NFLs top three defenses ever ?
Goldenage
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Educate me.
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Goldenage
Posts: 3,278 ✭✭✭✭✭
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1985 Bears, 2000 Ravens. #3 is a matter of opinion
These are always tough discussions. I don't know that they rank as an all-time Top 3, but the 1961 Chargers defense still holds the record with 49 interceptions in a season - and that was a 14-game season!
I forgot about that, that record is even more insane since football was predominantly a run first game
1969 Vikings, 1970 Vikings 1971 Vikings.
NICE!
Steelers 1974-78
Terry Bradshaw was AMAZING!!
Ignore list -Basebal21
The ignore button is a thing of beauty!
Legion of boom
1985 Bears
2000 Ravens
2021 Browns
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Ralph
1977 Atlanta Falcons
Yeah, I know, who? They accumulated more yards punting than they did passing and rushing combined, they had a team QB rating of 52.3, and they made 43% of their field goals. But they finished at .500 because their defense allowed only 14 TDs in 14 games. Their only HOFer was Claude Humphrey, and they were a lot more "no name" than the Dolphins, but they were incredibly good. If the Falcons offense had just been average, they'd have been Super Bowl contenders.
Only one team has given up less than 10PPG in the history of Professional Football twice;
1969 and 1971 Vikings with the 1970 team giving up 10.2.
The Steelers of the mid 1970's were great.
The Rams of the mid 1970's were great.
The Bears were actually better in 1986 than 1985, those teams were great.
The Ravens were great and really dominated in the playoffs and SB. Kind of dropped off after that.
When I hear "best defense" I think of those Vikings. This thread has been concentrating on defenses in a single season, which introduces a fair amount of random luck and strength of schedule into the equation, and there's a lot of candidates. But over a long stretch, the early 70's Vikings were the best.
As long as you don't penalize them for losing in the playoffs or Super Bowls, they have a claim to best for a season, both in '69 and '71, but I do agree they underperformed in '69 against the Chiefs.
In 1971 the defense didn't let them down 4 interceptions in the Divisional Round by the Cowboys was the difference. The offense was pretty bad.
Mid 70's Steelers over a span of time. 85 Bears for one season. 76 Steelers were ridiculous over the last 8-10 games.
Over a span of time the Steelers were a close second to the Vikings defensively, quite a bit better on offense.
The Vikings were #1 in points allowed for 3 consecutive seasons, the Steelers did it 2 out of three 1976-78, but the third season they dropped to 17th. Their best 3 year run was 74-76. not as good as the Vikings 69-71.
Same era, the numbers are obvious, both great defenses, possibly the two best of all time, the Vikes were a little better.
The 1969 Vikings gave up 8.4 points a game for the last 13 games of the season, never giving up more than 14 in any game.
Your 1976 Steelers gave up 75 points in their first three games and then got beat by the Vikings in game four. Except for those 4 SB losses the Vikings are undefeated in the Biog Game ;-)
Look at the teams the Steelers played after that, they shouldn't have given up as many points as they did!
Contrast that to the 1969 Vikings who beat several teams with winning records and two teams (Cleveland and the Rams) who were division champions, and the Colts, second in their division, who were in the Super Bowl the previous year.
A lot more impressive than beating up on teams like K.C., Miami and San Diego who had losing records, the Giants who won three games that year and don't forget the winless Buccaneers, one of the worst teams ever to play in the history of the NFL.
There's simply no comparison here, the 1969 Vikings had only one "cupcake" on the schedule, the Bears.
Should have mentioned the Cowboys defense as well mid 60's to early 70's.
the 2013 Seahawks played against some top notch QB's in 2013 plus new NFL rules which makes it almost impossible for a NFL defense to shut down an offense, Unlike in 1985 Bears when NFL defenses could manhandle the offense with no penalties
and if you look at the 85 Bears schedule you will see that they faced some of the most pathetic QB's in history !!!! the best Qb the bears played that year was Marino and he exposed and embarrassed the Bears on a Monday night in 85.
In no way am I saying Legion of Boom is better then the Bears but IDK if da bears could do that in current NFL.
And in the Super Bowl that year, they held the Broncos to 8 points, and that Broncos team is considered to be one of the greatest single season offensive teams in history. The LOB was a beast.
