Writers of Pro Football Prospectus 2008

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Defensive Lines 2008

Regular season totals, through Week 11

Revised as of 11/18/2008

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, and situation, and normalized so that the league average for Adjusted Line Yards per carry is the same as the league average for RB yards per carry (current baseline: 4.08). 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. Because it is still early in the season, opponent adjustments are currently set at 80 percent strength.

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 that result in (on first down) zero or negative gain or (on second through fourth down) less than one-fourth the yards needed for another first down. 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 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 per pass attempt adjusted for opponent, down, and distance. Pass rush stats are explained further here. 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 3.23 3.37 59% 8 22% 26 30% 3 PIT 1 36 9.7%
2 CHI 3.44 3.63 58% 4 22% 27 32% 1 MIN 2 26 9.1%
3 MIN 3.44 3.28 59% 7 17% 17 29% 5 PHI 3 36 9.1%
4 NYG 3.50 3.58 64% 14 15% 11 28% 6 OAK 4 24 9.0%
5 NYJ 3.52 3.13 68% 21 12% 5 25% 15 DAL 5 29 8.4%
6 PIT 3.66 3.10 57% 3 5% 1 26% 13 MIA 6 28 8.2%
7 TEN 3.79 3.82 66% 18 18% 20 27% 8 NYG 7 31 7.8%
8 PHI 3.81 3.75 60% 10 16% 15 30% 2 NYJ 8 34 7.8%
9 BUF 3.82 3.89 70% 24 20% 22 29% 4 TB 9 20 7.3%
10 ARI 3.94 3.48 63% 11 11% 4 28% 7 BAL 10 21 7.1%
11 MIA 3.97 3.81 64% 13 13% 6 26% 10 TEN 11 28 6.8%
12 SEA 4.00 3.97 65% 17 21% 25 26% 14 STL 12 20 6.6%
13 TB 4.02 3.91 67% 20 16% 16 20% 26 DEN 13 20 6.5%
14 SF 4.11 3.80 70% 25 14% 9 21% 23 SEA 14 24 6.5%
15 CAR 4.14 4.01 63% 12 13% 7 20% 28 NE 15 19 6.4%
16 ATL 4.21 4.71 57% 2 23% 28 26% 11 CAR 16 21 6.3%
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 JAC 4.21 4.22 60% 9 16% 13 26% 12 JAC 17 19 6.3%
18 NE 4.23 4.04 58% 6 17% 18 23% 18 ATL 18 18 6.2%
19 DEN 4.24 5.06 58% 5 29% 31 22% 20 GB 19 17 6.1%
20 NO 4.24 4.15 72% 27 15% 10 26% 9 ARI 20 23 6.0%
21 WAS 4.30 3.82 57% 1 8% 2 20% 25 HOU 21 17 5.7%
22 CIN 4.42 4.20 69% 22 16% 14 24% 16 CHI 22 17 5.4%
23 DAL 4.43 4.36 86% 32 18% 19 21% 22 DET 23 17 5.4%
24 IND 4.51 4.43 75% 28 20% 23 22% 19 SD 24 21 5.2%
25 KC 4.65 5.46 83% 31 30% 32 20% 30 CLE 25 15 5.0%
26 DET 4.67 5.34 67% 19 26% 30 21% 21 SF 26 18 4.9%
27 HOU 4.70 4.34 78% 29 14% 8 18% 32 WAS 27 15 4.9%
28 OAK 4.76 4.64 81% 30 16% 12 20% 27 NO 28 18 4.9%
29 STL 4.76 5.11 65% 16 25% 29 24% 17 BUF 29 15 4.3%
30 GB 4.81 4.90 71% 26 20% 24 21% 24 CIN 30 11 4.1%
31 SD 4.89 4.23 69% 23 8% 3 19% 31 IND 31 14 4.0%
32 CLE 4.93 4.83 65% 15 20% 21 20% 29 KC 32 6 3.8%
x NFL x 4.20 67% x 18% x 24% x NFL x 21 6.4%

