NFL NationSep 23, 2025, 06:45 AM ETCloseNFL Nation is made up of 32 team-specific reporters who cover the NFL year-round across ESPN.com, ESPN television shows, ESPN Radio, ESPN+ and social media platforms. It was established ahead of the 2013 season.
play1:28Orlovsky: Jordan Love has to grow upDan Orlovsky explains why Jordan Love needs to display more maturity in critical situations after his costly turnover in Week 3.
play1:47Eisen: Daniel Jones is doing things we’ve never seen a Colts QB doRich Eisen sings the praises of Daniel Jones after his impressive start to the NFL season.
play1:13Woody: Cowboys should be embarrassed by what the Bears did to themDamien Woody lays into the Dallas Cowboys after they got manhandled by the Bears.
play2:11Schefter, McAfee in awe of Cam Skattebo’s high school runAdam Schefter and Pat McAfee react to footage of Giants RB Cam Skattebo in high school.
Orlovsky: Jordan Love has to grow upDan Orlovsky explains why Jordan Love needs to display more maturity in critical situations after his costly turnover in Week 3.
Dan Orlovsky explains why Jordan Love needs to display more maturity in critical situations after his costly turnover in Week 3.
Eisen: Daniel Jones is doing things we’ve never seen a Colts QB doRich Eisen sings the praises of Daniel Jones after his impressive start to the NFL season.
Stephen A. Smith questions Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf’s underwhelming start to the NFL season.
Woody: Cowboys should be embarrassed by what the Bears did to themDamien Woody lays into the Dallas Cowboys after they got manhandled by the Bears.
Schefter, McAfee in awe of Cam Skattebo’s high school runAdam Schefter and Pat McAfee react to footage of Giants RB Cam Skattebo in high school.
Week 3 brought even more excitement to this NFL season, with special teams getting shining moments during the Sunday slate. Multiple games had blocked field goals late in the fourth quarter, including on the last play of the Eagles-Rams matchup. Four other contests were decided on time-expiring field goals.
But for this week’s Power Rankings, we asked our NFL Nation reporters to take a closer look at another unit: the defense. From third-down stops to forcing turnovers, we named the biggest issue on defense for every team.
Let’s get right into it with our No. 1-ranked team. Our power panel of more than 80 writers, editors and TV personalities evaluated how NFL teams stack up against one another, ranking them from 1 to 32.
The Bills’ defense was incredibly effective against the Jets in Week 2, but Buffalo struggled to end drives versus Baltimore and Miami. Third downs were a specific issue against the Dolphins, who converted 10 of 15 attempts to keep that game close. The Bills also have given up five touchdowns in the red zone this season. Buffalo hopes linebacker Matt Milano and defensive tackle Ed Oliver will solve this issue when they return after being injured. — Alaina Getzenberg
Jesse Minter’s defense has been among the league’s best in many categories. However, the Chargers have struggled on fourth down. Opponents are converting 71% of their attempts against L.A., which ranks 22nd in the NFL. The fourth-down struggles were apparent Sunday: Denver wide receiver Courtland Sutton scored a 52-yard touchdown on fourth-and-1 just before halftime, which gave the Broncos much-needed momentum and nearly led to the Chargers’ first loss of the season. — Kris Rhim
The Chiefs have been inconsistent in pressuring the quarterback without blitzing, an issue that could plague Steve Spagnuolo’s unit all season long. The Chiefs have just seven sacks, and most offensive lines are doubling Jones often, which leads to several one-on-one opportunities for edge rushers George Karlaftis, Charles Omenihu, Mike Danna and rookie Ashton Gillotte. One of those players needs to elevate his performance to be a consistent threat alongside Jones. — Nate Taylor
Washington is tied for second in number of pass plays allowed of 15 yards or more (20). There have been too many coverage mishaps, sometimes stemming from aggressive safety play to stop what appears to be a run only for the opposition to pass. The Commanders allowed eight pass plays of 15 yards or more versus the Raiders, which too often was due to blown coverage and not just getting beat. The secondary needs to play with more eye discipline in coverage. — John Keim
The Colts registered four sacks against Tennessee, but there have been too many plays in which opposing QBs have been unbothered in the pocket. Indianapolis ranks 20th in pressure rate at 27.4%. Defensive end Laiatu Latu is the most capable to change this trajectory, especially after an effective return from a hamstring injury. But while his overall pressure rate of 11.4% is good, it will need to improve if the Colts are going to consistently threaten quarterbacks. — Stephen Holder
Eisen: Daniel Jones is doing things we’ve never seen a Colts QB do
Rich Eisen sings the praises of Daniel Jones after his impressive start to the NFL season.
