Offense Sells Tickets, DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Green Bay Packers WR Jermichael Finley
reacts to his team's awful performance.

In a season marked by video game-esque offensive numbers, most people had all the teams with huge offensive numbers as being the Big Three teams to make it to the Conference Championships and Super Bowl, most predicting the Super Bowl to be between the Green Bay Packers and New England Patriots, willfully ignoring that the Packers and Patriots had the 2 worst defenses in the NFL.


Some team statistics from the Divisional Round that prove defense is better than offense and my Super Bowl teams pick after the break.

• New Orleans Saints (L)
• 1st ranked Total Offense
• 24th ranked Total Defense
• San Francisco 49ers (W)
• 26th ranked Total Offense
• 4th ranked Total Defense
• Denver Broncos (L)
• 23rd ranked Total Offense
• 20th ranked Total Defense
• New England Patriots (W)
• 2nd ranked Total Offense
• 31st ranked Total Defense
• Houston Texans (L)
• 13th ranked Total Offense
• 2nd ranked Total Defense
• Baltimore Ravens (W)
• 15th ranked Total Offense
• 3rd ranked Total Defense
• New York Giants (W)
• 8th ranked Total Offense
• 27th ranked Total Defense
• Green Bay Packers (L)
• 3rd ranked Total Offense
• 32nd ranked Total Defense

In the Saints vs 49ers matchup, the Saints' 1st ranked offense could not overcome the 49ers' 4th ranked defense. In the Broncos vs Patriots game, the Pats' 2nd ranked offense eviscerated the Broncos' 20th ranked defense. In the Texans vs Ravens game, two near-identical teams collided and the winner was the one who made less mistakes. In the Giants vs Packers game, the Giants made a mockery with their 8th ranked offense against the Packers' 32nd ranked defense, while holding back the Packers 3rd ranked offense with their piddly 27th ranked defense.

With the exception of the Patriots, the other teams in the Final Four won their matchups because of superior defense. The Giants don't have a good defense at all, but all they needed was for their defense to simply exist against the Packers. The Packers lost their game because their defense was just so piss poor.

That all being said, I'm going to make my predictions for the Super Bowl.

• 49ers over Giants
• Ravens over Patriots

Super Bowl XLVI will be Harbaugh Bowl II. Having seen every one of these teams throughout the season and playoffs, there is no possible way that the vastly inferior defenses of the Giants and Patriots can make it to the Super Bowl this year.

The NFL really needs the 49ers and Ravens to appear in the Super Bowl. People were offended that CBS, NBC, Fox, and ESPN had all but assured that the Super Bowl would be a shootout between the Patriots and Packers featuring 5 million touchdowns and no defense whatsoever. Some people have complained that all the rule changes to avoid helmet-to-helmet hits have prevented teams from playing proper defense. If that's true, why are the Saints and Packers out while the 49ers and Ravens are in? If people want to make excuses that rule changes are to blame for shitty defenses and offenses putting up video game numbers, fine.