DEFENSIVE LINES 2003

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	BAL	3.52	3.40	53%	3	11%	8	29%	8	MIA	1	45	7.9%
2	JAC	3.55	3.11	66%	20	9%	3	29%	7	BAL	2	47	7.9%
3	TEN	3.65	3.80	65%	18	17%	13	31%	2	MIN	3	37	7.7%
4	MIA	3.66	3.31	44%	1	9%	4	29%	5	TB	4	36	7.7%
5	DAL	3.79	3.56	67%	23	11%	7	26%	13	NYG	5	46	7.6%
6	CAR	3.81	3.70	60%	5	11%	9	27%	11	STL	6	42	7.6%
7	DET	3.82	4.05	68%	25	19%	20	27%	12	CAR	7	40	7.5%
8	PIT	3.83	3.93	51%	2	20%	23	30%	3	ATL	8	37	7.4%
9	NYG	3.83	3.88	63%	11	17%	14	30%	4	TEN	9	39	7.4%
10	MIN	3.91	4.53	69%	26	27%	32	32%	1	BUF	10	38	7.3%
11	GB	3.92	4.09	71%	28	19%	17	24%	19	SF	11	42	7.3%
12	TB	3.93	3.72	66%	21	14%	10	28%	10	DEN	12	36	7.3%
13	NE	3.97	3.45	62%	8	6%	1	25%	15	NYJ	13	35	7.1%
14	BUF	3.98	3.64	61%	7	11%	6	24%	16	IND	14	31	7.0%
15	SF	4.07	4.12	87%	32	19%	18	24%	17	CLE	15	35	6.7%
16	STL	4.09	4.45	59%	4	23%	28	29%	6	PHI	16	38	6.7%
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	DEN	4.10	4.38	60%	6	23%	26	26%	14	SEA	17	41	6.6%
18	ARI	4.14	4.08	73%	30	18%	15	29%	9	SD	18	32	6.5%
19	CHI	4.15	4.35	66%	22	23%	27	24%	18	NO	19	32	6.4%
20	SEA	4.29	3.77	63%	9	9%	2	20%	28	GB	20	35	6.4%
21	CLE	4.36	4.76	63%	12	26%	30	23%	21	NE	21	41	6.2%
22	SD	4.45	4.34	65%	16	16%	11	23%	20	PIT	22	35	6.2%
23	KC	4.47	5.15	67%	24	27%	31	22%	24	KC	23	36	5.8%
24	IND	4.48	4.61	64%	15	19%	21	23%	22	DAL	24	32	5.6%
25	OAK	4.51	4.73	70%	27	20%	22	22%	26	OAK	25	25	5.6%
26	PHI	4.52	4.65	71%	29	19%	19	22%	25	DET	26	28	5.2%
27	NO	4.54	4.74	76%	31	21%	24	19%	30	CIN	27	30	5.2%
28	CIN	4.55	4.91	66%	19	23%	29	23%	23	WAS	28	27	5.1%
29	WAS	4.56	4.46	63%	13	16%	12	20%	29	JAC	29	24	5.1%
30	ATL	4.57	4.83	65%	17	22%	25	22%	27	HOU	30	19	4.7%
31	HOU	4.65	4.62	64%	14	18%	16	18%	31	ARI	31	21	4.3%
32	NYJ	4.89	4.29	63%	10	10%	5	16%	32	CHI	32	18	4.2%
x	NFL	x	4.18	65%	x	18%	x	25%	x	NFL	x	34	6.5%

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	BAL	1.97	1	3.59	7	3.58	3	4.29	18	3.11	6
2	JAC	4.10	13	3.57	5	3.36	2	3.81	10	4.10	20
3	TEN	5.04	32	3.72	8	3.13	1	3.80	9	4.17	22
4	MIA	4.60	22	2.74	1	3.90	6	4.07	14	1.13	1
5	DAL	3.98	9	3.37	3	4.09	14	3.42	4	3.33	9
6	CAR	3.05	3	3.85	12	3.97	10	3.72	8	4.13	21
7	DET	4.00	10	3.58	6	3.91	8	3.90	12	3.37	10
8	PIT	4.49	20	4.19	16	4.09	15	3.23	3	2.10	2
9	NYG	4.38	16	3.87	13	3.72	4	2.81	1	4.52	29
10	MIN	4.45	18	3.72	9	3.74	5	4.57	25	3.82	14
