In retrospect, maybe Bill Belichick wasn’t entirely wrong. As the Kansas City Chiefs proved, maybe defense still wins championships.
At the very least, maybe it still plays a principal role – and maybe that’s a good thing for the Patriots going forward.
Yes, Patrick Mahomes is all-world and was, as usual, scintillating in the late fourth quarter and overtime of Kansas City’s 25-22 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII. But as noted by ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky in the following tweet, the real backbone of this Chiefs championship was the Kansas City defense, which made a historic run through the postseason by thwarting four of the top six offenses in the NFL.
So what’s the point? Well, if you want to say that Patrick Mahomes won the Super Bowl, fine. It’s hard to make an argument to the contrary. With the championship at stake, Mahomes led the Chiefs on a game-tying scoring drive at the end of a regulation and then a touchdown drive in overtime. As usual, he was money. But you want to say that the championship was largely the product of the Kansas City defense, well, that would be right, too. And it would be easier for the Patriots to replicate than finding the next Mahomes.
Some facts worth considering: this year, the Chiefs ranked second in the NFL in scoring defense. During the year, including playoffs, they became the first team in NFL history to never allow as many as 28 points in a single game. The Chiefs ranked second in the NFL in sacks (57) and were tied for fourth in fewest touchdown passes allowed, which speaks volumes. Their one potential vulnerability? They allowed 4.5 yards per rush, which ranked 25th in the league. But in the Super Bowl, including Brock Purdy’s scrambles, the Niners ran for 110 yards on 31 rushes and Christian McCaffrey ran 22 times for 80 yards, averages of 3.6 and 3.5 yards per rush. Those numbers would have ranked second- and third-best.
The conclusions?