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- iHaveNet.com: NFL Football
Top Defenses Usually Dominate in Super Bowl
Photo: Drew McKenzie (SportsPress NorthWest)
Steve Rudman (SportsPress NorthWest)
A No. 1-ranked defense has appeared in the Super Bowl 10 times and come away with nine victories, including last year's 35-point win by Seattle over the Denver Broncos.
After losing Red Bryant and Chris Clemons in free agency, Brandon Mebane to a season-ending hamstring injury in Week 10, and Bobby Wagner for five weeks at mid-year, it seemed unlikely the Seahawks would duplicate last year's feat of leading the NFL in total defense. But by allowing 39 points in their final six games, the Seahawks finished No. 1 again in fewest points (15.9) and yards (267.1) allowed, only the fourth franchise since the 1950s to do so.
En route, the Seahawks defeated two future Hall of Fame quarterbacks, Aaron Rodgers and Peyton Manning, survived a rare home loss to Pro Bowler Tony Romo, rallied four times in the fourth quarter or overtime, and held opponents without a fourth-quarter touchdown for six weeks.
"I can't speak for anybody else, but I think this season has definitely been more rewarding than last year," said Wagner. "I appreciate it a lot more because we have been through a lot. Everybody was facing injuries. We were having a lot more doubters than we were used to. You have to appreciate all the moments -- the good, the bad, the ugly -- and run with it. Teams definitely gave us their best shot, but we withstood it. We're here now and those moments made us grow."
"There are always going to be challenges because you have new people every year," added DL Michael Bennett. "Everyone expected us not to be in the championship again, but we always expected to be right back here. We had great leadership and played great football over the last few weeks."
The Seahawks are the first franchise in NFL history to send the league's No.-1 ranked defense to the Super Bowl for two years in a row. The only other to twice send a No. 1 was Pittsburgh, the Steelers doing so in 2008 and in 1974. Pittsburgh won both games.
In the Super Bowl era, a No. 1 defense has appeared in the Super Bowl 10 times. Nine times the team with the No. 1 defense won, by an average of 18.5 points, a number inflated by Seattle's 35-point victory last year over Denver:
Year | Game | Team | YPG | PA | W/L | Super Bowl | Margin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Source: NFL | |||||||
1972 | VII | Dolphins | 235.5 | 12.2 | W | Def. Wash 14-7 | 7 |
1974 | IX | Steelers | 219.6 | 13.5 | W | Def. Minn 16-6 | 10 |
1977 | XII | Cowboys | 229.5 | 15.1 | W | Def. Den 27-10 | 17 |
1982 | XVII | Dolphins | 256.9 | 14.6 | L | L Wash 27-17 | 10 |
1985 | XIX | Bears | 258.4 | 12.4 | W | Def. NE 46-10 | 36 |
1992 | XXVII | Cowboys | 245.7 | 15.2 | W | Def. Buff 52-17 | 35 |
1996 | XXXI | Packers | 259.8 | 13.1 | W | Def. NE 25-21 | 4 |
2002 | XXXVII | Buccaneers | 252.8 | 12.2 | W | Def. Oak 48-21 | 27 |
2008 | XLIII | Steelers | 237.2 | 13.9 | W | Def. AZ 27-23 | 4 |
2013 | XLVIII | Seahawks | 273.6 | 14.4 | W | Def. Den 43-8 | 35 |
The only loss suffered by a team with a No. 1 defense occurred in 1982, when the season was reduced to nine games due to a labor dispute. Other than that, the team with the No. 1 defense has won by double digits seven times.
The key number
Aside from heaps of fluff (to say nothing of all the entertainment provided by Marshawn Lynch), especially the kind manufactured on Media Day, Super Bowl week is all about breaking down individual matchups, assessing offenses vs. defenses, rating the quarterbacks and delving into analytics.
Never does hype or deep statistical probes involve turnovers, odd since they often determine the outcome of games between evenly matched teams, and predictable since, well, they can't be predicted.
Prior to last year's Super Bowl, the major talking points had to do with how Denver's No. 1-ranked offense would fare against Seattle's No.-1 ranked defense. But a 43-8 avalanche by the Seahawks started with a safety and snowballed with an interception return TD and a special-teams TD -- in other words, turnovers.
The Seahawks nearly blew the NFC championship 10 days ago against Green Bay with five turnovers — four interceptions and a fumbled kickoff return — but rallied to win by recovering an onside kick Green Bay should have had, and that tilted the game in Seattle's favor.
Much of Seattle's success the past three years stems from converting turnovers into points, such as Kam Chancellor's pick-six TD against Carolina in the divisional round.
