If you’re familiar at all with the 1970’s Pittsburgh Steelers dynasty, the words ‘defense’ and ’Steelers’ probably go hand-in-hand. Even after members of the famed Steel Curtain hung up their cleats, Pittsburgh had many exceptional defensive years, most notably through the 1990’s and early 2000’s.
Once Ben Roethlisberger became established as one of the league’s best quarterbacks, the Steelers made the transition from a defensive team to an offensive one. These teams were successful and fun to watch, but the term ‘offense wins games but defense wins championships’ rang true. Roethlisberger’s early years with an elite defense brought him two Super Bowl victories, but even though he was part of many talented offenses later on, he wasn’t able to win any more rings.