Defense Wins Championships

The divisional round of last weekends NFL playoff's presented several great games. The best game was probably the San Fransisco 49ers versus the New Orleans Saints. The 49ers ended up winning at the end of a fourth quarter filled with lead changes. It could be argued that this game provided more support for the old mantra of defense wins championships than any other game this year.

Each of the teams is very unbalanced in their skillset this year. The 49ers were 26th in the league in offensive yds per game at 310.9. That is not a very good. They still managed to score points because their great defense often gave them good field position.  Speaking of that defense, the 49ers were 4th in the league in defensive yds per game at 308.9 yds per game. They were lead by a super talented defensive line anchored by Justin Smith and rookie phenom Aldon Smith (no relation, but it would be a great story if there was).

The opposite team, the Saints, were 24th in the league in defensive yds per game at 368.4. That is also not very good. However, their offense was very prolific. Lead by All-Pro Drew Brees, the Saints gained 467.1 yds per game. This was best in the whole league. Basically, the divisional round game was a battle of a great defense (49ers) versus a great offense (Saints) and the defense won.

What does this all mean for the rest of the league? Should teams focus on defensive players more and stop trying to create an unstoppable scoring threat? I would argue no. The 49ers defense is great and it helped them win, but they still gave up 32 points and 462 yds passing to the Saints. The 49ers offense and especially the Saints complete lack of covering Vernon Davis, were just as responsible for teh win. Instead of writing this one off as defense wins, I think that it shows that when two teams match up their biggest strengths versus their biggest weakness you get a really balanced game. We should view it as a sign that teams can find success by maximizing their ability to score points or their ability to prevent that.