Question: Does defense still win championships?

Jan 28, 1990; New Orleans, LA, USA; FILE PHOTO; Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway (7) is pursued by San Francisco 49ers defensive end Larry Roberts (91) during Super Bowl XXIV at the Louisiana Superdome. The 49ers beat the Broncos 55-10. Mandatory Credit: Manny Rubio-US PRESSWIRE

Hey everybody I’m back here with another installment of the series. Today’s question, does defense still win championships? This is an old cliché that many believe isn’t true anymore, I am not one of those people. Without further ado, let’s go.

As we all are aware the offenses this day in age are simply overpowering, better than we’ve ever seen before. If we look at 2011 for an example, we can point out Brees’ record breaking season. Also we can look at Gronkowski’s TD record, or even the Packers as a team. Think about this, New Orleans led the league in total offense per game and passing yards per game this year. The one offensive category they didn’t finish in the top five in was rushing yards per game. In fact not one team in the top five in the league of total passing or total offense was in the top five of rushing yards a game.

Now if we look at the defenses of the league, the top five in total defenses are as follows: Pittsburgh, Houston, Baltimore, San Francisco, and the Jets. These teams are all usually the ones you’d think of now when it comes to the top five in the league. Leading the league with an average of 271 yards a game is Pittsburgh, just behind them Houston who gave up 285 yards. All of these teams (with the exception of the Jets) made the playoffs because of their defenses. The 49ers got to the NFC championship with a great defense and a strong running game behind Frank Gore. However, the two teams in the super bowl were not even top 25 in total defense last year, the Giants at 27th the Patriots at 31st.

So all of these numbers just thrown at you suggest that offenses these days are just too much to handle. Maybe it’s because of the rule changes, or maybe because teams are just more focused on passing the ball. I truly believed San Francisco was going all the way last year because of the defense, when they lost to New York in the championship game I was shocked. In that game the Giants’ offense outlasted the niners defense. For me it begs the question, will we ever see a truly defensive team win the super bowl again? And, if next year really is “our year,” will defense win us the big one?

RRR Bolt UP

P.S Please again feel free to let me know what you all think. Thanks for reading.