The Cardinals overhauled their front seven during the offseason, rebuilding their line and inside linebackers with two hopes: that the defense would improve against the run and get to the quarterback more. The first part has happened, with the Cardinals allowing just 76.3 rushing yards per game. But Arizona isn’t putting pressure on the quarterback, with a sack rate of only 3.5% and a total of five sacks (tied for 24th in the NFL). — Josh Weinfuss
Woody: Cowboys should be embarrassed by what the Bears did to them
Damien Woody lays into the Dallas Cowboys after they got manhandled by the Bears.
Coach Mike Vrabel’s desired team identity is one that protects the ball and creates ball disruption. But the Patriots have had six turnovers on the season (including five on Sunday) and have forced only three (one in each game). Perhaps getting second-team All-Pro cornerback Christian Gonzalez back from a hamstring injury that kept him sidelined for the past three games will help create more disruption. — Mike Reiss
Although there was improvement in pressure during Sunday’s win over the Falcons, the Panthers rank last in the NFL in sacks (just one, from linebacker Princely Umanmielen in Week 2) and pressure rate (18.9%). That’s the same boat they were in last season, when they finished last with a 25.3% pressure rate. The pressure was enough to force two interceptions from Atlanta’s Michael Penix Jr., but it’s something that needs to improve against more veteran signal-callers. — David Newton
The Jets are one of only three teams without a takeaway. (Miami and Washington are the others.) This is surprising, considering how much they pressure the quarterback. They lack playmakers in the secondary, as cornerbacks Sauce Gardner and Brandon Stephens aren’t ball hawks, with just five career interceptions in 119 combined games. The dearth of takeaways puts a lot of pressure on the offense, which could use the benefit of a short field on occasion. — Rich Cimini
Schefter, McAfee in awe of Cam Skattebo’s high school run
Adam Schefter and Pat McAfee react to footage of Giants RB Cam Skattebo in high school.
The Eagles are last in the league with a 45.1% success rate against the run this season. They are yielding a first down or a touchdown on over 34% of the opponent’s attempts, which also is a league low, and they are 25th in rushing yards allowed (133.3 per game). Philadelphia has a quality interior front led by defensive tackles Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter. It also has two good linebackers in Zack Baun and rookie Jihaad Campbell, who is developing on the job. So this seems like a fixable problem for defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. — Tim McManus
Through Week 3, the Lions are tied for a league-low 22.0% pass rush win rate. They’ve relied on Hutchinson, who has been consistently double-teamed as he tries to find a groove after returning from a season-ending leg injury in 2024. Detroit lacks depth at the position, as defensive end Marcus Davenport (chest) is now on injured reserve. The Lions are counting on fellow end Al-Quadin Muhammad to step up (he had 2.5 sacks against the Ravens). Also, the return of defensive tackle Alim McNeill (ACL injury) and end Josh Paschal (reserve/non-football injury list) at some point this season will help fix those issues. But Detroit did look impressive in tallying seven sacks against the Ravens on Monday night. — Eric Woodyard
A season ago, the Packers tied for fourth in the NFL with 31 takeaways and ranked third in interceptions with 17. They have a grand total of two takeaways this season: Evan Williams’ interception in Week 1 against the Lions and Xavier McKinney’s interception on Sunday. McKinney’s pick was essentially a punt by the Browns, who threw a deep shot on fourth-and-8 with just 12 seconds left in the first half. The Packers spent training camp stressing punching the ball out and causing fumbles, but they haven’t forced one yet. — Rob Demovsky
The Buccaneers have a plus-six point differential this season, which is tied for the lowest by a 3-0 team in NFL history (2005 Washington, 2020 Titans), per ESPN Research. Part of the reason for these close games is their defensive struggles late in games; they’ve allowed 5.8 yards per play (fifth most) in the fourth quarter. The Bucs gave up two touchdowns on defense in the fourth quarter against the Jets. “It takes time,” Tampa Bay coach Todd Bowles said. “But we’ve got to put four quarters together. As the schedule goes, it gets tougher every week, so we’ve got to make sure we don’t make those mistakes.” — Jenna Laine
While the Rams discussed the possibility of trading for cornerback Jalen Ramsey during the offseason, they decided adding his contract didn’t make sense and that they liked the players they already had at the position. The Rams gave up just one passing touchdown in their first two games, but they lost cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon to a broken clavicle in Week 2. Veteran cornerback Darious Williams, who was a healthy scratch in Week 1, played 39.7% of the defensive snaps in Week 3 alongside Cobie Durant (77.8%) and Emmanuel Forbes Jr. (82.5%). The Rams held the Eagles to negative passing yards (minus-1) in the first half, but quarterback Jalen Hurts was more effective in the second half, throwing three touchdown passes. — Sarah Barshop