Cold, Hard Football Facts.com: Final 2005 Defensive Passer Rating

Click here to read about defensive passer rating, why it's a "Stat That Matters" and why it's better than sex.

Most "pundits" rank pass defenses by total pass yards allowed. But total pass yards allowed is a meaningless stat that has no correlation to winning football games.

Defensive passer rating is a much more effective way to rank pass defenses because it has a much more direct correlation to winning football games.

2005 defensive passer ratings (playoff teams in bold italics)

Team	%	Yards	YPP	TDs	INTs	Rating
*Chicago*	56.9	3,147	5.72	10	24	61.2
*Carolina*	57.8	3,351	6.35	15	23	68.0
*Washington*	54.4	3,318	6.20	15	16	70.1
*Denver*	56.1	3,833	6.25	20	20	72.2
*Cincinnati*	62.4	3,749	7.22	21	31	72.8
N.Y. Jets	61.3	2,948	6.37	17	21	73.1
*Tampa Bay*	57.8	3,158	6.63	15	17	73.5
*Pittsburgh*	57.4	3,480	6.34	15	15	74.0
Dallas	54.7	3,319	6.71	18	15	75.1
Minnesota	59.8	3,539	6.64	23	24	75.2
*N.Y. Giants*	56.7	3,852	6.64	20	17	76.3
Baltimore	56.3	3,228	6.14	18	12	76.4
*Seattle*	58.0	3,861	6.76	18	16	77.4
Detroit	60.6	3,305	6.79	19	19	77.6
*Jacksonville*	59.1	3,223	6.69	22	19	78.0
Cleveland	59.2	3,009	6.39	19	15	78.2
Atlanta	60.8	3,394	6.45	18	16	78.4
Arizona	61.8	3,314	6.78	17	15	80.6
Buffalo	62.4	3,560	7.08	19	17	82.1
Philadelphia	59.0	3,507	6.97	24	17	82.2
Kansas City	58.1	3,862	6.91	25	16	82.3
Miami	58.8	3,682	6.71	23	14	82.4
*Indianapolis*	67.4	3,469	6.82	17	18	83.0
San Diego	59.6	3,888	6.86	20	10	84.7
New Orleans	57.7	3,014	7.21	20	10	86.2
Green Bay	58.6	2,876	6.69	22	10	87.8
New England	56.2	3,929	7.45	25	10	87.8
St. Louis	61.9	3,619	7.14	26	13	89.8
Oakland	60.9	3,481	7.16	18	5	90.7
San Francisco	64.9	4,620	8.02	28	16	94.2
Houston	64.8	3,727	7.95	24	7	100.0
Tennessee	63.0	3,462	7.37	33	9	100.7

* For the record, the official stat is “passer rating,” not “quarterback rating.” It’s an important distinction, as passer rating merely measures a player’s ability to pass – or, in our case here, a team’s ability to defend against the pass. It does not measure a player’s ability to actually play quarterback. As all Cold, Hard Football Facts readers know (yes, even you there, drinking the glass of bourbon), an ability to pass and an ability to play quarterback are not necessarily one and the same.

** The NFL subtracts sack yardage from a team’s total yardage figure when determining overall pass defense rankings. Coach Troup’s system does not subtract sack yardage by a defense. Look at it this way: Yardage lost via sack is not counted against a quarterback’s passer rating. Couch Troup does not count sack yardage in favor of the defense. You can quibble. But, at the end of the day, teams that get a lot of pressure on the QB are ultimately going to end up with superior defensive passer ratings anyway, whether this yardage is taken into account or not. Deal with it. Another shot of bourbon might help.