Is "Defense Wins Championships" Back?

Von Miller and Denver's top-ranked defense made life miserable for newly crowned NFL MVP Cam Newton in Super Bowl 50.

By Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe)

Behind the strength of a remarkable pass rush, Denver again pulled off a stunning upset, this time knocking off the favored Panthers in Super Bowl 50 by a final score of 24-10.

Pass rusher Von Miller was named the game's MVP after collecting 2.5 sacks and forcing a pair of fumbles, one of which was recovered by Malik Jackson for a touchdown. Denver sacked NFL MVP Cam Newton an astonishing seven times, with 13 quarterback hits, and held Newton without a passing or rushing touchdown after the Panthers star combined for 50 in the previous 18 games this year.

Much like Tom Brady two weeks prior, Newton was constantly under fire, and never got comfortable against Denver's top-ranked defense, turning the ball over three times after a year where he averaged less than one giveaway per game.

It got a lot of people thinking, in this era of exploding offensive numbers, is the "defense wins championships" mantra back?

Well, even before the game you probably could have said that. After all, despite the quarterback riddled story lines of Super Bowl 50, both the Broncos and Panthers were anchored by fantastic defenses. And, lest we forget, the historically good Seahawks defense won the championship in 2013, and was a crazy goal line interception away from winning another in 2014.

My buddy even sent me this picture from ESPN following the game, definitely pushing the defensive narrative and reminding you that, when the league's top defense makes it to Super Bowl Sunday, it usually wins.

So, while offensive numbers have ballooned the last decade plus, it's still pretty obvious that you can win a championship with a dominant defense.

But, is a great defense any more likely to win a title than a great offense?

Well, looking back at the 16 champions we've had since the turn of the millennium, six of them have led the league in either total or scoring defense, while three teams have pulled off the clean sweep of top total defense, top scoring defense and Super Bowl champion (2013 Seattle, 2008 Pittsburgh and 2002 Tampa Bay). In the "almost there" category, Seattle led the league in both defensive categories, but lost the big game in 2014, and Pittsburgh led the league in both categories in 2011, but got Tebow'd, and again in 2004, but fell apart against the Pats in the AFC Championship Game.

Conversely, only one champ in that time span has led the league in either total of scoring offense (the Saints led the league in both categories back in 2009).

Now, to be fair, the three top scoring offenses in the league this year were Carolina, Arizona and New England, aka, the three teams other than Denver to make the conference championship games, so it ain't like dominant offenses aren't worth anything.

In total, only four champions since 2000 didn't feature a Top-10 total or scoring defense, and two of those teams (2009 New Orleans and 2006 Indianapolis) featured a Hall of Fame quarterback at the peak of his powers, plus a Top-2 scoring offense. Yeah, you can make up for a porous defense that way.


Then you have the outliers; the two teams that probably had no business winning the Super Bowl. Those would be the 2012 Ravens, who ranked 17th in total defense and 13th in scoring D, and didn't make up for it with an elite offense. Baltimore was middle of the pack in total offense at 16th, and 10th in scoring O.

And how about those 2011 New York Giants? While the 2007 G-Men scored the less likely win, at least that team had a Top-10 defense. The 2011 version ranked 27th and 25th in total and scoring defense, respectively, though they did have the 8th ranked total offense and 9th ranked scoring offense to go with it. Not an elite offense, but a pretty good one, to be sure.

And if you really want to go far down the rabbit hole, check out those 2001 champion Patriots, who ranked 6th in scoring offense and defense. That's damn good, but they also featured the 24th ranked total defense and 19th ranked total offense. How the hell do you gain so few yards/give up so many yards, and still score that many points/give up such few points?

They weren't great with turnovers either, posting a solid +7 differential, but nothing other worldly. I guess we'll just have to chalk it up to Belichick voodoo magic (or cheating, if you're not from New England), and just say that team was ahead of its time.

I mean, seriously, look at this stat line.

The Patriots ran fewer plays than their opponents, gained less yards per play, surrendered more first downs than they earned and still outscored their opponents by 99 points en route to a championship.

What the hell's going on out here?

Anyways, here is the list of all Super Bowl champions since 2000, and the league's total/scoring defense leaders. If the champ that year didn't lead the league in one of those categories, I have listed both their offensive and defensive rankings so you can get an idea of how that team was built.

