Steelers Wildly Left Off List of Top-10 Teams

Neither of the Pittsburgh Steelers' Super Bowl-winning teams from the 2005 and 2008 seasons cracked FOX Sports' list of the top 10 NFL teams since 2000 from a roster talent perspective.

The teams that made the list were the 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers at No. 1, the 2000 Baltimore Ravens at No. 2, the 2013 Seattle Seahawks at No. 3, the 2026 Los Angeles Rams at No. 4, the 2007 New York Giants at No. 5, the 2007 New England Patriots at No. 6, the 2006 Indianapolis Colts at No. 7, the 2019 Kansas City Chiefs at No. 8, the 2020 Buccaneers at No. 9 and the 2024 Philadelphia Eagles at No. 10.

On the "Speakeasy" podcast, former wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh agreed with the decision to omit the Steelers from those rankings.

"They were a balanced team," Houshmandzadeh said. "Good on offense, good on defense, but they weren't special."

Former linebacker Emmanuel Acho agreed with that sentiment, opining that Pittsburgh wasn't "exceptional" on either offense or defense to the point that it should have earned a spot on that list.

"They weren't exceptional," Acho said. "They were good though... To T.J.'s point, all of these teams have something generational, except for probably the Giants. Bucs, generational defense. Ravens, generational defense. Seahawks, generational defense. Disregarding the Rams, they shouldn't have been there... Patriots, generational offense."

Feb 5, 2006; Detroit, MI, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver (86) Hines Ward is pulled down by Seattle Seahawks safety (28) Michael Coulware and cornerback (31) Kelly Herndon in the third quarter of Super Bowl XL at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports Copyright © 2006 Matthew Emmons | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Did the Steelers Deserve a Top-10 Spot?

The 2005 Steelers didn't necessarily have a "generational" unit before going on their Super Bowl run, ranking 16th in yards (321.8) and ninth in points (24.3) per game on offense.

Their defense was spectacular, allowing the fourth-fewest yards per game (284.0) and tying for the third-fewest points per contest (16.1), but they weren't historical numbers by any stretch.

Pittsburgh obviously had a ton of talent that year with the likes of Ben Roethlisberger, Hines Ward, Willie Parker, Heath Miller, Antwaan Randle El, Alan Faneca and Jerome Bettis in his final season on offense while Casey Hampton, James Farrior, Larry Foote, Joey Porter Sr., Ike Taylor, Deshea Townsend, Troy Polamalu and James Harrison were a part of the defense.

The 2008 team had a lot of the same core pieces with Roethlisberger, Parker, Ward and Miller on offense next to Santonio Holmes.

The defense was once again Pittsburgh's calling card that year, however, as they led the league with both 237.2 yards and 13.9 points allowed per game.

Harrison (who won AP Defensive Player of the Year), Polamalu, Taylor, Townsend, Farrior and Foote were key pieces of that unit, as were Lawrence Timmons, Ryan Clark, Aaron Smith, LaMarr Woodley, Brett Keisel, Bryant McFadden and William Gay.

It feels like the 2008 team has more of a case to be considered a top-10 squad of the 2000s from a talent perspective than the 2005 iteration of the Steelers just based on how dominant their defense was.

They ultimately should've been included for that reason, especially over a team like the 2026 Rams that has yet to play a single game regardless of how impressive their roster is on paper.

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