2015 Rank: 9
2014 Rank: 25
Rise: 16 spots

With the decline of the Steelers defense in the past couple years, this season was a pleasant surprise. I feel this is a case of many football fans’ opinions lagging behind, as the Steelers balanced defense was regarded as a weak one en route to finishing in the top 10. Lawrence Timmons paced the team with 119 tackles, and Cameron Heyward had 7 sacks.

Pittsburgh finished an impressive fourth against the run and ninth against the pass and earned their first top-10 finish since 2012.