This is the second best defense of all time...

[rdskns4eva]

Steel Curtain. They got the hardware and longevity to back it up

Hawks - most dominant defensive performance in the history of the Super Bowl, considering the opponent (best offense of all time)

85 Bears - If we're talking single season, they still are number 1. But they dont have the longevity and their Super Bowl opponent was weak as hell.

Ravens - Great defense but they re like the Bears, they had a weak opponent.


The fact that this Hawks team absolutely dismantled the best offense of all time, they get all the respect in the world from me. They are the best defense that I have ever seen, thats for sure.

 

[tmobilchawker79]

Agreed. What about the TB defense the year they won it? Barber, Sapp, Lynch, and Brooks. I don't hear them mentioned with the best...why? Honestly, someone educate me

 

[TheRealDTM]

2002 Tampa should be there but that raiders team they played was awful Manning>>>>>>>Rich Gannon

 

[rdskns4eva]

Agreed. What about the TB defense the year they won it? Barber, Sapp, Lynch, and Brooks. I don't hear them mentioned with the best...why? Honestly, someone educate me

Yea they were great as well - I think the thing for me that brings them down a notch was that Gruden was the coach on that team and he knew EVERYTHING about the raiders. But yea, still gotta give them their props, they we're great as well, but I'd put them after the 4 I mentioned.

 

[HawkRiderFan]

Along with the Gruden factor in 2002, the Bucs also benefited from Raiders centre Barrett Robbins going awol the night before the Super Bowl. IIRC, he was bi-polar went off his meds and took off on a bender. That totally messed up the Raiders too. Imagine waking up Sunday morning and hearing Max Unger was no where to be found.

 

[Riley12]

They mentioned this on the radio today - this defense needs to stay together and possibly repeat to take over the All Time #1 ranking in the history books.

 

[253hawk]

Jean Pierre would have filled in just fine, Denver's defense isn't very exotic.

But Gruden knew the Raiders inside and out, he helped build that team and pretty much gave Callahan the keys to the AFC championship, just like Cowher did with the Steelers and Tomlin.

 

[HawkRiderFan]

I agree they need to do it another year or two for the greatest of all time title. But like Peyton Manning can be considered greatest regular season QB and not in the playoffs, that performance on Sunday might be the best defensive performance in a Super Bowl, based on context. They took the Broncos record setting best offense of all time and made it look like the Jaguars.

 

[theascension]

I poured over the stats and this team and the '85 bears stack up very very closely. I compared every single stat on pro football reference to league averages, the Seahawks were on average 25.6% better than the league (combined averages of all stats) defensively and the '85 bears were 26% better than 85 defenses. The bears were much better at sacks and against the run (although we allowed 4 rushing touchdowns they allowed 6) but we were (of course) incredible against the pass.

In a much more pass prolific NFL we were 100 passing yards BELOW the '85 bears. We were also much better at most stats against the pass. In fact both teams were above average (usually well above) in all stats but only the bears were below average in one spot (Yards per completion). Seahawks as far as I can tell were not below average in any statistical category this year defensively.

Strength of schedule no question goes to the Seahawks which I think gives them the edge. 9th hardest of 32 versus 15th hardest of 28. They also had Tampa Bay in their division who went 2-14 that year and the rest of the division was nothing to write home about.

Now their front 4 was dominant no doubt, but that was in an era where physicality like that was allowed. Also what's never mentioned is they had the 2nd best Offense that year. Being able to quickly execute after great defensive play can greatly intimidate an opponent sooner.

Many of the '85 bears wins were blowouts. We had games we didn't even deserve to win but our defense bailed us out (Rams). We humiliated the Saints TWICE. And we dominated/pummeled the best offense of all time. '85 bears defeated a 9th ranked offense with Tony Easton.

Now it's hard to argue different eras but I'd argue our defense was better and more impressive, despite the fact the '85 bears have the better record. Mainly because of the incredibly tough division and teams we were tested with in a passing era NFL.

With the dismantling of Peyton Manning, Brees and Tom Brady the past 2 years I think we're without a doubt at the very least seeing one of the smartest defenses ever. These guys are football students. With helmet to helmet and other rules favoring offense, intelligence is one of the most important weapons for defenses of the future. We've laid the blueprint.

 

[RichNhansom]

Keep in mind those stats from defenses past were set in large part to completely different rules that made it much harder for offenses to perform and statistically made defenses look better than defenses of today. Doing what this defense did in today's rules is unbelievable and should be mentioned when comparing defenses of the past.

 

[theascension]

Keep in mind those stats from defenses past were set in large part to completely different rules that made it much harder for offenses to perform and statistically made defenses look better than defenses of today. Doing what this defense did in today's rules is unbelievable and should be mentioned when comparing defenses of the past.

Exactly. If we boil it down to one very important stat the '85 bears allowed: 4.8 adjusted yards per play versus a 5.8 league average. The Seahawks also allowed 4.8 ay/p but versus a 6.2 average.

20 more average yards a game defensively in 2013 v.s 1985. The Seahawks were almost 500 yards less than the second best defense allowed this year (carolina). The Bears were only 200 yards better than the Giants in 1985.

The margin of difference defensively of the Seahawks versus the (rest) in 2013 is most impressive to me. If we can get a better run defense next year.. watch out even those comparing our Defense to ancient incomparable records..

 

[SEAHAWKBLITZ]

We'll never know for sure who is really better, because we can never really compare apples to apples. But the bottom line is if your D wins you a title, you get on the list. And if they do it again next year, it becomes undisputed.

