Now how could we have a category on the best defenses and defenders in NFL history and not include the Pittsburgh Steelers?? As we moved into the 1970’s following the merger, we saw the hashmarks narrowed in 1974 and the goal posts moved to the end line to provide offenses more room to operate. Scoring had been down for much of the first half of the decade and it was thought this additional field to cover would hamper defenses. Especially those with burly MLB types that had limited range tracking sideline to sideline, or defending the pass.
Enter Jack Lambert.
A converted outside linebacker who stood 6’4 and stayed at a playing weight of 220 lbs. the majority of his career. What he brought to the table was the speed to get further back than the Willie Lanier’s and the Dick Butkus’, a prior generation’s middle linebackers who were mainly there to stuff the run. His ability to get past twenty yards in pass defense was the impetus for the Steelers to run what is NOW misnamed the “Tampa 2”.
It started in Pittsburgh because against the run and rushing the passer, Ernie Holmes, Joe Greene, Dwight White, and LC Greenwood were the finest front four of their era….possibly football history. Lambert, along with outside linebackers Andy Russell, and Jack Ham, only needed to clean up against the run and were already a step back ready to clog the middle and flat areas against the slower tight ends of that era. The result??
A defense put together from astute drafting grew into one of menace that powered the Steelers to victories in both Super Bowls IX and X. In Super Bowl IX the Steelers held the Vikings to just 17 yards rushing for the game. A record that stood until Super Bowl XX. They stood tall and defended against a frantic last second effort in Super Bowl X. So strong was the Steeler defense, Coach Chuck Noll ran the ball on 4th and 9 and let the Cowboys have the ball at their own 40 yard line leaving it up to the defense to win the game. While winning a second straight world title they set the Super Bowl record for sacks with 7.
A young team with an unprecedented chance to win a third straight Super Bowl went into the 1976 season with their front four in their prime.With Terry Bradshaw growing up as a quarterback and growing receivers John Stallworth and Lynn Swann with one of history’s finest defense….What would they do for an encore?? Could they threepeat??
Well the Steelers didn’t win that Super Bowl and after falling to the Denver Broncos in 1977, they returned to win Super Bowl’s XIII and XIV. It was the impetus to stop this defense along with the Denver Broncos 1977 performance (18 TDs and 148 points allowed) that made the rules makers make changes for the upcoming 1978 season.
In fact the biggest of these rule changes was to nullify Steeler cornerback Mel Blount. Standing 6’3 and weighing in upwards of 200 lbs. he would manhandle receivers as they tried to run their patterns downfield. This new rule only allowed cornerbacks to only chuck a receiver under 5 yards. From there the receiver could run free untouched where in prior years a receiver could get hit by linebackers or safeties as well if the ball hadn’t been thrown. It’s actually referred to as the “Mel Blount Rule”. Another allowed offensive linemen to extend their arms while pass blocking to nullify Pittsburgh’s pass rush.
The Steelers dominance ended after their 1979 championship. The team had aged yet sent linebackers Lambert and Ham to the Hall of Fame along with two time NFL defensive player of the year Joe Greene. Was this the greatest ever defense?? Were they better than the 1985 Chicago Bears?? The 2000 Baltimore Ravens?? The 1969 Minnesota Vikings?? The 1968 Baltimore Colts?? Lets hear from you…
…and by the way, just to stick it to the rules makers who changed the game on them. The Steelers set the record for a 16 game season with only 195 points given up.
When you talk about the soul of the NFL game, you can’t tell the story of hitting and defensive might without “Night Train” Lane. A Hall of Fame member. In fact one thing you’ll note as we go through this series is the fact that most of these players were bigger than what was customary for playing their respective positions. Standing 6’1 and 195lbs in 1952, Lane was the size of your average linebacker but was platooned at cornerback. In fact he was trying out at receiver and projected to be a tight end hence his wearing the number 81. Yet he was moved to the defensive side of the ball where he went to work.
Lane was one of the hardest hitters of the 1950’s and early 60s where he manhandled smaller receivers and runners. Many of which he tackled around the head using the facemask. Of course these tactics are outlawed today but Lane was the reason for these new rulings. As you will see in this NFL Films short he was savage when he brought down an opponent. He had complete disregard for his body with his reckless play so naturally he didn’t care for his opponent’s.
