The greatest linebacking corps in history

[MightyGiants]

The NFL channel had a special on this.  I understand the top 3 were-

1)  the 80s Saints
2) Pittsburg's Steel curtain of the 70s
3) The Giants with LT, Banks, Carson and Reasons

Maybe I am a homer, but I think that the Giants group is the best in history.  LT is the greatest LB, ever to play the game, and adding Carson and Banks makes them unbeatable.

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[GiantJay]

I watched the show but missed the saints. The steel curtain was probably the best. then LT  and the boys.

The funniest thing on that show was the guy who said hamm was a better LB than LT. HE had to be smoking something. He said that LT was "only a pass rusher" Apparently he didn't watch many Giants games in the 80's.

[MightyGiants]

I watched the show but missed the saints. The steel curtain was probably the best. then LT  and the boys.

The funniest thing on that show was the guy who said hamm was a better LB than LT. HE had to be smoking something. He said that LT was "only a pass rusher" Apparently he didn't watch many Giants games in the 80's.

Jay,

My guess is he only watched the highlight reels so he missed the many other aspects of his game.  I would rate them

1) Giants
2)  Pittsburg (I would not quibble with those that feel these need to be reversed)
3)  Saints

[dasher]

Had to reread the post. You obviously mean the era of the 80's for the Saints not the 1980 season itself where the Saints staggered to a 1W - 15L record.
And don't forget Pepper Johnson to go with LT, Banks, Reasons, and Carson.
Pepper was one of my personal favorites, so that makes me a homer too!

[spiderblue43]

Wow. IMO, the Steelers. Russell, Ham, Lambert. The greatest group in terms of dominance as a unit. The Steelers simply couldn't be scored upon with that group for the most part and won 4 Supes with the enormous help of Joe Greene, LC Greenwood, Dwight Holmes, etc.

[MightyGiants]

Had to reread the post. You obviously mean the era of the 80's for the Saints not the 1980 season itself where the Saints staggered to a 1W - 15L record.
And don't forget Pepper Johnson to go with LT, Banks, Reasons, and Carson.
Pepper was one of my personal favorites, so that makes me a homer too!

Yeah that's right Dasher.  The Saints group would be-

Mills, Swilling, Jackson and Johnson

[Painter]

It's never entirely fair to compare one unit of a defense to another while ignoring the influence of the other seven or eight players such as in the case of the Giants and Saints four man LB corps, or pre-Cowher Steelers' 3 man.

However, while I think that it could be a toss up between those Giants and Steelers units, I can pick the Giants without any hint of embarassment. However, as much as I appreciate the talent of that Saints unit, I have to consider that they never quite got it done. Perhaps, it's unfair to them, but that's the way diddly poo crumbles, sometimes.

The problem inherent in all such comparisons is that in elevating one, it can't help but appear to slightly diminish the others. Of course, the purpose is to engender a bit of harmless controversy, not to trigger some long forgotten bonus clause in those player's contracts.

Cheers!

[retrojint]

Don't forget Bell-Lanier-Lynch of Henry Stram's Chiefs.  2 of those guys are HOFers and Golden Domer Lynch was quite good as well.

Robinson-Nitschke-Caffey  Packers of Lombardi.  Same Deal.  2 HOFers.
Leroy Caffey a bit of a drop but still formidable.


In the era of the 4-3,  the middle linebackers tended to be the glamour guys.  While in the 3-4, the pluggers were undervalued. 

Harry Carson was a guy who made the transition from 4-3 to 3-4 fairly quickly, but it did take him some time.  When the Steelers went to it, Jack Lambert wanted to retire. 

[spiderblue43]

painter,

No slight, of course, to the Jints. No surprise to me when he got to NY. I was there watching the amazing LT at UNC in the late fall of 80 sacking QB Tol Avery, a option mess under Monte Kiffin, then a fun alternative since Bo Rein took his recruiting trip to the next world. LT reset pass protection. The game, of course, but the Steelers are the greatest group. Stats are on their side.

[Big Daddy]

Those comparisons are funny.

It doesn't take into consideration that the steelers had one of, if not the best front 4.

The Giants had a good front 3.

I think the Giants had the best LB crew hands down. Even if it was Banks, Carson and LT with some 4 man Dline.

Nobody does it better.......

[Schwa]

Although I watched football in the 1970's I was too young to understand anything more than first downs and touchdowns.  So, I only have the historians (including many here) and my uncle from Pittsburgh when referencing the great Steelers teams of that era.  So, I guess I can't truly say in my opinion if that group was as good as the Saints and Giants of a decade later.

The Saints corps might be considered better if they had actually won anything after the 16 game season ended.  But, unlike the Giants and Steelers, they had very little help from their secondary, their Defensive line and even less from their offense.

"The Field Mouse"  Sam Mills a Long Branch and Mount Clare State graduate, is with out a doubt one of the best linebackers both on the field and off the NFL has ever seen.

Anyone can look back at stats and totaly miss the reasons why the Giants were the best; with the game on the line one of these four guys almost always came up with a big play when the Giants needed it most e.g. LT stripping Rodger Craig to set up the winning field goal when the 49res already had their bags packed for Tampa.

We could start a thread just recounting these moments.

[joeygiants4]

here are two teams that no one will mention, for many of us forget how good these units were.

1. la rams - jack pardee, marion potios, and I am sorry I can't
 remember his name, but this uint backup the fame fearsome foursome, who could do their thing due to these fine lbs.

2. the packers - nitzske, dave robinson, and leroy caffey.

[GiantJay]

The fearsome foursome was the rams DLINE. Deacon Jones, Merlon Olsen, NY GIANT Rosie Grier and Someone named lundy.

[GiantJay]

I would rate the steel curtain above the 86 Gmen.  Harry Carson was great but without LT the Giants were no where near as good as the steel curtain without any one of their LBS. The Giants are a close second.  I thought the Raiders with Millen and Hendrix were pretty mean too.

But to say Ham is even in LT's class is simply ignorant. The only guy to ever come close to being as good as LT is Ray lewis and in my opinion he does not beat out LT.

[Iamboo]

The top 5 were (if I remember correctly):

1) The 80's Saints - Mills, Swilling, Jackson, Johnson
2) The 70's Steelers - Ham, Lambert, Russell
3) The 80's Giants - Banks, Reasons, Carson, Taylor (honestly, how many of you heard Pat Summerall's voice right now when you read it?)
4) The late 60's Chiefs - Bell, Lynch, and Lanier
5) The 80's Bears - Marshall, Singletary and Wilson

In my opinion, you could rank any one of these units #1 and make a strong case for it.  I personally thought they (NFL Network) would go with the Bears #1, the Steelers #2, and the Giants #3.  I was a little surprised to see the Saints corps listed that high, but they made a compelling case for them.