What Pass rating (allowed) is

Passer rating allowed: the NFL's traditional quarterback formula, computed on what opposing quarterbacks did against this defense. Completion-weighted, like the offensive version.

Lower is better. It is a rate, so a team's number does not grow with games played. Source: P.

In 2022 the Bengals led at 80.10; the league average was 89.01.

League snapshot — 2022

League leader

CIN · 80.10

League average

89.01

Best to worst

18.70

All 32 teams, lower is better.

Rank	Team	Value	Games
1	CIN	80.10	16
2	NYJ	80.50	17
3	PHI	81.60	17
4	BUF	82.10	16
5	HOU	82.70	17
6	SF	82.70	17
7	DEN	83.10	17
8	NE	83.50	17
9	NO	83.80	17
10	DAL	84.70	17
11	CLE	85.20	17
12	PIT	86.80	17
13	SEA	87.30	17
14	LAC	88.00	17
15	GB	88.30	17
16	BAL	88.70	17
17	JAX	89.10	17
18	NYG	89.90	17
19	WAS	90.20	17
20	LAR	90.80	17
21	MIN	91.60	17
22	TB	92.70	17
23	TEN	93.00	17
24	CAR	93.70	17
25	DET	94.20	17
26	CHI	94.40	17
27	KC	95.30	17
28	MIA	95.30	17
29	ATL	95.70	17
30	IND	96.20	17
31	ARI	98.20	17
32	LV	98.80	17

At a glance — 2022

Where the 32 teams sit on this stat this season.

League leader

CIN · 80.10

League laggard

LV · 98.80

League average

89.01

Spread (max − min)

18.70

Rank	Team	Value	Δ vs avg	Percentile
1	CIN	80.10	-8.91	100%
2	NYJ	80.50	-8.51	96.8%
3	PHI	81.60	-7.41	93.5%
4	BUF	82.10	-6.91	90.3%
5	HOU	82.70	-6.31	87.1%
6	SF	82.70	-6.31	83.9%
7	DEN	83.10	-5.91	80.6%
8	NE	83.50	-5.51	77.4%
9	NO	83.80	-5.21	74.2%
10	DAL	84.70	-4.31	71%
11	CLE	85.20	-3.81	67.7%
12	PIT	86.80	-2.21	64.5%
13	SEA	87.30	-1.71	61.3%
14	LAC	88.00	-1.01	58.1%
15	GB	88.30	-0.71	54.8%
16	BAL	88.70	-0.31	51.6%
17	JAX	89.10	0.09	48.4%
18	NYG	89.90	0.89	45.2%
19	WAS	90.20	1.19	41.9%
20	LAR	90.80	1.79	38.7%
21	MIN	91.60	2.59	35.5%
22	TB	92.70	3.69	32.3%
23	TEN	93.00	3.99	29%
24	CAR	93.70	4.69	25.8%
25	DET	94.20	5.19	22.6%
26	CHI	94.40	5.39	19.4%
27	KC	95.30	6.29	16.1%
28	MIA	95.30	6.29	12.9%
29	ATL	95.70	6.69	9.7%
30	IND	96.20	7.19	6.5%
31	ARI	98.20	9.19	3.2%
32	LV	98.80	9.79	0%

Does Pass rating (allowed) matter against the spread?

Run as a one-stat algorithm against the closing line, this stat went 867–711–37 ATS (54.9%) across 2020–2025, #74 of 296 ranked.

Its best season was 2020 (163–91, 64.2%); its worst 2023 (125–133, 48.4%).

For picks, this is a strong signal. One stat is not a recipe — the algorithms combine many.

Season	Games	ATS record	ATS %
2020	256	163–91–2	64.2%
2021	272	144–126–2	53.3%
2022	271	143–121–7	54.2%
2023	272	125–133–14	48.4%
2024	272	142–121–9	54.0%
2025	272	150–119–3	55.8%

Pass rating (allowed) in 2022 vs 2021

Bengals lead at 80.10 — they ranked #18 last year. Raiders are last at 98.80 — #24 last year.

The league average is 89.01, down 1.87 from 90.88 last year.

Biggest riser: Jets, #31 → #2. Biggest faller: Dolphins, #7 → #28.

Spread between first and last: 18.70; 18 teams are within 5.43 of the average.

Year-over-year — 2022 vs 2021

Biggest movers from last season.

