Greatest NFL Defense of All Time

**rpcfball** · 03-28-2012, 11:31 AM

for my college writing class we were recently assigned a 10-12 page research paper. all of the suggested topics were political and ethical which is what i had assumed i would do. but i overheard the guy in front of me discussing his topic with the professor and it was about the greatest professional sports player of all time. to make a long story short, now that i knew i could do my paper on a sports topic i talked the teacher into letting me do it on the greatest nfl defense of all time which, needless to say, is awesome.

being a fairly young person i was not alive to see the famed 1976 steelers and 1985 bears and have only hazy memories of the 2000 ravens. any added information, insight, and personal accounts you may have that i can add to my research and statistics would be helpful.

also, and almost more importantly, i would love to hear any information anyone may have about the rule changes of 1978 and the institution of free agency in the late 80's/early 90's and how they affected the way the game was played. information on that aspect of it is pretty scarce

all in all im pretty excited about this paper and any input you all may have is welcome

**HoustonRaven** · 03-28-2012, 12:07 PM

2000 Ravens defense was the best single-season defense of all time, IMO.

1. Not one 100 yard rusher allowed.
2. 4 shut outs
3. The fewest points ever allowed in a 16 game season.
4. Super Bowl win (with no offensive TD's scored against them)
5. Only gave up more than 23 points in a game twice the whole year (1985 Bears gave up that many or more 3 times; 1976 Steelers did it three times as well).

Critics would argue that the defense didn't face a playoff team in the regular season. It's a straw man argument and to that I'd counter by saying the defense dominated all three of the teams they faced that year in the playoffs / Super Bowl.

The 1976 Steelers did have 5 shut outs, but they lost in the playoffs, giving up 24 points in the process.

The 1985 Bears had four shut outs as well, but gave up more points in the season than did the 2000 Ravens.

**blah3** · 03-28-2012, 12:18 PM

Originally Posted by rpcfball

for my college writing class we were recently assigned a 10-12 page research paper. all of the suggested topics were political and ethical which is what i had assumed i would do. but i overheard the guy in front of me discussing his topic with the professor and it was about the greatest professional sports player of all time. to make a long story short, now that i knew i could do my paper on a sports topic i talked the teacher into letting me do it on the greatest nfl defense of all time which, needless to say, is awesome.

being a fairly young person i was not alive to see the famed 1976 steelers and 1985 bears and have only hazy memories of the 2000 ravens. any added information, insight, and personal accounts you may have that i can add to my research and statistics would be helpful.

also, and almost more importantly, i would love to hear any information anyone may have about the rule changes of 1978 and the institution of free agency in the late 80's/early 90's and how they affected the way the game was played. information on that aspect of it is pretty scarce

all in all im pretty excited about this paper and any input you all may have is welcome

You'd also have to discuss the Purple-People eater Vikings D.
Need to consider the NYG defense that beat the Bills in the Super Bowl.
The Dolphins in 1972.
The 1991 Eagles (my choice)
I think there were some really good Packers defenses in the 1960's.

**HoustonRaven** · 03-28-2012, 12:24 PM

Originally Posted by blah3

You'd also have to discuss the Purple-People eater Vikings D.
Need to consider the NYG defense that beat the Bills in the Super Bowl.
The Dolphins in 1972.
The 1991 Eagles (my choice)
I think there were some really good Packers defenses in the 1960's.

1991 Eagles didn't even make the playoffs, only had one shut out, gave up 100 yards or more in rushing four times and gave up a ton of points compared to other teams.

**blah3** · 03-28-2012, 01:10 PM

Originally Posted by HoustonRaven

1991 Eagles didn't even make the playoffs, only had one shut out, gave up 100 yards or more in rushing four times and gave up a ton of points compared to other teams.

You need to take into account more than just the basic stats.

http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com...al-analysis-on

**HoustonRaven** · 03-28-2012, 01:13 PM

Originally Posted by blah3

You need to take into account more than just the basic stats.

http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com...al-analysis-on

So I should rely on theoretical ones? NO thanks.

They don't even come close.

**blah3** · 03-28-2012, 01:19 PM

Originally Posted by HoustonRaven

So I should rely on theoretical ones? NO thanks.

They don't even come close.

You need to take into account who they played.

**LC_Ravens_87** · 03-28-2012, 01:51 PM

Originally Posted by blah3

You need to take into account more than just the basic stats.

http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com...al-analysis-on

The problem with his analysis is that while he does draw out a whole bunch of factors, he doesn't assign them any kind of weight beyond that which he subjectively feels is important. It certainly makes sense to judge the competition of all these defenses, and then to measure the overall offensive output in each of those years. But he doesn't adjust opponent offensive competition factor as against total offensive output, he just listings rankings and league-year averages. So yeah, the 2000 Ravens played against poorer offensive competition as compared to the others, but they played in the season in which offensive output was 3rd highest as compared to the others and his analysis doesn't do anything to normalize that.

Also, if he really wanted to get a clearer indication of offensive competition (which would probably be impossible) he should have factored the opponent offensive competition by subtracting out the competition's performances against the defense he was rating. In other words, the Ravens shut out 4 teams in 2000, held 1 to three points, and 3 to seven points. Those results are all far below league average for a game (in 2000, 20 pts/game). So a 20 point differential in scoring for one game, will show up negatively when ranked against other teams for points scored. And probably a likely reason the Ravens played only 5 teams in the top half of points scored in 2000, and 11 teams in the bottom half of the NFL...He's penalizing the Ravens for holding 8 teams to 7 points or less which in turn led to those teams not being ranked as highly in total points scored for the season.

It seems clear though, based on his stuff, that the 1985 Bears are the best.

**ravensnhokies** · 03-28-2012, 01:56 PM

I could make a strong argument that the Grits Blitz D was the best of all time.

Only gave up 129pts in 14games (9.2/g which is better than the 2000 Ravens' 10.5/g)
9 Passing TD allowed vs. 26 INTs --- Thats an awesome differential.
Didn't keep sacks stats in 77 but they would have been sick.

Screw the 46 Defense... Jerry Glanville would send 9 guys at a time.

The only problem with the 77 Falcons was their Offense was as inept as their Defense was dominant. Thus the 7-7 record.

Sure I'm bias and think the 2000 Ravens was the best (mostly b/c of how dominant they were in the postseason), but I gotta give some props to that historical unit. Its a cool catchy name too, which the 2000 Ravens didnt have.

---- Didnt read the Steeler Nation Article before writing up my original post... At least they acknowledged them..

**rpcfball** · 03-28-2012, 03:16 PM

Originally Posted by blah3

You'd also have to discuss the Purple-People eater Vikings D.
Need to consider the NYG defense that beat the Bills in the Super Bowl.
The Dolphins in 1972.
The 1991 Eagles (my choice)
I think there were some really good Packers defenses in the 1960's.

i'll definitely will take into account more than the three i mentioned. those are just the first three you think of when someone says great defense.

**Lime in the Coconut** · 03-28-2012, 03:35 PM

You also have to account for the size and speed of that defense. They were just ferocious. No great defense before them can really compare physically. You also have to keep in mind that FA played a factor. I was young back then, but I can't believe how they put that defense together with the salary cap. It's amazing. Also whenever I watch them, they've got to be the most physical defense I've ever seen. They were just non stop. I know that the game wasn't as pass happy as it is now (and the league didn't help them as much), but it isn't too far off. To have a D like that in the 2000 era was pretty special.