As has become clearer and clearer in recent years, offense is king in the modern . But that doesn't mean defense is wholly irrelevant. Because even though offense Bobby Wagner Jersey has a greater effect on overall team performance -- and is more consistent year over year -- than defense, you still need to occasionally get some stops in order to actually win football games.For that reason, we're going to rank the league's defenses now that the player-acquisition portion of the offseason is mostly over. Rather than go through every team from 32-1 on this side of the ball, we're once again grouping the teams by how likely they are to finish the year among the league's top 10 defenses, based on the quality of their personnel and coaching.Without further ado... (The le s said about these two depth charts, the better. We also had the in this section at first, but we can't discount the po sibility that can turn them into a top-10 defense all by himself, so they got bumped up a tier. Atlanta added , , , , , , and this offseason, but there was so far to go between where they were and being a top-10 unit that we can't help but feel it's still pretty unlikely -- even with a new defensive coordinator as well. The same applies to the Bears, even after adding and in free agency and Gervon Dexter Sr., , , and more in the draft. Even with , Detroit lacks the pa s-rush juice to make a push for the top 10 despite a much-improved secondary thanks to numerous additions in free agency (, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, ) and the draft (). Bringing in as head coach and landing the top pa s-rusher in the draft in . is a nice start for the Texans, but this is still a very shallow bunch of talent. It's likely at least a year or two away from being able to call itself a top group. The Colts finished last season 14th in defensive DVOA, but the strength of their defense is at linebacker, defensive tackle, and safety, and those positions are just le s likely than edge rusher and corner to turn a defense into a top-10 unit. L.A. was in the previous section until I remembered Donald's existence, and the only reason Minnesota isn't in that section is because of the faith I have in Brian Flores to coax better-than-expected results out of the talent on hand. and aren't enough to make up the difference between where the Giants were last year and where they'd need to get to be a top-10 Cody Barton Jersey defense. Wink Martindale has a bit better personnel than he did a year ago, but it's still not at the level it needs to be for him to succe sfully run his style of defense. The Bucs had one of the top defenses for several years, but despite Todd Bowles still being around to coach them up, it's a unit that is getting older and thinner and may not have the ceiling it once did. The Titans are here out of respect for and , but there's just not a lot of talent elsewhere on the defense. Hiring Ejiro Evero to coordinate the defense may have been the best move the Panthers made this offseason. There are even some interesting pieces for him to work with, from and to and . It's just not quite a group on the same level as what he had in Denver, or before that, Los Angles. The Browns have had the top-end talent to be an elite defense for a while, but haven't been able to put all the pieces together. remains, and is now joined by and up front. Can the cornerback trio finally coalesce into a special group? The Packers seem to continually underperform relative to their talent level on defense. Why? Who knows. But it's been happening often enough over the past few years that they belong in this group rather than higher.Jacksonville has its pa s-rushers in and and seemed to settle on a cornerback trio over the second half of last season. But this group still finished 26th in DVOA a year ago, and its most significant offseason additions were Day 3 draft picks. We know what will happen with the Chiefs: They'll be fine-to-meh for most of the season, but by the end of the year Steve Spagnuolo will have his unit in shape for a run. It's just not likely that shape will take the form of a top-10 defense.Brandon Staley finally got the Chargers to play above-average defense over the second half of last year, but defensive coordinator Renaldo Hill left for Miami during the offseason and there are still question marks and injury i sues galore among the personnel on hand. Miami adding Hill, plus and , and getting a full season of , raises the ceiling for the Dolphins' defense. We're just not sure how high the floor is. New Orleans lost co-defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen to the division rival Falcons, plus Onyemata, , , and along the defensive front. None of those C.J. Prosise Jersey lo ses is nearly a death knell on its own, but the collective does introduce enough uncertainty to knock the Saints into this group. The Seahawks added to last season's elite cornerback find in , and signed to bring some interior pa s rush. The addition of just isn't enough to make them an elite pre sure unit, so the Seahawks land here. We had a ton of confidence in the Commanders a couple years ago and they let us down. Then, they outperformed expectations last year. So, what do we expect this season? It's anybody's gue s. Pick Six Newsletter Crafted By The Best NFL Experts Get the day's big stories + fun stuff you love like mock drafts, picks and power rankings. I agree to receive the "Pick Six Newsletter" and marketing communications, updates, special offers (including partner offers), and other information from CBS Sports and the Paramount family of companies. By pre sing sign up, I confirm that I have read and agree to the and acknowledge Paramount's . Please check the opt-in box to acknowledge that you would like to subscribe. Thanks for signing up! Keep an eye on your inbox. Sorry! There was an error proce sing your subscription. Baltimore finished seventh in DVOA last season, but Calais Campbell is gone and there are more questions than usual at cornerback. The Ravens still seem fairly likely to be a top-third defense, but it's not nearly a guarantee. Retaining defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo -- who inexplicably was not among the top head-coaching candidates this offseason -- keeps the Bengals in the mix here, despite the lo s of both their starting safeties and other injuries in the secondary. On the other hand, downgrading from Ejiro Evero to Vance Joseph bumps the Broncos down from the next group to this one, just because of the uncertainty that comes with a coordinator change and how the personnel will be used. (Plus, Dre'Mont Jones left in free agency.) The Jets certainly have the personnel to remain a top-10 unit, but because so Brian Bosworth Jersey much of their succe s was based on not just high-level but truly elite cornerback play -- which tends to be le s consistent year over year than pa s rush -- we have to place them here rather than in the "most likely" group, even if we are extremely confident in maintaining his top form. The Eagles are in something like the same situation, but their cornerbacks are getting up there in age and they replaced one of their best pa s-rushers () with a rookie (). There are also question marks at linebacker, as usual.The Steelers, meanwhile, are just a little bit thinner than the group we've gotten used to. The bone structure of the defense is still there with , , and , but players like , , Cameron Sutton, most of their linebackers and other corners, and more have moved on and been replaced by le s-sure things.Even without longtime defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, the Bills still have the infrastructure to remain among the league's top defenses. Sean McDermott, a returning , , the best safety tandem, and another year removed from his ACL tear should do the trick -- even with Tremaine Edmunds moving on. On a somewhat similar note, I'm close to ready to declaring that as long as the Cowboys have Dan Quinn and , they will be a top-10 defense. Far from regre sing, the Cowboys improved on this side of the ball last year, and the addition of should only make them stronger, given the (mostly injury-related) depth i sues that cropped up at cornerback last season. New England finished last season ranked No. 1 in Football Outsiders' weighted defensive DVOA, meaning that by the end of the season, the Pats were playing like the best defense in the league. Adding and , among others, to last season's group only figures to raise the ceiling of the group even further.The Niners have been the league's best defense over the past few years, and despite losing defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans, they have more than enough on hand to remain at or near the top of the charts. The addition of Javon Hargrave upgrades the interior pa s rush, the best linebacker duo is still in town, and we have seen this group work wonders in the secondary for too many years not to expect it again. Plus, Steve Wilks is plenty capable of Will Dissly Jersey coordinating a top unit.