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The Detroit Lions drafted a tight end, North Carolina's Eric Ebron, in the first round of the NFL draft. But should they have drafted defense instead? (Mike Mulholland | MLive.com)

ALLEN PARK -- There's this great scene in "Bull Durham" where Kevin Costner's character explains the art of the cliche to Tim Robbins.

Gems like "we gotta play it one day at a time," and "I'm just happy to be here," and "hope I can help the ball club," and so forth. Sportswriters have a lot of colorful expressions to describe those beauties, most of which are not fit for a family-friendly publication.

And you know what's another cliche I'd like to throw on that pile?

"Defense wins championships."

You hear that baby a lot these days, after the Seahawks won a championship with -- wait for it -- defense. And you heard it again from Detroit Lions fans last weekend after their team chose tight end Eric Ebron in the first round of the NFL draft.

Many were apoplectic that Detroit would prefer another first-round tight end over a defensive upgrade. They didn't understand how Detroit could draft offense over defense once again. (Even though they drafted a defensive player in four of the previous five years.)

I get it. This is a copycat league, and everyone wants to be the next Seattle.

But those angry over the Ebron pick are forgetting, defense doesn't win championships. Scoring more points than the other team wins championships, and the past decade shows there are a lot of different ways to achieve that.

Last season, Seattle's No. 1 defense destroyed Denver's No. 1 offense. But in 2005, Indianapolis' No. 3 offense beat Chicago's fifth-ranked defense to win Super Bowl XLI.

It wasn't the epic No. 1 offense vs. No. 1 defense that was last year's affair, but it was still strength against strength -- premier offense against premier defense. And offense prevailed.

Pittsburgh won a Super Bowl with a top-ranked defense in the 2007 season. Green Bay was fifth defensively when it won a title in 2009.

But the 2010 Giants were the eighth-ranked offense, while finishing 27th in defense.

I'm not saying defense isn't important. But I am saying there are many ways to win.

Consider that seven of the past 10 Super Bowl champions had a top-10 defense. But five had a top-10 offense.

The 2009 Packers and 2003 Patriots were the lone champions in the past decade to rank among the top 10 on both sides of the ball.

What that all says, at least to me, is you don't have to be elite on a particular side of the ball to win a Super Bowl. You don't even have to be great on both sides.

You just have to be elite on one side or the other.

The Lions, for better or worse, are choosing to do it with offense. And who can blame them? Their offense is closer than their defense to being elite.

They have former first-round picks in quarterback Matthew Stafford, receiver Calvin Johnson, tight end Brandon Pettigrew, tailback Reggie Bush (via the Saints) and tackle Riley Reiff. They return every notable player from last year, including all five starting offensive linemen.

That's a group that can cause problems, particularly if Stafford can straighten out his turnover issues. And so the Lions continue to stockpile that side of the ball, hoping it becomes legitimately elite.

Their top free-agent signing was a receiver, Golden Tate. And their top draft pick was a tight end, Ebron.

He's going to play a Jimmy Graham-type role, as a primary pass-catcher at receiver and tight end. That's going to create all kinds of mismatches in an offense that already features Johnson and Tate, as well as pass-catching tailbacks like Bush and Joique Bell.

And that's the key to winning football games. Mismatches. Who cares what side of the ball they're on?

Detroit offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi is a testament to that. He was an offensive assistant with that 2008 Saints team, which was average defensively but could outgun anyone. And Lions head coach Jim Caldwell was an offensive assistant with that 2005 Colts team, which was built the same way.

The Lions appear to be following a similar blueprint. They plan to beat teams offensively, and are just asking the defense to tread water. And that method can work.

Consider that Detroit allowed the 15th most points last year, while Denver was 22nd. And Denver made the Super Bowl.

Sure, the Broncos were run out of the building by Seattle's defense. But saying that one game shows "defense wins championships" is short-sighted and misguided.

Defense wins championships. But so does the right kind of offense.

And that's what the Lions hope to build.