We’re going to do a ‘best NFL defense’ tournament to determine who are the top NFL defenses (not top defenses/DSTs for FF)...and it’s a way for me to go back through the personnel and coaching, etc., to see who we might be missing, good or bad, hiding in the weeds.
We’ll do a division per day, then the Final Four/Conference finals ending with the Super Bowl/finals. An 11-day series that carries us through the end of the month.
We have 7 categories for a ‘Best of 7’ style process...with a lean towards the importance of the two key positions on a defense: The CB group and the DT group.
The seven categories are...
Cornerbacks: The most critical spot, in our estimations.
Def. Tackle: The 2nd most critical spot.
Def. Coordinator: Management is key here.
Interior LBs: The non-pass rush LBs.
Pass Rush: Judging the pass rush as a whole, the front 7.
Def. Backs: Judging the CBs and SAFs.
Backups/Depth: The overall depth, judging the 2nd and 3rd team defenses for the team.
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Broncos v. Eagles
Cornerbacks: (DEN 1-0)...easy, fast start for Denver. Clear winner among starters and depth.
Def. Tackle: (1-1 tie)...the Eagles bounce back with their own clear win to tie it up.
Def. Coordinator: (PHI 2-1)...you have to give the nod for the long-time defensive ace, who just helped win a Super Bowl.
Interior LBs: (PHI 3-1)...the Eagles are nudge better among starters, but much deeper.
Pass Rush: (PHI 3-2)...you have to give it to the reigning, defending team sack champs...Denver. The Broncos had 20 more sacks than Philly in 2024 and have only gotten better on defense this offseason.
Def. Backs: (3-3 tie)...Denver has the CB and the SAF edge. We go to a game seven finish for all the marbles...they way it should be!!!
Backups/Depth: (DEN wins 4-3)...I took it down to the 3rd-team, and I just continued to feel like Denver had the slight edge.
The Broncos, as I would have thought, are the top defensive unit going into 2025.
Top defenses in the mainstream?
NFL.com says...
1) Denver
2) Philly
3) Baltimore
4) Houston
Our Final Four in this tourney...
1) Denver
2) Philly
3) Pittsburgh
4) Tampa Bay