Since 2012, when the Seahawks first announced themselves as potential Super Bowl contenders, they are +51 in turnover differential, including regular and postseason. This won't help with a Super Bowl prediction, but over the same span, the New England Patriots are also +51. No other team is close:
Team | Coach | 3-Yr. Rec. | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Source: NFL | ||||||
Seattle Seahawks | Pete Carroll | 42-13 | +14 | +27 | +10 | +51 |
New England Patriots | Bill Belichick | 40-14 | +23 | +13 | +15 | +51 |
San Francisco 49ers | Jim Harbaugh | 35-18 | +10 | +11 | +7 | +28 |
Chicago Bears | Marc Trestman | 23-25 | +20 | +5 | -5 | +20 |
Green Bay Packers | Mike McCarthy | 33-19-1 | +9 | -2 | +11 | +18 |
Baltimore Ravens | John Harbaugh | 32-21 | +15 | -5 | +3 | +13 |
Carolina Panthers | Ron Rivera | 26-23-1 | +1 | +9 | 0 | +10 |
"This is a stat that's crucial," Carroll emphasized earlier this week. "You can't play successfully unless you have a lot of fundamental aspects of your game together. To have a football team that plays with this kind of focus and that kind of concentration, it crosses the entire gamut. Guys have to appreciate and understand what fundamentals in this game are all about.
"We want teams that play without mistakes and play with great intensity and focus and toughness. I would like to think we are very similar to New England in that regard."
At +51 each, the Seahawks and Patriots couldn't be more similar.
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Super Bowl History
-
Super Bowl I
Packers 35 Chiefs 10 -
Super Bowl II
Packers 33 Raiders 14 -
Super Bowl III
Jets 16 Colts 7 -
Super Bowl IV
Chiefs 23 Vikings 7 -
Super Bowl V
Colts 16 Cowboys 13 -
Super Bowl VI
Cowboys 24 Dolphins 3 -
Super Bowl VII
Dolphins 14 Redskins 7 -
Super Bowl VIII
Dolphins 24 Vikings 7 -
Super Bowl IX
Steelers 16 Vikings 6 -
Super Bowl X
Steelers 21 Cowboys 17 -
Super Bowl XI
Raiders 32 Vikings 14 -
Super Bowl XII
Cowboys 27 Broncos 10 -
Super Bowl XIII
Steelers 35 Cowboys 31 -
Super Bowl XIV
Steelers 31 Rams 19 -
Super Bowl XV
Raiders 27 Eagles 10 -
Super Bowl XVI
49ers 26 Bengals 21 -
Super Bowl XVII
Redskins 27 Dolphins 17 -
Super Bowl XVIII
Raiders 38 Redskins 9 -
Super Bowl XIX
49ers 38 Dolphins 16 -
Super Bowl XX
Bears 46 Patriots 10 -
Super Bowl XXI
Giants 40 Broncos 20 -
Super Bowl XXII
Redskins 42 Broncos 10 -
Super Bowl XXIII
49ers 20 Bengals 16 -
Super Bowl XXIV
49ers 55 Broncos 10 -
Super Bowl XXV
Giants 20 Bills 19 -
Super Bowl XXVI
Redskins 37 Bills 24 -
Super Bowl XXVII
Cowboys 52 Bills 17 -
Super Bowl XXVIII
Cowboys 30 Bills 13 -
Super Bowl XXIX
49ers 49 Chargers 26 -
Super Bowl XXX
Cowboys 27 Steelers 17 -
Super Bowl XXXI
Packers 35 Patriots 21 -
Super Bowl XXXII
Broncos 31 Packers 24 -
Super Bowl XXXIII
Broncos 34 Falcons 19 -
Super Bowl XXXIV
Rams 23 Titans 16 -
Super Bowl XXXV
Ravens 34 Giants 7 -
Super Bowl XXXVI
Patriots 20 Rams 17 -
Super Bowl XXXVII
Buccaneers 48 Raiders 21 -
Super Bowl XXXVIII
Patriots 32 Panthers 29 -
Super Bowl XXXIX
Patriots 24 Eagles 21 -
Super Bowl XL
Steelers 21 Seahawks 10 -
Super Bowl XLI
Colts 29 Bears 17 -
Super Bowl XLII
Giants 17 Patriots 14 -
Super Bowl XLIII
Steelers 27 Cardinals 23 -
Super Bowl XLIV
Saints 31 Colts 17 -
Super Bowl XLV
Packers 31 Steelers 25 -
Super Bowl XLVI
Giants 21 Patriots 17 -
Super Bowl XLVII
Ravens 34 49ers 31 -
Super Bowl XLVIII
Seahawks 43 Broncos 8 -
Super Bowl XLIX
Patriots 28 Seahawks 24