Biggest riser

BUF · +16.80

Biggest faller

NYJ · −22.70

Most consistent

MIN · +0.20

League trend 2022 vs 2021

▼ -1.87

Rank	Team	2022	2021	Δ
1	BUF	82.10	65.30	+16.80
2	NE	83.50	73.30	+10.20
3	MIA	95.30	85.40	+9.90
4	DAL	84.70	76.60	+8.10
5	TB	92.70	85.60	+7.10
6	LAR	90.80	83.80	+7.00
7	TEN	93.00	86.40	+6.60
8	IND	96.20	90.50	+5.70
9	ARI	98.20	93.50	+4.70
10	KC	95.30	92.00	+3.30
11	LV	98.80	96.40	+2.40
12	NO	83.80	81.70	+2.10
13	GB	88.30	86.90	+1.40
14	NYG	89.90	89.00	+0.90
15	MIN	91.60	91.40	+0.20
16	CAR	93.70	95.00	−1.30
17	ATL	95.70	97.40	−1.70
18	DEN	83.10	85.00	−1.90
19	PIT	86.80	88.70	−1.90
20	CLE	85.20	89.40	−4.20
21	LAC	88.00	93.00	−5.00
22	SEA	87.30	93.60	−6.30
23	DET	94.20	101.00	−6.80
24	CHI	94.40	103.30	−8.90
25	WAS	90.20	100.80	−10.60
26	BAL	88.70	99.40	−10.70
27	HOU	82.70	94.10	−11.40
28	JAX	89.10	100.80	−11.70
29	CIN	80.10	93.10	−13.00
30	PHI	81.60	95.40	−13.80
31	SF	82.70	97.00	−14.30
32	NYJ	80.50	103.20	−22.70

Multi-year context

7-year window (2020–2026)

Multi-year leader

BUF · 85.00

Multi-year laggard

ARI · 99.44

Biggest improver

MIN · −4.37/yr

Biggest decliner

DAL · +5.04/yr

Rank	Team	Avg	Slope/yr	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026
1	BUF	85.00	+3.45	86.90	65.30	82.10	81.90	93.30	79.80	105.70
2	DEN	86.07	−1.70	92.10	85.00	83.10	98.00	86.20	78.70	79.40
3	PIT	86.19	+1.35	76.70	88.70	86.80	84.70	87.50	92.20	86.70
4	LAR	86.29	+0.16	80.40	83.80	90.80	88.00	95.90	87.00	78.10
5	MIN	86.64	−4.37	97.00	91.40	91.60	95.20	82.40	86.00	62.90
6	SEA	86.86	−2.51	90.20	93.60	87.30	92.10	90.90	77.90	76.00
7	NO	87.40	+3.26	83.30	81.70	83.80	79.70	84.80	91.80	106.70
8	NE	87.63	+2.01	89.30	73.30	83.50	86.90	96.90	93.10	90.40
9	KC	88.23	−1.67	89.40	92.00	95.30	83.60	90.60	89.90	76.80
10	BAL	88.39	−0.52	87.20	99.40	88.70	74.60	91.10	89.60	88.10
11	GB	88.43	−1.11	91.10	86.90	88.30	94.70	88.50	92.70	76.80
12	LAC	88.83	−1.37	91.40	93.00	88.00	96.40	87.10	75.00	90.90
13	PHI	88.89	−3.01	102.40	95.40	81.60	97.60	82.50	75.40	87.30
14	CLE	88.96	−0.01	94.80	89.40	85.20	74.70	98.90	90.00	89.70
15	SF	89.11	+0.03	88.60	97.00	82.70	79.60	92.00	100.50	83.40
16	HOU	90.19	−2.82	109.60	94.10	82.70	90.10	83.70	76.20	94.90
17	CIN	91.29	−0.10	96.10	93.10	80.10	91.40	91.90	99.40	87.00
18	NYG	91.47	+0.15	93.20	89.00	89.90	84.10	103.10	94.30	86.70
19	TB	92.43	+0.35	94.30	85.60	92.70	92.00	96.60	97.50	88.30
20	JAX	92.79	−3.58	105.60	100.80	89.10	89.80	103.40	78.50	82.30
21	NYJ	93.19	−0.61	103.20	103.20	80.50	76.00	89.00	110.90	89.50
22	IND	93.23	+1.19	90.50	90.50	96.20	88.20	95.80	88.00	103.40
23	CAR	93.36	−1.61	98.40	95.00	93.70	88.80	105.40	88.20	84.00
24	CHI	94.37	−0.68	94.90	103.30	94.40	88.00	90.90	91.40	97.70
25	ATL	95.03	−1.58	101.70	97.40	95.70	90.30	100.20	88.40	91.50
26	MIA	95.67	+4.19	87.00	85.40	95.30	93.00	88.70	105.30	115.00
27	DAL	96.01	+5.04	100.40	76.60	84.70	80.80	99.50	109.60	120.50
28	LV	96.04	+0.38	95.30	96.40	98.80	89.30	96.50	96.40	99.60
29	TEN	96.97	+2.13	97.50	86.40	93.00	96.40	95.10	108.30	102.10
30	DET	97.13	−1.70	112.40	101.00	94.20	91.50	82.00	92.50	106.30
31	WAS	97.13	+2.77	81.40	100.80	90.20	105.70	93.90	104.00	103.90
32	ARI	99.44	+2.95	91.50	93.50	98.20	102.90	95.10	97.60	117.30

