Red Zone Plus/Minus Rankings NFL Week 18: Falcons on the Rise

With one game left in the regular season, the updated Red Zone Plus/Minus — Athlon Sports’ exclusive metric that combines NFL teams’ efficiency in the red zone on both offense and defense — is becoming a stronger reflection of where teams sit in the current standings.

Eight of the top 10 teams in this week’s red zone plus/minus rankings are playoff teams. The only non-playoff teams in the top 10 are the 8-8 Detroit Lions (tied for seventh) and the 8-8 Indianapolis Colts (10th).

One of the more interesting teams here is the Atlanta Falcons, who are coming off a Monday night upset win over the Los Angeles Rams — who happen to rank No. 1 in red zone plus/minus. Ironically, only one of Atlanta’s three touchdowns in that win came from the red zone and only one of the three TDs they allowed came from the red zone. Still, the 7-9 Falcons have a plus/minus of +12 — the best plus/minus ranking in the NFC South.

Here’s a reminder how the red zone plus/minus is calculated: Red-zone drives resulting in a touchdown earn six points. Field goals earn three points. If a defense allows a red-zone touchdown, that’s minus-six, and a red-zone field goal allowed is minus-three.

A few other observations from the updated red zone plus/minus:

• Along with the Falcons, two other teams with losing records have a positive plus/minus: the Kansas City Chiefs (6-10, +33) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-9, +3).
• Only one team with a winning record has a negative plus/minus: the Pittsburgh Steelers (9-7, -27).
• The Minnesota Vikings have largely been an afterthought the second half of the season, but they are surprisingly in the top half of the plus/minus rankings at +30.
• The bottom five teams in plus/minus are there for a reason: the New York Jets, Tennessee Titans, Las Vegas Raiders, Washington Commanders and Arizona Cardinals have a combined record of 15-65.

Here’s how all 32 NFL teams rank in red zone plus/minus going into Week 18:

Drive stats provided by Jim Armstrong.