How good is Seattle's defense historically?

[Titleist]

How do y'all think this year's Seattle Seahawks defense compares to the best in NFL history? I started watching NFL football in the early 80s so I can't speak for the 60s or 70s, but I think Seattle's defense ranks around 5th behind (in no particular order):

'85 Bears
'87 Giants
'01 Ravens
'02 Buccaneers

This is based completely off feel and not stats, so don't yell at me if my thoughts are misguided. Feel free to share your thoughts on the defenses that were great prior to my time as a fan.

 

[Teren_Kanan]

Really not sure.. the defense that played in the Superbowl might have been the best I've ever seen. They completely shut down the highest scoring offense of all time.

 

[burmafrd]

Up there but we will not know for a few more years just how good.

 

[JohnnyHopkins]

Hard to gauge, but I do wonder if last night is the tip of the iceberg. That is a young and very talented squad.

 

[JohnnyHopkins]

Really not sure.. the defense that played in the Superbowl might have been the best I've ever seen. They completely shut down the highest scoring offense of all time.

I can understand if Broncos fans do not agree with me, but it was really an amazing display to watch them just demoralize Denver like that. I made a comment to my wife last night that it looked kind of like Alabama playing against a Division II squad.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

Offenses have changed and the rules have been more enforced to allow the offenses to be more productive. So I would rank this defense ahead of the 2000 Ravens. One team that gets neglected in all of this is the 2002 Tampa Bay Bucs. They gave up an astounding 48.3 QB Rating for the year.

Of course, there's the '85 Bears...the measuring stick of good defenses. Seattle had more of a 85 Bears defense, except they felt like they did it more in the defensive backfield. Peyton completed 34 passes, but they really never went for that much until the TD drive. Every time Denver would complete a pass, the receivers would get punished for it and not make much yardage. The 85 Bears were more about blitzing so much and so effectively that the QB couldn't even get the pass off.

So to me this Seattle defense was like a combination of the 85 Bears in their sheer brutality, physicality and speed, but like the 2002 Bucs in that they would allow the QB to pass, but good luck trying to make any meaningful completions.





YR