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The Trench Counter At The Super Bowl
Authored by Christopher Reina - 26th January, 2009 - 11:08 pm
Breaking down Cleveland's busy weekend, LaDainian Tomlinson to the Jets, as well as whether David Carr could have a Jim Plunkett-like second act of his career.
There’s a difference between a favorite and a lock. When up against a team with playoff-level talent, it’s rare that the team with the better record ever appears in the second category.
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There have been 42 Super Bowls, and using the Trench Counter as a barometer, we look at which games were the closest and which teams, like the Bears against the Patriots in Super Bowl XX and the 49ers against the Broncos in Super Bowl XXIV were flat out dominant.
The scoreboard is where games, even Super Bowl games, are officially won and lost, but they are largely decided by the team that wins the battles of yards per pass, yards per carry, penalty yards lost, first downs, and turnovers. For this reason, I created the following formula to look at which team truly controls the game when things like field position and special teams are thrown out the window:
(2x Yards per pass)
+ (2x Yards per carry)
+ (.5 First downs)
- (Penalty yards/10)
- (2.5 Turnovers)
- (Opposing Team's Trench Counter)
There have been three games in which the winner of the Super Bowl had a negative Trench Counter for the game, once by the Rams in SB XXXIV against the Titans, SB XXXVI when the Patriots defeated the Rams and again the Patriots when they defeated the Panthers in SB XXXVIII.
Super Bowl I Kansas City Chiefs: 10
Green Bay Packers: 35 (+9.4)
MVP: Bart Starr, QB, Green Bay
Super Bowl II Green Bay Packers: 33 (+10.5) Oakland Raiders: 14
MVP: Bart Starr, QB, Green Bay
Super Bowl III New York Jets: 16 (+2.3) Baltimore Colts: 7
MVP: Joe Namath, QB, New York
Super Bowl IV Minnesota Vikings: 7
Kansas City Chiefs: 23 (+17.3)
MVP: Len Dawson, QB, Kansas City
Super Bowl V Baltimore Colts: 16 (+14.6)
Dallas Cowboys: 13
MVP: Chuck Howley, LB, Dallas
Super Bowl VI Dallas Cowboys: 24 (+14.0) Miami Dolphins: 3
MVP: Roger Staubach, QB, Dallas
Super Bowl VII Miami Dolphins: 14 (+8.0) Washington Redskins: 7
MVP: Jake Scott, S, Miami
Super Bowl VIII Minnesota Vikings: 7
Miami Dolphins: 24 (+22.1)
MVP: Larry Csonka, RB, Miami
Super Bowl IX Pittsburgh Steelers: 16 (+12.5) Minnesota Vikings: 6
MVP: Franco Harris, RB, Pittsburgh
Super Bowl X Dallas Cowboys: 17
Pittsburgh Steelers: 21 (+14.9)
MVP: Lynn Swann, WR, Pittsburgh
Super Bowl XI Oakland Raiders: 32 (+16.6) Minnesota Vikings: 14
MVP: Fred Biletnikoff, WR, Oakland
Super Bowl XII Dallas Cowboys: 27 (+19.0) Denver Broncos: 10
MVPs: Randy White, DT, Dallas and Harvey Martinz, DE, Dallas
Super Bowl XIII Pittsburgh Steelers: 35 (+8.6) Dallas Cowboys: 31
MVP: Terry Bradshaw, QB, Pittsburgh
Super Bowl XIV Los Angeles Rams: 19
Pittsburgh Steelers: 31 (+4.3)
