I was thinking of this topic before the Stupor bowl and thought I would look up stats for the year. According to NFL.com, in the regular season the Carolina Panthers finished 27th out of 32 teams in the regular season. Denver - whose defense "carried" the team all year - an amazing 32nd out of 32. Dead Last! Both teams were #1 seeds with below average defenses.
Unless you look at turnovers - always my belief on what is really telling. Carolina led the league with 22 interceptions and tied for the lead of fumbles recovered.
Denver was 13th in interceptions, but tied for the lead with Fumbles forced and 4th in fumbles recovered - 2 behind Carolina.
Interesting stuff.