Good stats don’t always go along with making NFL playoffs

The top five offensive teams are in the playoffs, as are six of the top seven and seven of the top 10.

The top five defensive teams are also in the playoffs, but things drop from there.

Most of those subpar defensive teams are the really good offensive squads, though.

The Seahawks had the league’s best defense, but ranked only 17th in offense; the Panthers were the No.

The Chiefs’ Jamaal Charles tied for the league lead with 12 touchdowns, but it shouldn’t be that surprising that an Alex Smith-led offense finished the season ranked only 21st.

The Kansas City defense looked good for a time earlier this season, largely based on the fact that it scored seven touchdowns as a unit, but it finished the season ranked only 24th overall.

The playoff team with the best offense/defense combination is the New Orleans Saints, who finished as both the fourth-ranked offense and defense.

San Diego only wrapped up its playoff spot with early help from the Ravens and Dolphins last Sunday and late help from the officiating crew, but it did have the league’s fifth-ranked offense this season behind a bit of resurgence from Philip Rivers, whose 32 TDs were the most he had thrown since 34 in 2008.

Whether a good defense can beat a good offense will be forever debated with no real answer since one is only attainable when addressing specific situations and not an overall grand theory.