Best ever D Line-Steel Curtain, Doomsday, Fearsome Foursome or Purple People Eaters?
And their best year they didn’t win a SB. In 1976 they held teams to under 10 points per game (average) and had 5 shutouts.
Maybe the Raiders greatest win. Our 76’ team was OP.
That 1976 Steelers team started out 1-4 though. Shutouts are always impressive but they came later in the season against bad teams like the 0-14 Bucs and the 3-11 New York Giants.
I’m aware of their record. But 5 shutouts. A game where they gave up 3 points and another with 6. That’s about as dominating as it gets. That’s half of 14 game season without allowing 7 points.
But they also faced Pro Bowl QB Ken Anderson, and held his Bengals to 3 FG's in those 2 games.
I believe the 76 Steelers had a losing record against teams with a winning record that year as well.
Also a Dallas fan. The Steel Curtain was good but as a D-line itself, I might go with Minnesota. Dallas’ front four may even have been better, but Ham and Lambert in the linebacker corps and Blount in the secondary made Pittsburgh’s overall defense the best.
I can admit it now 50 years later.. The Steelers were superior. Back then I would have fought anyone that didn’t agree the Doomsday Defense wasn’t the best.
Steel curtain
Curtain
Steel Curtain. Joe Greene literally invented the stunt 4-3.
Greene may have perfected the dt stunt. But it was around long before he used it. Alan Page, Merlin Olson, Bob Lily, and I’m sure others before them used the move.
All those guys were before my time so I wouldn’t know. I’m just going by what I saw on NFL Films footage.
The answer is the Steel Curtain.
But Reggie White, Jerome Brown, Mike Golic and Clyde Simmons deserve to be on this list.
Never won anything. The Steel Curtain and Doomsday have rings.
So much wrong with this answer. 1. IndicationExtreme said deserved to be on list. 2. Rings are have no real relevance when it comes to positional greatness as there are SO many facets at play when it comes to rings.
Steelers. 4 championships to 1 for the Cowboys pictured, to 0 for the Rams & Vikes. No contest.
This. Steelers dominated the 1970's.
I’m a Bears fan but I gotta give it to the Steelers run in the 1970’s. Bears had nothing until the 80’s and only one season.
Don’t let failure by the team affect the greatness of one unit. 4 guys . You’re being rediculous.
It's not ridiculous. The Purple People Eaters were very good, but got absolutely dominated in every Super Bowl they played in. The Rams were good too, but the team only made the playoffs a couple times. You can't compare them to a championship unit like the Steel Curtain. They were dominant for the longest time, too.
No, pretty silly. The Steelers had 1 HOFer on the Dline, Mean Joe Greene. They had 2 in the LB corps and 2 in their secondary. They had a great offense with Bradshaw, Swann, Stallworth, Franco Harris, and in the last 2 championships HOF OC Mike Webster.
The fact that the Rams or Vikings didn't win any SB had to do with overall team talent, not just the quality of their defensive line.
Agree. I’d rank D-lines: Minn, Dallas, Pitt, but very close across the board.
Overall D: Pitt, Dallas, Minn.
Ham, Lambert and Blount were better than what Dallas and Minnesota had at those positions, which helps the D-line be more effective. Each of those three won either AP or Pro Football Writers defensive player of the year awards in the 70s.
The question is about best defensive line only. Not best team or superbowl titles. That Vikings line has two HoFers, most agree it should be three, had all four players selected to the 1969 pro bowl , first and I believe still only time that’s happened. Had a string of, now I’m only going by memory here, but a three year string of at the time first, seventh and fourth all time in lowest points given up by a defense and that was almost solely due to the play of the line. In 1971 had the first and still the only defensive lineman to ever win the league MVP. Not just Defensive MVP but overall MVP
Why yes, that's why I said that the treason why the Rams or Vikings didn't win the super bowl had nothing to do with the quality of their Dlines, which were both exceptional, and quite frankly clearly better than the Steel Curtain's front four.
The problem with Minnestoa's Dline is they were undersized, and got pushed around in the Super Bowl. That hurts their reputation, even though they were as dominant as anyone in the regular season - they were never clearly the best defensive front 4 in any of the biggest games they played. They harried Len Dawson pretty well in Super Bowl IV with 2 sacks (1 by a LB Ray Winston), and held up OK to the Chief's run game. But in the next three SB appearances they got rolled, with Larry Csonka and Franco Harris both going for around 150 yards rushing, with the Dolphins only passing 7 times. And in their last appearance the Raiders Oline just dominated.
