Here are the 30 NFL teams ranked by the combined abilities of the best three defensive players. The players are each rated by the sum of their Maximum Speed + (2/3) Hitting Power. In Tecmo III, you need hitting power on defense, because otherwise there are a lot of running backs that will run over you. And of course, if you can't get to the ball carrier, you can't tackle him. We don't completely discount the other player attribute ratings, but the above formula highlights almost all you need to know about a defender. There are certain limitations of this approach, namely: (1) The other eight players aren't taken into consideration. (2) Defensive backs without hitting power aren't recognized. Nevertheless, we think we've created a useful evalution of which defenses are better than others. The file might be revised later to include more defensive backs, but for the time being a simple assumption is that every team has at least one fast DB with a decent interceptions rating whom you can control when you know a pass is coming. (note: If multiple players tie for the third spot, only one is randomly listed.) The Steelers are really good. The Jets are really bad.

	Team	Player 1	Score		Player 2	Score		Player 3	Score	Total
1	PIT	Woodson	112.3		Greene	109.0		Lloyd	105.0	326.3
2	GB	White	119.0		Butler	102.0		Jones	100.3	321.3
3	KC	Smith	113.0		Chiefs	111.0		Lott	96.0	320.0
4	BUF	Bills	109.0		Bennett	106.3		Paup	98.0	313.3
5	DEN	Atwater	109.0		Fletche	105.0		Jones	92.0	306.0
6	SD	Seau	113.0		O'Neal	98.0		Mims	93.3	304.3
7	ARI	Joyner	111.0		Simmons	98.0		Swann	90.0	299.0
8	ATL	Doleman	109.0		Talley	96.0		Smith	93.3	298.3
9	OAK	Smith	106.3		Swillin	100.3		Anderso	87.3	294.0
10	MIA	Cox	100.3		Armstro	98.0		Oliver	92.0	290.3
11	WAS	Harvey	109.0		Washing	90.0		Palmer	87.3	286.3
12	NE	Brown	102.0		Guyton	93.3		Slade	89.3	284.7
13	SF	Norton	98.0		McDonal	96.0		Hanks	89.3	283.3
14	DAL	Haley	100.3		Tolbert	93.3		Edwards	89.3	283.0
15	TB	Nickers	102.0		Everett	93.3		Brooks	87.3	282.7
16	HOU	Roberts	100.3		Smith	98.0		Childre	80.0	278.3
17	NO	Martin	105.0		Turnbul	93.3		Hughes	79.7	278.0
18	CAR	McDowell	98.0		Conner	92.0		Lathon	87.3	277.3
19	DET	Blades	100.3		Thomas	90.0		Spielma	86.0	276.3
20	MIN	Thomas	98.0		Randle	92.0		Alexand	86.0	276.0
21	CIN	Francis	93.3		Smith	93.3		Collins	89.3	276.0
22	PHI	Fuller	100.3		Eagles	89.3		Harmon	86.0	275.7
23	SEA	Kennedy	100.0		Wooden	87.3		Robinso	87.3	274.7
24	NYG	Brooks	102.0		Croel	89.3		Glenn	83.3	274.7
25	IND	Bennett	93.3		Emtman	92.0		Coryatt	87.3	272.7
26	CLE	Burnett	93.3		Johnson	90.0		Pleasan	87.3	270.7
27	STL	Young	98.0		DE Rams	87.3		Gilbert	84.0	269.3
28	JAC	Lageman	96.0		Carring	89.3		William	83.3	268.7
29	CHI	Carrier	93.3		Smith	83.3		Bears	81.3	258.0
30	NYJ	Lewis	92.0		Scott	81.3		Douglas	81.3	254.7

Conclusions:

This just goes to show that the best defenses have several players with speed and strength. It is no surprise to us that this list stacked up this way. Pittsburgh, Green Bay, Kansas City, Buffalo, and Denver make the top five. Cleveland, St. Louis, Jacksonville, Chicago, and the Jets are the worst five.

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