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. It's early in the season, so take these numbers with a grain of salt. 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 4.59 22 3.41 6 2.99 1 3.40 6 2.86 6
2 CHI 1.89 1 3.81 9 3.26 2 4.92 29 3.72 14
3 MIN 4.01 11 3.03 3 3.86 7 2.54 3 2.34 4
4 NYG 3.25 6 4.27 17 3.36 3 4.24 18 2.88 7
5 NYJ 3.76 8 3.93 11 4.15 12 2.88 4 0.30 1
6 PIT 4.19 14 4.22 15 3.52 4 4.10 14 2.95 8
7 TEN 2.91 4 2.87 2 4.03 9 3.47 7 5.46 28
8 PHI 3.85 9 2.86 1 4.21 16 4.45 22 2.95 9
9 BUF 2.72 3 4.50 20 3.68 5 4.46 24 2.71 5
10 ARI 4.60 23 3.81 8 4.21 14 2.44 2 4.41 21
11 MIA 2.27 2 3.65 7 4.12 11 4.63 25 3.21 11
12 SEA 4.11 13 4.05 13 4.05 10 3.74 11 3.96 16
13 TB 4.53 19 4.89 27 3.99 8 4.04 13 1.52 2
14 SF 3.18 5 4.79 25 4.17 13 3.39 5 4.67 23
15 CAR 4.05 12 4.53 21 4.38 20 2.09 1 4.14 17
16 ATL 4.70 25 4.96 29 3.85 6 3.63 9 4.35 20
    LEFT END LEFT TACKLE MID/GUARD RIGHT TACKLE RIGHT END
  TEAM ALY Rank ALY Rank ALY Rank ALY Rank ALY Rank
17 JAC 3.91 10 4.57 22 4.22 17 4.34 21 4.26 19
18 NE 4.60 24 3.18 4 4.26 19 3.82 12 5.24 27
19 DEN 4.23 15 4.66 23 4.47 22 3.66 10 3.46 12
20 NO 4.91 26 4.36 19 4.21 15 4.45 23 2.98 10
21 WAS 4.53 20 3.30 5 4.48 23 4.11 15 4.43 22
22 CIN 5.30 29 4.32 18 4.81 29 4.34 20 2.30 3
23 DAL 3.70 7 4.13 14 4.25 18 5.05 30 5.47 29
24 IND 4.26 16 5.02 30 4.71 28 4.19 16 3.46 13
25 KC 5.70 31 4.76 24 4.51 25 4.92 28 3.95 15
26 DET 4.52 18 5.27 31 5.22 32 3.57 8 4.24 18
27 HOU 5.29 28 4.82 26 4.48 24 4.84 26 5.05 26
28 OAK 4.44 17 3.83 10 4.70 27 5.66 32 5.54 30
29 STL 5.89 32 4.23 16 4.40 21 4.90 27 5.55 31
30 GB 4.56 21 3.97 12 5.01 30 5.42 31 4.74 24
31 SD 5.45 30 5.39 32 4.68 26 4.21 17 5.96 32
32 CLE 5.28 27 4.96 28 5.01 31 4.29 19 4.93 25
x NFL 4.31 x 4.25 x 4.26 x 4.13 x 3.96 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 NYG 197 12% 12% 52% 12% 12%
2 MIN 202 13% 11% 51% 12% 12%
3 WAS 205 18% 9% 38% 18% 18%
4 PIT 207 9% 11% 61% 10% 9%
5 BAL 211 6% 16% 48% 21% 9%
6 ARI 212 13% 14% 49% 16% 8%
7 NYJ 214 7% 19% 51% 13% 10%
8 DAL 219 12% 14% 46% 20% 8%
9 ATL 221 17% 12% 43% 11% 16%
10 MIA 221 5% 18% 52% 18% 6%
11 TB 224 11% 17% 55% 9% 8%
12 TEN 228 9% 13% 57% 14% 7%
13 CHI 236 17% 19% 40% 15% 9%
14 SD 236 10% 10% 55% 15% 10%
15 BUF 239 8% 20% 56% 11% 5%
16 CAR 240 10% 14% 53% 9% 14%
Team RB
Carries		 LEFT
END		 LEFT
TACKLE		 MID/
GUARD		 RIGHT
TACKLE		 RIGHT
END
17 JAC 240 16% 8% 53% 9% 14%
18 NO 241 14% 16% 51% 11% 8%
19 NE 242 9% 9% 64% 10% 8%
20 PHI 244 16% 13% 38% 18% 15%
21 HOU 257 10% 9% 59% 10% 12%
22 DEN 264 14% 16% 49% 13% 8%
23 SEA 264 11% 15% 47% 17% 11%
24 SF 266 9% 16% 53% 12% 9%
25 GB 271 14% 13% 48% 12% 12%
26 CIN 278 13% 13% 47% 17% 10%
27 CLE 279 9% 24% 50% 13% 4%
28 STL 294 13% 20% 40% 16% 11%
29 DET 295 13% 15% 37% 20% 15%
30 IND 295 7% 13% 52% 18% 9%
31 KC 300 12% 13% 46% 14% 15%
32 OAK 307 11% 16% 48% 12% 12%
x NFL x 11% 14% 50% 14% 10%