Going into Week 10 · weeks 1–9, 6,815 passes measured
How tightly each defense covers at the moment of the throw, from our tracking: the separation it allows to the targeted receiver, the routes it leaves open, the open receivers it allows at or past the line to gain, and show versus go: how often its safeties' pre-snap look changes after the snap.
Updated · Data: our player tracking of NFL broadcast film, 2026 weeks 1-9 · 6,815 passes measured · Updated weekly · How we measure protection
League numbers on this season's measured passes. Separation is the distance from the targeted receiver to the nearest defender when the ball left the hand; open means 3 or more yards of space; at the sticks means at or past the line to gain. Show versus go reads the two deepest defenders at the snap and 1.5 seconds later.
What the two deepest defenders showed at the snap, and where they stood 1.5 seconds later, on every dropback this season with a readable look. Two-high and single-high are the two looks the rules name; neither is everything else. Each band follows a group of dropbacks from the look shown to the look played, and the two strong bands are the rotations: the safeties showed one named look and went to the other on 27% of dropbacks.
7,637 dropbacks read at both moments; the two rates are among the 6,634 with a named look at both. Hover a bar or a band for its count. Every defense's chart is in the Premium section below.
The separation every defense allows at the throw, the routes it leaves open and the open receivers it allows at the sticks, and how often each defense's safeties show one look and go to another, measured on this season's passes.