 

[Seahawk Mike]

IF and WHEN they repeat next year...then we will know for sure

 

[robohawk]

I think it's fairly obvious the 70s Steelers were the best defense of all time.
85 Bears and 2000 Ravens make a good challenge for single season, but I don't see that they are any better than the Seahawks this year. In a league where 5000 yard seasons have become an annual event, we didn't just dominate, we completely shut down the opponent's passing games.

Look at it this way. Opposing QBs threw for 2752 yards, 16 TDs, and 28 interceptions against us, for a 63.4 passer rating.
The league averages for team QBs were 3768 yards, 25 TDs, 16 interceptions

That's nuts.

 

[Lynch Mob]

Steel Curtain. They got the hardware and longevity to back it up

Hawks - most dominant defensive performance in the history of the Super Bowl, considering the opponent (best offense of all time)

85 Bears - If we're talking single season, they still are number 1. But they dont have the longevity and their Super Bowl opponent was weak as hell.

Ravens - Great defense but they re like the Bears, they had a weak opponent.


The fact that this Hawks team absolutely dismantled the best offense of all time, they get all the respect in the world from me. They are the best defense that I have ever seen, thats for sure.

I'm sorry ol timer but This Seahawks team is the Best Ever. Its a totally different game than it was back in the day. Do you think the steel curtain or the 85 bears could hang with Peyton Manning's WR's or contain Colin Kaepernick, I doubt they played anywhere near the speed the game is played at today. Look at the rules the way they are favoring the offenses and the way seattle still dominated. I would like to see the QB's those old school defenses went up against. You can say the Seahawks have dominated two potential hall of fame QB's in Brees and Manning. So I think the older generation need to respect what this defense did this year it was historic with the rules the way they are today.


If Seattle was able to play with the old school rules I doubt anyone would of put up more than 10 in a game.

 

[justafan]

Steelers and Bears were great but they werent up against a salary cap.Could you imagine if these guys stayed together for 5 or 6 years.

 

[Uncle Si]

Why I love this team's future:

1985 Bears: 1 Superbowl
1986 Giants: 1 Superbowl
2000 Ravens: 1 Superbowl
2002 Bucs: 1 Superbowl

the obvious point is that the NFL's greatest modern defenses only won 1 championship. While salary cap and injuries played a roll, most of these teams were relatively young on the defensive side of the ball (the 85 Bears one of the youngest ever Super Bowl teams, as are the Seahawks).

Why the Seahawks can be (will be) different is the offensive side of the ball. McMahon, an aging Simms replaced by Hostetler, Dilfer, Gannon.... those were the QBs of those teams.

Our youth and energy is served on both sides of the ball, and hopefully for some time. Lynch is the one x factor, as his running back age is like 40. But a young Wilson, Tate, Baldwin, Harvin will be developing into very good to superstar NFL players with one of history's best defenses to back it up.

 

[onanygivensunday]

Keep in mind that the rules of the passing game changed significantly in 2002.

Comparing this Hawks defense to defenses prior to 2002 using stats is not very convincing.

I should add that I clearly remember the '85 Bears season and it's my opinion that this Hawks D is on a par with that of the Bears back then. Both defenses could dominate a game... and did so on the biggest stage of the NFL.

 

[rdskns4eva]

Steel Curtain. They got the hardware and longevity to back it up

Hawks - most dominant defensive performance in the history of the Super Bowl, considering the opponent (best offense of all time)

85 Bears - If we're talking single season, they still are number 1. But they dont have the longevity and their Super Bowl opponent was weak as hell.

Ravens - Great defense but they re like the Bears, they had a weak opponent.


The fact that this Hawks team absolutely dismantled the best offense of all time, they get all the respect in the world from me. They are the best defense that I have ever seen, thats for sure.

I'm sorry ol timer but This Seahawks team is the Best Ever. Its a totally different game than it was back in the day. Do you think the steel curtain or the 85 bears could hang with Peyton Manning's WR's or contain Colin Kaepernick, I doubt they played anywhere near the speed the game is played at today. Look at the rules the way they are favoring the offenses and the way seattle still dominated. I would like to see the QB's those old school defenses went up against. You can say the Seahawks have dominated two potential hall of fame QB's in Brees and Manning. So I think the older generation need to respect what this defense did this year it was historic with the rules the way they are today.


If Seattle was able to play with the old school rules I doubt anyone would of put up more than 10 in a game.

True, but that's like saying do you think Peyton manning could take getting hit 3 to 5 seconds after he threw a pass, or if WR's could take getting mauled 15 yards down field and not getting PI calls. That's why it's hard to gauge against different eras.

Do I think the the 70's Steelers would be able to handle the Kaps and Mannings of 2014, playing under 2014 rules? hell no. But I don't think that Manning, or any team from the last 10 years of Football could play under the rules of football from the 70's or 80's. The rules were so different then. Teams nowadays throw for 5000 yards like it's nothing. you couldn't do that back in the day because the offensive would not get ticky tack PI calls , DB's could maul receivers 20 yards down field and the QB's would not get roughing calls unless it was EXTREMELY egregious. It's one the reasons I don't have as much respect for great offensive of the last 10 years compared to offenses of the 80's or 90's. They have it WAYYYY too easy and the rules are catered to them.

It's about Championships - The Steelers were a defensive Dyansty, 4 for 4 in Super Bowls - that's why people always put the Steel Curtain as the greatest of all time. You can CERTAINLY make the case for the Hawks being the greatest single season D of all time, and you'd get no argument from me. But unless they win multiple super bowls led by Defense, the Steelers are still number 1.

Now, if the Hawks can win a few more, then that's a different story...

 

[Seeker]

Steel curtain played in an era were it was okay to play defense.
LOB are doing this while flags fall like raindrops.