Defensive Expected Pressures | NFL Advanced Team Stats

Rank
1	100.1	12.8	38.7	68.7	-	53.7	46.4	196.3
2	98.5	14.9	51.8	80.6	-	46.2	52.2	175.6
3	93.9	8	39	69.4	-	46.2	47.8	176.2
4	93	16.4	43.4	67	-	43.6	49.3	200.8
5	92.3	13.7	45.1	64.5	-	50.9	41.4	194.3

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What Are Defensive Expected Pressures?

Defensive expected pressures estimates how many QB pressures a defense should have generated given how long opposing quarterbacks held the ball against it. Every play's expectation comes from Kaplan-Meier survival curves fit on league-wide time-to-pressure and time-to-throw data: the longer a quarterback holds the ball, the higher the league-wide odds that pressure arrives. Summing those per-play probabilities produces an opponent-adjusted baseline, so a defense that feasted on statuesque pocket passers is graded against that easier slate. A pass rush whose actual pressures forced beats this number is winning faster than the league does; one that trails it is being carried by opportunity rather than rush wins.

Which teams have the highest defensive expected pressures in the NFL in 2026?

Atlanta leads the NFL in defensive expected pressures at 100.1, through games played October 30, 2026. Buffalo is second at 98.5 & Cleveland third at 93.9. Atlanta's total is 1.6 pressures above second place & 27.7 pressures above the 25th-ranked team.

Only 14.8 pressures separate first from tenth. New England is fourth at 93, Tennessee fifth at 92.3, Houston sixth at 88.4, Las Vegas seventh at 87.6, the New York Jets eighth at 87.3, Denver ninth at 86.6 & Seattle tenth at 85.3.

Buffalo ranks second on the season at 98.5 but has led the league in defensive expected pressures over the last three weeks at 51.8. Philadelphia is 11th at 84.6, Green Bay 12th at 84.4, San Francisco 13th at 84.3, Cincinnati 14th at 83.6, Baltimore 15th at 81, Pittsburgh 16th at 80.4 & Detroit 17th at 80.3.

Eight teams sit inside 4.0 pressures of each other from seventh to 14th, the tightest stretch of the ranking. Dallas is 18th at 79.7, Jacksonville 19th at 78.4, Indianapolis 20th at 77.9, Tampa Bay 21st at 76.8, the Los Angeles Rams 22nd at 76, Washington 23rd at 75.4, Chicago 24th at 75 & New Orleans 25th at 72.4.

How this ranking is measured

These 25 are drawn from 32 NFL teams ranked in the 2026 regular season. Defensive expected pressures estimates how many QB pressures a defense should have generated given how long opposing quarterbacks held the ball against it. Figures are as of October 30, 2026 & are recalculated on StatRankings after each game's play-by-play is processed.