FanPost

Defense "Wins" Championships

Follow me on Twitter if ya want: @JustinKennedy87

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