In Super Bowl 50, Las Vegas had the Denver Broncos down as 5.5-point underdogs, and many people had already written them off. Unfortunately for Panthers fans, the doubters were only fueling the fire.
On Monday, Gil Whiteley welcomed Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Wade Phillips to the show to discuss the Super Bowl and Denver’s top ranked defense.
“We liked the underdog role,” Phillips said. “I think our players liked it so much it made them play better.”
Coming in to the Super Bowl many commentators and analysts thought the best the Denver Broncos could hope to do was contain Cam Newton and keep him in the pocket. Instead, Phillips unleashed his pass rushers.
“If you’ve got really good players, you’ve got to let them make plays,” Phillips said. “Instead of holding those guys back, we said, ‘hey we’re going to let you go, but you’ve got to make the right decisions.’”
The right decisions were most definitely made. Denver’s pass rushers recorded seven sacks on the night. Von Miller accounted for two strip-sacks, which translated to points on the board and earned him the honor of Super Bowl MVP.
“We were really good in all areas, but pressure and pass defense was really a tremendous strength,” Phillips said. “The two outside guys were causing havoc all day.”
Wade Phillips could tell early on that the Broncos defense was going to be special this year. Every season, after OTAs, the team’s coaching staff comes together and discusses just how far they can go.
“We set our goals for the season, and normally we make them in the top 10 or top 5, but after seeing this group we made our goal to be the best in the NFL,” Phillips said. “That was our goal, to be the best and they obviously were.”
If anyone in the NFL could be trusted to set such a lofty goal, it would be Phillips. During his 37 years with the NFL, he’s been a part of 19 different top-10 defensive units, and in his first season back with the Denver Broncos, the 68 year old won Assistant Coach of the Year.
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