Unless you go back to the 1950's, I don't see any defense in any era being #1 in fewest points allowed three straight years and least yardage allowed two #1's and a 2nd place during the same time.
If you do choose to go back that far, it looks like the Cleveland Browns had the best defensive team of all time.
76 Steelers gave up 28 points over the last 9 regular season games. I would say that is dominate. To include 5 shut outs. And yes, they lost to the Raiders with many key players hurt. Both RB's.
The 70's Vikings defense were so good, Franco Harris won a Super Bowl MVP award
Terry Bradshaw was AMAZING!!
Ignore list -Basebal21
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You can repeat that all you want, and it's a great _ partial_ season against some really bad teams, but the fact is they gave up 75 points in their first three games that year. Then lost the next two, giving up another 35 points.
110 points in 5 games is not a great defense, in fact that's a_ BAD_ defense!
Take a look at who they then beat;
Giants-25th ranked offense,
Chargers 19th ranked offense,
Chiefs (Mike Livingston at QB) 12th ranked offense,
Miami (without Csonka, Kiick and Warfield) 15th ranked offense,
Tampa, 28th ranked offense
Oilers with the 22nd ranked offense.
Shutting out these teams is nothing to write home about.
The only team with a winning record and a top 10 offense they beat was Cincinnati, who they handled twice.
They got scored upon a lot by the two good offenses they faced Raiders/Patriots.
I'm sure they would have been undefeated and unscored upon if they had played College teams that year, even better against High School squads.
We agree to disagree.
They also shut out The Little Sisters of the Poor in an exhibition that year.
Does that count?
It shouldn't count; Sister Mary Katherine was out so they had no passing game.
Stop talking about that game please. Jack Lambert was so mean on the field that he got a spearing penalty on a nun. But afterwards he did ask for forgiveness.
Here's my list in order of greatness.... Seen them all
1.77 Atlanta Falcons ( statistically the best)
2.85 bears
3.86 Giants
4.89 49ers
5.72 dolphins
6.75 Steelers
7. 2000 Ravens
WAIT A MINUTE, the nuns were able to beat the Buccaneers without her! Not a shut out though.
Forgiveness is a good thing.
Vikings not on the list at all and you know about football?
Now that's unforgivable.
I looked at the 77 Falcons, they were a TOTAL fluke. They were 22nd the year before and 14th the next year in points allowed. They had two all-pro players on defense, (actually only one), Claude Humphrey, who was a great player. That was NOT a great defense. If you "saw them all" and think they were the best of all time, sorry, your opinion means less than nothing.
Here's who the Falcons beat in 1977;
QNE good offense in the Rams, who then scored 23 points in the rematch.
LOST to the only other decent offense (Patriots) giving up 16 points.
The next best offense was the Saints who they split with. Saints scored 21 in one of those games.
They beat the Bears with the 13th ranked offense.
Lost to the Vikings with the 16th ranked offense.
No other team they played that year had even an average offense;
49ers-19th (played twice)
Washington-21st
Lions-23rd
Giants-24th
Bills-25th
Bucs-28th
Seven games against the 10 bottom offensive teams in the entire league, and you call this a great defense.
They would have shut out my High School football team too I suppose. We were Minneapolis City Co-Champs in 1975, so we were pretty good.
The Vikings averaged giving up less than 10 points a game for three consecutive years, against good offenses, having three of the top 7 seasons EVER and don't even get mentioned?
The only answer I can come up with that won't get me in trouble with Todd, is you guys must be trolls, just trying to rile me up. Either that or you feel compelled to attach a Super Bowl victory to every single aspect of a debate.
None of these are even close to the best NFL defenses ever. Maybe modern times.
I’m not the historian on the board. I’ll let
@perkdog enlighten us about great defenses in the 20’s, 30’s where teams didn’t score a single TD or 5-6 shutouts in a row.
"I spent 50% of my money on alcohol, women, and gambling. The other half I wasted.
The first legal forward pass took place in 1906.
Football was played 30 years before that without one.
Sure there were lots of low scoring games.
The title was Top NFL defense of all time. I didn’t think there was an *. 😊
"I spent 50% of my money on alcohol, women, and gambling. The other half I wasted.
