The Pittsburgh Steelers are one of the best franchises in the history of the NFL. The organization has a ton of history and it is one of the most consistent teams in all of sports. It is also tied for the most Super Bowl victories with six. Four of those Lombardi Trophies came back during the 1970s when the Steelers had one of the best dynasties in the history of the game. The defense is lauded and the offense is praised from those teams, and those groups often overshadow the two Super Bowl winning teams from the 2000s, even though those championships were more recent.
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Steelers' Mike McCarthy greets Mike Tomlin on the field ahead of Super Bowl XLV.
The Steelers won Super Bowl XL and Super Bowl XLIII in the 2000s, and the group also appeared in Super Bowl XLV at the end of the 2010 NFL season. All three of those teams were known for having a dominant defense, and the defensive unit was the backbone of those teams. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was good, but he hadn't entered his prime quite yet. He still played an important role, and he was clutch on the game-winning drive in Super Bowl XLIII.
A list was recently released of the best teams since the turn of the century, and neither of the Steelers' Super Bowl teams made the cut. This was discussed by former wide receiver TJ Houshmandzadeh on the podcast Speakeasy, and he agreed with the list while disrespecting the Steelers.
"They were a balanced team," Houshmandzadeh said. "Good on offense, good on defense. But they weren't special."
Houshmandzadeh doesn't believe those Steelers teams were anything special, but it takes a special team to win two Super Bowls within a four-year span. That is special, and it's a borderline dynasty. That group also went back to the big game two seasons later.
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Former Bengals wide receiver TJ Houshmandzadeh celebrates a big play during a home game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Houshmandzadeh obviously has a bad taste in his mouth when it comes to the Steelers. They were his rival during his time in the AFC North. He played for the Cincinnati Bengals from 2001 through 2008, and he then played for the Baltimore Ravens in 2010. He was a decent receiver and he made the Pro Bowl in 2007, but his teams were never all that good. He only made the playoffs once during his time with the Bengals, and his team lost to the Steelers in the Wild Card round in 2005. Pittsburgh went on to win Super Bowl XL.
Houshmandzadeh made the postseason twice in his entire career. After Cincinnati, he played one season with the Seattle Seahawks because he wanted to win more games. Seattle went 5-11 that year while Cincinnati went 10-6. The second time he made the postseason was with Baltimore in 2010, and they lost to the Steelers in the Divisional Round. He made the postseason just twice, and both times he was a stepping stone for a non-special Steelers team on their way to a Super Bowl appearance.
Steelers' Defenses Made Those Teams Special
Pittsburgh's defenses are what made those teams mentioned above so special. The talent on that side of the ball for some of those years was immense. Troy Polamalu, James Harrison, Aaron Smith, Casey Hampton, Ryan Clark, Ike Taylor, James Farrior, and more. In 2005 the defense was top five in both points and yards allowed, and in 2008 the defense was number one in both of those categories. That is special stuff. It is hard to say the offense for those teams was anything above average, but the defense made those teams special, and that is something that Houshmandzadeh should be very familiar with.
Those teams may not be a top ten group over the last 25 years, but to say they were not special is a bit of a ridiculous statement when considering the defensive side of the ball.
What do you think about Houshmandzadeh's comments on the Steelers' Super Bowl teams from the 2000s? Let me know on X, @brogannoey!
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