If defense wins championships, then these NFL Power Rankings will be the best ones to rank highly on.
The NFL playoffs are down to the final eight teams after the Wild Card round concluded on Monday night, and we're already set up for another phenomenal weekend of football in the Divisional round. But which teams have the best defenses?
At this time of year, you want to have two things: A quarterback who can win you games and a defense that can shut down the best of the best. We're ranking every defense remaining in the playoffs worst to best heading into the Divisional round.
NFL Power Rankings: Texans have the best defense left in the playoffs (but it's close)
8. San Francisco 49ers
I absolutely hate putting a Robert Saleh-coached defense at the bottom of a list like this, but the San Francisco 49ers might have the strongest case -- at this stage, anyway -- of having the "worst" defense left in the mix.
During the 2025 regular season, the 49ers were dead last in the NFL in sacks (20) and they ranked 20th in the league with nearly 5,800 yards of offense allowed. That's not to say the 49ers' defense hasn't stepped up at times. Just look at last week's battle in Philadelphia.
With that in mind, however, the Eagles have also been one of the league's worst offenses this year in a number of important metrics, and that game could have been a bit of fool's gold. We'll see if the 49ers' inability to consistently get to the QB bites them against the Seahawks, or if they can find a way to buckle down against a familiar opponent. In fact, familiarity with Seattle works to their advantage despite their defensive weaknesses.
7. Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears have probably had more stinkers defensively this season than any other team left standing in the playoffs, but they have been an absolute machine at creating takeaways under coordinator Dennis Allen.
The Chicago defense is extremely dangerous in the takeaway department. They ranked 29th this past season in total yards allowed and 23rd in points allowed. By those metrics, they should be in the 8th spot on this list, and not the 49ers. But the Bears rush the passer better than the 49ers, and they also create far more takeaways.
Those two teams played each other in late December in what ended up being anything but a defensive battle, to really prove my point that they may be the two worst defenses remaining. That game ended with the 49ers on top 42-38, and Brock Purdy threw a pick-six to start the game. The takeaway element is saving the Bears in this one.