On Feb. 7, the Denver Broncos topped the Carolina Panthers 24-10 in Super Bowl 50, and although it may not have been the most exciting game in the NFL’s history, I bet the memories of that game will live on for quite a while for one simple reason: youth coaches will love it.
Regardless of the sport, coaches at every level—except maybe Mike Martz, that is—preach the importance of good defense. They’re almost clichés at this point: “A good defense beats a good offense,” and “Offense wins games, but defense wins championships.” These sayings seem to be rote platitudes taught on the first day of coach training.
But here’s the thing: it’s pretty much true.
On Sunday, it wasn’t the Broncos’ Hall of Fame-bound quarterback that led them to a Super Bowl win; it was an allworld
defensive effort led by MVP Von Miller, DeMarcus Ware, and a host of other Broncos who harassed and bullied the explosive Cam Newton from start to finish. The result was 19 hurries, seven sacks and one huge upset that nobody—including myself—saw coming.
Coming into the game, most pundits saw this as a probable one-sided Carolina win. Newton was too dangerous, the Panthers’ receivers were too fast, and the Carolina offense was too balanced for Denver to possibly have a shot, right?
And then the Broncos’ defense proved us wrong.
If young kids get into sports dreaming of scoring touchdowns or hitting buzzer-beating shots, the first thing that most coaches want to instill in us is a healthy respect for what happens on the other side of the ball. It’s pretty easy to understand why. Defense is the one thing, especially at lower levels, that isn’t about how fast you are, or how high you can jump; it’s about effort, toughness and buying into the system.
Sure, Miller is an exceptional athlete. Heck, every player on that Broncos defense is a top 1-percenter. But the way that Denver, in just two short years, was able to remake themselves from an offensive juggernaut into a team led by its defense speaks volumes to the ability of a coach to change the culture of a ballclub just by focusing on the defensive side of things.
If the offense scores the points, it’s the defense that supplies the backbone.
When I was 9 years old, I had a CYO basketball coach who organized a team night where we all piled into our point guard’s living room to watch a game featuring NBA prospect Joe Smith. Smith would go on to play 16 years in the league, never quite reaching the heights that some of his draftmates, notably Kevin Garnett, did. But that coach didn’t want us to watch Smith’s athleticism or knack for scoring; rather, his effort on defense and on the glass, and his ability to set the tone and make his teammates better through his hard work on the floor.
Given their preference, I’m sure youngsters would much rather tune in to watch Newton flip into the end zone, Odell Beckham make one-handed grabs, or Golden State Warriors’ guard Stephen Curry drain shots from beyond the arc.
That stuff is fun, it’s entertaining, and for lack of a better term, it’s sexy.
But some days, like last Sunday, those phenoms run into a brick wall, a defense that’s simply unwilling to bend.
For a coach at any level, that sort of commitment to a defensive game plan is more gratifying than all the touchdowns in the world.
