DEFENSIVE LINES 2001

Regular season totals, through Week 17

Revised as of 7/6/2009

Teams are ranked according to Adjusted Line Yards. Based on regression analysis, the Adjusted Line Yards formula takes all running back carries and assigns responsibility to the offensive line based on the following percentages:

Losses: 120% value
0-4 Yards: 100% value
5-10 Yards: 50% value
11+ Yards: 0% value

These numbers are then adjusted based on down, distance, situation, opponent, and the difference in rushing average between shotgun compared to standard formations. Finally, we normalize the numbers so that the league average for Adjusted Line Yards per carry is the same as the league average for RB yards per carry. Defensive line stats (more accurately, defensive front seven stats) represent the performance of offensive lines against each defense, adjusted for the quality of offensive opponents. These stats are explained further here [1].

The following stats are not adjusted for opponent:

RB Yards: Yards per carry by running backs against this defense, according to standard NFL numbers.
10+ Yards: Percentage of rushing yards against this team more than 10 yards past the line of scrimmage. Represents yardage not reflected in Adjusted Line Yards stat. Teams are ranked from smallest number of 10+ Yards (#1) to largest number of 10+ Yards (#32).
Power Success: Percentage of runs on third or fourth down, two yards or less to go, that achieved a first down or touchdown. Also includes runs on first-and-goal or second-and-goal from the two-yard line or closer. This is the only statistic on this page that includes quarterbacks. Teams are ranked from lowest power success percentage allowed (#1) to highest power success percentage allowed (#32).
Stuffed: Percentage of runs where the running back is tackled at or behind the line of scrimmage. Ranked from most stuffs (#1) to fewest stuffs (#32).

NFL averages for each stat given in red.

Why are these rankings different from the team defense [2] DVOA ratings for rushing? Among other reasons, they don't include quarterbacks or fumbles, long runs are truncated, and a different set of adjustments is used, attempting to isolate line play rather than total team defense.

A team with a high ranking in Adjusted Line Yards but a low ranking in 10+ Yards has a strong defensive line but its linebackers and secondary have difficulty in pursuit and tackling. A team with a low ranking in Adjusted Line Yards but a high ranking in 10+ Yards generally allows runners to get past the defensive line but the linebackers and secondary are good at pursuit and tackling. A low ranking in Adjusted Line Yards with a high ranking in 10+ Yards is often an indicator of a 3-4 defensive scheme, though there are exceptions.

Stats in blue represent pass rush. Teams are ranked according to adjusted sack rate, which gives sacks (plus intentional grounding penalties) per pass attempt adjusted for down, distance, and opponent. Pass rush stats are explained further here [3]. Our sack totals may differ slightly from official NFL totals depending on the league's retroactive statistical adjustments.

