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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.
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.
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
Top 3 NFL defenses heading into Week 13
#3 - Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are third on our list of top NFL defenses heading into Week 13 of this NFL season. They are among only three NFL defenses that have allowed less than 200 points in total coming into Week 13. That equates to just 17.8 points per game allowed in the 11 games played by the Broncos so far.
It speaks to their ability to hold back the opposition in scoring vital points because both their rushing and passing defense have been nothing to crow about. They are allowing 106.6 yards per game in rushing. That is still respectable when comparing it to the passing yards they are allowing per game, which stands at 224.2. In total, they are allowing 330.8 yards per game, the worst among the top five NFL defenses on this list.
#2 - Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills got back to some semblance of normalcy as they won 31-6 against the New Orleans Saints. Limiting a Sean Payton team to just six points definitely speaks to the defense's ability to crucially hold their own.
But it was something they could not do the previous week when they let in 41 points against a Jonathan Taylor-inspired Indianapolis Colts. That has been the chief factor in their points per game getting inflated to 16.5 points per game. Their rushing defense has been exemplary in all games throughout the season except that, allowing only 96.6 yards per game. They have also only allowed 178.5 yards per game, both of which are the best among all the NFL defenses on this list.
#1 - New England Patriots
The Bills' AFC East compatriots, the New England Patriots, lead the standings of the best NFL defenses going into next week. They play against the Bills in Week 13, meaning something may have to give.
While the media has been raving about Mac Jones in a true Bill Belichick way, it is the Patriots defense that has been instrumental in their recent success. They have only allowed 15.8 yards per game across the 12 games they have played this season.
Their rushing defense has not been good, allowing 115.8 yards per game. But they have compensated for that in the passing game by allowing just 200.9 yards per game. They enter the coming week top of the AFC East and on top of our rankings of NFL defenses as well.
