The 1978 Pittsburgh Steelers Re-Establish Championship Dominance
The Steelers were a combined 22-5-1 in the 1974-75 regular seasons. That slipped to 19-9 over the next two years. Injuries cost them a chance to three-peat in ’76, and then the ’77 season saw a 9-5 year end with a playoff loss in the divisional round to the Denver Broncos.
In the NFL of today, with its top-to-bottom parity, this sort of decline would be barely a blip on the radar screen. But in the more top-heavy environment of the late 1970s, this left the 1978 Steeler team needing to re-establish its dominance.