The greatest defenses in NFL history
doubledragon
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in Sports Talk
Ok, we did an offense thread, so now it's time for the best defenses in NFL history. This is the top 15 list:
- 1985 Chicago Bears
- 2000 Baltimore Ravens
- 1976 Pittsburgh Steelers
- 1972 Miami Dolphins
- 1971 Minnesota Vikings
- 1975 LA Rams
- 1966 Green Bay Packers
- 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- 1986 New York Giants
- 1991 Philadelphia Eagles
- 2008 Pittsburgh Steelers
- 1969 Kansas City Chiefs
- 1968 Baltimore Colts
- 2013 Seattle Seahawks
- 1977 Atlanta Falcons
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I will get into this more tomorrow, I ran out of oranges last night and haven't been to the grocery store to get more. I'm addicted to oranges. Without my daily oranges, I'm no good to anybody!
you should try clementines. they are smaller. think of how many you could fit in your pockets!
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
Clementines are tasty!
Greatest defensive team. I looked at 10 year periods for the Vikings, Bears and Steelers, the teams I thought were the best.
Did a quick check on Dolphins and Ravens, neither had extended success.
Vikings had top 3 finishes in points allowed per game 7 times from 1968-77. 3 year period from 1969-71 they gave up just under 10 PPG and 3.6 yards per play. 1969 Vikings gave up 9.5 PPG and 3.4 YPP.
They equaled or bettered the Steelers best year (1976, 9.9 pts and 3.8 YPP) THREE YEARS IN A ROW! The Steelers did come pretty close, but the Vikings were better. 1972-81 were the years I looked at for Pittsburgh.
The Bears best two seasons were 1985-86 where they allowed just under 12 points per game and 4.2 yards per play. They dropped a bit in 1987 and came back in '88, but they had a great 5 year run.
Yes, I love clementines as well, and peaches. I love a good juicy, fresh, big, juicy peach! Especially when they're nice and soft!
The 85' Bears were definitely a beast of a defense, led by Mike Singletary and they had big refrigerator William Perry. ESPN actually did a 30 for 30 documentary on the 85' Bears, I haven't watched it yet, but I suspect I will be very soon. They were a fascinating team, with the feisty Mike Ditka leading them.
Man, Perry was huge. I remember when they used him a a running back. I would not want to be standing in front of him when he takes a handoff.
And Mike Singletary was a beast, he was always really focused and he had that crazy look in his eyes. Very intimidating.
The Bears defense in ‘85 was absolutely ferocious!
the ball looked so small in Fridges hands!!
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
I havent done any real research, but I do remember the 86 Giants as being particularly great and the 91 eagles front line as being dominant.
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
I also can remember the 03 Patriots as standing out. I think they won 12 straight games that year
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
And who can forget....
I also remember the 2000 Ravens quite well, led by Ray Lewis who won defensive player of the year that season. They allowed 970 rushing yards that year, holding opponents to an average of just 2.7 yards per carry for the season. They shut out four teams, and held seven of their opponents to 10 points or less.
None were as good as the Vikings 69-71.
Purple people eaters?
Yes, the "Purple People Eaters" were a legendarydefense, in 1971 they were phenomenal, holding their opponents to an average of 9.9 points pere game, and 3.9 yards per play. Alan Page became the first player to win league MVP that year.
Alan Page was a scary guy, the kind of guy you just knew he was coming full force every play.
Even though the 1976 Steelers came up short of winning the Super Bowl, their defense was ferocious. They shut opponents out five times, over one five-game stretch they allowed a total of 9 points, and for the final three games of that season, opponents put a total of 3 points on the board. The 70s Steelers defenses were indeed legendary. The Steel Curtain, led by "Mean Joe Greene" and they had a vicious linebacker named Jack Lambert.
Jack Lambert was one of the most vicious and scary players in the history of the game. He enjoyed his craft too much. He was just flat out crazy.
Jack Lambert was intense.
Jack Lambert was vicious.
🤔
They were even better in 1969, giving up 9.5 PPG and 3.4 YPP!
Almost as good in 1970 when they gave up 10.2 PPG and 3.4 YPP.
Coupled with your mentioned 1971 they put together the most dominating three year defense ever.
Then they had another run 1973-76 where they were either #2 or #3 defense for four straight years in PPG.
Just curious ... how many of those 15 listed in the OP had well known nicknames?
