It may be one of the biggest clichés in all of sports, but defense does win championships, and for that reason neither the Indianapolis Colts nor the New Orleans Saints will win the Super Bowl this year.
This old adage about defense was proved this past weekend as all four wild-card game winners (Jets, Ravens, Cardinals, Cowboys) won not because they could rack up endless numbers of touchdowns and field goals, but because they could play defense.
In both AFC battles, both winners made use of shutdown defenses and strong running games to control the tempo and football. But of the two games, the Ravens win in Foxboro was much more impressive than the play of the Jets. However, Tom Brady did not have Wes Welker to throw to and that had a large impact on the New England passing game. Aside from that though, there is not much else to point to that would save New England from admitting they were dominated.
Baltimore allowed only 196 yards of total offense, while also racking up four turnovers. This is nothing new to Raven fans, as this is almost the same defense that carried the team to the AFC Championship game in 2009.
The Jets too held a high-powered offense to little production. As with any impressive performance, it takes 11 players coming together to get the job done. In the Jets case, they have one player that makes the job of the other ten guys much easier.
Darrelle Revis is such a presence at cornerback that Cincinnati’s star receiver Chad OchoCinco was held to two receptions for 28 yards on six targets. One of those receptions was when Revis was playing deep to prevent any big plays. What Revis’ presence does for the rest of the team is allow them to focus more on the integrate blitzes, knowing the opponent’s top wide receiver is always the job of one of the leagues top shut down corners.
If someone needed any more proof that defense is key to playoff success they should look to the Cowboys and Cardinals. Both teams used timely turnovers to win each game. The Cardinals took advantage of an Aaron Rodgers fumble in overtime and returned it for a touchdown. Despite being a match-up between two offensive juggernauts it took only one play by the defense to end it.
Dallas, on the other hand, caused fumbles throughout the game and capitalized with points off the turnovers to win its first playoff game in 14 years. However, much more impressive than the turnover ratio was the amount of pressure Dallas put on Philadelphia’s quarterbacks. For the game the Dallas defense racked up four sacks, four tackles for losses, nine passes deflected and nine quarterback hits.
The teams who earned byes in the regular season have quite a week of preparation ahead to get ready for the defenses rolling into town. Despite their preparations and rest, both number one seeds will not make it to the Conference Championship games.
The Colts will be facing the Ravens on Saturday inside the cozy confines of the RCA Dome. Peyton Manning will be out to prove coach Jim Caldwell’s choice to bench him and other starters was the right thing to do, he will probably be fairly successful. However, the Colts defense will not be able to support any type of offensive effort. The Colts ranked in the bottom half of the league for total defense and bottom quarter in rush yards, something the Ravens are sure to do a lot.
As for the Saints, they too have an offense lead by a hall-of-fame quarterback that has the ability to score at will. If they hope to win, they will need to do against the Kurt Warner farewell tour. The Saints defense rank in bottom ten of both yards allowed per game and passing yards per game.
This weekend, the NFL will sort itself out to its final four teams. It is unclear who they will face, but look out for the Ravens and Cardinals to go on the road and upset the number one seeds. Not because of some lucky play or unstoppable offense, but because of their hard hitting defenses.
You can reach this writer at sports@theeagleonline.com.