Of course, they played a lot of great games to get to that point, but they could get outphysicaled, and they played in a time were the run was king. They'd fare better in the modern NFL ironically.
As to Ed Marshall being a HOFer, he only made 2 Pro Bowls in 20 years, never all pro, never led the league in any statistical category. Absolute iron man, and smart and interesting guy, but he's in the hall of really good.
The question is what was the better unit, not who had the most HOFers. 2 HOFers are great, most people think LC Greenwood belongs in the HOF, but ain't getting in because Pittsburgh already has 10 HOFers. If your non HOFers aren't as good as the other teams non HOFers, then they can easily close the gap as a unit. In SB 8, Alan Page got absolutely manhandled by a non HOFer, Miami G Bob Keuchenberg, who played the entire game with a broken forearm. Larry Csonka rushed for a SB record 145 yds only to be broken the next year by Franco Harris, who ran for 158 yds against the Purple People Eaters. It's also interesting that in both of those games, neither Pitt or Mia, threw for more than 100 yards. There offenses were so dominant at running through the Vikings, it wasn't even necessary to throw the ball.
The Bears have THREE DLine HOFers.
Yes, that Bears defense was very good but let’s face it, it didn’t have the overall talent that the Steelers of the 70s did. Nobody has yet. What put the Bears over the top was a new scheme. But nfl coaches are smart and schemes can be figured out , that’s why the Bears dominance didn’t last as long as those other defenses.
A scheme is only as good as the players you have. Granted, a brand new scheme takes opposing teams a bit to adjust. A scheme, however, does not generate 3 Hall of Famers
The Vikings defense got run all over in all 4 of their Super Bowl losses.
A dominant D Line doesn't give up 266 yards rushing to Oakland, 249 yards rushing to Pittsburgh, 196 yards to Miami and 151 yards to the Chiefs.
I think this is a little unfair to the free agency era. Would the Steel dynasty have lasted as long with free agency?
None of those d lines were from the free agency era. They're all from the 60s & 70s.
EXACTLY! Therefore the free agency era defenses would have a much tougher time winning 4 in six years.
I’m just saying length of dynasty is not the only measure.
I doubt any of the dynasties before free agency would have lasted. None of those teams could have stayed under a salary cap with multiple all pros and future hall of famers on the roster.
Steelers won 4 rings in or around the same era. Kinda settles the debate.
I agree with the Steel Curtain, but would we call Roy Gerela the greatest kicker because he won 4 rings?
At least two of those wins were defensive masterpieces.
No, but he wasnt a HOF kicker..how many guys from the Steel Curtain were?
It seems like making issue of the kicker isn’t the point. The Steelers D-Line were the cream of the crop.
I disagree. Mean Joe Greene was one of the best ever, LC Greenwood was really good, the other two were good players.
Behind them they had 2 hall of fame LBs in Lambert and Hamm, a pro bowl OLB in Russell, a HOF and all time great DB in Mel Blount, and another HOF player in Donnie Shell. Hamm is considered by many to be the best coverage LB of all time.
It's the best defense before the 2001 Ravens, without a doubt, but that doesn't mean that the DL was the absolute best.
So their D-Line threw how many TDS? Ran for how many yards? If that’s the case Terry Hanratty should be in the top 10 QBs of the 70’s
The Bears defense had a championship season. The Steelers defense had a championship decade. It’s not even close.
Please see my comment about this
Les Steelers sont et de loin les meilleurs
Upvoted you because I think your comment was pro steelers but I promise you I will immediately take it back if found otherwise. Might even have to hit you with the downvote.
Translates to
“The Steelers are by far the best”
Lol. Thank you
Sorry but my english is not very good just steelers fans since 1972
I'd say the Fearsome Foursome because they revolutionized defensive line play. They were the first that did stunting and all four raised their hands in the air to block passes if they weren't going to get the sack. Oh, yeah...the Deacon Jones head slap was another thing...
Agree. I watch a lot of this stuff on YouTube. For sheer violence, I'd rate the Rams Front Four number one. The People Eaters are are close second...
The Rams defensive front with Deacon has always felt like the scariest one of these four to me. The Curtain is probably the ‘best’, but I think I’d least like to line up across from those fearsome Rams.
