Andy Reid, Eagles Wrong About Linebackers, Part IV: The New Century

If you’ve been reading from the beginning, this is the final installment of a rebuttal to Andy Reid and the Philadelphia Eagles’ dismissive view on the linebacker position. If you haven’t been, basically this is just a review of every championship team in the Super Bowl era and seeing if those teams had good linebackers.

So far we covered the 1960s and '70s. Evidence was overwhelming that good linebackers are a key element in winning. We covered the 1980s. The evidence was also conclusive. Yesterday we covered the 1990s, and still, the evidence is conclusive.

Now we head to the 21st century, and if there is any chance to prove that linebackers are now obsolete, it would have to be now. Who is right, Andy Reid or angry Eagles fans?

Baltimore Ravens: 2000

What better way for linebackers to start the new century than on the back of Ray Lewis? Lewis is a legendary player, and one of the greatest of this generation. Not only with his play on the field, but his leadership.

Lewis is a seven-time first-team All-Pro and has been voted to 12 Pro Bowls. On one side of Lewis was pass-rush specialist Peter Boulware. Boulware sacked his way to four Pro Bowls.

On the other side was Jamie Sharper, who may not have gone to a Pro Bowl, but he averaged 108 tackles a season in his eight-year career while piling up 25.5 sacks and recovering 13 fumbles.

The first team of the '00s had linebackers amassing seven first-team All-Pro selections and 16 Pro Bowls. Coach Reid is running out of time to prove his point…

New England Patriots: 2001

One of the true Super Bowl underdogs, before the days of the canonized Tom Brady. This team won with team defense. That defense was led by linebackers like Mike Vrabel and Tedy Bruschi. The fiery Bryan Cox was also among this group.

Vrabel had a first-team All-Pro season to go along with a Pro Bowl appearance. Bruschi had one Pro Bowl, and Cox, who was on the downside of his career, had an All-Pro selection and three Pro Bowls.

Among this scrappy group were two first-team All-Pro seasons and five Pro Bowls.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 2002

The team that broke the hearts of Eagles fans in the last game at Veterans Stadium. Ronde Barber’s touchdown off an interception of a Donovan McNabb pass may be the most memorable play, but Tampa's linebackers made their share of plays.

Outside linebacker Derrick Brooks was one of the preeminent defensive playmakers of the past 20 years. He compiled 25 career interceptions, 24 forced fumbles and scored seven defensive touchdowns in his career. He was also first-team All-Pro five times and an 11-time Pro Bowler.

The Bucs also had Shelton Quarles, who made the Pro Bowl in 2002. You would think after playing this team so often in the first part of the decade, Andy Reid would have liked to have had his own Derrick Brooks.

New England Patriots: 2003-04

In 2001, the Pats came out of nowhere. In 2003-04, they were the team to beat. Bruschi and Vrabel had really come into their own. They were leaders and seemed to always make plays at the most crucial times.

During those two seasons, Bruschi amassed 256 tackles, six interceptions, 5.5 sacks, five forced fumbles and two defensive touchdowns. Vrabel, despite missing eight games, had 15.0 sacks, four forced fumbles and two interceptions.

In their two Super Bowl victories, they combined for 4.0 sacks, Bruschi had an interception, and Vrabel had two touchdown receptions. They also combined for an All-Pro selection and two Pro Bowls.

Pittsburgh Steelers: 2005

The home of the linebacker finally made it back to the promised land. This may not have compared to the Steelers of the '70s, but it was a great group. Pittsburgh’s foursome included Joey Porter and Clark Haggans on the outside and James Farrior and Larry Foote inside.

In the regular season, these four destroyed opposing quarterbacks with 24.5 sacks. In the postseason, they combined for 7.5 sacks and two interceptions in four games.

Porter was a first-team All-Pro and made four Pro Bowls. Farrior was also an All-Pro once and went to two Pro Bowls. The Steelers linebackers totaled two first-team All-Pro selections and six Pro Bowls.

Indianapolis Colts: 2006

After many playoff disappointments, the Colts finally got Peyton Manning a Super Bowl. The defense was frowned upon for years for letting Manning down. This wasn’t the case in 2006.

The Colts did enough to win four postseason games and kept every offense besides Tom Brady’s under 20 points. Only outside linebacker Cato June ever made a Pro Bowl, but along with Gary Brackett, the Colts had a formidable tandem in the middle of the decade.

