What it Takes to Win a SB

[Mike]

I have been wanting to throw this out there as it seems to me that there is perspective missing for what really takes to win the big one.

Here are some of my observations!
1) It's A lot Harder than you think!
-> many awesome teams never won one:
69: Vickings
84: Dolphins
90: Bills
98: Vickings
99: Jags - were winning by 11pts+

Two greatest offenses 2007 Pats & 2014 Broncos failed to win SB.

2. The QB: Great QBs win Championships
- 33% of SB winning QBs were #1 pick in draft
- 56% were 1st round picks
- HOF QBs have won 23SBs or 51% of SBs
- HOF eligible have won 9SBs
- All but a handful were Top 5 QBs in the year they won SB!

3. Team
QB alone will Not win you an SB. A complete team is needed!
1970's Steelers: won 4SBs at the expense of 2 other great teams: Vickings & Cowboys
1980's 49ers: won at expense of cowboys
1990's Cowboys: won at expense of Bills.
2000's Pats: won at expense of Colts

4. What about the Exceptions:

- Tampa Bay: Brad Johnson had a great year the year that TB won SB. Up to that point, TB was nocking on the door every year. His play that year was the difference in helping them get over the hump.
= Chuckie's offense and use of Brad improved his play and offensive contribution enough so a great defense could win an SB.

- Baltimore: Dilfer (1st round QB) Baltimore won SB with Trent, mostly because of great defense. Great as in, all-time great! Keep in mind that this team only won 1 SB & they could not do it with Tony Banks (season before) or the following season when Trent Dilfer left. The players acknowledge that Trent leaving was a big emotional blow.
= Even an all-time great defense needs a good QB to win SB.

=============================

It takes ALOT to win a SB and even great HOF QBs like Marino & Kelly haven't won one!

QB like Dolton, Romo, Cutler, A. Smith, don't usually win SBs

And Guys like: Rivers, Keap, Stafford, Luck, Ryan win when everything falls into place.

Lesson: Being a great team with a awesome QB is not enough! You also have to be constantly better than other great teams with grat QBs!

http://www.sportsdatallc.com/2012/02/03/analyzing-super-bowl-winning-quarterbacks/

[justasportsfan]

Not all great qb's win superbowls, but winning a sb starts with having a franchise qb.

[The Jokeman]

Not all great qb's win superbowls, but winning a sb starts with having a franchise qb.

So Jim Kelly wasn't a franchise QB? I'll say what I've always said about franchise QBs, the first word in the term is franchise and more than not ultimately matters on who wins and loses. As to me the Giants, Redskins and Cowboys were better teams that those 90s Bills squads and why we lost.

[Mike]

So Jim Kelly wasn't a franchise QB? I'll say what I've always said about franchise QBs, the first word in the term is franchise and more than not ultimately matters on who wins and loses. As to me the Giants, Redskins and Cowboys were better teams that those 90s Bills squads and why we lost.

Kelly was definitely a franchise QB and a HOF. He fit the Bill and those Bills teams were great, but not great enough. They needed a little bit more, maybe if they had Bill Parcells as HC?

Both are needed: Great QB. & Great Team and you really have to be the best of you generation. 2nd best doesn't usually win you trophies.

[justasportsfan]

So Jim Kelly wasn't a franchise QB? I'll say what I've always said about franchise QBs, the first word in the term is franchise and more than not ultimately matters on who wins and loses. As to me the Giants, Redskins and Cowboys were better teams that those 90s Bills squads and why we lost.
Of course Kelly was a franchise qb.

[The Jokeman]

Kelly was definitely a franchise QB and a HOF. He fit the Bill and those Bills teams were great, but not great enough. They needed a little bit more, maybe if they had Bill Parcells as HC?

Both are needed: Great QB. & Great Team and you really have to be the best of you generation. 2nd best doesn't usually win you trophies.

I could debate that Kelly's inability to run in a traditional offense might have cost us a chance at a few Super Bowls or let me rephrase that win a few games that fell on Super Bowl Sunday. Most specifically Super Bowl XXV and Super Bowl XXVIII. Both came down to Kelly's struggles to get us TDs instead of settling on FG (attempts) and sustain drives that allow our defense to remain fresh and off the field. Granted Thurman's fumbling woes hurt in Super Bowl XXVIII as well.

[BillsImpossible]

What it takes to win a Super Bowl?

An average of 210 yards passing per game, a good running game, and a great defense.

http://www.nfl.com/player/russellwilson/2532975/careerstats

Or...

231 passing yards per game, a good running game, and a great defense.

http://www.nfl.com/player/elimanning/2505996/careerstats

[ServoBillieves]

So... you're saying that teams who beat their opponents more often than not win Super Bowls?

This is a great find indeed.

[Fletch]

It takes a team that has chemistry and one that plays as a team.

Look at the Seahawks last season. They didn't have a dozen big money players, they had only a few, and they were young for the most part. Wilson and Sherman were 25 and both safeties were 25 and 24.

But they played well together, as a team, just like the Bills of the '90s. We didn't have top talent at all of our positions back then. We had top talent at RDE with Bruce, at a couple of LB spots with Talley and Biscuit, I thought that Conlan was overrated, he sucked against the pass. Our CBs were never great, just good.

Offensively we had a great OL, Kelly, Reed, and otherwise good but far from superb WRs. TEs were OK, not great.

But we had that chemistry and played well as a team.

This team doesn't have that chemistry. The front office since then runs out and spends oodles of money on players like Mario without having a plan for how to build this team. They wait to pick a QB in the draft or grab one in free agency in years when the prospects are dim instead of getting one in a year where they may be good.

I pointed this out last year when we took Manuel. Agree with me or not it has played out this way. I said that since we took Manuel with our 1st they will be obligated to force him into the role and won't be able to draft a QB without looking like fools this past draft, in rounds 1 or 2. Had we waited until round 2 to get Whaley's wonderboy QB then we wouldn't be in this spot. He wouldn't have been there? I doubt that, but even if so, who cares. This is about building a team over the course of a couple of seasons, not about taking such huge risks.

The QBs available this year were much better than those from last year. This coming year may be even better, but we have no 1st round pick any longer.

Now they're stuck having to go all-in on Manuel.

Whaley/Marrone, another three years wasted.

[Thurmal]

Those Vicking teams were awesome.