Jones broke the hamate bone in his left hand and played with a cast on his hand the entire year. He used it like a club during an era when the head slap was legal. Set the NFL record for sacks that year. Legend...
Steel Curtain. That front was loaded.
Go to Canton and you will see a lot of steel curtain
The question is who had the best defensive line, not the best defense. And only 1 guy from that Dline made the HOF, Joe Greene. They did have 5 guys make it in all - including 2 LBs and 2 DBs.
The only Dline of that group that had 2 HOFers was the Fearsome Foursome, with Deacon Jones, the guy who invented the term sack and had the most dominant pass rush in the league, and the most dominating run over a period of any Dlineman ever. And Merlin Olsen, who made 14 straight pro bowls.
Vikings had 2 HOF players on d line with Page and Eller. Should have a third in Jim Marshall.
Fair enough. The problem with the Purple People Eaters is they didn't have that one guy that just couldn't be moved, and it showed against the Raiders when Shell and Upshaw beat them down. Page was as disruptive as any DT that ever lived.
Of the 4 dlines shown, I'd say the best single player was Joe Greene, then Deacon Jones. Then Randy White. Then Alan Page and Merlin Olsen were about even, though with totally different styles. Page was as good a disruptor as ever played DT, but could be outmuscled. His MVP season though is up there with only LT.
As Raider fan the Steele Curtain is the best ever
Is this really even a question? The Steelers’ entire defense ended up becoming known as the Steel Curtain. Steelers defenses are still called that a half century after all those guys were done playing.
All of those defensive lines deserve their due because they were all legendary. But there’s only one Steel Curtain.
There’s only one Jerry Rice. There’s only one Walter Payton. There’s only one Tom Brady. There’s only one Steel Curtain.
There’s only one Barry
As a Cowboy fan I have to agree with you.
No competition! Steel Curtain has 4 rings.
I’m from Dallas, and it’s the Steelers.
Dent, Hampton, Fridge, Mongo.
And Hartenstein rotating in. Everyone sleeps on that dude. He played more games than any Bears player ever.
McMichael has that record well actually Patrick Mannelly.
I stand corrected. He retired with most games as a bear, which was surpassed. .
Da Bears ‘85 🤘
Hampton , Fridge, Mcmichael, Dent
This is the one I was looking for.
Here's something about that defense. They scored more points in the playoffs than the freaking allowed in those 3 games. They allowed 10 and scored 23. 2 interception returns 1 fumble return and a safety. The 86 team was even better than the 85 on the defense just think what they could have been with a decent quarterback.
Wow. I remember to return in the SB. I think it was Phillips
3 HOFers. Thats a wrap.
This is the obvious correct answer.
Greatest DL ever that only won ONE Super Bowl. Come on.
McMahon couldn’t stay healthy. How many titles do those Steelers teams win with Bradshaw backup QB?
Did you know that Super Bowls are won by teams, not position groups? 85 Bears had 3 hall of famers in the D line. Their entire offense was Walter left or Walter right. You can’t blame the D line on zero offensive production.
Great o line too though. Covert is a HOF LT. Not sure if Hilgenberg made it but should be.
Steel curtain !!
Chavous, Carter and Alzado were damn good as well. But that Steel Curtain wow they were good
Hampton, Dent, McMichael, & Perry. '85 Bears had back to back shutouts in the playoffs. Totally shut down Eric Dickerson.
Steel Curtain for sure they are all great but:
Hampton, McMichael, Dent and Perry.
Three Hall of Famers and the fridge.
Profootballreference.com did an analytical piece on best front four playing together at their peak AV. Their results were the Vikings. In fact the 6 years from 68 to 74 were the top six by their perspective.That Viking defense had the greatest 3 year run ever in 69, 70 and 71 I ever saw and it was more because of that front line than other great defenses.
Fearsome foursome
Mean Joe and co.
1991 Eagles:
No. 1 against the run, pass and no. 1 overall.
3 out of four starting defensive linemen went to the pro bowl:
Reggie White Clyde Simmons Jerome Brown
My opinion only. The lack of a ring really hurts their legacy but if Randall wasn't knocked out of the season in the first quarter of week 1......
The ‘85 Bears has 3 HOFers on the DL. That gets my vote.