I can think of a couple off the top of the head
Steel Curtain
Killer Bee's
Fearsome Foursome
Purple People Eaters
Legion of Boom
I think a good nickname always adds to the lore
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Very good post, I was thinking about this earlier. I couldn’t think of any others
The Chiefs played 3 playoff games in 1969 and gave up a total of 20 points in those 3 games.
6 points to the Jets, 7 points to the Raiders, and 7 points to the Vikings.
The Vikings gave up 23 points to the Chiefs in just 1 game.
Agree with Banzai the Vikings were the best defense from 69-71
But the Chiefs were the best defense from 67- 69 and won a Super Bowl something the Vikings couldn't accomplish.
Okay the Vikings were the best from 70-71.
Chiefs from 67-69, can't have two teams the best in 69 and since they went head to head
in the Super Bowl and the Chiefs won 23-7 we have proof who the best was that year.
remember the boogey men from last year? they were the greatest defense ever!! oh, wait. nevermind. i did like that they made darnold see ghosts though.
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
Chiefs were better 67-68.
Chiefs won the big game over the Vikings and it really wasn't too close. Vikings defense was a little better in 69 though.
Vikings didn't have much for top line offensive players in 1969. Joe Kapp, Dave Osborn and Gene Washington. The Chiefs had Len Dawson, Mike Garrett and Otis Taylor.
Vikings have played very poorly in the SB.
No matter how good the defense is, you need to score points once in a while!
The Vikes are a close second to the Bills as far as really should have at least 1 ring
Vikings had no chance against the Dolphins, were almost as good as the Steelers and could have won, but I would rate the Steelers better. I think the Chiefs caught them somewhat off guard, the AFC wasn't getting the respect they deserved even though the Jets had won the year before, I think those two teams were pretty equal and the Vikings should have beaten the Raiders but played poorly.
Realistically, the Vikes should have at least one and possibly a second if they could have managed to play well in the big game, but they did not.
If you bother to look at their running game in the SB, you will be shocked at how poorly they ran the ball in the last three games.
The 1986 Giants were a beast of a defense, led by Lawrence Taylor who won the league MVP award that year, and LT had 20.5 sacks that season, as the Giants won it all.
LT was a beast.
Wow, check out Bill Belichick and Bill Parcells showing off those legs!
Forget about “You can’t stop him you can only hope to contain him” I mean you couldn’t even contain him. 🤷♂️
Yes, LT was a nightmare for opposing teams. I believe nicknames were mentioned earlier in the thread, the early 80s Giants linebackers had a pretty cool nickname. They were called "The Crunch Bunch" because of their bone crushing hits and quarterback sacks. The Crunch Bunch consisted of Lawrence Taylor, Brad Van Pelt, Harry Carson, and Brian Kelley.
that is the greatest photo in the history of photos...
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
The 1961 Chargers hauled in 49 interceptions, still an NFL record. And that was in a 14-game season.
Watch this all you LT fans! ;-)
None of the above.
I watched all of those 15 teams.
The 1966 LA Rams original Fearsome Foursome was head and shoulders above the others.
No, but they were pretty good. They gave up 15 PPG. Actually they were a little better in 1967.
Merlin Olsen and Deacon Jones were phenomenal players, but it was Grier's last season and Lundy was just about done too.
Nice run 1966-70.........not as good as the Vikings 69-71. Another nice run 1974-78, With an arguably better front 4 with Olsen, Dryer and Youngblood, but they did worse in the Post Season than my Vikings.
1985 and 86 NY Giants Defense
Big Blue Wrecking Crew
Head Coach: Bill Parcells
Defensive Coordinator: Bill Bellichek
George Martin, Jim Burt and Leonard Marshall up front, backed by Harry Carson, Gary Reasons, Carl Banks and Lawrence Taylor. Mark Collins, Perry Williams, Kenny Hill and Terry Kinnard held down the passing game. Pepper Johnson off the bench, too.
5th (85) and 2nd (86) in total defense
‘86 MVP - Lawrence Taylor (20.5 Sacks)
‘86 Super Bowl Champions
This would be my pick; certainly guilty of being a homer but I think LT’s best season - even if surrounded by 10 armless and legless dwarfs - would merit consideration as he is the standard by which all linebackers are measured.
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I would agree - if the Vikings get penalized for the SB performances, the Rams were definitely not as good in those years since they either did not make the playoffs or did not do well in the playoffs
The truth is..... That was the style. It was the norm. I remember. Makes for some great pics like this one.
The early to mid 80’s was not a whole lot better than the 70’s honestly
Now people wear their pants down around their ankles so we see the a$$ crack. There's progress for ya.
Steel Curtain.