Stopping the pass almost always has a direct correlation to winning football games. Last year, for example, the teams with the top 11 pass defenses all reached the playoffs.

 

But in this somewhat curious statistical season, the correlation this year was not nearly as sharp (offensively or defensively). You could argue that the three best pass defenses (Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Tennessee) belong to the three best teams in football (those are three of the four teams in our Relativity Index, for example).

 

However, the correlation falls off pretty sharply after that: the disappointing Packers chime in at No. 4, while three playoff teams (Atlanta, San Diego, Arizona) are firmly entrenched in the bottom half of the league when it comes to playing pass defense.

 

A few individual numbers leap off the page:

 

That's the number of TD passes the Colts surrendered this year, a new 16-game record and just one shy of the record 5 TD tosses allowed by the Dolphins in the 14-game 1973 season. Some have argued that this is a misleading number because the Colts are so easy to run on. That's a bogus argument. The Colts are not particularly stout on run defense (18 TDs allowed). But opponents did attempt 481 passes against Indy this year. That figure is a bit on the low end here in 2008, but high by historic standards.

 

For example, the 1973 Dolphins allowed 5 TD passes on 322 attempts (1.6%). The 2008 Colts allowed 6 TD passes on 481 attempts (1.2%). It may be an all time record as a percentage, but we'll have to dig a little deeper to find out if that's true. It's certainly a Super Bowl Era record.

 

That's the number of TD passes surrendered by the Cardinals this year. It's almost a miracle they made the playoffs when you consider just how soft they've been defensively.

 

Finally, that's the number of passes the pathetic, winless Lions picked off this year ... probably the single worst season in history whe it comes to picking off passes. Opponents attempted 443 passes against the Lions this year, and they managed just four thefts, an INT rate of less than 1 percent.

 

To put that rate of futility into perspective, consider that the late Sammy Baugh, all by his lonesome, picked off 5.7 percent of his opponent's passes in 1943. Night Train Lane picked off 3.9 percent opponent's passes when he set the individual single-season record of 14 INTs (against 360 attempts) with the Rams in 1952. However, we don't know if Baugh or Lane were on the field for every pass attempt, so they're actual theft rates might have been even higher.

 

We do know the Lions defense was alleged to be on the field for 443 pass attempts, but we're not sure that's true. You figure that even a collection of 11 tackling dummies might have been able to muster more than four INTs given 443 opportunities.

 

As noted elsewhere this week, the Lions set a new record for pass defense futility by allowing a stunningly awful Defensive Passer Rating of 110.8. Nobody is even close to that mark. Among the many reasons why the 2008 Lions fielded the single worst pass defense in history, an inability to get their hands on the ball, as cited above, played a large role. (Note: we originally reported that the Lions surrendered a 110.9 Defensive Passer Rating. However, it was actually 110.8. Either way, it sucks royally.)

 

* Indicates playoff teams.

 

	Team	Att.	Comp.	Pct.	Yards	YPA	TD	INT	Rating
1	Ravens*	528	276	52.3	3132	5.93	17	26	60.6
2	Steelers*	533	301	56.5	2862	5.37	12	20	63.4
3	Titans*	576	343	59.5	3460	6.01	12	20	69.2
4	Packers	518	287	55.4	3384	6.53	22	22	71.9
5	Eagles*	525	284	54.1	3225	6.14	19	15	72.9
6	Buccaneers	475	276	58.1	3187	6.71	23	22	75.3
7	Redskins	511	290	56.8	3236	6.33	16	13	75.6
8	Giants*	503	296	58.8	3427	6.81	17	17	76.7
9	Dolphins*	551	320	58.1	3862	7.01	18	18	77.0
10	Bears	622	383	61.6	4076	6.55	21	22	77.2
11	Colts*	482	330	68.5	3213	6.67	6	15	78.1
12	Raiders	471	266	56.5	3408	7.24	20	16	79.3
13	Browns	446	286	64.1	3363	7.54	19	23	79.7
14	Saints	526	299	56.8	3708	7.05	21	15	80.3
15	Panthers*	557	333	59.8	3617	6.49	19	12	81.4
16	Vikings*	530	324	61.1	3753	7.08	15	12	82.5
17	Bills	494	302	61.1	3441	6.97	14	10	83.1
18	Falcons*	549	325	59.2	3771	6.87	20	10	84.6
19	49ers	545	331	60.7	3666	6.73	22	12	85.0
20	Cowboys	508	308	60.6	3377	6.65	19	8	86.2
21	Bengals	506	315	62.3	3413	6.75	23	12	87.3
22	Jets	572	368	64.3	4005	7.0	23	14	88.1
23	Patriots	474	288	60.8	3458	7.3	27	14	89.8
24	Chargers*	605	411	67.9	4090	6.76	25	15	90.3
25	Chiefs	522	348	66.7	3810	7.3	21	13	91.1
26	Texans	471	294	62.4	3598	7.64	24	12	92.3
27	Rams	446	280	62.8	3672	8.23	20	12	92.4
28	Jaguars	465	297	63.9	3777	8.12	25	13	95.4
29	Seahawks	566	366	64.7	4342	7.67	25	9	96.0
30	Cardinals*	517	323	62.5	3731	7.22	36	13	96.9
31	Broncos	495	333	67.3	3797	7.67	20	6	98.5
32	Lions	444	304	68.5	3903	8.79	25	4	110.8