BehindtheSteelCurtain continues its offseason history lessons with a look at the 1976 Pittsburgh Steelers defense.
The Steelers finished the '76 season atop the AFC Central standings with a 10-4 record, the same record as the Bengals. 1st place was there's however based on tiebreakers. The team finished the year with the #1 ranked defense in the league.
The Steel Curtain surrendered just 138 points that year, 38 fewer than the next best defense, the Minnesota Vikings'. For comparison's sake, the 2000 Ravens' defense gave up 165 points, and the Bear's best defense in the '80s (1987), gave up 187. Granted, there were only 14 game season in 1976, compared to 16 in '87 and of course 2000, but regardless, on a per-game basis, this defense was better. Simply put, the Steel Curtain was dominant.
Enjoy the following video chronicling the '76 season for the defense, including commentary from Mr. Jack Lambert, who at the time of the video's production, was a Pennsylvania Fish and Game Officer. You better believe there's a few gem quotes from him in there.