However one of the differences between Lane and other hard hitting defensive backs in history, he still made plays on the ball. Think about it for a second… When I say envision Jack Tatum you can’t conjure up a single image of his intercepting a pass. In fact Lane’s rookie record of 14 interceptions in a 12 game season is an NFL record that still stands and will never be broken. It has stood for over 60 years and the closest anyone has come to it was Lester Hayes in 1980 with 13, then Everson Walls with 11 in 1981. Those were achieved during the modern 16 game season format.
Lane was the prototype to the modern NFL cornerback in baiting quarterbacks to throw in his area by allowing the receiver to look as though they were open. Then he’d swoop in for the interception. If he was late getting there…well…this is what happened
Dick “Night Train” Lane left us in 2002, yet his spirit of hard hitting football lives on every time you see a defensive back clock a receiver. Yet a clean shot can be delivered with a forearm or a shoulder and not lead with the head. This Hall of Fame talent played 14 seasons, made 7 pro bowls and has his bust in the Pro Football Hall of Fame
One of the greatest defensive backs in NFL history was Ronnie Lott. He carried on the type of physical play that made Jack Tatum feared by receivers in the 1970’s. Lott was drafted out of USC in 1981 by the San Francisco 49ers as a safety, yet had to play out of position as a cornerback his first 5 seasons. He supported the run as fiercely as the pass and made plenty of hits on receivers crossing into his zone. His highlight package contained here have more bone jarring collisions once he was moved back to safety starting in 1986.
A notable point to make about Lott’s aggressive play was how clean it was. You’ll see him close on a receiver and always hit him with a shoulder or forearm and never lead with his helmet. Furthermore he didn’t hit receivers in the head either. As the modern NFL is changing the rules to protect defenseless receivers, Ronnie’s play shows that you can hit these players without it being a cheap shot. There were several times when he came out on the short end of the stick. I can remember once in 1982 when he was knocked cold by powerful Atlanta Falcon RB William Andrews, as he was by the Vikings RB Alan Rice #36 shown here) in the ’87 playoffs.
It’s the will to stick their nose in and take on all comers that make great hitters immortal.
Epilogue: Walking through my favorite part of Newport Beach after my wife and I were just married and going over to Catalina I walked passed this on the way to breakfast.
Ronnie Lott was a collision waiting to happen. Thanks for all the great memories!
When it comes to the soul of the game, we’re talking about hitters, those that epitomized the toughness when you think of NFL football. Without question one of the first, if not the first person who comes to mind is Dick Butkus.
If only Jim Brown had played a few more years. What would the highlights of their collisions look like?? Yikes!! At 6’3 245 lbs, Butkus was the size of most offensive linemen in the 1960s and he used that mass to crush ball carriers. If you love the hitting element of football, you have to love the way he played.
One element of how fiercely he competed had to come from playing on such bad teams. During his 9 year career the Chicago Bears were bottom feeders in the NFL. In 1969 the Bears went 1-13 on a team with he and Gale Sayers who are both Hall of Famers. How bad was the rest of that team? He channeled that rage and frustration and took it out on his opponents. He was to the NFL’s first 50 years what Ray Lewis has been to the last 50 years: The best and hardest hitting linebacker of his era
Once we move into the future and the way football is played now we have to look at the next 50 years. Ray Lewis defined the 50 after Butkus and Hall of Famer Brian Urlacher was the next in Chicago Bears lineage that suited up after 2000. Great player but didnt engender the menace a visceral hitter like Butkus did. The two vids we just watched and you cringed at the hitting of an era gone by.
Dick Butkus was a legendary “Soul of The Game” performer.
The NFL has had several geniuses when it comes to coaches. Yet when it comes to coordinators many have not received their due nor have any made the Pro Football Hall of Fame based on their contributions.
One coach that did receive Hall of Fame consideration was Dick LeBeau (enshrined in 2011 as a player), who as a long time defensive coordinator has been credited (with Dom Capers) for creating the zone blitz in the modern NFL. Yes Pittsburgh became Blitzburgh but the true zone blitz, as a scheme, came from the mind of Fritz Shurmur. Another assistant deserving enshrinement in Canton.
In 1989, Shurmur was the defensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Rams. When the team suffered multiple injuries along the front line, yet had all their linebackers healthy, necessity became the mother of invention. His team employed a 3-4 defense that featured Kevin Greene, who had back to back 16.5 sacks in 1988 and 1989 (thanks Kevin), coming off the corner. Yet going into the wildcard matchup as an underdog, Shurmur decided to go with emphasizing his linebackers over his linemen and came up with a 2 down lineman 5 linebacker set up to confuse Randall Cunningham.
