Quote:Good observation.

 

To continue on this theme, at least three of those teams-'84 Miami, '07 Patriots, and '13 Broncos did not have particularly strong running games or defenses.

 

Miami 1984 ranked 16th running the ball, 22nd stopping the run, and 19th in total defense and 7th in points allowed.

 

New England in '07 ranked 4th in defense-excellent-but only 13th rushing the ball.

 

Denver this year ranked 22nd in points allowed, 19th in overall defense, and 15th in rushing.

 

And I've always felt like those Defensive numbers are somewhat skewed by the presence of such a prolific passing attack.

 

It does bring to light an interesting dilemma; anyone will tell you that if you were to not deploy your most effective weapon, you're a fool. But at what cost to the rest of the team? Sure, you can put up those video game numbers, but what will you fall back on if that weapon of yours draws blanks? Should Denver have spent more time developing a running attack? Should Miami have sacrificed some of Marino's statistics in order to develop their running game? To be honest, I don't know the answer to that question.

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