Steelers' defense could be one of NFL's best

[January 31, 2009]  TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- The Doomsday Defense. The Purple People Eaters. The Steel Curtain. Exceptional defenses generate colorful, distinctive nicknames that define a style and forge an image that guarantees they will be mentioned for generations.

There's no such catchy nickname for these Pittsburgh Steelers, except the not-so-original Steel Curtain II - which, if nothing else, proves Steelers fans love making any connection possible to the four Super Bowl winners of the 1970s.

This time, the similarities between the new and old Curtains are striking, the statistics comparable, the analogies valid, the smack-you-in-the-mouth mentality the same.

Call it the defense that doesn't need a nickname.

James Harrison's nastiness resembles another former Kent State linebacker, Jack Lambert. There's a huge, run-stuffing nose man - Casey Hampton, a modern-day version of Ernie "Fats" Holmes. Troy Polamalu makes the same game-changing plays Mel Blount did. LaMarr Woodley and Harrison, with a combined 27 1/2 sacks, pass rush with a vengeance from a 3-4 defense the way Dwight White and L.C. Greenwood did from a 4-3.

There's even the wizard defensive coordinator - Dick LeBeau, the designer of the zone blitz who draws up masterful blueprints much like the Steel Curtain's Bud Carson, the innovator of the Cover-2.

Parity and the salary cap may not allow this Steelers defense to win four Super Bowls, send four players to the Hall of Fame or get pasted across cereal boxes. But if the Steelers beat Arizona in the Super Bowl on Sunday- and they do it by controlling Larry Fitzgerald and Kurt Warner - the accomplishments of this defense almost demand that it be included among the best of the best.

"That defense, whoa, that's the measuring stick," the Cardinals' Karlos Dansby said.

LeBeau, at 71 the NFL's oldest assistant coach, builds defenses that are innovative, adaptive and close-knit - his players actually call him Dad. Linebacker Larry Foote has seen game plans tossed during a brief sideline huddle and LeBeau draw up a brand new approach in seconds.

"We know he'll always come up with something," cornerback Deshea Townsend said.

Despite playing one of the toughest schedules of any Super Bowl finalist in 30 years, the Steelers finished 55 yards away from becoming the first defense since the 1970 NFL merger to allow the fewest yards, rushing yards, passing yards and points in a season.

All this during the NFL's most offense-filled season since 1965, and while the Steelers played a schedule that included 11 teams with .500 records or better.

The Steelers were the only team to give up, on average, fewer than two touchdowns per game. They didn't allow a rusher to gain 100 yards, a passer to throw for 300 or a team to gain more than 323 yards against them - all while opposing Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Tony Romo, Matt Cassel, Philip Rivers, Kerry Collins and Donovan McNabb.

In one game, the Browns completed two passes. In another, the Chargers ran for only 15 yards. The opponents' average of 3.9 yards per play was the lowest of any NFL defense since 1979. Only two of the Steelers' last seven opponents scored more than 10 points, with Dallas managing 13.

No Steelers defense has been as dominating over such a challenging stretch since 1976, when the Steel Curtain had five shutouts while permitting only 28 points over its final nine games.

But that '76 team often isn't mentioned among the franchise's Super Bowl winners of 1974, 1975, 1978 and 1979, even though no NFL defense since has had a remotely comparable run of domination. Why? It didn't win a championship.

"When we started being compared to the great defenses, they brought up the 1978 Rams, and I never heard of that defense because they didn't win the Super Bowl," Foote said. "Teams like the '85 Bears and 2000 Ravens, they won. You've got to win this game if you want to be remembered forever. That's the pressure on us."

These guys aren't one-year wonders, either; the Steelers were No. 1 defensively in 2007 and have been in the top four during three of the last four seasons.

This defense will downplay such talk, but it doesn't want to squander a season's worth of work - and maybe a lifetime of being remembered - by getting lit up by Fitzgerald, Warner and Edgerrin James.

"We do talk about it. We do realize we've put ourselves in a nice position, but we realize it's going to be a sad, sad case unless we win this game," defensive end Brett Keisel said. "If we win it, then we can sit and reflect, sit and see where our position is in history. That's what it all comes down to, winning."

LeBeau asks his players only to play hard, play fast and play with a purpose.

"You'll see us in (training) camp, there's 20 of us in one room together," safety Ryan Clark said. "I think that adds a lot to your team. I think we're probably the only defense before we start the game, in our first huddle, you've got to hug everybody. We say to everybody that we love them."

That type of closeness creates a bond, Clark said, because, "to see one of us mess up, it's probably like the most disappointing look you'll ever see on a grown man's face because we feel like we let somebody down."

"We genuinely love each other," Keisel said. "Ben (Roethlisberger) has talked about being a band of brothers. It's really what it is. We care about each other. We care about each other's families. We know each other's families. We spend time with each other, just like we're a regular family. When you get that kind of chemistry, you've got a special team on your hands."

Special, as in winning. Special, as in closeness. Special, as in no nickname necessary.

Special, as in perhaps being remembered forever.

"Guys that come here from other teams say this is the greatest place in the world just because you can feel the love and feel the continuity between everybody," Keisel said. "Now we've got to finish it. If we can go out and win this game, we have a chance to be remembered in this league as one of the great defenses of all time. Really, that's remarkable."

[Associated Press; By ALAN ROBINSON]

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