6. Buffalo Bills
As bad as the Buffalo Bills' defense has been at times this season, they still finished the year with the #1-ranked pass defense overall. Situationally, they were not great. They had the 24th-ranked defense on third downs and the 19th-ranked defense in the red zone.
Worst of all, this team has consistently struggled to stop the run. Only the Giants and Bengals gave up more yards per carry (5.1) than the Bills this past season. But that Buffalo defense came through in the Wild Card round of the playoffs against a red-hot Jaguars team, so you never know when it comes to the playoffs.
Going up against a Denver Broncos offense in the Divisional round that has struggled with consistency, it's going to be fascinating to see how that Buffalo defense follows up its performance against the Jags.
5. New England Patriots
None of us should have expected differently, but the Patriots' defense has taken a massive leap forward this season under head coach Mike Vrabel. They ranked 8th in the NFL this past season in yards allowed and 4th in total points allowed, and we just saw them absolutely dominate a Chargers offense that was beaten up going into the playoffs.
However, there is a caveat. Or maybe multiple. This is where we can be hyper-critical and point out that the Patriots didn't play a lot of great teams this past season. Their defense has stepped up against better teams, too, but these numbers speak volumes.
The Patriots ranked 30th in the NFL this past season in red zone defense, an absolutely atrocious number. They were 12th in third-down defense and 19th in takeaways (19). This will be fascinating to watch as we get deeper into the playoffs.