Packers: Power ranking NFC North defenses in 2019

Which NFC North team has the best defense in 2019?

For a while, the NFC North wasn’t exactly associated with great defense. Between 2013 and 2016, an NFC North team only finished inside the top 10 for total defense twice. But that has slowly been changing.

The Minnesota Vikings have now finished no worse than fourth in total defense since 2016. The Chicago Bears have back-to-back top-10 finishes. The Detroit Lions finished 10th in total defense in 2018.

The Green Bay Packers now need to catch up — they haven’t had a top-10 defense since the 2010 season.

But entering 2019, it’s not out of the question that the NFC North could feature all four teams inside the top 15 for total defense. It would’ve surprising if even one of the four teams had finished that high four or five years ago.

Earlier this month, we ranked each NFC North offense for the 2019 season, with the Packers taking first place. We’ll follow a similar format with the defenses, looking back at last year’s statistics, as well as the defensive player to watch for each team, and then an overall preview.

In a division featuring a lot of defensive talent, which defense is the strongest overall?

Here’s our power rankings for each defense in the NFC North, from worst to first.