Championship football teams run the ball and play defense. We hear that consistently. Our coaching staff preaches those two axioms even though the Cyclones are not good at either. The NFL, year after year, crowns a champion that is good at running the ball and playing defense.
Why? Because both are reliable and have a psychological effect on the opponent. Mistakes happen on offense when a team is searching for a way to solve a tough defense. The ball is thrown too early or late, assignments are missed, poor plays are called in an attempt to find something that can work (see ISU).