After defeating the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship, there’s no debate that Wade Phillips played a major role in helping the Denver Broncos advance to Super Bowl 50. Thanks to Phillips, the Broncos had the best overall defense during the regular season and shortly after he finished celebrating Denver’s AFC Championship win, the defensive coordinator took the time to joke about how much his life has changed over the last year.
Good year for me from unemployed to the Super Bowl!
— Wade Phillips (@sonofbum) January 25, 2016
Phillips has every reason in the world to poke fun at himself for going from unemployed to Super Bowl bound. His last NFL gig was in 2013 when he was interim head coach of the Houston Texans. The fact that Phillips spent the entire 2014 season out of the league only to bounce back and help Denver earn the top overall defense this past season is quite impressive.
If Phillips and the Broncos’ defense can manage to contain Tom Brady in the AFC Championship, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be able to do the same against the Carolina Panthers in the Super Bowl. Cam Newton has been playing at an MVP level all season, but Phillips has his defense playing at an extremely high level this postseason, and it showed once again on Sunday.
