Since the turn of the century, two Pittsburgh Steelers squads have won a Super Bowl. Only one made Bill Barnwell’s list of the best 25 teams since 2000. Only the 2008 edition appeared on his list and finished closer to the bottom of the rankings than the top. The 2005 team that won one for the thumb? Didn’t make the cut.
In fact, the non-Super Bowl winning 2004 Steelers finished above the ’05 unit on Barnwell’s list. The 2004 team ranked 24th on a list compiled via a mathematical formula and the good ‘ol eyeball test. Barnwell placed the offensive squad in the 67th percentile while the defense rated much higher, landing in the 89th-percent bracket.
“Going 15-1 in the regular season is one thing, but it’s even more impressive considering who the Steelers beat. In midseason, the Steelers stopped the Patriots from extending their 21-game winning streak, beating them by two touchdowns. The following week, they hosted the other team that would eventually compete in the Super Bowl and routed the Eagles 27-3. They ran a little hot, going 6-0 in one-score games, but every team runs a little hot when it goes 15-1.”
The ’04 season was magical and unexpected. Starting QB Tommy Maddox suffered an elbow injury in Week 2, pressing first-round rookie Ben Roethlisberger into action. A situation even Steelers veterans weren’t happy with, Pittsburgh won on the backs of a great defense, steady running game, and backyard quarterback making plays few did in that era.
As Barnwell notes, Pittsburgh didn’t have a cupcake schedule. Back-to-back wins over New England and Philadelphia were A-plus quality victories, contests the Steelers won in convincing fashion. The 2004 squad finished No. 11 in scoring offense and first in scoring defense, allowing just 15.7 points per game.
A storybook regular season found bumps in the playoffs. A win is a win, but the Steelers struggled to beat the New York Jets in the Divisional Round, needing two missed field goals by Doug Brien to keep their chances alive and pull off the victory. In a rematch against the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game, the Steelers were routed, 41-27. Roethlisberger’s rookie magic ran out, throwing three interceptions, and Pittsburgh’s season skidded to a close.
The ’05 team that won a Super Bowl received only an honorable mention on Barnwell’s list. A historic playoff run, the first No. 6 seed to ever win it all, wasn’t enough to make up for an at times lackluster regular season. Pittsburgh went 11-5 but in December, sat on the playoff bubble at 7-5. A red-hot eight-game winning streak through the rest of the regular season and into the playoffs vaulted the Steelers into Super Bowl status, beating the Seattle Seahawks, 21-10, in Super Bowl XL.
The top Steelers squad on Barnwell’s list was the 2008 version, ranking 21st. The offseason received just average rankings but a historically strong defense placed them in the 98th percentile, using that as a catalyst to beat the Arizona Cardinals in one of the most exciting Super Bowls in history.
“This was a spectacularly good defense, with Harrison winning Defensive Player of the Year and Polamalu picking off eight passes (counting the postseason). Among other defense-heavy teams, though, there are those that were about as good on offense and just a tiny bit better on D.”
During the regular season, the Steelers went 12-4 to capture the AFC North crown. The offense finished just 20th in scoring but ramped things up in the playoffs, the Steelers beating the San Diego Chargers, 35-24, in the Divisional Round (a Santonio Holmes punt-return touchdown helped, too). The defense continued to not just keep the score down add to the team’s points, returning interceptions for touchdowns against the Baltimore Ravens and Cardinals. James Harrison’s 100-yard Super Bowl pick-six remains an iconic play.
The 2004, 2005, and 2008 teams have all cracked the top 10 of our greatest seasons in Steelers’ history. As does the 2010 team that appeared in but lost its Super Bowl bid to Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. That Packers team ranked eighth on Barnwell’s list.
To recap, here’s how the Steelers’ notable teams finished.
2010 Steelers – Unranked
2005 Steelers – Unranked (Honorable Mention)
2004 Steelers – 24th
2008 Steelers – 21st
The No. 1 team went to the 2007 New England Patriots despite falling to the New York Giants in the Super Bowl. The other 18 wins were enough to edge out the 2013 Seattle Seahawks and 2004 Patriots.
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