No-Brainer Stud No. 2 – Wade Phillips
It took him nearly 40 years in the NFL, but Wade Phillips finally has his ring. The longtime defensive coordinator and head coach was out of football last year and brought in as Gary Kubiak‘s second (or third, or fourth?) choice as defensive coordinator this offseason. The importance that his game plans had in deconstructing two of the league’s best offenses, New England and Carolina, can’t be understated.
Phillips, who was named assistant coach of the year on Saturday night at the NFL Honors (and probably would have won coach of the year if the league allowed it), is rightfully getting mounds of praise for cooking up a recipe that punished the NFL MVP, Cam Newton.
What might go somewhat overlooked about Phillips, though, is what he didn’t do against Carolina. He didn’t blitz the extremely mobile Newton all that often, as he did Brady. He let his one-on-one matchups win their battles. He let his big-time players make big-time plays.
Phillips enjoyed every moment of this Super Bowl week, but he still had his unit ready to put on the performance of the year; boy did they rise to the occasion.
