Super Bowl Predictions 2012: Ravens' Defense Will Power Way to Championship

The 2011 NFL season has been all about offense, with star quarterbacks like Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady putting up dazzling numbers and overwhelming the opposition. For exactly that reason, the team with the best chance at victory in Super Bowl XLVI is the one that doesn’t depend solely on its offense to win games.

The Packers, Patriots and Saints have all been able to dictate games with their passing attacks, essentially ignoring what the opposing offense did because they could just score more points. The Ravens, however, have so much talent on defense that they’ll be able to get any of those high-powered offenses out of rhythm, giving Baltimore an edge in a putative AFC title meeting with New England and the Super Bowl matchup to follow.

Baltimore’s offense, while hardly overpowering, is good enough to score points on the vulnerable defenses of that elite trio. Joe Flacco and Ray Rice won’t put up 40 points a game, but thanks to the fact that they have a legitimate unit on the other side of the ball, they won’t have to.

By the same token, the Ravens defense no longer has to pitch a shutout every week to have a chance to win—merely holding the likes of New Orleans or Green Bay under five touchdowns should be enough to get the job done.

Veterans like Ed Reed and Ray Lewis have plenty of big-game experience, so it’s not like the Ravens are going to be overawed by the moment, either in New England or in Indianapolis. In addition, those aggressive leaders make the Ravens perhaps the only defense in football that won’t be playing scared against the extraordinary offenses they can expect to face.

Obviously, there’s the possibility that upsets this weekend or next could change the matchups, but there’s no changing the fact that the Ravens’ defense is the best remaining in the NFL postseason. With a far better offense than the one that won Super Bowl XXXV, this unit is ready to bring the Lombardi Trophy back to Baltimore.