Looking at past Super Bowls and balancing the firepower of the relative offenses, Ian Allan argues that we might have just seen the best defensive performance in Super Bowl history.

Just how good was that defense we saw on Sunday? To me, it looked like one of the all-time units. Based on the regular-season numbers, it looks like one of the 10 best defenses in the modern era. And if you want to look at just Super Bowl games, then you have to think about putting that game in the No. 1 spot.

Denver averaged just under 38 points per game in the regular season (No. 1 all time), and the Seahawks held them to only 8. If they’d held them to 17-20, that would have been great. But 8? That’s mind blowing.

There are been other great defenses. The Ravens of 2000, the Bucs of 2002. And going further back, the 1986 Bears and the Steel Curtain defenses of the ‘70s. But none of those units ever put together a Super Bowl like what we just saw out of Seattle.

I think that’s the new No. 1. Here’s my best Super Bowls by defenses, and let me know where you disagree.

TOP SUPER BOWLS BY DEFENSES

Seattle 43, Denver 8
Radio Shack had one of the best commercials; “The ‘80s called … they want their store back.” Little did they know how timely that ad would be. This was an ‘80s-style Super Bowl, with a high-powered offense falling flat on its face. Seattle’s defense was smothering, and it did it against one of the all-time offenses. The Seahawks were so thorough, that you’re left with the opinion that if the teams played again, the result would be the same.

Giants 17, Patriots 14
This will always be the ultimate David vs. Goliath Super Bowl. New England was 18-0 and had obliterated everything in its path, scoring a record 589 points in the regular season. Giants somehow held them to 14 points. New England didn’t do much with its running game. Tom Brady went 29 of 48 for 266 yards, with 1 touchdown and no interceptions. But that game was different than what we saw on Sunday in that if they were to play the game 10 more times, we all still believe New England would win 9 or 10 of them. New York barely made the playoffs that year, and its defense was below average in terms of allowing points.

49ers 38, Dolphins 16
Miami had the Peyton Manning offense of that year, with Dan Marino having thrown 48 touchdowns in the regular season – 12 more than anyone else in league history. The Dolphins had put up 45 points in the AFC Championship game. But that was a great, great San Francisco team. It went 15-1 in the regular season, finishing 2nd in scoring and 1st in defense. The Super Bowl was very similar to what we saw on Sunday. Dolphins ran for 25 yards, and Marino went 29 of 50 for 318 yards, with a touchdown and 2 interceptions. San Francisco allowed 227 points that year (4 fewer than Seattle in 2013) but when you adjust to account for scoring league-wide, it’s not generally considered one of the top 20 defenses of all time. Very close, though – maybe the most underrated of the all-time defenses.

Giants 20, Bills 19
Buffalo’s K Gun was in top form. It had scored 44 and 51 points in its two playoff games. But New York had a great defense, allowing a league-low 211 points in the regular season. Giants were able to shorten the game by running the ball, and they were blowing up receivers on crossing routes – just like what we saw on Sunday out of the Seahawks. Averaging points allowed versus the league total for each year, there are seven defenses that both rank in the top 20 (since the move to 16 games) and also won the Super Bowl. Of those seven defenses, only two got to beat top-level, elite offenses in the Super Bowl. The Seahawks did it on Sunday, and the 1990 Giants are the only other defense in that group.

Patriots 20, Rams 17
Everyone thought this game would be a blowout. The Greatest Show on Turf was remarkable that year, scoring 503 points. But the Patriots slowed them down enough that they were able to pull it out late. Rams should have run Marshall Faulk more. That New England defense was good, but five other teams allowed fewer points in the regular season.

Steelers 16, Vikings 6
Minnesota’s only points came on a blocked punt. It was completely shut down from the git-go. The Vikings ran for only 17 yards and Fran Tarkenton went 11 of 26 for only 102 yards, with 3 interceptions. But that offense wasn’t in the same stratosphere as the present-day Broncos. It was a different game in the mid-‘70s. Minnesota averaged only 22 points in the regular season that year. Pittsburgh allowed only 189 points that year, but that wasn’t even the lowest in the league. The Rams allowed 181, and Minnesota and Washington were at 195-196. Pittsburgh put together a remarkable run in the ‘70s, but its best two defenses (at least in terms of points allowed) were two teams that didn’t win it. The 1972 team (which lost to the undefeated Dolphins) allowed only 175 points. The best Pittsburgh defense was the group from 1976, which put the team on its back and starting stringing together shutouts when Terry Bradshaw missed a good chunk of the season. That team (which lost in the AFC Championship) allowed in 14 games only 138 points -- 52 fewer than any other defense.