11	GB	4.03	11	4.69	22	4.03	13	2.94	2	3.55	11
12	TB	3.78	7	3.31	2	4.16	16	3.60	5	3.90	16
13	NE	3.25	4	5.14	27	3.99	11	4.07	15	3.08	5
14	BUF	2.20	2	4.52	19	3.91	7	4.41	20	3.72	13
15	SF	4.83	28	5.24	29	3.96	9	3.70	7	3.27	7
16	STL	4.68	24	4.17	15	3.99	12	4.83	29	2.54	3
		LEFT END		LEFT TACKLE		MID/GUARD		RIGHT TACKLE		RIGHT END
	TEAM	ALY	Rank	ALY	Rank	ALY	Rank	ALY	Rank	ALY	Rank
17	DEN	4.11	14	4.86	24	4.22	18	3.63	6	3.30	8
18	ARI	3.64	6	3.83	11	4.33	19	4.11	16	4.34	27
19	CHI	3.39	5	3.80	10	4.46	23	4.52	23	3.93	17
20	SEA	4.21	15	4.67	21	4.16	17	4.29	17	4.32	26
21	CLE	5.01	31	4.36	17	4.48	25	3.81	11	3.69	12
22	SD	4.48	19	4.55	20	4.53	26	4.48	22	4.19	23
23	KC	4.94	30	5.42	31	4.42	22	4.95	30	2.77	4
24	IND	4.07	12	4.42	18	4.40	21	4.64	26	4.99	31
25	OAK	4.91	29	4.80	23	4.56	28	3.98	13	4.48	28
26	PHI	4.44	17	3.93	14	4.59	29	4.57	24	4.78	30
27	NO	4.63	23	5.00	26	4.48	24	4.48	21	4.21	24
28	CIN	4.75	26	3.48	4	4.84	31	4.65	27	3.88	15
29	WAS	4.70	25	5.59	32	4.36	20	5.45	32	4.02	19
30	ATL	3.90	8	4.97	25	4.86	32	4.37	19	3.94	18
31	HOU	4.51	21	5.34	30	4.72	30	4.67	28	4.32	25
32	NYJ	4.77	27	5.19	28	4.56	27	5.24	31	5.93	32
x	NFL	4.26	x	4.27	x	4.19	x	4.20	x	3.87	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	TEN	304	13%	13%	51%	13%	10%
2	DEN	320	13%	12%	52%	11%	11%
3	GB	342	13%	16%	42%	13%	16%
4	MIN	342	16%	11%	48%	9%	15%
5	NE	358	11%	11%	58%	12%	7%
6	STL	365	7%	18%	46%	21%	8%
7	SF	370	14%	12%	50%	10%	14%
8	DAL	373	17%	12%	45%	13%	13%
9	DET	378	20%	13%	42%	12%	13%
10	CAR	381	12%	14%	51%	12%	11%
11	CHI	387	16%	12%	42%	17%	13%
12	SEA	388	12%	19%	48%	13%	8%
13	JAC	390	13%	17%	46%	16%	7%
14	KC	390	15%	8%	56%	11%	10%
15	IND	392	9%	11%	57%	13%	9%
16	MIA	394	8%	13%	60%	13%	6%
	Team	RB Carries	LEFT END	LEFT TACKLE	MID/ GUARD	RIGHT TACKLE	RIGHT END
17	PIT	397	7%	9%	63%	10%	10%
18	CIN	404	15%	10%	47%	15%	13%
19	PHI	404	14%	12%	49%	13%	12%
20	TB	406	8%	13%	60%	9%	9%
21	BAL	408	8%	12%	57%	17%	6%
22	ARI	410	12%	14%	43%	17%	13%
23	CLE	412	11%	19%	47%	17%	6%
24	BUF	419	4%	15%	61%	13%	7%
25	NO	423	15%	14%	47%	13%	12%
26	NYG	423	17%	14%	47%	11%	10%
27	ATL	443	10%	11%	49%	16%	14%
28	WAS	445	14%	11%	48%	9%	17%
29	SD	450	14%	14%	48%	15%	10%
30	HOU	468	14%	7%	51%	13%	16%
31	OAK	474	15%	12%	47%	14%	9%
32	NYJ	497	13%	10%	55%	12%	10%
x	NFL	x	13%	13%	50%	13%	11%