| Rank | Team | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | -0.229 | -0.122 | -0.264 | -0.301 | - | -0.243 | -0.220 | -0.125 |
| 2 |  | -0.192 | -0.989 | -0.480 | -0.280 | - | -0.179 | -0.210 | 0.077 |
| 3 |  | -0.100 | 0.138 | -0.060 | -0.088 | - | -0.082 | -0.133 | -0.073 |
| 4 |   | -0.099 | -0.486 | -0.158 | -0.112 | - | -0.081 | -0.123 | -0.046 |
| 5 |  | -0.057 | 0.263 | -0.017 | -0.043 | - | -0.010 | -0.121 | -0.103 |
Minnesota has the lowest defensive EPA per play (pass) in the NFL at -0.229, through games played November 3, 2026. Tampa Bay is second at -0.192, Seattle third at -0.100, the Los Angeles Rams fourth at -0.099 & Denver fifth at -0.057. A gap of 0.037 separates Minnesota from second place, & 0.356 separate it from the 25th-ranked team.
Only 0.218 separate first from tenth. Pittsburgh is sixth at -0.054, Green Bay seventh at -0.047, Jacksonville eighth at -0.045, Cleveland ninth at -0.034 & the New York Giants tenth at -0.011.
Tampa Bay ranks second on the season at -0.192 but has the league's lowest defensive EPA per play (pass) over the last three weeks at -0.480. Chicago is 11th at -0.009, Atlanta 12th at 0.002, Kansas City 13th at 0.007, the Los Angeles Chargers 14th at 0.009, Cincinnati 15th at 0.019, Washington 16th at 0.032, Houston 17th at 0.052 & San Francisco 18th at 0.053.
Eight teams sit inside 0.056 of each other from seventh to 14th, the tightest stretch of the ranking. Carolina is 19th at 0.059, Indianapolis 20th at 0.073, New England 21st at 0.089, New Orleans 22nd at 0.091, Baltimore 23rd at 0.091, Buffalo 24th at 0.123 & the New York Jets 25th at 0.127.
These 25 are drawn from 32 NFL teams ranked in the 2026 regular season, ranked lowest first. Defensive EPA per play on pass plays is the average expected points added allowed on dropbacks a defense faces. Figures are as of November 3, 2026 & are recalculated on StatRankings after each game's play-by-play is processed.
