interesting stat: 2nd straight year the team with the worst rushing offense...

[John Fox]

went to the superbowl.

obviously, the cardinals and colts have very good QB's, however, passing makes a better offense in today's league.

what do you think of this?

[R0CKnR0LLA]

Jets had the top rushing attack and made it to the championship game and that was with a rookie QB who made a ton of mistakes during the year.

Running the ball effectively and playing good defense can still win you alot of games. Though I'd like to see the Panthers become more balanced and closer to 50/50 pass/run ratio and bring in some new weapons at WR.

Don't think it would be a good idea to completely flip the offense around to pass heavy. Not with how our OLine is built and the quality of RBs we have.

[nosuchthingasapanther]

the exceptional QBs are why they made it thus far, not passing in general.

[panthers55]

But how many years has the team with the best passing game in the regualr season won the Super Bowl in the last 10 years. Once- Manning in 2006.

A balanced offense and defense are still important to winning.

[magnus]

yeah, if one game is different then it's all about running and having multiple backs.

You can't do just one thing well. Look at the 2008 Saints v/s the 2009 saints.

[Nu Guns]

This will only work with passing offenses with elite qbs -Manning,Brees, Brady.

I do not agree with an offense that is one dimensional.

The Panthers are also one dimensional team with the running game.

The major problem with our current offensive philosophy is that the Panthers could never come back from a 17-6 deficit like the Colts did against a play-off caliber team.

( or most teams for that matter) We need more balance on our offense to win the big one.

[pstall]

I would like to see Def rank plus rushing attack.

I think the Cards last year really broke some traditional molds.

[mr beauxjangles]

Took at quick look at some historical stats.

I looked at the regular season rushing and passing rank of the 16 super bowl teams since 2002, including this year. I also looked at the average defensive rating (0.0 is the league average)

Average passing rank: 10.06

(only 3 out of 16 teams were in the bottom half of the league)

Average rushing rank: 16.31

(only 3 out of 16 teams were in the top 5 in rushing)

Average defensive rating: 3.12 - would have ranked 7th this year

(only four teams were below the league average rating of 0.0. best was 9.1, worst was -6.0)

Then I looked at the Panthers performance between 2002 and 2009...

Average passing rank: 20.5

Average rushing rank: 15.4

Average defensive rating: 1.8 (would have ranked 10th this year)

This year was the only year we had a defensive rating that exceeded the average for Super Bowl participants since 2002.

Since 2002, Super Bowl particpants, on average, have great defenses (7th) good passing games (10th), and average rushing games (16th). So in very simple terms, that's been the recipe.

Take from that what you will, and with a grain of salt. This definitely isn't the best way to look at this stuff, but it's interesting I think.

[csx]

But how many years has the team with the best passing game in the regualr season won the Super Bowl in the last 10 years. Once- Manning in 2006.

A balanced offense and defense are still important to winning.

Maybe only one with the "best"...but what about top 5 or so?

[Neylus]

I would also think that it is easier to stay healthy as a team if your main attack is pass vs run.

[frash.exe]

i'd much prefer an offense that can both run and pass, a balanced one so that if one dimension isn't working, the other can compensate

however there's no denying extreme emphasis on running the ball is overrated.

[CRA]

balance is best.

but with rules of today's NFL favoring a passing......if you have to be one dimensional it is better imo to be a passing team.

[charlotte49er]

I think it depends on your QB.

You wouldn't ask Peyton Manning and his 4 superb WR's and a great receiving TE to run the ball more. Or Kurt Warner to hand the ball off 60% of the time.

The last 50/50 QB (IMO) was Troy Aikman. Had Smith and Irvin and could set the run up as well as throw the ball. I think Elii Manning is getting there, but he needs more help at WR since Plaxico pulled his stupid stunt.

But if you have an average QB, then the run games get's that much more important.

I know it wan't happen, but I would love to see the COLTS break into the Wishbone in the Super Bowl with Joseph "Live & Let" Addai & Donald Brown! Not every play, but for some of the running plays. It would confuse the heck out of the Saints!

[panthers55]

Maybe only one with the "best"...but what about top 5 or so?

We know 2009 (Indy or NO) since both teams are in the top 5 and 2006 (Indy). That's it. Unless you count St Louis which was the 1999 season but the Superbowl was technically in 2000. Interestingly the numbers of teams that won the Superbowl with a top 5 rushing attack this decade was 1999 (Rams), 2000 (Ravens), 2005 (Pittsburgh), 2007 (Giants)

Rushing still wins 4-3.