Super Bowl 2015: It’s Not All About the Quarterback

There have been 48 Super Bowls played to date and in 26 of those contests, the game’s Most Valuable Player turned out to be a quarterback. That’s hardly a shock considering the majority of the men at that position usually wind up earning league MVP honors during the regular season.

However, there are those who insist that defense remains the catalyst to a football championship. But how can that be these days when many insist this is a quarterback-driven NFL?

When it comes to winning a Super Bowl, it is defense that eventually paves the way to a title. How many times have we seen quarterbacks have great statistical seasons and go belly-up on Super Sunday?

Consider these facts when it comes to offense and the quarterback as well as defense:

• Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck led the NFL with 40 touchdown passes in 2014. It marked the 11th time in league history that a player threw for 40-plus scores. Only once (St. Louis Rams quarterback Kurt Warner threw 41 touchdown passes in 1999) has a quarterback hit that mark and his team went onto win the Super Bowl the same season.
• Eight times in league history (4 of those by New Orleans’ Drew Brees) has a player thrown for at least 5,000 yards in a season. None of those performances resulted in a Super Bowl victory by year’s end.
• In 2013, the Denver Broncos totaled an NFL-best 606 points and proceeded to get embarrassed in Super Bowl XLVIII by the Seattle Seahawks, 43-8. The Top 8 teams in league history when it comes to points scored in a single season do not have a Super Bowl ring to show for their efforts.
• Come this Super Sunday, the Seahawks will face the New England Patriots with the league’s top-ranked defense in terms of fewest yards allowed as well as the team that gave up a league-low 254 points. It will mark the 20th time a team has allowed the fewest points in the league and reached the Super Bowl, as well as the 13th time a club got to the Big Game as the No. 1 defense. Teams that allowed the fewest points are 14-5 in the Super Bowl and clubs with the top-ranked defense are 8-7 on Super Sunday. How does that compare with the highest-scoring teams and top-ranked offenses in any given Super Bowl? Teams that lead the league in total points scored and reach the Super Bowl are 10-12 in the Big Game. The No. 1 offense is just 7-6 on Super Bowl Sunday.
• While teams have had fewer problems scoring points than in the Super Bowl’s early years, don’t assume that’s all offense. Starting with Super Bowl XLIII, we have seen the defense or special teams help score points in six consecutive Super Bowls. From interception returns to kickoff returns to an intentional grounding call in the end zone (remember Tom Brady against the Giants in Super Bowl XLVI), it’s been more than quarterback slinging the ball all over the place.

So while you are focusing on Tom Brady and Russell Wilson next Sunday and at the same time dipping your chip, eating your wings or enjoying a bourbon meatball or two, keep an eye on the guys on the other side of the football. You’ll be glad you did.