In the history of pro football no position calls for hitting like Middle Linebacker. Whether facing the line of scrimmage and scraping to meet a runner, taking then shedding the Center, or defeating a Fullback. Jack Lambert of the Pittsburgh Steelers was a different breed drafted in 1974 to patrol in a different game. Against the run nothing had changed but against the pass, the NFL had just narrowed the hash marks necessitating the need for MLB’s to cover more space against the pass.
Backing behind the Steel Curtain allowed Lambert to “clean-up” runners held up at the line of scrimmage. He was an aggressive tackler and a ferocious hitter. In what has blasphemously become known as the “Tampa 2 Defense” is nothing but what the Steelers did with Lambert dropping him deep between 2 safeties. This caused many downfield collisions.
Lambert’s aggressive playing style meshed with the front four to anchor one of the best defenses in NFL history. Although there wee other great players, Lambert tied it all together patrolling the middle.
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Hear, hear! Lambert was the missing piece in Bud Carson’s Cover 2 puzzle. Two books really demonstrate Lambert’s incredible contribution, particularly his ability to drop back into coverage (remember that Super Bowl XIV interception in the fourth quarter?): Ron Jaworski’s “The Games that Changed the Game,” and Gary Pomerantz’s “Their Life’s Work.” Lambert is on the NFL’s Mount Rushmore without a doubt!
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.I was going to bring up that Super Bowl XV interception. Nice call
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