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Keith Butler: The 3-4 Is ‘Almost Obsolete’

Remember the 3-4 defense? It’s something the Pittsburgh Steelers used to run for a few decades, a change that they made after Joe Greene retired in the early 1980s. It had a good run of about 35 years here, and it see gets its cameo appearance here and there, but as defensive coordinator Keith Butler noted on Thursday, “it’s almost obsolete”.

Butler is, of course, speaking from experience, as he is the signal caller for a defense that has played with five or more defensive backs on the field about 80 percent of the time this season.