NFL’s top teams still looking to make a defensive stand

In the NFL, a great defense tends to beat a great offense.

That was the resounding message the Denver Broncos sent last season, anyway, as their top-ranked defense smothered the Carolina Panthers, who had led the league in scoring.

There wasn’t a weak-link defense in the conference championship games, in fact, with Denver, New England, Carolina and Arizona all ranking among the top 10 during the regular season.

Times have changed. As NFL teams round the final turn and head into this season’s stretch run, the best-positioned teams are not leaning so heavily on stellar defenses.

Looking at the top two teams in each conference, records-wise, there is not a defensive juggernaut in the bunch.

New England and Oakland are both 10-2, the best record in the AFC, whereas Dallas has established a comfortable lead in the NFC at 11-1, followed by Seattle at 8-3-1.

This is merely a snapshot in time, of course, as there’s plenty of football left before the postseason picture comes into focus.

But looking at this cluster, the Seahawks are ranked eighth in defense, the Patriots ninth, the Cowboys 18th, and the Raiders 29th.

Although each of those teams is capable of putting together a strong defensive performance, and Seattle could be stellar if it could keep its best players on the field, the offenses are more in the spotlight.

In Dallas, it’s the Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott show, with that rookie quarterback and running back commanding the attention behind a rock-solid wall of blockers. On Sunday, the Cowboys became the first team to secure a playoff spot, by virtue of Washington’s loss at Arizona.

In the upcoming Sunday night game, the Cowboys play at the New York Giants, the only team to beat them this season. If Dallas were to extend its winning streak to 12 games with a victory at MetLife Stadium, it would claim the NFC East title.

The Cowboys are in the middle of a four-game stretch on prime-time television. On Thanksgiving, they played host to the Redskins. Last week, they played Minnesota and drew the biggest audience for a Thursday night game in league history.

After their Sunday night game against the Giants, the Cowboys will play Tampa Bay in Dallas, and that game has been flexed into the Sunday night time slot.

Quarterback Derek Carr is the centerpiece in Oakland, deftly distributing the ball to receivers Michael Crabtree and Amari Cooper as the Raiders have won six in a row.

There’s no denying Oakland’s Khalil Mack is a defensive force, but that unit has its vulnerabilities, and has surrendered an average of 24.9 points a game.

The Raiders still have to face all three division opponents on the road, with this finish: at Kansas City, at San Diego, home against Indianapolis, and at Denver. Daunting as that may be, the Raiders are 5-0 away from home.

Prescott and Carr are both having terrific seasons, but neither has any playoff experience.

The same cannot be said of the other two quarterbacks in this foursome. New England’s Tom Brady is 22-9 in postseason games with four Super Bowl wins, and Seattle’s Russell Wilson is 7-3, also with a ring.

Both the Patriots and Seahawks are dealing with devastating injuries.

New England has lost All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski, who last week underwent back surgery in Los Angeles and is done for the season.

With their victory over the Rams on Sunday, the Patriots ensured themselves of their 14th consecutive season with at least 10 wins, the second-longest such streak in league history. The 1983-98 San Francisco 49ers hold the record with 16.

The Patriots finish against Baltimore, at Denver, against the New York Jets, and at Miami.

The Seahawks lost safety Earl Thomas on Sunday night to a broken bone in his leg. He is an integral part of that defense, which has held up well despite a rash of injuries to key players.

On the bright side for the Seahawks, they have the easiest remaining schedule in the league, playing at Green Bay (6-6), followed by home games against the Rams (4-8), Arizona (5-6-1), and the 49ers (1-11).