Richard Sherman exhibits the proper form for 'You Mad Bro?' in sign language.
I used Footballguys.com’s scoring system in the Footballguys Players Championship to calculate every performance by a fantasy D/ST since 1940. Here it is:
- 1 point – Every sack
- 2 points – Every team takeaway (interception or fumble recovery)
- 6 points – Every TD (via interception return, fumble return, punt or kickoff return, blocked FG return, missed FG return, blocked punt return)
- 5 points – Every safety
- 12 points – Every shutout
- 8 points – Allowing between 1- 6 points
- 5 points – Allowing between 7 – 10 points
Team Defense/Special Teams
Because I decided to use the official scoring designation for every play and chose not to rewatch every game in NFL history, there is one error that will come up in every few hundred games. Occasionally, an offense will score a touchdown on its own fumble recovery and that goes down in the gamebooks as a fumble recovery just like a defensive touchdown. So, be warned, these are unofficial fantasy scores.
As it turns out, Seattle’s game against Arizona comes in tied for 10th place. Incredibly, the best performance by a fantasy defense — a whopping 52 points — came in a Steelers-Browns game but wasn’t delivered by Pittsburgh. The came in the 1989 season opener, and after losing 41-10 the following week, Pittsburgh rebounded to finish 9-7 and make the playoffs. In 1950, the New York Giants also scored 52 fantasy points against the Steelers. New York scored 18 points in that game — 2 safeties, two fumble return touchdowns — and forced 9 turnovers and 7 sacks. The table below lists the best performances by a fantasy defense:
Or, if you prefer to limit this to games since 1990:
And, for good measure, let’s close with the top fantasy performances in playoff games. The final column indicates the round of the postseason.
