“Offense wins games, defense wins championships” is one of the phrases you’ve probably heard or read frequently in the context of football. The phrase is so ubiquitous, it even made it onto Wikipedia’s List of Sports Clichés, but just because people repeat stuff endlessly doesn’t make it any more true.
Let’s take a look at this season’s playoff participants and see if we can figure out this offense versus defense thing:
If the season were to end today, nine of the Top 10 offenses (as measured by points scored) would make the playoffs.
In a season dominated by the big-play offenses in Kansas City, New Orleans, and both Los Angeles teams, it only seems fitting that the playoffs are dominated by the offensive juggernauts in the league, right?