RUN BLOCKING										PASS PROTECTION
	TEAM	Adj. Line Yards	RB Yards	Power Success	Power Rank	10+ Yards	10+ Rank	Stuffed	Stuffed Rank	TEAM	Sack Rank	Sacks	Adj. Sack Rate
1	PIT	3.08	3.44	68%	24	20%	21	36%	2	NO	1	53	10.7%
2	TEN	3.49	3.36	49%	2	16%	15	36%	1	PIT	2	55	8.9%
3	NYG	3.53	3.52	59%	10	17%	16	29%	8	PHI	3	45	8.7%
4	STL	3.54	3.58	61%	13	13%	8	30%	4	TB	4	42	8.3%
5	DEN	3.64	3.67	63%	17	15%	10	29%	10	BAL	5	45	8.2%
6	CHI	3.67	3.38	54%	3	9%	1	30%	5	ATL	6	37	8.1%
7	BAL	3.67	3.35	58%	7	11%	3	31%	3	JAC	7	43	8.0%
8	JAC	3.68	3.34	55%	5	12%	5	29%	9	CIN	8	48	8.0%
9	SD	3.70	3.30	72%	29	9%	2	26%	17	NYG	9	46	7.9%
10	PHI	3.72	4.02	64%	19	20%	22	27%	12	STL	10	46	7.9%
11	GB	3.80	4.20	65%	21	23%	27	29%	7	GB	11	52	7.7%
12	CIN	3.80	3.65	46%	1	17%	17	29%	6	DEN	12	39	7.7%
13	ATL	3.94	5.01	69%	26	33%	31	27%	14	MIA	13	37	7.6%
14	OAK	3.98	4.53	61%	12	23%	26	25%	19	OAK	14	41	7.5%
15	CAR	3.99	4.59	66%	22	27%	30	25%	21	IND	15	40	7.4%
16	DAL	4.02	3.74	55%	4	16%	14	27%	13	NE	16	40	7.4%
RUN BLOCKING										PASS PROTECTION
	TEAM	Adj. Line Yards	RB Yards	Power Success	Power Rank	10+ Yards	10+ Rank	Stuffed	Stuffed Rank	TEAM	Sack Rank	Sacks	Adj. Sack Rate
17	SF	4.04	3.92	58%	8	13%	6	25%	18	CLE	17	43	7.3%
18	SEA	4.05	3.78	60%	11	12%	4	27%	15	BUF	18	34	7.3%
19	NO	4.05	4.01	63%	15	17%	18	24%	23	NYJ	19	33	7.2%
20	KC	4.07	4.61	76%	31	25%	28	23%	24	SD	20	41	7.1%
21	TB	4.08	4.13	57%	6	20%	23	27%	11	CHI	21	48	7.0%
22	DET	4.08	4.22	68%	23	21%	24	24%	22	SEA	22	38	6.8%
23	MIA	4.09	3.90	62%	14	13%	7	25%	20	DET	23	31	6.8%
24	WAS	4.15	3.98	68%	25	15%	11	23%	28	KC	24	31	6.6%
25	NE	4.24	4.26	63%	16	16%	12	23%	25	WAS	25	25	6.3%
26	IND	4.27	4.43	59%	9	20%	20	23%	29	MIN	26	30	6.2%
27	BUF	4.30	4.43	64%	20	20%	19	23%	26	SF	27	32	5.5%
28	CLE	4.43	4.56	73%	30	22%	25	23%	27	TEN	28	33	5.5%
29	MIN	4.44	4.91	69%	27	25%	29	26%	16	DAL	29	24	5.0%
30	NYJ	4.45	4.35	70%	28	16%	13	20%	31	CAR	30	26	4.9%
31	ARI	4.49	4.30	63%	18	14%	9	22%	30	ARI	31	19	3.5%
x	NFL	x	4.04	63%	x	18%	x	26%	x	NFL	x	39	7.2%

This second table lists each team's Adjusted Line Yards in each direction listed in official NFL play-by-play, along with rank among the 32 teams. Only five directions are listed because research so far shows no statistically significant difference between how well a team performs on runs listed middle, left guard, and right guard. These runs are from the perspective of the OFFENSE, so a run listed as LEFT TACKLE is actually at the RIGHT defensive end.

