NFL Playoffs 2012: Offense Will Reign Supreme on Road to Super Bowl

You know the old saying, "Defense wins championships"?

Yeah, forget about that for the next month while watching the NFL playoffs because D will be tough to come by.

The New Orleans Saints, Green Bay Packers, New England Patriots, Detroit Lions, New York Giants and Atlanta Falcons all rank among the top 10 in total offense and are joined by the Pittsburgh Steelers when measuring weighted offense, which, according to Football Outsiders, better represents each team's recent performance. 

Not that there aren't some excellent defenses among the 12 teams still alive on the road to the Super Bowl. The Steelers, Houston Texans, Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers make up the top four in the league with regard to total defense, with the Cincinnati Bengals checking in at No. 7. Football Outsiders also has the Ravens, Niners, Steelers, Falcons and Texans ranked in the top 10 in weighted defense.

But we're not just talking about really good offenses going against really good defenses. Rather, we'll be witness to some of the most prolific offenses in NFL history going against defenses that range from excellent to flat-out terrible.

In any case, there's no defense that even the sharpest coaching mind can draw up to stop the likes of Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Matthew Stafford and Eli Manning, the first three of whom would be more-than-worthy NFL MVPs and the latter two of whom could make compelling arguments.

Nor is there any scheme that can completely neutralize the Saints' stellar corps of receivers or the pass catchers that A-Rod throws to.

Or even the Terrific Trio of Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez and Wes Welker for New England.

And good luck to any and all of those poor saps at defensive back who have to contend with Detroit's Calvin Johnson or even Houston's Andre Johnson, whether he's back at full strength or not.

Of course, playoff football is an entirely different animal than the one paraded across TV screens for 17 weeks at year's end. The weather will be colder, the stakes will be higher and the competition will be more intense and of a much better caliber than what we normally see.

But in this, the Year of the Quarterback, wherein passing offenses have reigned supreme and the teams with strong defenses (the Steelers, Texans, Ravens and Niners) have serious question marks under center, it's not all that difficult to imagine the road to Indianapolis being paved with torched turf and overstuffed stat sheets rather than bumps, bruises, blood and broken bones.

Which, ultimately, should make for one of the most entertaining postseasons we've ever seen.

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