In a season that featured more passing yards than in the history of the NFL, the Denver Broncos proved that running it and controlling turnovers is still the best way to win a football game. On Tuesday, SI.com's Kerry J. Byrne published a Cold Hard Facts feature covering all the 2011-12 regular season and a few stats backed up the theory that a majority of the time if your team is throwing it they're going to have a hard time winning a football game.
Here's a few facts that Byrne found:
4 - Number of teams that ran the ball more often than they passed it in 2011. Three of those four teams won their divisions: Houston, Denver and San Francisco (the lone exception was Jacksonville). In 1978, every NFL team ran the ball more than they passed it.
6-6 - Record of teams when their quarterback passes for 500 yards or more, including a 1-1 mark in 2011. Brady's Patriots beat the Dolphins in Week 1; Stafford's Lions lost to the Packers in Week 17
By the end of the regular season, the Broncos (9-7) led by quarterback Tim Tebow, attempted a league-low 429 passes for just 2,708 yards (ranked 31 out of 32 teams). Meanwhile, Denver lead the league in rushing yards (2,632).
The Broncos opponent, the Pittsburgh Steelers, are ranked ninth overall in passing yards and 14th in rushing.
How much will that have an impact Sunday? I guess will see.
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