The biggest reason why the Broncos will be playing for a Super Bowl title on Sunday is their defense.
On Saturday night, the man responsible for overseeing that defense was named the NFL’s top assistant coach of the year. Defensive coordinator Wade Phillips was honored for putting together a unit that allowed the fewest overall yards, yards per passing attempt and yards per rushing attempt during the 2015 season.
Phillips was out of the NFL in 2014 and his work with the Broncos likely has some teams wondering if they should have brought him onboard before Denver snapped him up for a second stint with the organization.
The man running the offense that Phillips will be tasked with stopping, Panthers offensive coordinator Mike Shula, finished third in the voting behind former Bengals offensive coordinator and current Browns head coach Hue Jackson.
It’s the second year that an award for an assistant coach has been part of the NFL’s pre-Super Bowl awards show. Todd Bowles won the inaugural award for his work as the Cardinals defensive coordinator and also parleyed those efforts into the Jets’ head coaching gig. Barring something very unexpected, Phillips won’t be a head coach in 2016 and that likely makes Broncos fans pretty happy.