NFL: Championship Game Unit Ranking: Defense wins Championships – or?

The Championship Games are coming up! While the Patriots are among the last four teams for the seventh time in a row, the Vikings, Jaguars and Eagles are three comparatively newer faces, all carried by their defenses. But which unit is actually the strongest? The SPOX ranking provides clarity, both Championship Games and the Super Bowl are live with language selection on DAZN!

26.1 points per match in the Regular Season. 45 points against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Nevertheless, the best red zone opener of the regular season has to settle for eighth place. How could that be? Jacksonville’s Rushing-Offense undoubtedly brings enough to be successful in the playoffs and against the patriots on Sunday. Leonard Fournette is one of the NFL’s most aggressive inside-runners, with 4.3 yards per run the Jaguars made it into the top third of the league. Doug Marrone and his coaching staff have actually managed to build a functioning passing game on it. Play action and clearly defined reads take the pressure off Bortles’ shoulders, minimizing hair-raising errors. The Steelers game, in which the Jaguars used play action at 56 (!) percent of their passes, and above all the touchdown pass to Tommy Bohanon expressed the strengths of this well-designed offense.

The problem, however, is that everyone – probably even the Steelers by now – knows about the direction of this offense: Inside Run Game, play-action, avoidance of turnovers. Plan B is largely absent. Buffalo aggressively closed the box in the Wild Card Game and neutralized the Jags-Offense, except for a handful of play-action passes and some improvised quarterback runs, so complete. Bortles could have won at least another year in Jacksonville with his performances this season. The bottom line, however, is that his game remains massively inconsistent. As soon as he is forced into clear pass situations, catastrophes like the games in Arizona or Tennessee, for example, threaten to happen. As long as Jacksonville has to hide his miracle bag under Center in the Scheme, it will be up to the Defense to lead the Jaguars to victory.

In a parallel universe in which Carson Wentz can hope for an MVP trophy without knee pain, the author of this ranking is likely to wonder just how high up on top he can place Philadelphia’s offense in it. In reality, however, things are different. Mastermind Doug Pederson’s offense can only partially compensate for the failure of their quarterback. Hopes that Backup Nick Foles would be able to continue this at least modified did not materialize. Foles remains a capable rhythm-pass, but the downfield element – and thus a great strength of the receivers Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith – seems to completely lose the Eagles with him under Center.

However, the Eagles still have the quality of being able to bring a capable offence on the lawn. Headed by the All-Pros Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson, Philly has one of the NFL’s most athletic offensive lines without Jason Peters. Both the running-back- and the receiving-corps are multi-faceted, run- and screen-games are accordingly unlimited. Pre-Snap-Motion, Misdirection, Run Pass Option and Play Action are Pederson’s recipes to help Foles through the scheme. They will urgently need help. A similarly disastrous halfway point to that against Atlanta will not be allowed for Foles against the Vikings under any circumstances.

The Patriots Defense has a real roller coaster ride behind it. After Cornerback Stephon Gilmore’s enlistment, some experts saw a second dominant unit in Foxboro next to Tom Brady’s offense, but over the first week an overtaxed front seven and a completely confused secondary gave the opposite picture. This has now been corrected by Defensive Coordinator and unofficial-but-not-official-yet-anyhow-but-almost-official-lions-head coach Matt Patricia.

New England’s front seven may not be on paper at the level of the other units remaining in the playoff race, but Gap discipline and sure tackling have not only filled the biggest holes in the porous run defense: over the last eleven weeks of the regular season, New England scored fewer points than any other NFL team. The eight bags against a strong Titans-O-Line show that the Patriots-Defense can call its potential at the right time. Bend but don’t break “might be Patricia’s mantra and recipe for success for the playoffs – that’s all there is to it in view of New England’s offensive power.

No Teddy Bridgewater. No Sam Bradford. No problem? Despite numerous defaults on offensive key positions, the Vikings are among the NFL’s better offensive units. Irrespective of how the playoffs proceeded, offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur Case has probably helped Keenum make a pile of money – and himself a head coach. Shurmur has managed to design one of the best pass attacks in the league from a run-heavy offense. More than 2,000 receiving yards and twelve touchdowns are the result of the NFL’s most likely best receiving duo, Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs.

As a result, the vikings are extremely difficult to get off the field: Hardly any other team is better at third downs, and hardly any team causes less turnovers. And yet there is cause for concern in Minnesota as well: The offensive line has been shaking considerably since the failure of Left Guard Nick Easton. Keenum had to get to know Cameron Jordan against New Orleans again and again and had big problems against Pressure, unlike during the regular season. Against the outstanding D-Line of the Eagles this must not be repeated – or the quarterback is threatened with disaster.

Page 1: From Blake Bortles to Case Keenum

Page 2: Tom Brady versus three elite defenses