NFL defense rankings 2026

Points allowed per game sets the order. The table opens sorted by the fewest points a defense has given up per game, so rank 1 is the defense that has allowed the fewest. Points allowed is the opponent's final score, so it includes touchdowns scored by the other team's defense or special teams against this team's offense. Two teams with the same average share a rank, marked T-; the row order between them goes to fewer yards allowed, then the team name (on any other column, to fewer points allowed first).

Every column ranks from its own best end. Yards allowed is the opponent's passing plus rushing yards per game, and fewer is better. Sacks per game, takeaways per game (interceptions plus fumble recoveries), defensive touchdowns and fantasy DST points per game rank the other way: the most is rank 1. Press a column header to re-rank the whole table on it, and press it again to flip the order. The number beside each team is its rank on the column you sorted by; sort by name, division or games played and it stays the points-allowed rank.

Fantasy DST points score each game with the standard team-defense rules, the same ones as the DST fantasy points calculator: a points-allowed bracket (a shutout is 10, 35 or more is −4), 1 per sack, 2 per interception or fumble recovery, 2 per safety or blocked kick, and 6 per defensive or return touchdown. It is the one column here that is fantasy, not real football.

Per game, and this season only. Teams have not all played the same number of games (a bye week, a Thursday game), so every rate is an average over the games a team has played, and the table shows games played. Nothing is blended in from last season and nothing is projected: it is 2026 through Week 5 and nothing else.

Filtering keeps the league rank. Choosing a conference or division shows those teams with their rank among all 32, so the number never changes depending on what you are looking at.

Early on it is a small sample. Until a defense has played about 6 games, one big play or one soft opponent can move it several spots. The table is through Week 5, so read gaps of a point or two as ties.

Schedule strength is not adjusted for. A defense that has faced two weak offenses looks better than it is, and one that has faced two strong ones looks worse. The rankings are what happened, not how good each defense is in a vacuum. For the matchup side, fantasy points allowed by position shows how the same defenses hold up against QBs, RBs, WRs and TEs, and NFL implied team totals shows how many points the market expects each offense to score this week.

A defense is not a fantasy defense. Fantasy DST scoring pays for sacks, takeaways and touchdowns and barely notices yards, so the best defense in football and the best fantasy defense are often different teams. For who to pick up this week, use the DST streaming rankings, which start from each opponent's expected score rather than from what the defense has done so far.

It describes the past, not next Sunday. A starter lost to injury or a trade changes a defense faster than its season averages move. Check the NFL injury report and, for who is playing where, the NFL depth charts.