2015 NFL Season – Offense & Defensive Team Rankings Heading Into Week 14

What makes the best defense or offense in the NFL? Is it their ability to keep teams from gaining yards or first downs, or is it simply a case of not giving up points or scoring a lot themselves, regardless if it comes with an offense that gains a lot of yards or not?

There’s no clear answer. Probably points matter more, obviously. You score more, you win the game, as John Madden would probably say. There are three teams with more than 400 yards of offense this season – Cardinals, Patriots and Steelers. The first two lead the league in points per game as well. The Steelers rank sixth. But there are teams like the Panthers, Chiefs and Bills who aren’t too impressive in their ability to get the ball down the field, but all three rank in the top 10 scoring offenses in the league.

Offensive Ranking (by Points Per Game)

RK	TEAM	YDS	YDS/G	PASS	P YDS/G	RUSH	R YDS/G	PTS	PTS/G
1	Arizona	5034	419.5	3592	299.3	1442	120.2	382	31.8
2	New England	4852	404.3	3790	315.8	1062	88.5	375	31.3
3	Carolina	4333	361.1	2630	219.2	1703	141.9	373	31.1
4	Cincinnati	4515	376.3	3095	257.9	1420	118.3	334	27.8
5	Kansas City	4096	341.3	2640	220.0	1456	121.3	321	26.8
6	Pittsburgh	4909	409.1	3432	286.0	1477	123.1	311	25.9
7	NY Giants	4256	354.7	3199	266.6	1057	88.1	307	25.6
8	Seattle	4545	378.8	2786	232.2	1759	146.6	305	25.4
9	New Orleans	4747	395.6	3614	301.2	1133	94.4	299	24.9
10	Buffalo	4208	350.7	2517	209.8	1691	140.9	296	24.7
11	NY Jets	4386	365.5	3039	253.3	1347	112.3	295	24.6
12	Green Bay	4097	341.4	2757	229.8	1340	111.7	289	24.1
13	Oakland	4352	362.7	3196	266.3	1156	96.3	284	23.7
14	Atlanta	4640	386.7	3335	277.9	1305	108.8	279	23.3
15	Philadelphia	4225	352.1	2837	236.4	1388	115.7	278	23.2
16	Jacksonville	4204	350.3	3067	255.6	1137	94.8	275	22.9
17	Baltimore	4354	362.8	3177	264.8	1177	98.1	272	22.7
18	Tampa Bay	4439	369.9	2719	226.6	1720	143.3	271	22.6
19	Denver	4100	341.7	2843	236.9	1257	104.8	269	22.4
20	Indianapolis	4035	336.3	2969	247.4	1066	88.8	259	21.6
21	Washington	4001	333.4	2870	239.2	1131	94.3	257	21.4
22	Detroit	4100	341.7	3180	265.0	920	76.7	253	21.1
	Houston	4338	361.5	3137	261.4	1201	100.1	253	21.1
24	Chicago	4175	347.9	2787	232.3	1388	115.7	251	20.9
25	San Diego	4567	380.6	3575	297.9	992	82.7	247	20.6
26	Tennessee	3926	327.2	2691	224.3	1235	102.9	245	20.4
27	Miami	3914	326.2	2768	230.7	1146	95.5	240	20.0
28	Minnesota	3790	315.8	2149	179.1	1641	136.8	238	19.8
29	Dallas	3963	330.3	2598	216.5	1365	113.8	223	18.6
30	Cleveland	3969	330.8	3082	256.8	887	73.9	216	18.0
31	St. Louis	3556	296.3	2136	178.0	1420	118.3	189	15.8
32	San Francisco	3541	295.1	2352	196.0	1189	99.1	178	14.8

Defensive Rankings (by Points per Game)

RK	TEAM	YDS	YDS/G	PASS	P YDS/G	RUSH	R YDS/G	PTS	PTS/G
1	Cincinnati	4050	337.5	2884	240.3	1166	97.2	196	16.3
2	Denver	3416	284.7	2347	195.6	1069	89.1	210	17.5
3	Seattle	3699	308.3	2646	220.5	1053	87.8	229	19.1
4	Minnesota	4108	342.3	2718	226.5	1390	115.8	232	19.3
	Arizona	3802	316.8	2734	227.8	1068	89.0	232	19.3
6	Green Bay	4282	356.8	2940	245.0	1342	111.8	238	19.8
7	Kansas City	4050	337.5	2896	241.3	1154	96.2	240	20.0
	Pittsburgh	4390	365.8	3306	275.5	1084	90.3	240	20.0
9	Carolina	3772	314.3	2726	227.2	1046	87.2	243	20.3
10	New England	4094	341.2	2899	241.6	1195	99.6	247	20.6
11	NY Jets	3918	326.5	2916	243.0	1002	83.5	248	20.7
12	Atlanta	4110	342.5	2879	239.9	1231	102.6	257	21.4
	St. Louis	4275	356.3	2879	239.9	1396	116.3	257	21.4
14	Houston	3988	332.3	2619	218.3	1369	114.1	264	22.0
15	Dallas	3918	326.5	2669	222.4	1249	104.1	277	23.1
16	Buffalo	4316	359.7	3068	255.7	1248	104.0	278	23.2
17	Washington	4351	362.6	2861	238.4	1490	124.2	286	23.8
18	Chicago	4065	338.8	2530	210.8	1535	127.9	290	24.2
19	San Francisco	4741	395.1	3239	269.9	1502	125.2	291	24.3
	Baltimore	4097	341.4	2927	243.9	1170	97.5	291	24.3
21	Tennessee	4033	336.1	2767	230.6	1266	105.5	296	24.7
	NY Giants	5079	423.3	3774	314.5	1305	108.8	296	24.7
23	Tampa Bay	4046	337.2	2910	242.5	1136	94.7	298	24.8
24	Miami	4684	390.3	3067	255.6	1617	134.8	300	25.0
25	Philadelphia	4601	383.4	3105	258.8	1496	124.7	302	25.2
26	Indianapolis	4789	399.1	3365	280.4	1424	118.7	305	25.4
27	Oakland	4533	377.8	3253	271.1	1280	106.7	314	26.2
28	Detroit	4214	351.2	2910	242.5	1304	108.7	315	26.3
29	San Diego	4447	370.6	2952	246.0	1495	124.6	324	27.0
30	Jacksonville	4411	367.6	3175	264.6	1236	103.0	341	28.4
31	Cleveland	4786	398.8	3150	262.5	1636	136.3	347	28.9
32	New Orleans	5102	425.2	3448	287.3	1654	137.8	380	31.7

While offenses aren’t usually ranked like that, the most important stat is putting points on the board. For example, the Carolina Panthers are only 14th this season in offensive yards per game with 361.1. The 6-6 Falcons, 4-8 Saints and even 3-9 Chargers rank higher than them in this category. But the Panthers score points. Maybe it has a lot to do with their defense but the bottom line is that Cam Newton and the team get into the end zone regularly, with 31.1 points per game, third in the NFL. The Panthers only give up 20.3 points per game.

But there’s another side to shit tale. The Minnesota Vikings average just 19.8 points per game. Their defense, holding teams to 19.3 points per game, has been the driving force behind their 8-4 record this season. Yards do matter, don’t get me wrong; the top 4 defenses in the NFL in terms of keeping teams from moving forward (Broncos, Seahawks, Cardinals, Panthers) all happen to be on their way to the playoffs, three of them as division winners.

But the Patriots, for years, have been easy to gain yards against (341 per game this season) yet they don’t bend when it matters, allowing only 20.6 points per game, which is more than enough cushion when you score more than almost anyone in the NFL.

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