Super Bowl 2012: Which Defenses Will Carry Their Teams to Indy ?

Although they gave up a ton of yards in the regular season, the New Orleans Saints and New England Patriots will advance to the Super Bowl thanks to some solid defensive performances.

Don't get me wrong, their defenses won't be great—at times they'll be downright awful. But with their potent offenses, both teams will only need a few big plays on the defensive side of the ball.

Led by Tom Brady, the Patriots once again have one of the league's best offenses. Brady found Wes Welker and Rob Gronkowski all season long, racking up a ridiculous 5,235 yards.

New England also gave up 293.9 passing yards per game, second most in the NFL.

But while their secondary was terrible at times, they weren't as bad as the numbers suggest. With teams trying to keep pace with Brady and the Pats offense, of course they're going to gain a lot of yards.

The more important number for New England is their 23 interceptions. The Patriots score quickly and often, so opposing quarterbacks take risks while trying to keep up. New England's defense is great capitalizing on this over-aggressiveness. 

On their road to the Super Bowl, the Patriots will face Tim Tebow and either T.J. Yates or Joe Flacco. Bill Belichick and New England's opportunistic defense will have no trouble taking advantage of the young quarterbacks.

The Saints will have to conquer more dangerous obstacles in the NFC. If they get past San Francisco, they will face either the Giants or Packers in the NFC Championship game.

New Orleans lost a 42-34 shootout with Green Bay on opening day, but that was before Drew Brees went on a blood-thirsty rampage. In his last nine games, he's thrown for 2,896 yards (321.7 per game), 25 touchdowns and just three interceptions.

While Brees has been on this tear, the Saints defense has allowed just 19.7 points per game. They even spanked the Giants 49-28 in Week 12.

During the second half of the season, the Saints and Patriots have been the two best teams in football. And although they are often criticized, their defenses will make enough big plays to get them to the Super Bowl.