DEFENSIVE PASSER RATING UPDATE
The top pass defenses include all the usual suspects: Tennessee (at No. 1, natch), Baltimore, Tampa, Chicago, Pittsburgh.
No surprises there.
But there is one interloper: the Packers sit at No. 2 in Defensive Passer Rating, wedged like cheddar in between the Titans and Ravens. Green Bay has surrendered an unusually high number of TD passes (nine), but they've also hauled in more picks (13) than any other team in football through Week 7.
The Pack holds opposing passers to just 51.7 percent completions, tops in the NFL (much better than the Titans), and their 5.93 YPA against is among the league's best, too. It all adds up to a stingy 59.5 defensive passer rating, quite an achievement in this day and age of high-powered passing attacks.
The Green Bay D has generated a lot of criticism for its run defense (4.89 YPA, 19th). But the pass defense clearly keeps the Pack in the hunt, and it's one reason why you shouldn't count them out come December and January: cracking down on opposing passing attacks is a sure-fire way to pick up wintry victories in the NFL.
Just ask the 2007 Giants, who shut down the NFL's three best passing attacks in the playoffs and rode this effort all the way to a ticker tape parade in Manhattan.