1970s Steelers vs 1980s 49ERS

[Ness]

Originally Posted by yourfavestoner

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Mike and Kubiak are still disciples of the WCO philosophy. Just because they've revamped their tactics over the years doesn't mean they still don't use a lot of principles of the WCO to incorporate into their offense.

[FUNBUNCHER]

Too much talent on both sides of the ball for me to think either team would have a matchup advantage over the other.
Bradshaw/Stallworth/Swann are gonna make plays against any D. Same for Montana/Solomon/Rice/Taylor/Craig.

The Steelers front 7 would definitely pressure Montana and force him out of the pockei, and I can't see them running the ball all that effectively either.

Same for Franco Harris, I imagine yards on the ground would be hard to come by for Pittsburgh.

For me, it would come down to which unit as a whole is more dominant; the 49ers offense or the Steelers D??

Meaning that if the Steelers won, it would be because of the play of their D, not their admittedly formidable offense.

And if the 49ers won, if would be because of the play of their offense, although their D was highly underrated.

The Steelers best team (IMO 1975, '78 or '79)) against the 49ers best, (pick 'em, '85 or '89) would be one of the greatest games EVER.

In the biggest clutch game ever, I'd have to lean towards the best clutch QB I ever saw, Joe Cool, finding a way to win.

But the Steelers would have to lose in front of my eyes, no way you could seriously bet against those 70s squads.

[7DnBrnc53]

I would take the 70's Steelers in this one, especially if Mel Blount would have pressed Jerry Rice at the line to get him out of rhythm. Not too many teams played the Niner offense physical in the 80's. They played too much zone against them. Besides, Pittsburgh had more talent, and they have the best team that was ever put on a football field. San Fran was good, but they were a bit overrated, like a lot of the 80's and early-90's SB winners that beat on average or finesse AFC teams.

[CJSchneider]

The 49ers would win and although it may be close, the WCO of the 90's 49ers would eventually prevail over the D of the 70's Steelers.

[yourfavestoner]

Originally Posted by CJSchneider

The 49ers would win and although it may be close, the WCO of the 90's 49ers would eventually prevail over the D of the 70's Steelers.

Stop sucking up to Brent.

[Brent]

Originally Posted by yourfavestoner

Stop sucking up to Brent.

I ******* love you guys

[dannyz]

It could come down to who had the better back up players because it would be a hard hitting game.

[Shane P. Hallam]

Didn't they go this type of stuff on ESPN awhile back? I remember seeing it as a kid, but can't find video/evidence anywhere.

[dannyz]

I think it came down to the 72' Dolphins and one of the Steelers teams and the Steelers won.

[njx9]

too many posts to quote, but the patriots run/ran a near literal WCO, with a spread flair to beat the 4-3/3-4 defenses they played. yes, they may have relied on the fact that most teams are too stupid to send more than 3 or 4 guys at a time (thanks giants, for actually attacking them properly, even if it skews my timeline), but i'm not sure how much closer you could've gotten to a 'true' WCO in today's game.

pre-moss, everything in their offense was predicated on short passes/slants.

edited to add: even in hindsight, their offense is based on the short routes by welker et al. corey dillon, laurence 'massive bust you people who swore denver should've taken him' maroney, and antowain smith certainly have never driven any part of that offense.

[RealityCheck]

Like they have a chance against the 00s Patriots.

[Rabscuttle]

People talk about Blount on modern receivers. I would like to see what Lott would have done given a little bit of latitude. I think Swannie would have started his broadcasting career early if he had to deal with an unthrottled version of Lott.