The New England Patriots have had an amazing run to eight Super Bowls, but their defense doesn’t get enough credit for stepping up when it matters most.
There has been two constants in the New England Patriots dynasty: Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. Brady get a bulk of the credit from the player side of things, but the defense that Belichick employs deserves as much credit as him for their amazing Super Bowl runs, and even credit for a couple of Super Bowl wins.
Vince Lombardi made a famous quote, “If winning and losing doesn’t matter, then why do we keep score?” That’s the point. Winning and losing isn’t just about how many points the winning team scores, but also how many they don’t allow the other team to score.
Belichick made his bones on defense as the defensive coordinator for the Giants during their Super Bowls in the 80s and for the Jets in the late 90s. So, it’s time to give Belichick’s defense some well deserved attention.
Brady is one the greatest players in the history of the league, and likely it’s best quarterback. That said, it’s much easier for the quarterback to win games when the defense isn’t giving up points. The Patriots defense has allowed an average of 16 points per game in the 16 playoff games leading up to their Super Bowl appearances. In 11 of the 16 games, they allowed 20 points or fewer, and in eight of them the allowed two touchdowns or fewer.
Brady has played well in the Big Game, and they may not have gotten to eight without the greatness of Brady. However, Brady doesn’t necessarily get to the Super Bowl without the greatness of his defense either. He deserves a lot of the credit, but it’s time to give credit where credit is due.
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Well, in Super Bowl LII, Tom Brady had his best individual performance of his Super Bowl career (likely even the best performance by a quarterback ever), and the defense had their worst performance of the eight Super Bowls. Even the greatest quarterback of all time with the greatest performance of all time, couldn’t overcome a terrible defense. That game underscores the importance of the defense to the dynasty. The old adage is right, defense wins championships.