MVP: Terry Bradshaw, QB, Pittsburgh
Super Bowl XV Oakland Raiders: 27 (+21.8) Philadelphia Eagles: 10
MVP: Jim Plunkett, QB, Oakland
Super Bowl XVI San Francisco 49ers: 26 (+1.8) Cincinnati Bengals: 21
MVP: Joe Montana, QB, San Francisco
Super XVII Miami Dolphins: 17
Washington Redskins: 27 (+14.8)
MVP: John Riggins, RB, Washington
Super Bowl XVIII Washington Redskins: 9
Los Angeles Raiders: 38 (+12.3)
MVP: Marcus Allen, RB, Los Angeles
Super Bowl XIX Miami Dolphins: 16
San Francisco 49ers: 38 (+18.1)
MVP: Joe Montana, QB, San Francisco
Super Bowl XX Chicago Bears: 46 (+34.2) New England Patriots: 10
MVP: Richard Dent, DE, Chicago
Super Bowl XXI Denver Broncos: 20
New York Giants: 39 (+8.2)
MVP: Phil Simms, QB, New York
Super Bowl XXII Washington Redskins: 42 (+16.9) Denver Broncos: 10
MVP: Doug Williams, QB, Washington
Super Bowl XXIII Cincinnati Bengals: 16
San Francisco 49ers: 20 (+18.0)
MVP: Jerry Rice, WR, San Francisco
Super Bowl XXIV San Francisco 49ers: 55 (+25.9) Denver Broncos: 10
MVP: Joe Montana, QB, San Francisco
Super Bowl XXV Buffalo Bills: 19
New York Giants: 20 (+2.7)
MVP: Otis Anderson, RB, New York
Super Bowl XXVI Washington Redskins: 37 (+26.6) Buffalo Bills: 24
MVP: Mark Rypien, QB, Washington
Super Bowl XXVII Buffalo Bills: 17
Dallas Cowboys: 52 (+20.9)
MVP: Troy Aikman, QB, Dallas
Super Bowl XXVIII Dallas Cowboys: 30 (+7.4) Buffalo Bills: 13
MVP: Emmitt Smith, RB, Dallas
Super Bowl XXIX San Diego Chargers: 26
San Francisco 49ers: 49 (+24.0)
MVP: Steve Young, QB, San Francisco
Super Bowl XXX Dallas Cowboys: 27 (+8.1) Pittsburgh Steelers: 17
MVP: Larry Brown, CB, Dallas
Super Bowl XXXI New England Patriots: 21
Green Bay Paclers: 35 (+14.4)
MVP: Desmond Howard, Returner, Green Bay
Super Bowl XXXII Green Bay Packers: 24
Denver Broncos: 31 (+0.5)
MVP: Terrell Davis, RB, Denver
Super Bowl XXXIII Denver Broncos: 34 (+8.7) Atlanta Falcons: 19
MVP: John Elway, QB, Denver
Super Bowl XXXIV St. Louis Rams: 23 (-1.4) Tennessee Titans: 16
MVP: Kurt Warner, QB, St. Louis
Super Bowl XXXV Baltimore Ravens: 34 (+13.6) New York Giants: 7
MVP: Ray Lewis, LB, Baltimore
Super Bowl XXXVI St. Louis Rams: 17
New England Patriots: 20 (-0.2)
MVP: Tom Brady, QB, New England
Super Bowl XXXVII Oakland Raiders: 21
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 48 (+22.6)
MVP: Dexter Jackson, FS, Tampa Bay
Super Bowl XXXVIII Carolina Panthers: 29
New England Patriots: 32 (-0.2)
MVP: Tom Brady, QB, New England
Super Bowl XXXIX New England Patriots: 24 (+8.2) Philadelphia Eagles: 21
MVP: Deion Branch, WR, New England
Super Bowl XL Seattle Seahawks: 10
Pittsburgh Steelers: 21 (+3.3)
MVP: Hines Ward, WR, Pittsburgh
Super Bowl XLI Indianapolis Colts: 29 (+10.0) Chicago Bears: 17
MVP: Peyton Manning, QB, Indianapolis
Super Bowl XLII New York Giants: 17 (+3.6) New England Patriots: 14
MVP: Eli Manning, QB, New York
Super Bowl XLIII Pittsburgh Steelers: 27 (+3.2) Arizona Cardinals: 23
