| Rank | Team | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | -0.152 | -0.036 | -0.122 | -0.155 | - | -0.140 | -0.159 | -0.079 |
| 2 |  | -0.150 | -0.530 | -0.302 | -0.200 | - | -0.184 | -0.095 | 0.025 |
| 3 |  | -0.084 | -0.444 | -0.152 | -0.117 | - | -0.156 | 0.078 | -0.092 |
| 4 |   | -0.079 | -0.414 | -0.178 | -0.105 | - | -0.041 | -0.141 | -0.042 |
| 5 |  | -0.076 | 0.177 | 0.011 | -0.028 | - | -0.030 | -0.160 | -0.097 |
Through games played November 3, 2026, Minnesota has the lowest defensive EPA per play in the NFL at -0.152. Tampa Bay is second at -0.150, Jacksonville third at -0.084, the Los Angeles Rams fourth at -0.079 & Seattle fifth at -0.076. A gap of 0.002 separates Minnesota from second place, & 0.231 separate it from the 25th-ranked team.
Only 0.132 separate first from tenth. Green Bay is sixth at -0.063, Pittsburgh seventh at -0.062, Atlanta eighth at -0.037, San Francisco ninth at -0.024 & Kansas City tenth at -0.020.
Tampa Bay ranks second on the season at -0.150 but has the league's lowest defensive EPA per play over the last three weeks at -0.302. Cleveland is 11th at -0.018, Denver 12th at -0.016, the Los Angeles Chargers 13th at -0.014, Chicago 14th at -0.010, Cincinnati 15th at 0.007, the New York Giants 16th at 0.010, New England 17th at 0.026 & Houston 18th at 0.029.
Eight teams sit inside 0.034 of each other from ninth to 16th, the tightest stretch of the ranking. Baltimore is 19th at 0.031, the New York Jets 20th at 0.031, Washington 21st at 0.041, Carolina 22nd at 0.045, Buffalo 23rd at 0.075, Tennessee 24th at 0.077 & Indianapolis 25th at 0.079.
The ranking above covers the top 25 of 32 NFL teams in the 2026 regular season, ranked lowest first. Defensive EPA per play is the average expected points added allowed by a defense on each play it faces. Figures are as of November 3, 2026 & are recalculated on StatRankings after each game's play-by-play is processed.
