NFL
Defense by Alignment
What each defense allows to receivers by where they line up — Wide, Slot, Inline, Backfield. The OPP column shows each team's Week 22 matchup (2025); open a row for its game log or the upcoming opponent's alignment usage.
New here?How to Read This Page
▶
How to Read This Page
Pick an alignment and the board ranks defenses by what they allow to players lined up there. The opponent view flips it to the offense: which receivers actually run their routes from that alignment and how often. A weakness only converts if the player facing it lines up in that spot, so the two halves are meant to be read together.
SEASON
WEEKS
Per game allowed to the alignment over the selected weeks · color = percentile among the 32 defenses (green = allows more) · tap a team for the log
Members Only
Sign up to see all 32 defenses
You're seeing the top 3. Sign up to unlock the full slate plus 29 more defenses, every week.
About the NFL Defensive Alignment board
Where a defense concedes production by alignment — wide, slot, inline or backfield. The same defense can be stiff against outside receivers and permissive in the slot, and a season-level ranking hides the difference entirely.
How to read it
Pick an alignment and the board ranks defenses by what they allow to players lined up there. The opponent view flips it to the offense: which receivers actually run their routes from that alignment and how often. A weakness only converts if the player facing it lines up in that spot, so the two halves are meant to be read together.
Where the numbers come from
Sourced from per-game charting of defenses by receiver alignment, with routes counted rather than inferred, aggregated over a season-and-week window and expressed as league percentiles.
Who it's for
For receiving research where alignment is the deciding detail — a slot-heavy player against a defense that struggles inside is a different matchup from the same player on the outside.
What the NFL stats mean
aDOTAverage depth of target — how far downfield throws travel in the air.
CPOECompletion percentage over expected — how much better or worse a quarterback completes passes than an average one would on the same throws.
RYOERush yards over expected — yards above what an average back would have gained on the same carries, given the blocking and the defense faced.
YPRRReceiving yards earned for every route run, not just the routes that end in a target.
TPRRHow often a receiver is thrown to when he actually runs a route. Credits players who do a lot with few snaps.
YACYards after the catch.
YBC / YACOYards before contact and yards after contact — how much room the blocking created, and how much a runner earned once a defender hit him.
MTFMissed tackles forced — how many defenders a player made miss.
SEPSeparation — yards of space between a receiver and the nearest defender when the ball arrived.
CUSHCushion — how many yards off a receiver the defender lined up before the snap.
TTTTime to throw — seconds from the snap to the release.