Steel Curtain. 4 Super Bowl wins.
Honorable Mention: The New York Sack Exchange
Steel Curtain DL might be #4. I say might be because I'd want to study how many seasons all these players were together.
But didn't Ernie Holmes play/start on just 2 of those Super Bowl teams? Folks are playing the 4 Super Bowl card, but how much was the Steel Curtain's defensive line aided by the presence of three HOF players backing them up (Blount, Lambert, Ham)? And how much did it help in the Super Bowl category to have five HOF players on offense? (Bradshaw, Harris, Stallworth, Swan, Webster)? How many Super Bowls would the Vikings, Rams or Cowboys have won if they'd had 8 HOF players outside of their front four?
The other three each had two HOF players on the D-line, right? Eller/Page, Olson/Jones, White/Jones. Steelers have one.
Unfortunately Too Tall Jones isn’t in the Hall. Only Randy White, from this era of the Doomsday Defense is in the Hall. Harvey Martin deserves a spot ahead of Too Tall.
Ah, good catch. Guess career was too short? Certainly a beast for awhile.
He and Randy White were a scary pair on the offense’s left side. Maybe White eating up so many double teams diminishes Martin’s dominance to some HOF voters. I never understood why he never seemed to get serious consideration.
This. The question isn't who had the best defense or team. It was specifically the front four and I feel like when you look at it in a vacuum, Steelers are 4. They would also probably be fourth best in the entire league during the 70s, which is still very damn good to elite.
The Bear line of the mid 1980s deserves consideration. Three Hall of Famers with Dent, Hampton, and Mongo McMichael. I’m still going with the Steel Curtain. They were great for longer and have more rings.
2000 Baltimore RAVENS
I knew I'd see those Ravens mentioned. During their championship year they had several wins in which the Ravens offense didn't score a single point. It was all pick-6s and touchbacks.
Tony Siragusa was a defensive line all by himself. So was Adams.
You damn Right!!!
Fearsome foursome
Big fan of the Steelers 70’s team but the Fearsome Foursome had more talent. They had to make new rules as a result of this unit. Hell, the term sack comes from these guys.
Hell, the term sack comes from these guys
I forgot about this.
Purple people eaters hands down
Vikes. Alan Page was the first def player to get league MVP. But your Vikes photo is missing HOF DE Carl Eller.
This was the era of the dominant defenses when defense won championships
Wonderful pictures. These guys were bad ass!
What an era.
Still hard to believe Jim Marshall (#70 Vikes) is not in the HOF. He anchored that line and played something like 17 seasons without missing a game.
I’d like to say Dallas, but the Steel Curtain won for rings!
Whatever we call the 85-89 Bears, they would like a word.
Could anybody here that is saying the steel curtain explain to me how 3 of the 4 of them didn't live to see 70 and 2 of them barely made it to 60? I know the answer I just want to know if you think Barry Bonds deserves to be in the Hall of fame
Go by Super Bowl wins it’s The Steel Curtain. Throw in that stretch they had in 1976 and it’s crystal clear.
The defensive stats at the second half of the '76 season when the offense was struggling was RIDICULOUS.
Ghgg
Steel Curtain by far
Which one am I most scared of?
Steel Curtain, no doubt.
Gang Green.
The Foreskins
That 2002 Bucs DL was insane.
The Curtain
Doomsday defense...bows down to the curtain.... regretfully 🙄
No House of Pain or Orange Crush?
Gritz Blitz
In 1991 the Eagles allowed only 3549 yards in a 16 game season. That defense gets my vote. Sorry fancy nicknames.
Fearsome Foursome. For some reason people are answering what was the better defense, when the question was who had the best Dline. It wasn't the Steel Curtain. They had 4 HOFers playing behind that Dline, which was very, very good, but not in the same class as Deacon and company. Deacon is the guy who invented the term sack and had the most dominating pass rush stats over a period of any player ever. Yes, they went back and reviewed all the film, and Deacon average nearly 20 sacks a year over 4 years, had 22 in a season which should be the record, and all this playing 14 games when offenses passed half the time they do now. His sack per pass rush attempt is only approximated by Reggie White.
And Merlin Olsen, an immoveable force in the middle that went to the Pro Bowl 14 of his 15 years in the league and was a 1st ballot HOFer. He made the All-60s team, the All-70s team, and the NFL's 75th anniversary all time team. He was as good as any DT that played in that era.
