More descriptively accurate axiom?

[TDs3nOut]

This seems like a timely poll, since this year's Super Bowl features the Broncos record setting offense against Seattle's top rated defense. The question obviously ignores other relevant factors, of course.

 

[cdumler7]

I think when you begin to look at the league and see who the top teams are that can actually stay on top for years the one common denominator is that of having a top quarterback. Now I do think in order to win a Super Bowl the team must have at least some half way decent defense as a quarterback can only do so much. Especially throw in that come playoff time we begin to see the switch in weather eliminating some of how the quarterback can impact the game. So to me it has to be a combination of the two for the Super Bowl. To win though in the league during the regular season I think you can survive with just having one or the other because of the level of competition.

 

[TDs3nOut]

I think when you begin to look at the league and see who the top teams are that can actually stay on top for years the one common denominator is that of having a top quarterback. Now I do think in order to win a Super Bowl the team must have at least some half way decent defense as a quarterback can only do so much. Especially throw in that come playoff time we begin to see the switch in weather eliminating some of how the quarterback can impact the game. So to me it has to be a combination of the two for the Super Bowl. To win though in the league during the regular season I think you can survive with just having one or the other because of the level of competition.

You make some god points. To me it is obvious that neither is completely accurate and that both axioms have merit.

 

[Stevein2012]

Well balanced teams with good QB play win championships?

 

[Nasty_Magician]

Great offensive lines win championships.

 

[cdumler7]

I think the way of having a top tier defense consistently win the Super Bowl is a dying bread. Yes you will have your occasional times like that of the Ravens or Bucs but for the most part with the rules of today benefiting the offense I think we will see that less and less. Look at the last 4 or so Super Bowl winners and how their defenses ranked. I think most of them ranked in the bottom half of the league for defense. Again you will find those rare teams now adays can that win with defense and Seattle certainly has the defense to do so. I just think they are the exception not the norm.

 

[TDs3nOut]

Great offensive lines win championships.

Well, that is probably not as catchy as either of the two choices in the poll. Probably not as commonly claimed either, though solid o-line play might be the most under appreciated aspect of a football team. Still, good QB play can mask deficiencies in the offensive line. For example, when former 1st round draft choice and two time All-Pro LT Ryan Clady was lost early this year, the Broncos offense continued to perform at a very high level. No doubt that PFM is a big reason for that, which, to me, lends support for the axiom that it's a QB league.

 

[TDs3nOut]

I think the way of having a top tier defense consistently win the Super Bowl is a dying bread. Yes you will have your occasional times like that of the Ravens or Bucs but for the most part with the rules of today benefiting the offense I think we will see that less and less. Look at the last 4 or so Super Bowl winners and how their defenses ranked. I think most of them ranked in the bottom half of the league for defense. Again you will find those rare teams now adays can that win with defense and Seattle certainly has the defense to do so. I just think they are the exception not the norm.

There definitely seems to be more of a trend toward "it's a QB league" than there is toward "defense wins championships".

Your post also remind me of this, which I read earlier:

"This will be the fifth time since the AFL and NFL merged that the league’s top-scoring offense played the top-scoring defense in the Super Bowl, the first since the Buffalo Bills(top offense) and New York Giants(top defense) met to close the 1990 season.

The top defensive team has won three of the previous four matchups. The lone win by the top-scoring team in those games was by the 1989 San Francisco 49ers against the Broncos.

The Elias Sports Bureau notes that this will be the second Super Bowl since the merger featuring the No. 1 total offense (yards gained) versus the No. 1 total defense (yards allowed). The first was Super Bowl XXXVII following the 2002 season, when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (No. 1 in yards allowed) beat the Oakland Raiders (No. 1 in yards gained). "

Top stats to know: Super Bowl matchup - Stats & Info Blog - ESPN

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Both are true, but not the whole truth so to speak....you will not make the the playoffs without good QB play over 16 games, but you won't win the SB with a porous DEF.

I think you can win a SB with a great QB and average DEF, and we're soon to find out if the great DEF and solid QB play is still good enough.

 

[CaptainStubing]

Balance wins championships.

Seattle has an offense (although it's sputtering right now) and Denver's defense has been underrated all year.

The team that plays the most complete game will win.

 

[ram29jackson]

its not a QB league when rookies and back ups are succeeding at throwing the ball so often..IE Kaep and Wilson aren't even that good and getting some numbers.


Belichick and Jimmy Johnson-2 of the greatest coaches ever- have said its not a QB driven league anymore.


No defense has ever won a championship ever. All defense does is put offense in a better position to score and win. That doesn't mean I wouldn't want a top ranked defense lol.




its not a QB driven league because everyone and their brother can complete a pass. But the red zone still seperates teams and players with who's got better numbers and I would rather have a P. Manning than a Cutler any day

 

[Broncos6482]

I think it's more accurate to say it's a qb league than it is to say that defenses win championships. Just look at the recent Super Bowl winners: you have to go back 11 years to find a defensive team that had an ok qb. Since then, all the winners have been by a franchise qb, some having good defenses and some having bad defenses.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

its not a QB league when rookies and back ups are succeeding at throwing the ball so often..IE Kaep and Wilson aren't even that good and getting some numbers.


Belichick and Jimmy Johnson-2 of the greatest coaches ever- have said its not a QB driven league anymore.


No defense has ever won a championship ever. All defense does is put offense in a better position to score and win. That doesn't mean I wouldn't want a top ranked defense lol.




its not a QB driven league because everyone and their brother can complete a pass. But the red zone still seperates teams and players with who's got better numbers and I would rather have a P. Manning than a Cutler any day

Take the teams that did not go to the playoffs the last 4 or 5 years, or the teams that are typically high on the draft order every year...at the core you're going to find bad QB play...the top QBs not only put up great #s, but they get it done in the RZ as you said, and they also get it done on 3rd down when on 3rd & 2 your QB is in shotgun 99% of the time...I think it is a QB driven league.

BB...really surprised he would say that given that he's proven he can win only once w/o Brady...and has zero rings w/o him.

 

[WizardHawk]

Axioms don't win championships, teams do. This isn't the leagues number 1 defense vs the leagues number 1 offense. This is all three phases of the game for both teams facing off. It is just as likely that the game is decided by plays made by the average Seattle offense vs the average Denver defense as it is those match ups the media wants to feature.

Who will win? Anyone who believes they know with any certainty is fooling themselves. This is the biggest game on the biggest stage in the world. There will be pressure and distractions all over. Early injuries could really swing things. Unexpected turnovers could impact the game.

We expect to see Denver able to move the ball. I mean Manning throws the most accurate ball with the fastest delivery in the game today. But he is still human. With Harvin back (yet again ) there is no way to know what to expect from Seattle's offense, but they do have their work cut out for them.

What we hope for is this match that has been talked about since they first met in preseason this year lives up to all of the expectations and it is bound to. This won't be a 12-9 kind of game.

But I will predict that we get at least a few dozen more threads asking questions like this before the game comes.

 

[Brahmsian]

Both are oversimplifications but the 1st less so than the 2nd.

 

[Clayton]

Defense wins championships is more accurate because a defense is 11 players and a QB is merely the most important 1 position. Its why Aaron Rodgers and Peyton Manning only have one ring. If it was a QB driven league in terms of championships, they'd both have at least 3 rings, right?

This seems like common sense.