Defensive Blitz Rate Leaders
Defensive Blitz Rate — 2026 NFL leaders, updated Oct 10, 2026. Minnesota Vikings led the league in blitz rate at 72.5%, ahead of 31 other qualifying teams. Based on verified play-level charting from FTN Data via nflverse, regular season only. Through Week 5 of the 2026 season, with Sunday, Sunday night and Monday night still to come.
Blitz rate is how often a defense sends a fifth rusher or more. It is a philosophy rather than a grade, and a stubborn one — coordinators keep their answer to this question from year to year, which is what makes it worth knowing before a season starts rather than after. Fantasy relevance runs through the opposing offense: heavy-blitz defenses concede more quick throws to backs and slot receivers, because the hot route is the offense's built-in reply to an extra rusher.
| # | Team | Δ WK | G | Blitz% | Blitzes | DB | Read |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Minnesota Vikings | No change | 4 | 72.5% | 111 | 153 | Read |
| 2 | Washington Commanders | No change | 4 | 47.4% | 72 | 152 | Read |
| 3 | Chicago Bears | Up 1 place, from 4 | 4 | 40.5% | 47 | 116 | Read |
| 4 | Green Bay Packers | Up 1 place, from 5 | 4 | 40.3% | 56 | 139 | Read |
| 5 | Denver Broncos | Up 1 place, from 6 | 4 | 39.4% | 61 | 155 | Read |
| 6 | New England Patriots | Up 1 place, from 7 | 4 | 37.4% | 52 | 139 | Read |
| 7 | New York Jets | Up 1 place, from 8 | 4 | 37.1% | 53 | 143 | Read |
| 8 | Carolina Panthers | Up 1 place, from 9; did not play this week | 4 | 35.7% | 60 | 168 | Read |
| 9 | New Orleans Saints | Up 1 place, from 10 | 4 | 34.6% | 47 | 136 | Read |
| 10 | New York Giants | Up 1 place, from 11 | 4 | 33.6% | 48 | 143 | Read |
| 11 | Buffalo Bills | Up 1 place, from 12 | 4 | 33.1% | 55 | 166 | Read |
| 12 | Los Angeles Rams | Up 1 place, from 13 | 4 | 32.8% | 45 | 137 | Read |
| 13 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Down 10 places, from 3 | 5 | 32.0% | 57 | 178 | Read |
| 14 | San Francisco 49ers | No change | 4 | 31.2% | 48 | 154 | Read |
| 15 | Detroit Lions | No change | 4 | 30.7% | 58 | 189 | Read |
| 16 | Baltimore Ravens | No change | 4 | 30.5% | 47 | 154 | Read |
| 17 | Miami Dolphins | No change | 4 | 29.0% | 36 | 124 | Read |
| 18 | Kansas City Chiefs | No change; did not play this week | 4 | 28.7% | 45 | 157 | Read |
| 19 | Pittsburgh Steelers | No change | 4 | 28.5% | 37 | 130 | Read |
| 20 | Los Angeles Chargers | Up 1 place, from 21 | 4 | 26.6% | 34 | 128 | Read |
| 21 | Jacksonville Jaguars | Up 1 place, from 22 | 4 | 26.3% | 41 | 156 | Read |
| 22 | Las Vegas Raiders | Up 1 place, from 23 | 4 | 25.3% | 37 | 146 | Read |
| 23 | Cleveland Browns | Up 1 place, from 24 | 4 | 24.5% | 39 | 159 | Read |
| 24 | Arizona Cardinals | Up 1 place, from 25 | 4 | 23.6% | 29 | 123 | Read |
| 25 | Atlanta Falcons | Up 1 place, from 26 | 4 | 23.0% | 43 | 187 | Read |
| 26 | Tennessee Titans | Up 1 place, from 27 | 4 | 22.0% | 28 | 127 | Read |
| 27 | Dallas Cowboys | Down 7 places, from 20 | 5 | 21.7% | 35 | 161 | Read |
| 28 | Seattle Seahawks | No change | 4 | 21.5% | 32 | 149 | Read |
| 29 | Houston Texans | No change | 4 | 20.8% | 33 | 159 | Read |
| 30 | Indianapolis Colts | No change | 4 | 20.4% | 31 | 152 | Read |
| 31 | Philadelphia Eagles | No change | 4 | 19.9% | 30 | 151 | Read |
| 32 | Cincinnati Bengals | No change | 4 | 16.2% | 26 | 160 | Read |
Other seasons
More leaderboards
- Rushing Yards Over Expected
- Target Share
- Running Back Receiving Efficiency
- Completion Percentage Over Expected
- Adjusted Net Yards per Attempt
- Quarterback Pressure Rate
- Quarterbacks vs Man and Zone Coverage
- Pass Rate Over Expected
- Clean-Core Rating
- Usage vs Production
- Team Expected Points Added
- Quarterback EPA per Dropback
- QB Composite Rating
- Air Yards Share
- Stacked Box Rate
- Regression Flags
- Weighted Opportunity Rating
- Snap Share
- Pass-Snap Share
- Receiving Yards per Pass Snap
- Availability
- Tight End Receiving Efficiency
- Tight End Average Depth of Target
- Stat Stickiness
- Play-Action Rate
- Pre-Snap Motion Rate
- Drop Rate
- Contested Catch Rate
- Interception-Worthy Throw Rate
- Quarterback-Fault Sack Rate
- Quarterback Intended Air Yards
- Team Air Yards and Passing Volume
- Receiver Separation and Cushion
- Wide Receiver Receiving Efficiency
- Team Success Rate and Explosive Play Rate
- Goal-Line Usage
- Quarterback Deep Ball
- Team Pace
- Screen Pass Rate
- No-Huddle Rate
- RPO Rate
- Light Box Rate
- Quarterbacks vs the Blitz
- Throwaway Rate
- Catchable Throw Rate
- Out-of-Pocket Rate
- Time to Throw
- Aggressiveness
Follow Defensive Blitz Rate. When this board moves, you'll know — what changed, week over week.
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