The Pittsburgh Steelers have always had a reputation as being a tough defensive unit. It has evolved over the years from the days of Chuck Noll and the Steel Curtain, to Bill Cowher and "Blitzburgh" being born from a call-in to legendary broadcaster Myron Cope's show. With these great defensive units came some great individual seasons and according to Pro Football Reference's Approximate Value (AV) statistic, all five of the top individual seasons in team history are on defense.
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Steelers linebacker Jack Lambert stands with a fist clenched over Dallas Cowboys running back Robert Newhouse in Pittsburgh's Super Bowl win.
AV is a stat developed by Pro Football Reference's founder to try to best find the seasonal value of a player at any position from any year. The best defensive season of all-time by the AV metric was posted by Aaron Donald in 2020. Donald won his third AP Defensive Player of the Year posting 13.5 sacks and a league-leading 24 AV. The best season for a Steelers player all-time is 20.
Steelers' 5 Most Remarkable Seasons By AV
Checking in at number one on the list is Jack Lambert's 1976 season. Lambert was dominant for the team in his third year as they withstood an early season injury to Terry Bradshaw on a brutal hit against the Cleveland Browns and posted a 10-4 record. Lambert claimed the AP Defensive Player of the Year award and was named a First Team All-Pro after a season with eight fumble recoveries, 3.5 sacks, and a pair of interceptions.
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Steelers defensive back Rod Woodson returns a kick during a game at Three Rivers Stadium.
The next two entries on the list are occupied by Rod Woodson from his tenure in Pittsburgh. In 1990, Woodson led the league in AV with 20. He had 66 tackles, five interceptions, three fumble recoveries, one forced fumble, and added a punt return touchdown. He was named to the AP First Team and made the Pro Bowl. Woodson posted a second season with an AV of 20 in 1994. After winning the AP Defensive Player of the Year award in 1993, Woodson put together another impeccable season for the team registering 83 total tackles, three sacks, and four interceptions, two for touchdowns.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Steelers' James Farrior stands ready for the snap in a game against the Seattle Seahawks.
The next man on the list is James Farrior. Farrior, in his third season with the team after coming from the New York Jets exploded for a career-best year, in many ways, with three forced fumbles, four interceptions including a touchdown, and three sacks. The underrated linebacker posted the best AV season for a linebacker since Lambert with 19. He was a Pro Bowler and First Team All-Pro while finishing second in AP Defensive Player of the Year voting to Baltimore Ravens safety Ed Reed.
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Steelers outside linebacker Jason Gildon in action against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Last up on the list is the 2001 season, from outside linebacker Jason Gildon. Gildon earned a Pro Bowl nod and First Team All-Pro honors with 12 sacks and double-digit tackles for a loss to go with three forced fumbles and a recovery for a touchdown. He and a 24-year-old Joey Porter Sr. terrorized opposing quarterbacks and helped the team get to the AFC Championship, but fell to the New England Patriots.
That concludes the top five best individual performances in a single season by AV for a Steelers player, another outside linebacker who wore 92 and was a force to be reckoned with, deserves an honorable mention.
Peter Diana / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Steelers' James Harrison gets a sack on New England Patriots' longtime quarterback Tom Brady.
That's right. James Harrison owns the next two spots on the team's all-time AV list so it only felt fair to give "Deebo" a special shoutout. In 2008, Harrison had a year for the ages in the regular season with 16 sacks and double-digit tackles for a loss and quarterback hits. He added seven forced fumbles and earned the AP Defensive Player of the Year. In the playoffs, he continued his dominance all the way to a Super Bowl ring including making one of the greatest plays in team history, picking off Kurt Warner, and running the whole length of the field for the touchdown. In 2010, Harrison had a second season with an AV of 19 posting 100 total tackles, six forced fumbles to go with 10.5 sacks and 21 quarterback hits.
What do you remember from some of these seasons? What other individual seasons do you think deserve to be mentioned? Comment below!
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