Campbell didn’t say this outright Monday, even though he has mentioned it before, but last season’s NFC title-game debacle colors his perception of what’s crucial to getting to the Super Bowl and winning it.
But it might surprise you to know Dan Campbell believes defense is the key to his team’s Super Bowl run.
Admittedly, the Lions coach said my question was a little hard to answer after I asked him whether a dominant offense or a stifling defense would serve the team better going forward in the regular season and through the playoffs.
“I would always lean defense first, if you’re asking me that question,” Campbell said Monday. “You have to be able to – you have to hold people’s offenses in check, you have to hold the run game in check, you have to limit points, and then you play accordingly with your offense.
In the modern NFL its all about stopping the bleeding on defense. Dont give up the easy pass yards. And dont give up the big play.
Thats the mindset of the lions defense. And its working.
No easy running up the middle.
No easy screens
No deep shots
The lions are doing that very efficiently.
Thus forcing the opponent to be perfect on offense in the middle game.
And with the Lions Offense being basically perfect. It comes down to who makes more mistakes.
If you can run the football on offense and play good defense. It’s a recipe to win a ton of games. And we can do both. Then Goff will embarrass defenses with play action.
Great offense wins games. And completely dominating Offense can win you a championship. But typically Defense wins championships.
I know the stat is out there but it is something like the last 10 or 20 SB champs had a top 10 defense? I know there is a clear trend that having a good/great defense is a better indicator of success than scoring.
So outside of a few years typically the SB champ will be a top 16 scoring Offense and Defensive Team to the rest of the NFL. And it is interesting that maybe over half of the years the Winner was the best in either Scoring O or D. Like if you have a #1 or 2 ranked Defense for scoring it appears you could say you have a 40% chance to win the SB…LOL. So I would say Defense is an important factor.
13 of 52 #1 Def
8 of 52 #2 Def
10 of 52 #1 Off
6 of 52 #2 Off
So one could say that being ranked a #1 ranked scoring O or D you have a 50% chance of winning the SB? Hmmm I do not think I am say that right. But anyway, Defense appears to be more of an indicator that Offense but it is more interesting once you look at the data.
I guess it would be nice to overlay the losing team also. That might bring more of a trend line that maybe one could draw a stronger conclusion. Like if you are ranked #1 or 2 in Scoring Defense you have a 70%
our offense is basically an extension of our defense. We’re able to change how an offense has to play to keep up and that plays right into what we want to do with the defense. Take those deeper shots please, feed our poor poor hungry safeties.
The stats seem to support common sense: both are really important. o offense to Dan, but, honestly, I think it’s silly to say that one is more important than the other. What’s the logic there?
It used to be said - maybe still is - that a good defense beats a good offense. Maybe people think a good offense as less reliable than a good defense? Because the SB is played in winter and, before domed stadium became the rage, winter weather disrupted offenses more than defenses?
All I know is that 9 of the last 15 SB winners have scored 30+. 5 of the 9 won by one score, which is to say: they needed all those points.
