(Editor's note: The content provided is based on opinions and/or perspective of the DallasCowboys.com editorial staff and not the Cowboys football staff or organization.)
FRISCO, Texas — The mission of any and every NFL team is the same, annually, and that's to build a roster in the spring that eventually boasts the No. 1 offense and No. 1 defense, coexisting in a perpetual space, weekly, of symbiotic dominance that feeds off of one another; but good luck with that, in a league literally designed to keep that from happening.
It's called parity, and the NFL has blatantly and unapologetically leaned into and broadcast their goal of creating and maintaining it on a yearly basis, one look at this year's number of upset victories and lack of runaway dominance by any one team standing as the latest bit of evidence.
So, is having an elite offense and elite defense a requirement for winning a Super Bowl nowadays? Glad you asked, so please grab a beverage of your choice, pull up a chair and let's talk about it for the next several minutes.
A Loose Suture
Dak Prescott is in the MVP conversation and playing what is arguably the best football of his career, leading a No. 1-ranked offense in yards earned per game, without All-Pro wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, set to see him return to the mix in Week 7 against the Washington Commanders to add to a career-best season from both George Pickens and Pro Bowl tight end Jake Ferguson — not to mention the Javonte Williams and the rushing attack, the loss in Carolina notwithstanding, being one of the best in the league.
And yet … the Cowboys are 2-3-1 right now.
Ranked third in the NFL in points per game with a blazing average of 29.7 per outing, the Cowboys are, contrarily, 31st in the league in points allowed per game at an average of 30.7 per contest, and that is enough to explain why the Cowboys aren't currently in first place in the NFC East and, potentially in the NFC as a whole heading into Week 7.
The defense is allowing one point more per game than the offense is scoring, bleeding just a smidge too much for the offense to keep up with.
Not great, Bob.
Has Prescott and the offense, or Schottenheimer's play calling a time or two, been without fault? Absolutely not, friend, but that's unfortunately the problem: they have no choice but to be perfect every single rep to outweigh the defensive struggles.
For example, with the defense allowing an average of 30.7 points per game, an insanely high number, by the way, the offense needs to average more than 31 points per game … every single game … without exception … and without excuses … regardless of if that's fair to ask or not.
It is what it is until it is no longer what it was.
Mythbusters
The thing is, though, that the Cowboys don't need their defense to be worldbeaters, though that would be terrific, as mentioned in the outset of this column, it's probably not realistic. What is more believable is that they could somehow figure out how to be average — i.e., 14th-16th best in the league — and that could potentially be enough to make the Cowboys a contender this year, and before the season is lost entirely.
Would that be enough to take them back to the Super Bowl, though? To answer that question, we'll take a look at every Super Bowl champion and their respective offensive and defensive ranking when they hoisted the Lombardi Trophy, stretching back to the turn of the century.
[Note: Rankings are based upon points per game earned versus allowed.]
- Super Bowl 59 - Eagles
- Offense - 7th, Defense - 2nd
- SB 58 - Chiefs
- Offense - 15th, Defense - 2nd
- SB 57- Chiefs
- Offense - 1st, Defense - 16th
- SB 56 - Rams
- Offense - 7th, Defense - 15th
- SB 55 - Buccaneers
- Offense - 3rd, Defense - 8th
- SB 54 - Chiefs
- Offense - 5th, Defense - 7th
- SB 53 - Patriots
- Offense - 4th, Defense - 7th
- SB 52 - Eagles
- Offense - 3rd, Defense - 4th
- SB 51 - Patriots
- Offense - 3rd, Defense - 1st
- SB 50 - Broncos
- Offense - 19th, Defense - 4th
- SB 49 - Patriots
- Offense - 4th, Defense - 8th
- SB 48 - Seahawks
- Offense - 8th, Defense - 1st
I'll break the fourth wall here and let you know the only reason I'm inserting this paragraph is to visually break up the monotony of the list for you, and to give your eyes a moment to reset before we continue looking through these figures.
All set? OK, let's continue, but you're doing great and we're almost there — stay with me.
- SB 47 - Ravens
- Offense - 10th, Defense - 12th
- SB 46 - Giants
- Offense - 9th, Defense - 25th
- SB 45 - Packers
- Offense - 10th, Defense - 2nd
- SB 44 - Saints
- Offense - 1st, Defense - 20th
- SB 43 - Steelers
- Offense - 20th, Defense - 1st
- SB 42 - Giants
- Offense - 14th, Defense - 17th
- SB 41- Colts
- Offense - 2nd, Defense - 23rd
- SB 40 - Steelers
- Offense - 9th, Defense - 3rd
- SB 39 - Patriots
- Offense - 4th, Defense - 2nd
- SB 38 - Patriots
- Offense - 12th, Defense - 1st
- SB 37 - Buccaneers
- Offense - 18th, Defense - 1st
- SB 36 - Patriots
- Offense - 6th, Defense - 6th
- SB 35 - Ravens
- Offense - 14th, Defense - 1st
You made it, and I knew you would.