You have to understand that this was Randall Cunningham at the height of his career, in fact the next year 1990 he was labeled “The NFL’s Ultimate Weapon by Spports Illustrated. However in 1989 he was on his way to stardom when he electrified a national audience on a Monday night by shaking off a hit by New York Giant Carl Banks, and throwing a touchdown to TE Jimmie Giles. He was a threat to run for 100 yards in any game. He was John Elway 2.0 and the league was having serious problems in defending against such an athletic talent at QB.
In 1989 he led the Eagles in rushing with 621 yards while throwing for 3,400 yards 23 TDs and only 16 interceptions. The Eagles had won 5 of their final 6 games in 1989 and wanted to make amends in the playoffs for their 1988 playoff Fog Bowl loss in Chicago. Although they lost a toe to toe battle with the defending champion San Francisco 49ers in the regular season, the Eagles believed they could play with anyone and wanted a rematch with Joe Montana and company. But first they had to get through a wild card battle with the Los Angeles Rams, whom they taunted in the papers heading into the game. How would Shurmur defend Randall??
Shurmur opted for speed and confusion. One of the first items for a quarterback to determine is who the Mike (Middle) linebacker is. This is to set not only the blocking schemes but where the focal point to how the offense could attack the defense. Well the Rams shifted into their “Eagle” defense where OLBs Kevin Greene #91, Mel Owens #58, and Mike Wilcher #54 manned the outside with ILBs Larry Kelm #52, and Fred Strickland #53 were supplemented by either Brett Faryniarz #51 or George Bethune #57.
You have to understand the Rams weren’t doing this as a nickel defense, they were doing this on first and second downs also. Strickland would take the role of ‘nose-backer’ sometimes lining up as a nose tackle 1 yard off the ball. Or he would stand up to join the other four linebackers in a stand up position. Strickland wouldn’t give away if he was blitzing or dropping based upon where he would line up as you’ll see in the vids coming up. They played a cat and mouse game as to who was the Mike on most plays.
Along with the outside linebackers taking a page out of Buddy Ryan’s 46 defense and stacking two OLBs over the tight end. The Rams jumped on the Eagles 14-0 in the first quarter forcing Philadelphia to pass. There were plays where Los Angeles would have as many as 4 linebackers lined up on one side of the formation yet only rushed one with a blitzing DB. Along with confusing Cunningham from an alignment standpoint, Shurmur drew up defenses that had DE Mike Piel #95 either dropping or spying.
With an array of blitzes off the corner and so much speed on the field to chase Cunningham once he scrambled, had one of his worse days. The Eagles had little continuity and one of the reason the offense couldn’t adjust was the untimely death of Eagle quarterback coach Doug Scovil just a couple weeks prior to the game. Without his working confidante, Randall and Buddy Ryan’s offense couldn’t adjust as Kevin Greene recorded 2 sacks and hurried him into a 24 of 40 for 238 yards, 1 interception performance and no splash plays whatsoever.
Once the game was over and the Rams danced out of Philadelphia’s Veteran’s Stadium 21-7 winners, the league took notice of Shurmur’s masterpiece. Every other coordinator running a 3-4 during that time employed some of the same tactics Fritz pioneered. At the time it was thought by pundits that they couldn’t employ that gimmicky type of defense against a down hill running team.
In fact their next opponents would be exactly that style of offense and many waited for the Rams to sign a DL during the week, and when they didn’t, knew they’d see the defense again. An underdog for a second consecutive playoff game they traveled to the Meadowlands where Ottis “OJ” Anderson and the New York Giants would run into the belly of the Rams “Eagle” defense. No way could they win a second cold weather road game…right??
In this first vignette, you see the Eagle defense against the Giants on a sweep play. Notice how Shurmur has “nose backer” Strickland #53 off the ball? A concept borrowed from Tom Landry’s defensive tackle position in his Flex Defense, allowing Strickland to use his speed and agility against New York center Bart Oates. Notice Strickland’s heft allowed him to take Oates charge and agility beat him to the point of making the tackle on a play that gained a yard at most.
On this play you recognize the cat and mouse game Shurmur’s defense is playing with Phil Simms. Not only does ‘nose backer’ Fred Strickland #53 line up over center in a 3 point stance, he then stands up to give the Rams 4 standing linebackers from the center to the weak side of the formation. Who’s coming?? Who’s dropping?? Simms is so rattled at this point he overthrows Lionel Emanuel and the boo birds were out in the Meadowlands.
