounced the mighty Seahawks.

I will admit, however, that I thought it was pretty much a flash in the pan. I guess I was wrong - from what I watched this year, the Vikings grind it out on D and drive opponents crazy. Sound familiar?

Brady'sButtBoy said:

They did it in the playoffs - remember? - their kicker gacked a chip shot field goal that would have bounced the mighty Seahawks.

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Sigh....they gave up the 9-0 lead. I thought they lost their mojo in that 3rd 4th qtr. When the offense does crap, their mistakes are amplified.

Brady'sButtBoy said:

I will admit, however, that I thought it was pretty much a flash in the pan. I guess I was wrong - from what I watched this year, the Vikings grind it out on D and drive opponents crazy. Sound familiar?

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Vikes D is excellent. Just need to stop people when stops need to be made.

Brady'sButtBoy said:

They did it in the playoffs - remember? - their kicker gacked a chip shot field goal that would have bounced the mighty Seahawks.

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In bolded means they didn't do it. It's black and white. I really enjoyed that game though. Too bad they didn't build an outdoor stadium, what an advantage that would be in the winter. Especially with their defense!

Wheelman said:

In bolded means they didn't do it. It's black and white. I really enjoyed that game though. Too bad they didn't build an outdoor stadium, what an advantage that would be in the winter. Especially with their defense!

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I grew up in LA, and recall the Rams going into Minnesota and falling apart.

It was said that the Vikings didn't have heaters on their sidelines, so as to help them acclimatize (literally) to the conditions better than visitors did.

No shame in being #4, when #12 comes back and out O gets in sync the D will get even more respect..

The equalizer here is our depth.. and ability to rotate players into this system when needed. Not sure every other team has this much quality in the D backfield and the whole D unit..

oldrover said:

Warning: BSPN link...

Stacking the NFL's best defenses

Pats rated #4. Above them, Minnesota, Denver and Seattle. Hey, I'm just thankful the D is getting the street cred it deserves.

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Took people long enough. Patricia militia

meatface said:

Took people long enough. Patricia militia

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I like that moniker "Patricia Militia" ! You may have named the Defense...

only one rank counts for a defense.....points allowed

#1 Denver - While not the best in PPG 8th-t or YPG 7th they are great at making game changing plays and scoring points. Those are back breakers and if your D scores 7 and you give up 19 imo that is effectively 12PPG. Overall they have average more than 7PPG on defensive scores IIRC. Also faced some decent QBs and Os.

#2 Philly - I could argue some reasons they should be higher and lower based on competition but here is one reason on one is considering. While Philly is #1PPGs their team has yet to surrender a single turnover from what i can tell. I can't put them #1 yet till they face some of those conditions. #4 YPG.

#3 Minn - This D is left on the field a lot. They also have an O that has not coughed up the ball yet though but their PPG is lower than Philly and Philly's O helps that D more by sustaining drives so they are fine here.

#4 Seattle - This D is #1 in YPG. While not my fav stat it is worth noting particularly with their PPG at #2. However this team has faced some of the worst offenses in the NFL. I want a bit more of a test before i put them higher.

#5 Baltimore - This D is silently back to being very good. They should arguably be higher as their O has given up a whopping 5 turnovers and yet they are #2 in YPG and #4 in PPG.

#6 Pats - This D has been inconsistent but I don't see anyone else to put over them. Personally I have them either last in this tier or their own separate tier cause i feel there is a drop offer after them and a bit of one before too. #5 PPG and #17 YPG. They showed well vs a good AZ O. They massively under preformed against Miami after a great first half. They dominated against Houston who while a bad O holding any team to a shut out is a feat. You can say throw out 1 bad half when they have a massive lead and they obviously are elite. You can also point out those kind of lapses separate elite Ds from good ones. Overall up to this point I think #6 is fair cause i really respect the job of the other 5 Ds ahead and if they end up the #6 D in the league i will not feel too disappointed TBH. but I'd like top 5 and think they can rise up a little more and battle these other Ds for one of those spots. The #1 thing to improve is red zone D. We have given up 6 TDs and 1 FG. They need to turn teams away when in the red zone and usually did in the past. Hopefully it is fixed soon.

7-10 I am not doing as it is a steep drop off imo.

AzPatsFan said:

I like that moniker "Patricia Militia" ! You may have named the Defense...

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i definitely stole it from other people who have been saying for a few years now