Rosey Grier was a 3 time all pro himself, and when he retired, in came Roger Brown, a six time pro bowler.
Dick Butkus called them the greatest defensive line in NFL history. I'll go with the greatest MLB in NFL history's take on that one.
I see I walked into the right place! 😎
Gritz Blitz '77 Falcons
W/ a minimal offense, they win the SB, putrid nonexistent offense couldn't even make the playoffs
NY Sack Exchange was great too
For me, Steel Curtain
Others were awesome too. Nothing but highest respect for them
Who’s in the Hall of Fame?
Rams: David Deacon Jones, Merlin Olson
Vikes: Allen Page, Carl Eller
Cowboys: Bob Lilly
Steelers: Mean Joe Greene
Fearsome Foursome
Yes. 😂
Purple People Eaters. Period.
Steel Curtain
Steel Curtain
‘85 Bears Defensive Line
The 1985 Bears D-Line belongs in the discussion. Richard Dent, Dan Hampton, Steve McMichael, William Perry.
Steelers. But the Purple People Eaters are my favorite and probably number 2 on this list.
As a Raiders fan I will hate the Steelers until my dying day, but the Steel Curtain was a legendary defense. Fuckers.
Steel Curtain were the best in my opinion
Might be the Rams, but it was before me, and as an 8,9,10,11,12 year old kid I knew the Steelers defense unit by heart. I loved that team, and yes, Terry Bradshaw is 4-0 in super Bowls.
Now wait a second. The 1980s Bears defense has 3 defensive lineman in the Hall of Fame. THREE.
Some people talking about Superbowls. First, the question wasn’t which D Line has more Super bowl rings. Its was who was the greatest. Second, Vikings STILL haven’t won a Super bowl. Third, every year the Bears had to go up against Joe Montana/Jerry Rice, Joe Gibbs/ the Hoggs/Art Monk, and Bill Parcells/Lawrence Taylor just to GET to the Superbowl.
2000 Ravens
Cowboys fan here….The Curtain was the one
No love for the 1985 “Monsters of the Midway”? The 1985 Chicago Bears defensive line included three Hall of Famers: Richard Dent, Dan Hampton, and Mike Singletary. The defense also featured other stars like Steve "Mongo" McMichael and William "The Refrigerator" Perry. The 1985 Bears are widely regarded as having the most feared defense in NFL history.
Short lived but a season to remember.
Leaving out the 85 Bears is tragic
‘91 Eagles
Lots of people here saying the Steel Curtain because of the rings, but that team also had a HOF QB, RB, WR, C, two LBs and a CB. The D-line was the cornerstone, but if you swapped them with any of these other three lines, I think they’d still have won four SBs.
Only one of these lines had two players in the top ten at their positions all-time. Fearsome Foursome wins it for me. PPE is second because Page was the Aaron Donald of his time and even more dominant than Mean Joe, plus Larsen and Mitchell were both excellent and never missed time.
Orange Crush???
Sack Exchange
All excellent
Add Bears of 85
Look at how deep Cowboys were when they annihilated Bills 52-17
Rotated 6-7 monsters
The 85 Bears and it’s not even fucking close.
Deacon jones is the greatest D-line player out of the bunch, so Doomsday and this is coming from a Seahawks fan.
Eagles 2004 defense
My head says the original Steel Curtain (LC Greenwood, Joe Greene, Ernie Holmes, Dwight White). My heart says Doomsday II (Too Tall Jones, Larry Cole/Jethro Pugh, Randy White, Harvey Martin). To be fair, but the Fearsome Foursome and the Purple People Eaters had two Hall of Famers each (Merlin Olsen/Deacon Jones for the Rams and Carl Eller/Alan Page for the Vikes). Neither ever won a Super Bowl. Yes Cowboy fans I’m aware we have two HoF linemen. Bob Lilly was Doomsday I, and Randy White was Doomsday II. They never played together.
What about the 94 cowboys?
Or the 85 bears
I'm a Browns fan but this question is ridiculous. Between 70 and 74 the Steelers drafted like 7 future hall of famers. Their D line was unstoppable in that time period. Just put an HGH asterisk next to it.
1 missing reply
As a doomsday fan, I have to give it to the curtain. No team dominated for years like them. 4 SB wins in 6 years.
Not to mention hall of famers galore.