by Tommy Hayfield

Created on: January 28, 2009

If you are to get to the big game, the Super Bowl, defense will get you there. This 2008 season's final four teams proves that saying is true with only one exception. The Arizona Cardinals who ranked number nineteen in yards allowed in the National Football League are the one of the four finalists who weren't among the top teams in the league in that category. The Steelers, Ravens, and Eagles were one, two, and three respectively in the NFL in yards allowed. The Arizona Cardinals allowed more than 1500 yards more than the number one Steelers defense. That comes out to more than ninety yards a game.

Total defense yards allowed usually translates into equally impressive points per game allowed statistics as well. The Steelers were also number one in points allowed coming in at 13.9 a game yielded based on final regular season statistics. The Baltimore Ravens were third and the Philadelphia Eagles were fourth in points allowed. The Cardinals, however, were 28th in the league yielding 26.6 a game.

The Cardinals also scored 26.6 points a game in the 2008 season so they had a net of zero points per game differential between their offensive and defensive output. The Steelers on the other hand had one of the best net scoring numbers in the NFL with +7.8. Philadelphia had a net +7.2 while last of the final four teams, the Baltimore Ravens, had a net +8.8 which was the best in the league and the best of the final four teams.

The key indicator of success or getting to the conference championships was defensive superiority.

The Arizona Cardinals have the best offensive statistics of the final four teams in the 2008 NFL playoffs. The Cardinals were the number four team in the NFL for offensive yards gained. Their Super Bowl opponent the Steelers are the number twenty two ranked NFL team in offensive yards gained. The other two final four teams, Philadelphia and Baltimore, were ninth and eighteenth respectively in offensive yards gained.

The Steelers are the lowest scoring team of the four conference championship teams scoring 21.7 points a game. The other three conference finalists Arizona, Philadelphia, and Baltimore were the first, second, and third best scoring teams of the four conference championship teams. The Cardinals scored 26.6 points a game in the regular season while the remaining two conference finalists Philadelphia and Baltimore averaged 26.0 and 24.1 points per game respectively.

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