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Factoid

Super Bowl XLIX

Elite defenses have tended to beat great offenses

New England led the league in scoring during the regular season, while Seattle allowed fewer points than any other team. These kind of matchups don’t happen often in the Super Bowl.

When they have, they have tended to favor the defense.

Since the merger in 1970, eight times the championship has featured an offense than ranked 1st or 2nd against either the No. 1 or No. 2 defense. in all but one of those games, the defense-based team has come out on top.

Here are those eight games, with the defenses in bold. San Francisco’s great offense in 1989 blew away the Broncos 55-10. Other than that, the really good defenses have beaten the really good offenses in every game.

GREAT OFFENSES AGAINST GREAT DEFENSES
1978Pittsburgh (1) 35, Dallas (1) 31
1984San Francisco (1) 38, Miami (1) 16
1989San Francisco (1) 55, Denver (1) 10
1990N.Y. Giants (1) 20, Buffalo (1) 19
1991Washington (2) 37, Buffalo (2) 24
1996Green Bay (1) 35, New England (2) 21
2002Tampa Bay (1) 48, Oakland (2) 21
2013Seattle (1) 43, Denver (1) 8
2014New England (1) vs. Seattle (1)

—Ian Allan

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