The Pittsburgh Steelers have a rich tradition of playing punishing defense. It is in the franchise DNA that the Steelers are just different physically than the rest of the league. The winning tradition in Pittsburgh started with Chuck Noll but the physicality goes back to the team’s birth. Western Pennsylvania breeds toughness, and the Steelers personify it.
Footbahlin With Ben Roethlisberger Channel 7 YouTube
Steelers Ben Roethlisberger and Mike Tomlin with Spencer T'eo on Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger
Ben Roethlisberger and Spencer T’eo welcomed Mike Tomlin onto Episode 23 of the Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger podcast and discussed how a former college wide receiver became a defensive coach. The conversation eventually circled around to a historical perspective about some of the great defenses Tomlin was associated with.
“I have a controversial question,” Roethlisberger smiled. “Maybe you’ll answer in the most Mike Tomlin kind of way, where you never answer the question. The best defense you’ve coached, that Bucs D, or which Steelers defense you think is better '08 or '10.”
Tomlin is famous for his ability to control and win press conferences. He answers the questions he wants to answer in detail and gives “Tomlinisms” that seem like an answer when he does not. Few, if any, coaches in the history of the NFL can treat the media like Noll and Bill Belichick and have them walk away singing his praises for being candid. Tomlin wanted to answer this one.
“I thought the '10 group beat you up,” Tomlin said. “You’re not going to like the answer to this. Just in terms of physicality without a doubt the '10 group.”
2010 Green Bay Packers Targeted A Wounded Troy Polamalu In Super Bowl XLV
The 2010 Steelers came up short of winning a third Super Bowl in five seasons when they lost to the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XLV 31-25. The defense that season was vicious with James Harrison, the reigning defensive player of the year Troy Polamalu, Ike Taylor and James Farrior. It was the last stand for that particular group and they were dominant in their last hurrah.
AP Photo Marcio Jose Sanchez
Pittsburgh Steelers Troy Polamalu watches Green Bay Packers Jordy Nelson (87) try to stay inbounds on a catch in the third quarter of Super Bowl XLV
The 2010 defense led the league in points allowed at 14.5 PPG. They allowed the fewest rushing yards in the league with 1,004 and the Chicago Bears who were second were nearly 400 yards behind them. They led the league in sacks with 48 and were second in allowing offenses to convert third downs. They forced 35 turnovers as a group and were the most feared unit in the league.
“The Bucs group was a splash play group,” Tomlin reflected. “It’s different. Like what are you talking about, a bar fight or are you talking about football? That '10 group created the player safety initiative. Seriously, let’s be honest. We’re talking about the historical perspective. That collection of men created what we know now as the player safety initiative. The powers that be watched them play and said this is not good for football.”
The 2010 Steelers were fined heavily, and Harrison alone was fined so often that he seriously considered retirement after $125,000 was taken from him. The team was so angry about how Roger Goodell and the NFL levied punishments against them that refused to ratify the CBA in the offseason. Ryan Clark, who was the NFLPA player rep communicated that the group thought it gave too much power to the league in disciplinary matters.
“The Tampa group, the splash play ability of that group was sick,” Tomlin concluded. “Equally as sick as the physicality of the '10 group. Derrick Brooks scored five touchdowns that year. How many defensive touchdowns did we score in the Super Bowl game itself, three or four? That team scored 13 touchdowns, or something like that, they were different. You tell me what environment I’m going in and I will tell you what group I want to take with me.”
(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Harrison and Vince Williams take a break during practice at training camp in Latrobe, Pa., on Monday, Aug. 1, 2016.
Polamalu was not quite the same player after being slowed by injury during his final few seasons and Harrison would remain effective but the league's constant haranguing of every hard hit had an effect on him. A decade later and the league has devolved into any hard tackle being a 15-yard penalty and it seems like another lifetime when the Steelers would just scare teams into submission.
The league is more popular than ever thanks to fantasy football and gambling. The NFL in 2023 is all about the stats and defenses that knock people out of the games and are more likely to be penalized and fined into oblivion than rewarded with a championship.
What do you think Steeler Nation? Do you miss the physicality of the Pittsburgh Steelers or are you content with a PPR NFL? Please comment below or on my Twitter @thebubbasq.
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