Ravens 34, Giants 7
This was definitely one of the great defenses. It allowed only 10.3 points per game in the regular season – under half of the league average. It’s the only team that’s done that in a 16-game season. But as with the 1986 Bears, it didn’t get to face a high-powered offense in the big game. New York went only 12-4 in the regular season. It had Kerry Collins at quarterback, and 14 other teams scored more points in the regular season.

Bears 46, Patriots 10
Chicago had one of the all-time defenses, but it didn’t get the chance to go head-to-head against a great offense. New England finished only 3rd in the AFC East before getting hot in the playoffs. They had young, modestly talented Tony Eason at quarterback – the 5th best of the six quarterbacks taken in the first round in 1983 (behind Elway, Marino, Kelly and Ken O’Brien). The Bears’ defense actually allowed 11 fewer points the next season but lost at home in the playoffs to Washington, 27-13. By that time, offenses were figuring out how to beat Buddy Ryan's high-pressure scheme.

Packers 35, Kansas City 10
Green Bay allowed 49 fewer points than any other team 1966. That’s the 2nd-largest differential of the Super Bowl era, trailing only the 1985 Bears. In the first Super Bowl, they shut down a pretty talented Kansas City offense. Hank Stram was an offensive innovator, and his team had scored 448 points – 90 more than any other AFL team. But the NFL was definitely well ahead of the AFL at that time (see head-to-head records in 1970 after the merger). I’m not ranking this one higher because Kansas City’s 10 points all came in the first half, and Len Dawson had a credible day (16 of 27 for 211 yards). If this Green Bay defense was all-time great, it wouldn’t have allowed 27 points the previous week in the NFL championship game against the Cowboys (though that game was in Dallas, and that Cowboys offense led the NFL in scoring).

Giants 21, Patriots 17
This is the junior version of same game following the 2007 season. New England had a great offense – probably one of the top 15 of the modern era. But it just came up short against a seemingly overmatched opponent. New England had some success moving the ball, but just never got around to scoring enough points, and the game slipped away. But there was nothing special about this defense. New York ranked in the bottom 10 in points allowed that year. It just had a good game plan and got hot at the right time.

Raiders 38, Washington 9
This game was also similar to Sunday’s game. Washington had the all-time No. 1 offense at the time, having piled up 541 points in the regular season. It was shut down for most of the game. But the Raiders didn’t have one of the all-time defenses. That year, 11 other teams allowed fewer points in the regular season. Raiders were more like the Giants of recent years -- a talented mid-level defense that got hot at the right time.

Dolphins 14, Washington 7
The Steel Curtain of the ‘70s gets more pub. It had a much longer run. But Miami’s No Name Defense put together a remarkable string from 1971-73, allowing 174, 171 and 150 points. That’s a better three-year stretch than anything Pittsburgh ever did. The Dolphins ranked 3rd, 2nd and 1st in scoring defense those three years. In Super Bowl VII, Washington’s only points came on the botched field goal that was returned for a touchdown. But it was a different game at that time. There were other great defenses at that time, especially the Vikings, Steelers and Rams.

Buccaneers 48, Raiders 21
Similar to the Ravens two years earlier. A great defense (it allowed only 12.3 points per game in the regular season) but wasn’t truly tested in the championship game. The Raiders ranked 2nd in scoring that year, but it wasn’t an all-time type offense. Jon Gruden had coached at Oakland the previous year and had a feel for everything they were going to do. Tampa Bay returned 3 interceptions for touchdowns, but the Bucs let Oakland score 3 TDs.

Trying to put labels on “greatest ever” is tough. The Bears had a dominant season in 1985, but that offenses then figured out and adapted to that scheme. So just the one Super Bowl, and it came against a lesser opponent. The Ravens of 2000 and the Bucs of 2002 are both definitely in the mix. If you want longevity, then you have to look at the Steelers of the ‘70s – they were successful for a lot of years. To me, it looks like the Seahawks have played their way into that conversation. If they can stay healthy, show up and crush another elite quarterback or offense again next year, then they can start making a pretty argument that they’re the best of all of them.