If you haven’t figured it out by now, we like defense here and the tone of what we write about often reflects that.

This year’s Super Bowl is ripe for talk about defense because the best defensive team in the NFL is in it, the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Eagles defense has everything you could ask for. We measure team performance utilizing our player value stat, Total Points, an explanation of which can be found here. By our measure, the Eagles have a top five run defense, pass coverage, and pass rush unit. No other team this season was in the top five in more than one of those areas.

Philadelphia’s most valuable defensive player by Total Points was linebacker Zach Baun. Baun led the Eagles in tackles and nearly halved his broken and missed tackle percentage from last season when he was with the Saints, going from 18% to 11%. He became one of the league’s best run defenders by Total Points and was a solid defender whether rushing the passer or in coverage (he ranked 9th among linebackers in Pass Coverage Total Points). In sum, he had the most Total Points of any player at his position during the regular season.

Defensive tackle Jalen Carter ranked 4th at his position in Total Points this season. He was a top five defensive tackle at rushing the passer and ranked just outside the top five in run defense. Another defensive tackle, Milton Williams, specializes in pass rush. Though he doesn’t play as much as Carter, he’s a smidge more effective than Carter at getting pressure and in doing things that provide value to his team.

The Eagles’ top defender in pass coverage is safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, partly a product of his team-high 6 interceptions. Cornerback Darius Slay has a 42% completion percentage against when targeted, the 5th-lowest of any cornerback targeted at least 30 times. Remember too that we noted that Baun, at linebacker, was also a standout in pass coverage during the regular season.

The Eagles will be challenged by Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce but they can feel confident going into that matchup. On a per-play basis, they were a top five team in pass coverage against each of the receiving position groups, running back, wide receiver, and tight end.

We haven’t mentioned the Chiefs defense yet and that’s because it’s OK, but nothing to write a full-fledged article about. Kansas City ranks 13th defensively in Total Points Per Play. Where the Chiefs have the edge in this game is with a spectacular player who can be a good defense’s kryptonite, Patrick Mahomes.

The Chiefs winning this game on the back of their defense would be surprising, though admittedly not impossible. But as our COO Matt Manocherian pointed out on The Off The Charts Football Podcast, the Eagles have more “wreck the game” players, particularly on the defensive line.

For those wondering, a No. 1 ranked defense has not won a Super Bowl since we started tracking the NFL in 2016 (the 2020 Buccaneers came closest, 2nd). The last time the No. 1 team in Defensive Runs Saved won the World Series was in 2016, when the Cubs did it. We’ll get back to baseball next week.