I didn't go back that far, but Cleveland was better in the 1950's.
Fantastic thread! You guys either have great recall or you're doing and sharing research. Either way, THANKS!
The 1969 Vikings defense! Wow. I had no idea. I always blamed the snowy field condition and poor visibility for the Rams playoff loss to the Vikings that year. But.....the Rams did score 20 points. I think. 23-20 loss? Those Viking teams were awesome on "D."
Troll huh? The Atlanta falcons were the best defensive team ever in 77. Period! Superbowls..... No. You're just mad your vikings lost to my falcons.... That's unforgivable
And nobody realized this lol. They have to " research" it lol. They were incredible!
You're welcome lol
for gits and shiggles i looked up the best defenses in nfl history, and have yet to find the 77 Falcons on any list that i have personally seen. the final one below has 25 freaking teams and they still aren't mentioned.
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2785894-the-top-10-nfl-defenses-of-all-time
https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/bears/10-most-dominant-defenses-nfl-history
https://thegruelingtruth.com/football/top15defensesnfl-history/
https://edge.twinspires.com/nfl/the-best-defenses-in-nfl-history/
https://athlonsports.com/nfl/10-greatest-defenses-nfl-history
https://www.lineups.com/articles/top-25-nfl-defenses-all-time/
you'll never be able to outrun a bad diet
Not a troll. Lol, the Vikings were great. I can't deny that. But being One of the best defensive...no .
I had never read about the 77 Falcons defense before. They were a "one hit wonder" . Interesting. Here's an article that compares them to some of the best.
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/395305-the-forgotten-defense-the-1977-falcons-may-be-the-best-of-all-time
Losing 4 Super Bowls out of 4 played has unfairly doomed the late 1960's/early 1970's Vikings teams to be unappreciated. As the old saying goes; "Nobody remembers who finished in second place".
I watched those Vikings teams and researched them and the other great defenses. I always though the Vikings and Steelers were #1 and #2 and the numbers bear that out.
There simply has not been a defense, from 1958 to the present, that has dominated for a three year stretch as the Vikings.
I dare anyone to find a better 8 year period of domination that Vikings from 1969-1976 with three seasons giving up the fewest points two seasons being #2 and two seasons #3, with only one year out of the top 10 at #11.
There's not one single knowledgeable football fan on earth that thinks the Falcons even had a GOOD defense in 1977. They played horrible offensive teams.
Limiting horrible offenses to minimal points does not make you great.
The Steelers come pretty close from 1972-79, but they only had two #1's, three #2's, a #5, a #8 and a #17.
The Rams have the longest streak of really good defenses from 1966-78 with only 1 year out of the top 10.
The Bears had a great 6 year run 1983-88.
The 49ers were great 1983-92, but were #1 only one time.
Giants very good 1985-90.
Dolphins very good 1971-75.
Teams like the Ravens who had very short periods of good/greatness aren't "All-Time Great" defenses.
No one as good as the Vikings.
Case closed ;-)
All you have to do is look at who they played to know that the writer is an idiot.
Geez Joe. If I was lying that's one thing, but I'm not. They were the single season, best defense EVER! It doesn't matter who they played, how much they scored, or even how many games they won! Hands down....the best defense ever for a single season! You can't accept it.... that's fine.
If it makes you feel any better Joe.... We both lost super Bowls. Lol . It's okay... Just calm down 😂
I had to look up the 77 Falcons also.
They lost to Buffalo 3-0. Man that game must’ve been a thriller!
"I spent 50% of my money on alcohol, women, and gambling. The other half I wasted.
Now that's just ridiculous. We can get bogged down in semantics in looking for the word that describes how good they were, but they were very obviously good and I can't imagine there's a single knowledgeable fan who could fail recognize that. Yes, they played mostly bad teams, but they also held those teams to fewer points than they scored against the rest of their opponents. In fact, the Falcons held EVERY SINGLE TEAM they played to fewer points than those teams scored against their other opponents.
`
The Bucs offense was indeed pathetic, averaging only 7.4 points per game, but the Falcons shut them out and they scored 8.0 points per game against everyone else. The Rams offense was one of the best in the league at 21.6 points per game; but that was 14.5 ppg vs. the Falcons, and 22.8 ppg vs. everyone else. Over the course of the season they allowed over 100 points - over a TD per game - less than their opponents scored against the rest of the league.
