Defense wins championships...

[ellis]

3 of the final 4 teams remaining are top-5 in rush attempts for 2018 (NO, NE, LA)

A strong, dependable running game is a playoff team’s best friend. While there are very few “constants”, this is as close to one as I can think of. 

[tiger7_88]

1 minute ago, je1005 said:

3 of the final 4 teams remaining are in the top-5 for rush attempts (NO, NE, LA)

For 2 primary reasons:

(1) Better offensive lines, and

(2) Their offense's primary focus isn't "establishing the run".  Its MOVING THE BALL and SCORING, whereas Ron "Dinosaur" Rivera believes "establishing the run" and "controlling the clock" should be the two primary focuses of his offense.  One of the primary reasons the three offenses you quote above are so successful running the ball is because the opposing team's HC/DC knows that they will not hesitate to throw the ball on any down or distance.  You can always predict the Carolina "SAVE ME CAM!" 3rd and long pass of Rivera offenses after he has run it for short gains on 1st and 2nd down.

[ellis]

I’m not here to advocate Ron Rivera’s philosophies. 

[LinvilleGorge]

3 minutes ago, Hammerin'Cam1 said:

Great defense is what won the Chiefs the game yesterday.

You can just as easily say that absolutely putrid offense cost the Colts the game. A dome team played in a snowy game and sucked ass. Not even close to the first time that's happened. I'd say it was more the Colts sucking than it was the 31st ranked NFL defense playing great.

[ellis]

The rules favor the passing game. Pass defenses will have a harder time each year. It won’t get any easier.

[cptx]

1 hour ago, GoobyPls said:

our best season we had the number 1 ranked offense

And then had their asses handed to them by the 1 ranked defense.

[LinvilleGorge]

Just now, cptx said:

And then had their asses handed to them by the 1 ranked defense.

And if that game happened today the Broncos would've racked up some insane penalty yardage. The NFL will keep tweaking and keep handicapping the game in favor of offense until they get the game that they want. They'd love for games like the Chiefs/Rams regular season game to become fairly common place. Hell, they'd bust a nut at having that rematch for the SB. Talking about low hanging fruit for a hype job.

[Moo Daeng]

The team who plays the best defense among these offenses will win it. 

Think

[Jangler]

and yet it was a low scoring weekend. 

[Sean Payton's Vicodin]

this thread reminds me, when the saints and the colts made the super bowl 10 years ago, they had the number 31st and 32nd rushing offenses in the nfl that year and the team was still adamant that hard nose rushing still wins super bowls like in the 1970s and marty hurney resigned deangelo and stewart to mega deals.

[SuperBowlBound]

Just remember what Ron Rivera said after the Rams and Chiefs put up 105 points on Monday Night Football...."It's kind of set up for that (rule changes). ... I'm not a fan of it. I like a good, old-fashioned 7-6 game."

[Tbe]

8 hours ago, tiger7_88 said:

If I grant your premise, I guarantee the NFL would change the rules to advantage the offense and disadvantage the defense yet again.

Because that sells tickets.

And gets higher TV ratings.

Some of y'all will just never learn.

"RUN DE BALLZ AND PLAY DAT DEFENTS EVEN IF DA NFL GONNA MAKE SHUR DAIR REFZ FLY DE FLAGZ WHEN DAT HAPPENZ!"

That’s a popular narrative, but the NBA did that and it hurt the sport.

Soccer is the most popular sport in the world and scoring is rare. 

You have to have balance. Too much defense or too much offense gets boring.

Having said that, the best defense is a good offense. It forces the other offense to take risks and play catch-up.

Ron doesn’t get that.

[JARROD]

10 hours ago, Shocker said:

Mr Gurley would like a word with you

I hope him and CJ run 300 yards on them

[unicar15]

12 hours ago, LinvilleGorge said:

The average offensive ranking of the four final teams is #4 (#1, #2, #5, and #8).

The average defensive ranking is #21 (#14, #19, #21, and #31).

The league has changed. You have to have an elite offense to compete. 

If Tepper is really a next level owner he’ll figure out how to hire a genius defensive coach who has figured out how to play “to win” rather than “not to lose.” 

That is the mold of Belichick, Saban, Pete Carroll and even 2015 era RR. 

Figure that our and you’ll buck the trend of hiring the young unproven OC.