What you'll notice, and fairly immediately, is that it's infrequent to see a champion claim bragging rights to having both an elite offense and an elite defense in their championship season, and the ones who do are exceptions to a rule the NFL effectively instituted when it created the salary cap in the 1990s.
That's why, beginning more or less at the turn of the century, it's unbelievably difficult to build a super team on both sides of the ball, let alone to be lucky enough for that super team to remain healthy the entire season and throughout the playoffs. And there's no need to use the average of each ranking, mostly because it doesn't account for context, but also in how it doesn't attribute the appropriate weight to each individual outcome.
Pey Day
For example, the fact Peyton Manning won a Super Bowl in Denver despite ranking 19th in offense and having, literally, the statistically worse season of his otherwise Hall of Fame career.
In the playoffs alone, through three games, Manning threw only two touchdowns along with an interception, had a 55.4 percent completion percentage (51 completions on 92 attempts), a passer rating of 75.4, and was also sacked nine times. His defense, however, held the Steelers, Patriots and Panthers to an average of less than 15 points per game.
Fifteen.
And yet, there was Manning, after a poverty-filled year of production and inaccuracy, hoisting the Lombardi Trophy alongside Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware. None of this is to imply Manning didn't deserve the hardware. It's to say he and his offense aren't why the Broncos acquired it that year. Hell, they nearly cost the team a championship, if not for the elite defense that continually cleaned up their slew of in-game errors and struggles.
That said, Manning's offense in Denver was right around average, just slightly below, and not the worst in the league that year. So it's almost like one unit can be elite and the other just needs to be at least serviceable to have a shot at winning the Super Bowl in any given season nowadays.
Hell, Eli Manning and the Giants won it all with a 25th-ranked (seventh-worst) defense in Super Bowl 46, and as a Wild Card team taking down the almighty combo of Bill Belichick and Tom Brady.
Bird Box
Flash forward to last season and it was the Eagles winning it all, but was it because they were lighting up the scoreboard offensively? Or because Saquon Barkley had a 2,000-yard, 13-touchdown season that provided the jet fuel for it, but even that in the Super Bowl — Barkley rushing for just 57 yards on 2.3 yards per attempt with no touchdowns.
"The Eagles dropped a 40 burger on the Chiefs, though." - You, maybe
That's true, but here's how they did it:
Time of Possession:
- Eagles - 36:58
- Chiefs - 23:02
Points Summary (PHI):
- 4 field goal kicks = 12 points
- 1 pick-six (Cooper DeJean) = 7 points w/ PAT
- 1 passing touchdown (12 yards to AJ Brown) = 7 points w/ PAT
- 1 passing touchdown (467 yards to DeVonta Smith) = 7 points w/ PAT
- 1 rushing touchdown (1-yard run by Jalen Hurts) = 7 points w/ PAT
= 40 points scored
In that summation, there is one chunk play from offense — only one through 60 minutes of Super Bowl football. That's hardly the Greatest Show on Turf, now is it? Fact is, Mahomes was under siege the entirety of the game as the Eagles defense went on to make sure he also sat on the bench for nearly 38 of the 60 football minutes, that was when they weren't grabbing two interceptions, six sacks, 11 quarterback hits and a mind-altering 26 pressures.
Yeah, you're picking up what I'm putting down here.
Just Be Less Bad
Lastly, in looking at the list of Super Bowl winners since the turn of the century, only three of the 25 champions can boast a top-5 offense and a top-5 defense which, to most, is the Mendoza Line for determining what falls into the category of elite — top-15ish being average, top-10 being really good, and top-5 meaning they're in a class of their own.
Only three … in a quarter century of professional football.
So, no, the Cowboys don't technically need an elite defense to have a realistic shot at ending their three decades-long drought. Would they like to? I mean, would I like Salma Hayek to show up at my door selling Thin Mints? That's a rhetorical question, because of course.
Wait … oh, never mind. I thought I heard a knock.
Anyways, all the Cowboys need is their showstopper of an offense to keep doing what it's doing, without the need of being perfect, if their defense to simply figure out a way to be in the middle of the pack, average-ish, regarding points allowed per game; and grab some takeaways while they're at it.
Do that and watch how quickly business picks up in Dallas in 2025.