That the Falcons defense was "good" is patently obvious and not up for debate (among knowledgeable fans, anyway). I'm not going to argue with anyone who wants to describe them as merely "very good", although I think "great" is more accurate.
Another thing to consider with respect to the 1977 Falcons: because their offense was so pathetic, and held the ball so briefly on each possession, Falcons opponents got about 13 possessions per game, or about 182 possessions throughout the season. The Falcons defense allowed 122 points, or about 0.67 points per possession.
For comparison, the 1985 Bears opponents got about 11 possessions per game, or about 176 for the season, and scored 191 points, or about 1.09 points per possession and about 60% more than the Falcons allowed.
Or the 1976 Steelers, whose opponents got about 12 possessions per game, or about 168 for the season, and scored 138 points, or about 0.82 points per possession and about 20% more than the Falcons allowed.
Yes, their schedule was weak and yes, they were a one-year fluke. But the 1977 Falcons defense was really, really good.
That game was most likely a perfect example of a "taffy pull".
I'm completely calm. If you look at the numbers and say the Falcons were the best, then the Vikings were the second best, the fifth best and the seventh best all time, nobody matches that. Other than 1977 Atlanta is nowhere to be found. Why? They didn't have a bunch of new all star players come in for one year (and then abruptly leave), the obvious reason was they played lousy offenses and they were pretty good on defense.
"It doesn't matter who they played"-unbelievable. Do you drink a lot?
At least someone weighs in with more than a "because I said so" argument.
Funny, you don't mention the 1969 Vikings for a comparison.
While the 1977 Atlanta defense might have been on the field a lot, the quality of the opponent was still pitiful, other than the Rams, who were very good (and scored 23 against them in one of their games), the Patriots and Bears, every offense they played was bad. The Vikings and the Saints were the "best of the rest" at a low 16.5 PPG average.
I don't see how a bad offense gets better by going out on the field and sucking more often. They just continue to get their buts kicked. If you ever played football, once you start dominating another team you usually just keep doing just that.
The year before they were 22nd in points allowed and the year after they were 14th and then in 1979 they dropped to 26th.
They suddenly got to be the best of all time for one year? No, it absolutely does matter who you play.
10 of their 14 games were against offenses that scored 16.5 points per game or less, 5 of those 10 were against teams that scored 14 or less.
The teams Atlanta played should have scored 220 points against them if they scored their average, Atlanta held them to 129. That's pretty good. 6.5 points per game less than expected. Nice year.
Let's look at the 1969 Vikings; They played 11 games against teams that averaged 19 points a game or higher, the other 3 games were against teams that scored 15 points a game. The worst offensive team the Vikings played were the Bears, who scored 15 points a game. The Falcons played 5 teams who scored less than 15, the Vikings against VASTLY SUPERIOR offenses allowed only FOUR MORE POINTS FOR THE ENTIRE SEASON.
Vikings opponents should have scored 270 points against the Vikings had they scored their average, and they were held to a less than HALF of that at 133, or 10 points per game less than expected. 65% better than the Falcons.
Other than the first game of the year against Fran Tarkenton, the Vikings did not give up more than 14 points in any game.
Tell me again how great the Falcons were and please keep ignoring the BEST defense of all time. It's not even close.
The 1969 Minnesota Vikings.
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The thread was "NFL's top three defenses ever".
We end up debating if the 1977 Falcons belong on the list. Ridiculous.
I don't see it as a one year fluke, or even a one year we played really good against bad offenses, or one year we came up with a new defense that worked for that one year.
Answer this; Were they one of the best defenses ever?
Joe, nobody dislikes the ole vikings defense lol. Matter if fact, I felt bad for them losing 4 Super Bowls. We're just talking about a defense that was awesome for 1 single season! Of course the Vikings substained a great defense over the course of several yrs. Nobody is denying that. The Atlanta falcons were the BEST defense ( lol) ever for one single season! Give us a break! Lol. And if I was drinking.... I'd love to pick at you about it over some jack Daniels together 😆.