Which Defense is Better: The Pittsburgh Steelers of the '70s Or of Today?

There are three things certain in life.  Death, taxes, and the Pittsburgh Steelers having a defense that is going to bring it, every play.

But, is the group we currently have,as good as, or, even better than those dominating defense of the '70s?

Now, some will say that the D of the '70s cant even be compared to by this current group.  To them, I disagree.

You can not go position by position, because the '70s team ran a 4-3, and the new breed runs a 3-4.

But take a look at stats.

The Steelers of the '70s (four Super Bowl seasons) vs the Steelers of today (Last two seasons).

The average for the four Super Bowl championship years was;

252 yards per game.  136.7 vs the pass, and 115.3 against the run.

For the Steelers last two seasons;

251.8 yards per game.  166.7 vs the pass, and 85.1 against the run.

Only one time during the dynasty years were the Steelers ranked No. 1 overall.  In 1974.

In the last two seasons, the Steelers finished the season as the top rated D.

The current Steelers have not allowed a single running back to eclipse the 100 yards per game mark.

The Steelers of the 70's averaged 115 per game against the run.

Now, I know that many of you are going to say the rules are different now than they were then.  And I agree.

But the rules have not changed to make it easier on the current defenses, they made them harder.

Pass Interference used to only be called when the receiver got tackled while trying to catch the ball.  There was no five yard bump rule.

Remember when you could take two steps to hit the QB after he threw the ball?  That gets you ejected in today's game.

If anything, this favors the dynasty team more than today.

As hard of a pill as this may be for older Steeler fans to swallow, the "New Breed" of the Pittsburgh Steelers are every bit as good, if not better than those of the Dynasty days.

At the rate we are going, this "New" breed may be in the middle of creating a dynasty of their own.