Multi-year heatmap

32 teams across 7 seasons. Cells colored by quintile within each season; click a column header to jump to that year.

Team	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026
CIN	96.10	93.10	80.10	91.40	91.90	99.40	87.00
NYJ	103.20	103.20	80.50	76.00	89.00	110.90	89.50
PHI	102.40	95.40	81.60	97.60	82.50	75.40	87.30
BUF	86.90	65.30	82.10	81.90	93.30	79.80	105.70
HOU	109.60	94.10	82.70	90.10	83.70	76.20	94.90
SF	88.60	97.00	82.70	79.60	92.00	100.50	83.40
DEN	92.10	85.00	83.10	98.00	86.20	78.70	79.40
NE	89.30	73.30	83.50	86.90	96.90	93.10	90.40
NO	83.30	81.70	83.80	79.70	84.80	91.80	106.70
DAL	100.40	76.60	84.70	80.80	99.50	109.60	120.50
CLE	94.80	89.40	85.20	74.70	98.90	90.00	89.70
PIT	76.70	88.70	86.80	84.70	87.50	92.20	86.70
SEA	90.20	93.60	87.30	92.10	90.90	77.90	76.00
LAC	91.40	93.00	88.00	96.40	87.10	75.00	90.90
GB	91.10	86.90	88.30	94.70	88.50	92.70	76.80
BAL	87.20	99.40	88.70	74.60	91.10	89.60	88.10
JAX	105.60	100.80	89.10	89.80	103.40	78.50	82.30
NYG	93.20	89.00	89.90	84.10	103.10	94.30	86.70
WAS	81.40	100.80	90.20	105.70	93.90	104.00	103.90
LAR	80.40	83.80	90.80	88.00	95.90	87.00	78.10
MIN	97.00	91.40	91.60	95.20	82.40	86.00	62.90
TB	94.30	85.60	92.70	92.00	96.60	97.50	88.30
TEN	97.50	86.40	93.00	96.40	95.10	108.30	102.10
CAR	98.40	95.00	93.70	88.80	105.40	88.20	84.00
DET	112.40	101.00	94.20	91.50	82.00	92.50	106.30
CHI	94.90	103.30	94.40	88.00	90.90	91.40	97.70
KC	89.40	92.00	95.30	83.60	90.60	89.90	76.80
MIA	87.00	85.40	95.30	93.00	88.70	105.30	115.00
ATL	101.70	97.40	95.70	90.30	100.20	88.40	91.50
IND	90.50	90.50	96.20	88.20	95.80	88.00	103.40
ARI	91.50	93.50	98.20	102.90	95.10	97.60	117.30
LV	95.30	96.40	98.80	89.30	96.50	96.40	99.60

Pass rating (allowed) since 2018

Leaders since 2018: 2018 Bears (72.90), 2019 Patriots (62.80), 2020 Steelers (76.70), 2021 Bills (65.30), 2022 Bengals (80.10).

The best season on record is Patriots 2019 at 62.80; the worst Lions 2020 at 112.40.

Distribution

How the 32 teams cluster for 2022.

About this stat

Stat ID: def_passing_pass_rating
Side: defensive
Family: Passing
Data source: P only
Polarity: lower is better
Display grain: rate
Algorithm eligibility: Algorithm-eligible: this stat can be picked in the Algorithm Builder.