From 1st to 6th on D?

How can that be? Can someone that understands NFL stats please break down how they calculate total defensive ranking? I get that we are giving up yards and that alone probably is the main reason for the slip but I am honestly surprised we dropped that much especially when the biggest stat of all defensively should be points allowed, not yards.

I keep hearing some commentators say the Seahawks have the top ranked defense, while others say Vikings...So what gives?

6th rated just seems like a slap in the face to how terrific this defense is and has been playing.

You cannot tell me there are 5 other defenses in the NFL better than us. No way in Hell.

It's the yards. That's the official NFL rating system. They gave up quite a few yards. It's that old "bend but don't break" philosophy.

I don't know why they use yards per game as the metric by which defenses are ranked. Points per game should be the metric. Generally the best defense is one that gives up the least amount of points. Points play the ultimate role in wins and losses, not yards. I know I'm being Captain Obvious here but the media still doesn't seem to get it. Or those who are compiling the stats and rankings.

FO has us at #3 DVOA, just a hair behind Minnesota.

#1: PHI (-26.6)
#2: MIN (-23.9)
#3: SEA (-23.6)
#4: ARI (-21.5)
#5: DEN (-20.1)

hawkfan68":snkhyd0y said:

I don't know why they use yards per game as the metric by which defenses are ranked. Points per game should be the metric. Generally the best defense is one that gives up the least amount of points. Points play the ultimate role in wins and losses, not yards. I know I'm being Captain Obvious here but the media still doesn't seem to get it. Or those who are compiling the stats and rankings.

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Exactly how I feel (and I'm sure most people). It's silly that yards is the one most coveted by the statisticians when it should be points.

WE all know who the true best defense in the league is, and no they don't wear purple helmets.

Aros":261v41h3 said:

hawkfan68":261v41h3 said:

I don't know why they use yards per game as the metric by which defenses are ranked. Points per game should be the metric. Generally the best defense is one that gives up the least amount of points. Points play the ultimate role in wins and losses, not yards. I know I'm being Captain Obvious here but the media still doesn't seem to get it. Or those who are compiling the stats and rankings.

Click to expand...

Exactly how I feel (and I'm sure most people). It's silly that yards is the one most coveted by the statisticians when it should be points.

WE all know who the true best defense in the league is, and no they don't wear purple helmets.

Click to expand...

Yards is the standard measure for ranking both offense and defense. Problem with points is points can be had without getting or giving up yards. The past 4 (?) years we've had the number 1 scoring defense in the league, but not always the number 1 yards allowed defense. Both stats are important and you'll hear different ones for different teams, which explains why you have heard both Minnesota and Seattle as number ones recently. At one point they were the points leader on D while we were the yards leader.

Currently, Minnesota is both the Points and the Yards leader giving up 279.5 ypg and 14 ppg

Seattle is tied for ppg but is giving up 310.5 ypg (6th)

Wouldn't an offensive turnover (pick-six or scoop and score) as well as a kick return for TD, count against the defense in points/game? To me, that means that the points/game does not solely depend on the defense. Yards/game does.

To me, both should be considered when looking at the top defense.

Go Hawks!

Depends on what category of defensive statistics you're looking at. Most sites use total yards, and yes we're #6 in total yards right now.

But IMO the only defensive category that matter is scoring, and we're #1 in that...................again, and again..............and again.

































and again.

Dang, Bennett is OUT for Sunday.

Must be his first missed game in forever?

There's too many factors to objectively rank defenses from 1 to 32. Do you value points allowed the most? Do you count gargabe time TDs? What about FGs? Or are you more concerned with yardage? Run or Pass? Sacks? Tackles? INTs? Turnovers in general?

It's clear to see we have an elite defense but I don't believe in appointing any unit the best overall.

Points against plays a role in tie scenerios if I'm correct come playoff time

Palmer had over 300 yards passing. 342 to be exact. add another 113 rushing yards from their RB and you have a grip of yards.

hawkfan68":1047cka6 said:

I don't know why they use yards per game as the metric by which defenses are ranked. Points per game should be the metric. Generally the best defense is one that gives up the least amount of points. Points play the ultimate role in wins and losses, not yards. I know I'm being Captain Obvious here but the media still doesn't seem to get it. Or those who are compiling the stats and rankings.

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Points per game or Points PER DRIVE ya. That should be the metric...Yards makes no sense at all

WilsonMVP":226z4yyr said:

hawkfan68":226z4yyr said:

I don't know why they use yards per game as the metric by which defenses are ranked. Points per game should be the metric. Generally the best defense is one that gives up the least amount of points. Points play the ultimate role in wins and losses, not yards. I know I'm being Captain Obvious here but the media still doesn't seem to get it. Or those who are compiling the stats and rankings.

Click to expand...

Points per game or Points PER DRIVE ya. That should be the metric...Yards makes no sense at all

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Between Points and Yards (per game), yards is the one most in the defense's control. Points can be had from turnovers by the offense or returns on special teams, but yards given up are all on the defense.

That's not to say that the other barometers aren't important, because they absolutely are, and they are often used in ranking defenses outside the official ranking, but the official ranking of yards per game is used because the defense controls every aspect of the yards they give up.

Stats are so useless in the NFL. Which is why I never even look at them. In other sports, such as baseball, they are a great reference point. But they literally mean nothing in the NFL.

If you have a top 5 offense in the NFL, the only thing that tells me is that you have a terrible defense.

There is a huge 'NFL stats' subject to be explored, I wish they were made freely available to the public as datasets you could suck into your own databases for asking great questions of - and producing good graphics out of like routes run, passes attempted, WR/DB separations gained, etc etc.

Hawk-Lock":28ta7ndh said:

Stats are so useless in the NFL. Which is why I never even look at them. In other sports, such as baseball, they are a great reference point. But they literally mean nothing in the NFL.

If you have a top 5 offense in the NFL, the only thing that tells me is that you have a terrible defense.

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Since Seattle was a top 5 offense last year, does that mean we had a terrible defense?

I learned something today, thank you

The Seahawks are tied with Minnie for least amount of points given up.

kidhawk":xhmx5qr6 said:

WilsonMVP":xhmx5qr6 said:

hawkfan68":xhmx5qr6 said:

I don't know why they use yards per game as the metric by which defenses are ranked. Points per game should be the metric. Generally the best defense is one that gives up the least amount of points. Points play the ultimate role in wins and losses, not yards. I know I'm being Captain Obvious here but the media still doesn't seem to get it. Or those who are compiling the stats and rankings.

Click to expand...

Points per game or Points PER DRIVE ya. That should be the metric...Yards makes no sense at all

Click to expand...

Between Points and Yards (per game), yards is the one most in the defense's control. Points can be had from turnovers by the offense or returns on special teams, but yards given up are all on the defense.

That's not to say that the other barometers aren't important, because they absolutely are, and they are often used in ranking defenses outside the official ranking, but the official ranking of yards per game is used because the defense controls every aspect of the yards they give up.

Click to expand...

I understand what you are saying. However, Pick six, fumble recovery for TD on defense, safety also are scores by the defense but are accumulated in total points per game for offensive stats.

Yards per game is useless unless those yards are being converted into points. As last week showed, the Cards had over 400+ yards of offense but only 6 points to show for it. They had enough yards for 4 football fields. Seahawks had the same score with less yards...which team was more efficient in stopping the other team from scoring? I'd say the Seahawks were since they gave up more yards but less points.

The networks tend to use either yards or scoring, whichever one makes the matchup you're watching sound more important.