Prioritize offensive efficiency above all else
Of the 20 teams that have made the championship round in the last five years, 18 (90%) had an offense that finished in the top quartile (8th or better) in Football Outsiders’ DVOA metric. And 13 (65%) had an offense that finished in the top five.
If we look at those same 20 teams, just eight (40%) had a top-quartile defense. And six (30%) had a defense that finished in the top five.
So what’s the point? In the 2022 version of the NFL, defense matters, but offense matters more.