On this play you’ll notice that SS Michael Stewart is up on the line to the strong side yet Shurmur still employed twin outside linebackers to the top of the screen in Mel Owens #58 and Mike Wilcher #54. With the two linebackers up near the line of scrimmage they have to be accounted for by the Giants front line. You’ll notice they engage the OL which kept them from sliding their blocking attention to Kevin Greene who runs over FB Maurice Carthon #44.
Since they were in a 2TE max protection, the only outlet for Simms to throw to as he scrambles to his left is Ottis Anderson #24, yet the aforementioned Owens (who backed off after engaging Giant T Jumbo Elliot) and ILB Larry Kelm were sitting right there. With nowhere to throw the ball, time was up and Greene was right there for the sack. You can clearly see the confusion in the Giants offense. Look at Zeke Mowatt #84 who completely does a 360 and didn’t help Carthon on Greene. Why?? SS Stewart was there to occupy him. Genius
The Rams had been losing 6-0 when the Giants, late in the second quarter, uncharacteristically threw into the teeth of the Eagle defense and an interception set the Rams up to take a 7-6 lead at the half. The biggest play in the game and the turning point that allowed the Rams to upset the Giants 19-13. On this final play DE Mike Piel #95 drops off in the weak flat along with LB Strickland, lined up in 3 point stance in front of Giants guard William Roberts, who also drops.
George Bethune #57, takes over as the ‘nose backer with Brett Faryniarz #51 rushing from the weak-side along with Greene #91 on the strong side. Since Strickland’s first step is forward, Roberts #66 has to honor his charge and not help out LT Jumbo Elliot. He has no one to block!! Greene and Faryniarz’s rush is so strong Simms has to get rid of the ball and Jerry Gray, zoning away from RB Dave Meggett, tips the pass that Michael Stewart intercepts. You also notice that Meggett’s “scat” route was to his right and away from the DE that dropped in the weak flat. Shurmur fielded ONE DL and didn’t rush him!! In a nickel defense?? Think about that for a second…
This was a masterpiece performance by a true NFL genius in Fritz Shurmur. The ’89 Rams fell to the eventual Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship and this defense never got the attention the 46 defense, the Steel Curtain, or the Ravens defense did because they didn’t win it all. Had they beat the 49ers and then the Broncos to win Super Bowl XXIV, this defense would have gone down in history. Yet what is interesting is this defense had it’s prime note taker in Giant defensive coordinator and current Patriot coach Bill Belichick.
How do we know this??
He used the 2 man front 1 year later in Super Bowl XXV to stop the Buffalo Bills to win that trophy. Just last year he used the defense with 5 standing players to force NY Jet QB Mark Sanchez into several interceptions. He used it against Tim Tebow also in both the regular season win and again in the playoffs. What Shurmur started in the 1989 playoffs live on to this day in a few 3-4 defenses. One centerpiece to this defense was Kevin Greene who moved on to the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1993 to help form Blitzburgh. Surely Greene took his playbook with him to Pittsburgh and may have shared some of these principles with Steeler coaches.
EPILOGUE: As for Shurmur, he moved on to become a champion defensive coordinator with the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XXXI with Mike Holmgren. You want to hear about the ties that bind?? From the late 80s into the early 90’s, Mike Holmgren was the offensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers while Fritz Shurmur was his nemesis counterpart within the division for the Rams. Trust us…going into that 1989 NFC Championship it wasn’t a forgone conclusion that the Niners would win.
In fact, in ’89 the Rams won game 2, 13-12 in Candlestick and even though the Rams lost the NFC Championship to SF, they did get a measure of revenge in 1990. In that game the ‘Niners were 10-0 and the Rams were 3-7 when the Rams hammered them 28-17 when the Niners were trying to 3peat. So when Holmgren took the head coaching job in Green Bay he took Fritz Shurmur with him. Shurmur also followed Holmgren to Seattle in 1999.
However he passed away before the season. Yet now as the Cleveland Browns GM, Holmgren hired current head coach Pat Shurmur, who is the nephew of Fritz. Shurmur developed other defenses that we will give mention to in the near future yet this 1989 run with his “Eagle defense” was his masterpiece. Even though he went on to coach a 4-3 in Green Bay, his use and expertise to adapt to personnel turned his 3-4 into a juggernaut that nearly stole an NFL title.
NFL Guru: Defensive coordinator Fritz Shurmur
This article is dedicated to the memories of Leonard Frank “Fritz” Shurmur (July 15, 1932 – August 30, 1999) & Kevin Greene (July 31, 1962 – December 21, 2020)
A couple words on his future Hall of Fame protege’ in Shurmur’s “Eagle Defense”:
Thanks for reading and share the article. Coaches don’t forget to adapt to your personnel instead of forcing your plays down the throat of a group that may not be able to run it.
