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Short intro to this post, I am a big believer that football is the ultimate team game. It takes the entire team to win the Super Bowl, whereas in baseball or basketball it's possible for one player to lift the whole team to a championship (think Allen Iverson in 2001 with the Sixers, they didn't win but easy to see how 1 player alone can carry. In baseball think Howard in his glory days with the Phils). That just doesn't happen in football.
The point of this post is to disprove the mantra that defense wins championships. I am not stating that defense doesn't play a part because it does but I want to dis-spell this notion that a great defense alone wins championships. This has become a popular myth since the Seahawks destroyed the Broncos earlier this year. I decided to dig up the SCORING (not yards) offensive and defensive rankings for every single Super Bowl winner. This may not interest everyone but I found it quite interesting myself (full sheet below).
Overall there are only 7 (of 48) Super Bowl winners that did not have a top 10 offense (2008 Steelers, 2007 Giants, 2003 Patriots, 2002 Bucs, 2000 Ravens, 1990 Giants, and the 1982 Redskins). There has also only been 7 Super Bowl winners with not top 10 defenses (2012 Ravens, 2011 Giants, 2009 Saints, 2007 Giants {The luckiest fucking team ever}, 2006 Colts, 1983 Raiders, and 1976 Raiders). If you add up the offensive and defensive rankings the worst team to ever win was the New York Giants in 2011 (9th off, 25th def = 34), to make you want to vomit more the second worst is the 2007 Giants (14, 17 = 31). The best team to ever win are the 1972 Dolphins (1, 1) and the 1996 Green Bay Packers (1, 1).
28 Super Bowl winners had a top 5 offense. 31 Super Bowl winners featured a top 5 defense. The worst ranked offense to win was the 2008 Pittsburgh Steelers who were ranked #20. The worst ranked defense to win was the 2011 New York Giants who were ranked #25.
What does all this mean? In a nutshell, nothing more than this is a complete team game. Many people (with a brain) have argued forever that this is a team game and it isn't a matter of offense/defense winning championships but who is hotter and has the better overall team.
I found this interesting at least to see where teams ranked and to also see the differences between decades. The overall ranking for Super Bowl Winners is Offense: 5.67, Defense: 5.31. Since 2010: 9.25, 10 respectively. In the 00's, 10 and 7.5. In the 90's, this is insane to me btw the average offensive Super Bowl winner had a ranking of 2.90, average defense was 3.80. It truly seems like in the 90's the team that had the best stats showed it in the win column more than other decades.
AVERAGES | ||
Years | Scoring Offense Rank | Scoring Defense Rank |
Overall | 5.67 | 5.31 |
2010-2013 | 9.25 | 10.00 |
2000-2009 | 10.00 | 7.50 |
1990-1999 | 2.90 | 3.80 |
1980-1989 | 5.30 | 4.70 |
1970-1979 | 3.60 | 4.60 |
1967-1969 | 4.25 | 2.25 |
Any feedback is welcomed as I would love to know what everyone else thought about this. It actually didn't take me as long as some would think. All stats are from pro-football-reference.com.
Super Bowl | Year | Winning Team | Offensive Rank | Defensive Rank |
XLVIII | 2013 | Seattle Seahawks | 8 | 1 |
XLVII | 2012 | Baltimore Ravens | 10 | 12 |
XLVI | 2011 | New York Giants | 9 | 25 |
XLV | 2010 | Green Bay Packers | 10 | 2 |
XLIV | 2009 | New Orleans Saints | 1 | 20 |
XLIII | 2008 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 20 | 1 |
XLII | 2007 | New York Giants | 14 | 17 |
XLI | 2006 | Indianapolis Colts | 2 | 23 |
XL | 2005 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 9 | 3 |
XXXIX | 2004 | New England Patriots | 4 | 2 |
XXXVIII | 2003 | New England Patriots | 12 | 1 |
XXXVII | 2002 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 18 | 1 |
XXXVI | 2001 | New England Patriots | 6 | 6 |
XXXV | 2000 | Baltimore Ravens | 14 | 1 |
XXXIV | 1999 | St. Louis Rams | 1 | 4 |
XXXIII | 1998 | Denver Broncos | 2 | 8 |
XXXII | 1997 | Denver Broncos | 1 | 6 |
XXXI | 1996 | Green Bay Packers | 1 | 1 |
XXX | 1995 | Dallas Cowboys | 3 | 3 |
XXIX | 1994 | San Francisco 49ers | 1 | 6 |
XXVIII | 1993 | Dallas Cowboys | 2 | 2 |
XXVII | 1992 | Dallas Cowboys | 2 | 5 |
XXVI | 1991 | Washington Redskins | 1 | 2 |
XXV | 1990 | New York Giants | 15 | 1 |
XXIV | 1989 | San Francisco 49ers | 1 | 3 |
XXIII | 1988 | San Francisco 49ers | 7 | 8 |
XXII | 1987 | Washington Redskins | 4 | 6 |
XXI | 1986 | New York Giants | 8 | 2 |
XX | 1985 | Chicago Bears | 2 | 1 |
XIX | 1984 | San Francisco 49ers | 2 | 1 |
XVIII | 1983 | Los Angeles Raiders | 3 | 13 |
XVII | 1982 | Washington Redskins | 12 | 1 |
XVI | 1981 | San Francisco 49ers | 7 | 2 |
XV | 1980 | Oakland Raiders | 7 | 10 |
XIV | 1979 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 1 | 5 |
XIII | 1978 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 5 | 1 |
XII | 1977 | Dallas Cowboys | 2 | 8 |
XI | 1976 | Oakland Raiders | 4 | 12 |
X | 1975 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 5 | 2 |
IX | 1974 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 6 | 2 |
VIII | 1973 | Miami Dolphins | 5 | 1 |
VII | 1972 | Miami Dolphins | 1 | 1 |
VI | 1971 | Dallas Cowboys | 1 | 7 |
V | 1970 | Baltimore Colts | 6 | 7 |
IV | 1969 | Kansas City Chiefs | 2 | 1 |
III | 1968 | New York Jets | 2 | 4 |
II | 1967 | Green Bay Packers | 9 | 3 |
I | 1966 | Green Bay Packers | 4 | 1 |
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