Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
Can the Kansas City Chiefs win the Super Bowl despite having an average offense?
At least according to Chiefs’ offensive coordinator Doug Pederson, the answer to that question is “yes”.
When recently asked by the media whether or not a team can win the Super Bowl without “the ability to take the top off the defense”, Pederson seemed to focus more on the defensive side of the ball than anything.
“I would like to say yes, he said. “You look at the history and some of the great defenses with teams that have won the Super Bowl. Off the top of my head I can’t think of how many deep balls were actually attributed to wins. It’s part of the game and you have to do that and put your guys in position to make the plays down the field.”
For what it’s worth, I tend to agree with coach Pederson and I think that it was smart of him to sing the praises of Kansas City’s defense, rather than put that kind of pressure on his offense.
Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports
They say that offense wins games and defense wins championships, and even in today’s NFL—that’s a phrase that still rings true.
Does having a prolific offense help? It certainly does. With that said, a good defense can really take the other team out of its rhythm and force an offense to get out of its comfort zone. Even the best quarterbacks have a hard time completing passes when their receivers are covered, or even worse, when they’re being hit by a charging defensive lineman.
Even more so than offense, a good defense can really set the tone of the game, and at least in my experience, the team that imposes its will is usually the one that wins the game.
So yes, a team can win the Super Bowl without a prolific offense.
Just ask the Baltimore Ravens or Tamba Bay Buccaneers. Or what about the undefeated 2007 Patriots and their high-profile offense? When met with New York Giants’ defense in the Super Bowl, even Tom Brady couldn’t pull out a win on the NFL’s biggest stage.
Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports
Offense wins games and defense wins championships.
That’s good news for the Chiefs, because if they’re going to try to win a championship this season, they’ll need the defense to lead the way.
First things first though, go out and get the No. 1 seed in the AFC. Then and only then, we’ll revisit this conversation.