Fantasy defenses are a quirky study, with plenty of surprises for good or ill each season. Last year saw the Saints come out of nowhere to achieve top 10 status, while the Vikings fell just as quickly (despite being one of the league's best in NFL terms; yards and points allowed). The Eagles, though, are remarkable for their big-play consistency.
Over the last four seasons, the Eagles have scored 28 touchdowns on defensive (16) and special teams (12) plays. That's 7 more than any other team over that span; twice as many as all but eight teams. It defies belief.
They were helped by scoring 11 back in 2014, but they've gone on to score at least 5 TDs in each of the last three seasons, too. Only one other team has scored 5 TDs in more than two of those four seasons. The NFL average hovers around 3.
Special teams coordinator Dave Fipp deserves some of the credit, but again, the Eagles defensive touchdowns alone are more than three-quarters of the league's teams' total defensive and special teams scores over that span. They're just really good at taking interceptions and fumbles back the other way for touchdowns.
It's early, and there's still the entire preseason to factor into the rankings, but the Super Bowl champs are going to show up near the top of them when all is said and done.
| DEFENSIVE AND SPECIAL TEAMS TDS, 2014-2017 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | Total |
| Philadelphia | 11 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 28 |
| Kansas City | 3 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 21 |
| Minnesota | 5 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 19 |
| Arizona | 5 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 17 |
| Denver | 3 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 17 |
| Jacksonville | 3 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 17 |
| Baltimore | 3 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 16 |
| LA Rams | 5 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 16 |
| Houston | 6 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 15 |
| Detroit | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 14 |
| Miami | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 14 |
| Seattle | 3 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 14 |
| Tampa Bay | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 14 |
| Atlanta | 3 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 13 |
| Buffalo | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 13 |
| Carolina | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 13 |
| LA Chargers | 3 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 13 |
| NY Giants | 1 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 13 |
| Pittsburgh | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 12 |
| Chicago | 2 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 10 |
| Green Bay | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 10 |
| Indianapolis | 2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 10 |
| Cleveland | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| New England | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| New Orleans | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 8 |
| Washington | 0 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
| Dallas | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| Tennessee | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| Cincinnati | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| San Francisco | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Oakland | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| NY Jets | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
--Andy Richardson