From 2004-2006, June averaged 118 tackles per season and had a total of 10 interceptions with two touchdowns. Brackett’s run from 2005-2009 saw him total seven interceptions, five forced fumbles and two touchdowns to go along with 116 tackles per season.

New York Giants: 2007

Upsetting the mighty 18-0 Patriots, the Giants defensive line was the real star. They pressured Brady from start to finish. There was a Pro Bowl linebacker on the defense though. He was their leader in the middle, Antonio Pierce.

Joining Pierce on either side was Mathias Kiwanuka and Kawika Mitchell. Despite the fact that they have one Pro Bowl between them, they were productive linebackers.

In Pierce’s five seasons as a starter, he averaged 110 tackles a year and added 7.0 sacks, six interceptions, eight fumble recoveries and two touchdowns. Mitchell also started for five years and posted 12.0 sacks, five interceptions, six fumble recoveries and three touchdowns.

Kiwanuka is the youngest of the group and in 53 career starts he has sacked the quarterback 27 times and forced nine fumbles. Not the most decorated linebacker corps, but they had a nose for the ball and made plays.

Pittsburgh Steelers: 2008

The Steelers came back for more with their sixth Super Bowl championship. Even that doesn’t match their number of great linebackers. It wasn’t the same crew from 2005, but it was more decorated.

James Farrior and Larry Foote were back on the inside. The outside changed, but definitely not for the worse. James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley were manning the flanks. They also had part-time player, Lawrence Timmons inside.

As a unit, they hounded quarterbacks all year with 37.5 sacks in the regular season. In their three postseason games, they added 7.0 sacks, two interceptions and James Harrison’s 100-yard interception returned for a touchdown in the Super Bowl.

This incarnation of Steelers linebackers had three first-team All-Pro selections and seven Pro Bowls.

New Orleans Saints: 2009

The Saints were known for Drew Brees and Reggie Bush more than anything else, but middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma led the defense that stopped Peyton Manning along with free safety Darren Sharper.

The two-time Pro Bowler, Vilma posted 109 tackles with 2.0 sacks and three interceptions in the regular season. He added another sack and interception in the postseason.

In their Super Bowl win, Saints linebackers combined for 18 tackles.

Green Bay Packers: 2010

The Lombardi Trophy made its way back to Green Bay on the shoulders of Aaron Rodgers in the most recent Super Bowl. But they had a devastating defense led by a tenacious and surprisingly young corps of playmaking linebackers.

Second-year player Clay Matthews led a group that averaged just three years of NFL experience. Matthews has made the Pro Bowl in each of his first two seasons and was first-team All-Pro in just his second.

Joining Matthews were A.J. Hawk, Desmond Bishop and Frank Zombo. They joined forces last year for 21.0 quarterback sacks, five interceptions and two touchdowns. In the Super Bowl, they wrestled the game away from the Steelers with a sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

The Conclusion

Over the last 11 Super Bowls, there have been eight champions. Every single one of those champions carried at least one linebacker who made a Pro Bowl. It doesn’t sound like the linebacker went extinct.

The linebackers of championship teams from 2000-2010 combined for 19 first-team All-Pro selections, and 50 Pro Bowls. There are no Hall of Famers. Yet. There will be a few when it is all said and done.

In the entirety of the Super Bowl era, there have been 45 Super Bowls. Forty-one times the winning team had at least one Pro Bowl linebacker. On average, the winning team carried exactly two Pro Bowl-quality linebackers. Ninety in all.

Super Bowl champions over 45 years have carried linebackers totaling 12 Hall of Famers with 98 first-team All-Pro selections and 279 Pro Bowls.

Compare that to the fact that just four teams out of 45 won a Super Bowl without one. The Redskins twice and the Cowboys and Packers once each. A team hasn’t won a championship without a Pro Bowl-caliber linebacker since 1996.

So, is Andy Reid right? Do linebackers matter or not? After looking into the actual facts and history of the game of football, he is wrong. Even Andy Reid can’t outsmart the fact that linebackers play a crucial role.

Linebackers are quarterbacks on defense. They are leaders and they make big plays. History says that no team that wants to win a championship should try to make a run without one.