These rankings are a projection of how every NFL team’s defense will fare in 2026. On Tuesday, we did the same exercise with all 32 offenses. For the defensive version, our projections rely heavily on the traits that tend to be most sustainable year over year,

The Niners easily knocked off their rivals on Thursday.

The Rams are loaded on offense and defense. The 49ers will have tight end George Kittle back and defensive end Nick Bosa as well, but defense was the 49ers' problem last season. LA has an improved pass rush with Myles Garrett and an improved secondary.

The San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams meet for Thursday Night Football in Melbourne, Australia. Here are the best prop bets for the 8:35 p.m. ET matchup.

The NFL may be more offense-centric than ever before, but the old adage "defense wins championships" is as true as ever—the last two Super Bowls are proof of that. Of course, not all NFL defenses are created equally. Some units, like the Seattle Seahawks ...