Eagles win Super Bowl due to Inferior Passing

They say QB’s win Super Bowls. Or was it Coaches, yes, that was it, they say coaching wins Super Bowls. Now that’s not right, it was clutch kickers right? Adam Vinatieri won like half a dozen Super Bowls. Wait, Defenses, yes that’s it, defenses helped Denver, Seattle, Pittsburgh and New York win Super Bowls.

Scratch all of that. Inferior passing! That’s where the real squeeze is. Don’t believe me? Look at the last 6 Super Bowls and you will see a history of superior passing being the downfall for the Super Bowls losing teams.

Passing Yard Rankings by Regular Season

2017: New England (Most passing yards in the NFL)

Philadelphia (7^th most passing yards in the NFL)

Winner: Philadelphia ???

2016: Atlanta (2^nd most passing yards in the NFL)

New England (4^th most passing yards in the NFL)

Winner: New England makes an epic come back in the 2^nd half - out passing the 2^nd best passing team in the NFL. Many argue that Atlanta’s excellent passing was the ultimate demise, they argue that if Atlanta had just gone with their ground game instead of relying on their excellent passing through the 3^rd and 4^th quarters, the clock would have run out before the Patriots could come back. A victim of too much reliance on their own passing excellence.

Photo by Barry Chin/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

2015: Carolina (11^th)

Denver (16^th)

Winner: Denver. The defense was all over Cam and he was NOT happy in the post-game conference. Peyton did little outside of not turning the ball over for Denver, just keeping it safe and letting his defense do the real damage. Cam did as much as he could, he had more first downs (21 to 11), he had better third down efficiency (20% to 7&) he had more the same number of Interceptions (1) but ultimately it was the fumbles (3 lost for Carolina and 1 for Denver). What it really came down to was Von Miller, Demarcus Ware keeping Cam on his toes not to mention Malik Jackson and Derek Wolfe on the ends but the reliance once again on the QB and passing game was the downfall of Carolina as he scrambled all day to carry the team to a Super Bowl.

2014: Seattle (9^th)

New England (11^th)

Winner: New England, ironically BECAUSE Seattle called a pass play. Foisted by their own petard. We all remember this one, one the 1 yard line Pete Carrol opts NOT to give Marshawn Lynch the ball, the same Marshawn Lynch who was knocking out 3-4 yard runs without breaking a sweat on each carry. Instead the pass play to Ricardo Lockette was interception by Malcom Butler securing the victory for New England. Once again, a victim of the reliance on their pass game.

Photo by David Ryder/Getty Images

2013: Denver (1^st)

Seattle (18^th)

Winner: Seattle came through JUUUUUUST barely winning this one 43-8. Two interceptions from Peyton Manning as well as 4 total fumbles (2 that were lost) helped secure the fate here. Seattle’s defense had a combined 71 yards off the two interceptions including one of their 5 touchdowns on a pick six. Seattle turned to their run game where Percy Harvin, Russell Wilson and Marshawn Lynch combined for 110 yards and 1 Touchdown. Special teams contributed a kickoff return to start the third quarter (remember who ridiculously fast Percy Harvin was!!). Remember this was the season Peyton Manning threw for 5,477 yards a career high!

2012:San Francisco (11^th)

Baltimore (16^th)

Winner; Baltimore, AFTER a half an hour black out (there is a prop bet about this in the current Super Bowl). Baltimore picked off Colin Kaepernick once for six yards. San Francisco out passed, out rushed and had more yards per rush. All of this was ultimately overcome by a kickoff return by Jacoby Jones, an interception, a failed two point conversion when the game was 31-29 and a better completion percentage from Baltimore (safer with their passes). It came down to calculated choice of passing options here over quantity of yards.

2011: New England (2^nd)

New York Giants (8^th)

Winner: New York Giants, thanks in part to 1 interception from Tom Brady, thanks in part to Eli being more efficient (if not talented/lucky) with a 75% completion rate to Tom’s 65%, thanks in part to the Giants outrushing the Patriots 114 yards to 83 (Ahmad Bradshaw’s beast mode), and thanks largely to Mario Manningham making an unbelievable catch that wasn’t quite better than David Tyree’s but equally clutch and impressive.

So there you have it, we have a history where 6 straight Super Bowls were won by the team with the lesser passing yards during the regular season.