Having some fun with Fritz’s former players and egging them on for a few stories…
On March 21st 2012, Ron Erhardt passed away. He was a great offensive genius that coached more than 3 decades in the NFL and left his mark with several teams. Rather than have me tell you of his impact on the game, pro football scout Ken Robinson, who knew him, shared his thoughts:
A MOMENT OF SILENCE IN ORDER AS WE LEARN ONE OF THE TRULY GREAT FOOTBALL MEN HAS PASSED AWAY…. RON ERHARDT A True Offensive Genius whose run/pass balanced game plans as led two different NFL teams , one AFC and one NFC to THREE SUPER BOWL APPEARANCES and TWO SUPER BOWL TROPHIES as Offensive Coordinator of the Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Giants has died at age 80….
I had the pleasure to get to know Coach Erhardt over the past 6 years and he was ever so gracious in taking my calls and speaking with me all the while not knowing me personally but yet taking me at my word would on several occasions personally conduct private workouts for free agent players based solely on my recommendation……
WR Jason Geathers and QB Aaron Leak are two who come to mind – all the while knowing that I was quite possibly evaluating these players for CFL recommendation from him and not even NFL….. He is truly one of the throwback coaches of the game – a coach who will be dearly missed but never forgotten …. I for one believe he is strongly deserving of a place in Canton, Ohio as a Pro Football Hall of Fame member…. GOD BLESS YOU Coach Erhardt and the entire Erhardt family … Our prayers and condolences to you all….
Erhardt served as head coach of the New England Patriots for three seasons, from 1979 through 1981, compiling a record of 21-27, and was with the team for a total of eight seasons.His 1980 Patriots team scored 441 points, which was a record that stood until the 2007 team scored 589 points.
During Erhardt’s eight seasons as offensive coordinator, the Giants reached the playoffs five times, won three NFC East titles and two Super Bowls. Phil Simms was the quarterback for the first one over Denver after the 1986 season, and Jeff Hostetler ran the team en route to the second title after Simms broke his left foot late in the 1990 season.
Erhardt won three divisional championships in four seasons with Pittsburgh, including an AFC championship in 1995.He was named offensive coordinator under first-year coach Bill Cowher and newly appointed Player Personnel Director Tom Donahoe. The Steelers bounced back from a 7-9 finish to 11-5 with the first of those three divisional titles
Erhardt’s offense developed Neil O’Donnell from a third round pick in 1991 to one of the better passers in the league by 1995. Under his guidance, the Steelers flourished with a new offensive identity. With running backs Barry Foster and Erric Pegram, the Steelers were a solid running team, but O’Donnell and WR Yancey Thigpen, the team threw the ball as frequently as at any point in Cowher’s regime.
Thanks for reading and share the article. If you would like to make a comment to our contributor Ken Robinson https://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=397899433573042 This is the link to read his original note and you can comment directly.
Now how could we have a category on the best defenses and defenders in NFL history and not include the Pittsburgh Steelers?? As we moved into the 1970’s following the merger, we saw the hashmarks narrowed in 1974 and the goal posts moved to the end line to provide offenses more room to operate. Scoring had been down for much of the first half of the decade and it was thought this additional field to cover would hamper defenses. Especially those with burly MLB types that had limited range tracking sideline to sideline, or defending the pass.
A defense put together from astute drafting grew into one of menace that powered the Steelers to victories in both Super Bowls IX and X. In Super Bowl IX the Steelers held the Vikings to just 17 yards rushing for the game. A record that stood until Super Bowl XX. They stood tall and defended against a frantic last second effort in Super Bowl X. So strong was the Steeler defense, Coach Chuck Noll ran the ball on 4th and 9 and let the Cowboys have the ball at their own 40 yard line leaving it up to the defense to win the game. While winning a second straight world title they set the Super Bowl record for sacks with 7.
Dick Butkus was a legendary “Soul of The Game” performer.
One coach that did receive Hall of Fame consideration was Dick LeBeau (enshrined in 2011 as a player), who as a long time defensive coordinator has been credited (with Dom Capers) for creating the zone blitz in the modern NFL. Yes Pittsburgh became Blitzburgh but the true zone blitz, as a scheme, came from the mind of Fritz Shurmur. Another assistant deserving enshrinement in Canton.
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