So what does all of this tell us?
Allow me to lay it out, so we can get a quicker glance at the big picture.
The No. 1 offense ended up winning nine of the 43 Super Bowls (20.9 percent).
The No. 1 defense ended up winning 14 of the 43 Super Bowls (32.5 percent).
Top-five offenses won 27 out of the 43 Super Bowls (62.8 percent).
Top-five defenses won 29 out of the 43 Super Bowls (67.4 percent).
Top-ten offenses won 36 out of the 43 Super Bowls (83.7 percent).
Top-ten defense won 39 out of the 43 Super Bowls (90.6 percent).
The average Super Bowl winning offense ranked 6.4th overall.
The average Super Bowl winning defense ranked 4.5th overall.
The numbers seem to indicate a slight advantage going to the defensive side of the ball.
Still, they also appear to indicate that Super Bowl-winning teams must be of a high caliber on both sides of the ball with few exceptions (The 2006 Colts defense & The 2008 Steelers offense come to mind).
Now, you might be wondering why this article seems to focus more on the value of defenses winning championships than offense winning championships.
Truth be told, both units appear to be quite equal in terms of value needed to win the Super Bowl.
The reason why I'm taking a closer look on the value of defense is due to how society has treated both units.
You rarely hear a great defensive squad criticized for their lack of winning championships when they get stuck with poor to mediocre offensive units.
Conversely, you often hear players on the offensive side of the ball (especially quarterbacks) criticized for not winning championships even though they end up playing with poor to mediocre defensive units.
Let's face it, both sides need the other to succeed but one side takes more heat for the lack of doing so.
Realistically speaking, you're going to win a Super Bowl without having a defense ranked in the top ten.
It's only happened four times in 43 years, so I wouldn't bank on any miracles happening if I were the quarterback of a team who possesses a struggling defense.
Yet, you often hear quarterbacks criticized for their lack of winning championships, regardless of the defensive units they played with.
I could understand that criticism if they had the benefit of playing with top defensive units for the greater part of their careers but if those seasons come few and far between, the window of opportunity they have is significantly less than that of other quarterbacks.
The best example that I can think of is Peyton Manning.
Since his team has won more games in a single decade than any other team led by any one quarterback in NFL history, people have expected to see more of the same in the postseason.
The reality of the matter is that Manning has only played with top-ten defensive units in four times in his 11-year career.
The Colts managed to win many games they logically shouldn't have due to exceptional production from the Colts offense. This (in my view) led to unrealistic expectations in the postseason.
All people could think of is that they won during the regular season so they should be able to win in the postseason just as easily.
The problem is, one dimensional teams get shut down in the playoffs.
Defenses single out their greatest strength (in this case, the passing offense) and force the rest of the team to beat them. Meanwhile they rack up points and force the quarterback to play from behind.
It's a losing combination.
No matter how good Peyton Manning and the Colts offense was, they really didn't have much of a realistic chance at winning championships during seven of Manning's 11 seasons.
History shows us that no matter how good the offense is, it won't travel far without a quality defense to balance the attack.
That goes for Peyton Manning, Dan Marino, or any other quarterback stuck in these kinds of situations who takes the heat for it anyway.
The issue is, people expect these individuals to carry their teams in a way that isn't very logical.
That is, if history has anything to say about the matter.
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