		LEFT END		LEFT TACKLE		MID/GUARD		RIGHT TACKLE		RIGHT END
	TEAM	ALY	Rank	ALY	Rank	ALY	Rank	ALY	Rank	ALY	Rank
1	PIT	4.55	25	2.93	3	2.98	1	2.76	3	3.26	6
2	TEN	6.04	31	4.06	15	3.22	2	3.32	8	3.31	7
3	NYG	4.19	16	2.82	2	3.39	3	3.70	13	4.01	18
4	STL	3.83	10	4.24	19	3.70	8	2.64	2	3.44	9
5	DEN	3.17	6	2.73	1	3.91	14	3.12	5	4.30	24
6	CHI	3.29	8	4.35	23	3.41	4	4.07	17	3.65	13
7	BAL	3.12	5	3.07	4	3.86	11	3.09	4	5.59	31
8	JAC	2.99	4	4.69	28	3.60	5	3.83	15	2.80	2
9	SD	2.91	2	3.72	10	4.17	20	3.22	7	4.24	21
10	PHI	2.18	1	4.48	25	4.07	15	3.16	6	3.86	15
11	GB	3.20	7	4.33	22	3.63	6	3.39	9	5.02	29
12	CIN	4.32	18	4.70	29	4.07	16	2.63	1	2.92	3
13	ATL	5.28	29	3.56	8	4.11	19	3.79	14	3.64	12
14	OAK	5.22	28	3.74	12	3.66	7	4.74	24	3.86	16
15	CAR	4.05	14	3.95	14	3.82	10	4.05	16	4.39	25
16	DAL	4.48	23	4.23	18	3.79	9	4.07	18	4.12	19
		LEFT END		LEFT TACKLE		MID/GUARD		RIGHT TACKLE		RIGHT END
	TEAM	ALY	Rank	ALY	Rank	ALY	Rank	ALY	Rank	ALY	Rank
17	SF	4.13	15	3.16	5	4.50	29	3.67	12	3.24	5
18	SEA	4.40	22	4.14	17	3.87	12	4.80	26	4.41	26
19	NO	4.28	17	3.64	9	4.19	22	3.50	11	4.14	20
20	KC	3.88	11	3.52	7	4.19	21	4.85	28	3.78	14
21	TB	2.98	3	4.28	21	4.08	17	4.77	25	4.85	28
22	DET	4.49	24	4.11	16	4.24	24	4.16	19	3.50	10
23	MIA	3.98	12	3.74	11	3.90	13	4.93	31	4.72	27
24	WAS	4.38	21	4.28	20	4.09	18	3.47	10	4.29	23
25	NE	5.50	30	3.22	6	4.57	31	4.17	20	3.41	8
26	IND	3.47	9	4.43	24	4.37	27	4.62	23	3.88	17
27	BUF	3.98	13	4.66	27	4.19	23	4.83	27	3.23	4
28	CLE	4.32	19	4.59	26	4.48	28	4.88	30	3.55	11
29	MIN	4.93	27	5.19	30	4.51	30	4.59	21	1.41	1
30	NYJ	4.33	20	3.79	13	4.31	26	4.87	29	5.20	30
31	ARI	4.84	26	5.24	31	4.25	25	4.62	22	4.26	22
x	NFL	4.06	x	4.04	x	4.00	x	3.97	x	3.95	x

The third table lists how often each team runs in each direction. These runs are from the perspective of the OFFENSE, so a run listed as LEFT TACKLE is actually at the RIGHT defensive end. Numbers may not add up to 100% due to carries listed without direction.

	Team	RB Carries	LEFT END	LEFT TACKLE	MID/ GUARD	RIGHT TACKLE	RIGHT END
1	PIT	290	9%	16%	53%	13%	7%
2	STL	292	10%	14%	42%	20%	14%
3	CHI	310	15%	14%	35%	15%	21%
4	SF	335	17%	10%	51%	11%	10%
5	ATL	338	9%	13%	47%	14%	13%
6	TEN	343	5%	12%	60%	15%	7%
7	TB	345	10%	13%	56%	11%	10%
8	BAL	349	14%	12%	54%	13%	7%
9	DEN	354	15%	10%	55%	10%	10%
10	GB	354	16%	14%	44%	13%	13%
11	NYG	355	17%	14%	50%	10%	9%
12	SEA	365	12%	10%	51%	15%	11%
13	OAK	366	17%	11%	41%	12%	14%
14	NE	375	8%	14%	49%	14%	15%
15	SD	380	13%	9%	51%	12%	13%
16	NO	387	10%	13%	51%	12%	14%
	Team	RB Carries	LEFT END	LEFT TACKLE	MID/ GUARD	RIGHT TACKLE	RIGHT END
17	CIN	397	15%	13%	46%	12%	13%
18	MIA	399	11%	13%	52%	11%	12%
19	IND	400	12%	15%	49%	14%	10%
20	KC	401	18%	10%	44%	11%	15%
21	PHI	402	13%	10%	49%	12%	15%
22	NYJ	405	13%	13%	45%	14%	13%
23	DAL	407	13%	16%	42%	16%	12%
24	MIN	408	12%	11%	60%	12%	5%
25	DET	410	13%	15%	46%	16%	9%
26	WAS	411	25%	8%	40%	10%	16%
27	JAC	412	7%	16%	51%	18%	7%
28	BUF	414	7%	18%	56%	12%	6%
29	ARI	421	16%	13%	38%	13%	18%
30	CLE	432	11%	13%	54%	12%	10%
31	CAR	454	16%	10%	50%	13%	9%
x	NFL	x	13%	13%	49%	13%	11%