Sep 2, 2025 7:00 AM EDT
With the 2025 NFL season set to kick off, Athlon Sports is debuting a new methodology for calculating weekly team rankings. It’s a new statistic based on teams’ performance in the red zone.
Most “red-zone efficiency” stats only focus on teams’ ability to score touchdowns when they get inside the opponents’ 20-yard line or stop opponents when they cross the 20. It’s not great if a team reaches the red zone and fails to score a touchdown — but it’s even worse if the offense doesn’t score at all. If a defense allows its opponent into the red zone, it would be nice to make them settle for a field goal — even better if they can force a turnover or get a few sacks and keep the opponent off the scoreboard altogether.
Here’s how we’ll build these rankings: Each week we’ll look at each team’s total red-zone trips for both offense and defense. Red-zone drives resulting in a touchdown earn six points. Field goals earn three points. If a defense allows a red-zone touchdown, that’s minus-six, and a red-zone field goal allowed is minus-three. Think of it as “Red-Zone Plus/Minus.”
Looking at the cumulative numbers for the 2024 season, the Baltimore Ravens led the league with a plus-126. The Super Bowl-champion Philadelphia Eagles were third, while the Kansas City Chiefs were eighth. The Carolina Panthers, mainly due to an atrocious defense, finished dead last with a score of minus-132.
A few other observations:
Only three teams with a positive plus/minus failed to make the playoffs: Cincinnati Bengals, Arizona Cardinals, Miami Dolphins
Only one playoff team had a negative plus/minus: the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Seattle Seahawks were the only other team that finished with a winning record in 2024 that had a negative plus/minus.
While the Panthers’ poor number might not have been surprising, the only other team that finished lower than minus-100 was the Dallas Cowboys at minus-105. In 50 red-zone drives last season, Dallas came up empty 13 times — tied with the New York Giants for the most failed red-zone drives. Defensively, they kept opponents off the scoreboard just three times in 56 red-zone drives. That was tied for the second-fewest stops in the NFL.
About that atrocious defense for Carolina… the Panthers allowed a total of 75 red-zone drives, 14 more than any other team. In those 75 trips, Carolina allowed 50 touchdowns and held opponents to zero points just six times.
Here are the final numbers for 2024:
Team Off. Score Def. Score Plus/Minus
1. Ravens 327 201 +126
2. Lions 339 216 +123
3. Eagles 297 189 +108
4. Buccaneers 333 240 +93
5. Packers 309 216 +93
6. Commanders 330 243 +90
7. Bills 330 255 +75
8. Chargers 228 153 +75
9. Chiefs 283 219 +64
10. Broncos 252 195 +57
11. Vikings 258 213 +45
12. Rams 258 222 +36
13. Bengals 286 252 +34
14. Texans 222 198 +24
15. Cardinals 249 234 +15
16. Dolphins 231 219 +12
17. 49ers 273 279 -6
18. Steelers 225 252 -27
19. Colts 231 264 -33
20. Falcons 219 261 -42
21. Saints 180 228 -48
22. Jets 228 276 -48
23. Jaguars 216 267 -51
24. Seahawks 174 240 -66
25. Bears 168 249 -81
26. Titans 180 261 -81
27. Raiders 183 270 -85
28. Patriots 183 264 -87
29. Giants 150 240 -90
30. Browns 132 225 -93
31. Cowboys 180 285 -105
32. Panthers 225 357 -132
Drive stats provided by Jim Armstrong.
About the Author
Craig Ellenport
Athlon Sports senior editor