With head coach Pete Carroll leading Seattle, the Seahawks have become one of the consistently best defenses in the NFL. 

Although they have cycled through defensive coordinators during Carroll's tenure, the Seahawks again are amongst the top defenses this year, but other defenses have shown that they deserve similar praise to Seattle.

Other teams like the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers saw their defenses improve to reach the potential they were thought to have going into the year. However, Houston -- not Seattle -- was actually the best defensive team last year based on Adjusted Defensive Net Expected Points (NEP), which compares a team's performance to expectation level and is adjusted for schedule strength.

So, were Houston and Seattle again near the top? Did another team knock them off the throne?