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Bengals were right about scoring defense -- it mattered in Super Bowl


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  • Coley HarveyESPN Staff Writer

CINCINNATI -- Paul Guenther began the 2015 season insisting that his players focus on only one statistic: scoring defense.

After all, it's what the scoreboard says that matters the most, right? Sure, other stats can help dictate how many scoring chances an offense has, but the most basic goal of defense is to keep the offense out of the end zone.

Clearly the Denver Broncos grasped the message of the Cincinnati Bengals' defensive coordinator. In Super Bowl 50 on Sunday night, the Broncos held the league's hottest offense in check, pulling out a barrage of pressures that hadCarolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton running backwards far more often than he had at any point this season. The smile Newton wore like a tattoo for 18 regular-season and postseason games was nowhere to be found Sunday. Credit that to constant harassment from Von MillerDeMarcus Ware and the rest of the Broncos' defense.

Carolina's offense, one that led the NFL in regular-season scoring, averaging 31.3 points per game, was largely ineffective against Denver. The same Panthers who put up 49 points on the Cardinals in the NFC Championship Game two weeks ago were silenced in the all-important game against the Broncos, losing, 24-10.

Guenther was right.

It was fitting that in the final game of the season, the team with the league's most prolific scoring offense was stymied by the team with the stingiest scoring defense. During the regular season, the Broncos allowed a league-low 17.3 points per game.

Which team allowed 17.4?

That's right, Guenther's Bengals.

Had it not been for a garbage-time touchdown in the regular-season finale against Baltimore, the Bengals would have been first in scoring defense. Had they kept the Ravens out of the end zone one more time, the Bengals would have allowed an even 17.0 points per game in 2015. It would have matched their numeric goal for the season perfectly. Guenther long believed if his defenders did their part and gave up 17 points or fewer in every game, Cincinnati would win, because it's offense had the firepower to consistently score more than 17 points.

Guenther was on to something.

The Bengals won seven of the eight games in which they allowed fewer than 17 points.

Of course, had the Bengals not given up a late, two-penalty-influenced field goal in the final 22 seconds of their lone playoff game -- an 18-16 loss to the Stealers in the wild-card round -- not only would they have stuck true to their 17-point mantra, but they also would have won their first playoff game in 25 years. And who knows? Had that happened, maybe they would be waking up this morning in Northern California with the Broncos' hardware.

 

 

http://espn.go.com/blog/cincinnati-bengals/post/_/id/21446/super-bowl-bengals-broncos-panthers-paul-guenther-were-right-scoring-defense

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