Top-ranked defenses usually have edge in Super Bowl

Joe Theismann knows how it feels to bring the NFL’s most prolific offense into the Super Bowl and leave with a loss.

The former Washington Redskins quarterback also knows how difficult it can be to deal with a defense designed by Bill Belichick.

So Theismann has a couple of thoughts about what could happen in the Super Bowl on Feb. 5, when Belichick’s New England Patriots, who allowed the fewest points during the regular season (15.6 per game), face QB Matt Ryan, wideout Julio Jones and the rest of the Atlanta Falcons, who scored the most points (an average of 33.8).

This is the 51st Super Bowl, and the seventh featuring the No. 1 offense against the No. 1 defense; the “D” is 5-1 in the previous such matchups.

Also, the past seven times a season’s top “O” was in the Super Bowl, it went 2-5, while the past seven times a top “D” vied for the Lombardi Trophy, it went 5-2.

Why is that?

“On offense, just generally speaking, there are more things that can go wrong than can on the defensive side of the ball,” Theismann said in a telephone interview.