2015
Super Bowl Champion: Denver
Top Total Defense: Denver
Top Scoring Defense: Seattle

2014
Super Bowl Champion: New England (13th in total D, 8th in scoring D)
(11th in total O, 4th in scoring O)
Top Total Defense: Seattle
Top Scoring Defense: Seattle

2013
Super Bowl Champion: Seattle
Top Total Defense: Seattle
Top Scoring Defense: Seattle

2012
Super Bowl Champion: Baltimore (17th in total D, 13th in scoring D)
(16th in total O, 10th in scoring O)
Top Total Defense: Pittsburgh
Top Scoring Defense: Seattle

2011
Super Bowl Champion: NY Giants (27th in total D, 25th in scoring D)
(8th in total O, 9th in scoring O)
Top Total Defense: Pittsburgh
Top Scoring Defense: Pittsburgh

2010
Super Bowl Champion: Green Bay (5th in total D, 2nd in scoring D)
(9th in total O, 10th in scoring O)
Top Total Defense: San Diego
Top Scoring Defense: Pittsburgh

2009
Super Bowl Champion: New Orleans (25th in total D, 20th in total D)
(1st in total O, 1st in scoring O)
Top Total Defense: NY Jets
Top Scoring Defense: NY Jets

2008
Super Bowl Champion: Pittsburgh
Top Total Defense: Pittsburgh
Top Scoring Defense: Pittsburgh

2007
Super Bowl Champion: NY Giants (7th in total D, 17th in scoring D)
(16th in total O, 14th in scoring D)
Top Total Defense: Pittsburgh
Top Scoring Defense: Indianapolis

2006
Super Bowl Champion: Indianapolis (21st in total D, 23rd in scoring D)
(3rd in total O, 2nd in scoring O)
Top Total Defense: Baltimore
Top Scoring Defense: Baltimore

2005
Super Bowl Champion: Pittsburgh (4th in total D, 4th in scoring D)
(15th in total O, 9th in scoring O)
Top Total Defense: Tampa Bay
Top Scoring Defense: Chicago

2004
Super Bowl Champion: New England (9th in total D, 2nd in scoring D)
(7th in total O, 4th in scoring O)
Top Total Defense: Pittsburgh
Top Scoring Defense: Pittsburgh

2003
Super Bowl Champion: New England
Top Total Defense: Dallas
Top Scoring Defense: New England

2002
Super Bowl Champion: Tampa Bay
Top Total Defense: Tampa Bay
Top Scoring Defense: Tampa Bay

2001
Super Bowl Champion: New England (24th in total D, 6th in scoring D)
(19th in total O, 6th in scoring O)
Top Total Defense: Pittsburgh
Top Scoring Defense: Chicago

2000
Super Bowl Champion: Baltimore
Top Total Defense: Tennessee
Top Scoring Defense: Baltimore

So, if there's anything we can glean from this, it's that a dominant defense is a nice way to put yourself in championship position, but it guarantees nothing.

Pittsburgh has had the most consistent defensive success in this span. Seven times the Steelers led the league in either total or scoring defense, and three times they led the league in both categories. Now, one of those years (2008) they won the Super Bowl, but another of those years (2011) they were bounced by Tim Tebow in the first round of the playoffs. Obviously, injuries, and the fact that they had to travel to Denver played a part in that defeat, but you could say that for any number of teams.

On the other hand, Pittsburgh had a really good, not great defense, when they won the title in 2005. In fact, you could make a case that, by the numbers, that was the 8th or 9th best Steelers team the last 25 years (2011, 2010, 2008, 2004, 2001,'97, '95 and '94 Steelers were statistically better or about the same), but they got the job done in the playoffs.

So, what's the formula for winning a championship? A great defense is a nice start, and will usually put you in contention, but so will a great quarterback, and QBs age slower than defensive players.

At this point, it's worth pointing out that, in that span, 10 of those championship teams featured sure-fire Hall of Fame quarterbacks (2015 Denver, 2014, 2004, 2003 and 2001 New England, 2010 Green Bay, 2009 New Orleans, 2008 and 2005 Pittsburgh, and 2006 Indianapolis), while two teams featured an interesting Hall of Fame case at QB (both the 2011 and 2007 Giants), and one featured a quarterback that will get into the Hall of Fame if he continues at this level of play (2013 Seattle).

Only three champions in that span featured quarterbacks that aren't likely to be in the Hall of Fame conversation (2012 Baltimore with Joe Flacco, 2002 Tampa Bay with Brad Johnson and 2000 Baltimore with Trent Dilfer) when all is said and done. Out of those three, the '02 Bucs and '00 Ravens each had one of the best defenses in league history.

Then again, you could just hope to get hot at the right time, as the Ravens and Joe Flacco did in 2012, and as the Giants, Steelers and Packers have all done recently.

Ultimately, there's no one way to win a title, and many of those teams you think of as winning with one side of the ball (the 70s Steelers and 80s 49ers) had great players on the other side as well.

There's a reason Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, Ronnie Lott and Charles Haley are all in the Hall of Fame, after all.

So, is defense back? Sure, but it never really left, in terms of winning titles. Oh, and quarterbacks are pretty important too. You should probably just get both.