I think the narrative that Bradshaw was carried by a great defense is common, but the facts don’t really support that argument. After Joe Greene suffered a career-altering neck injury in 1976, and injuries took a big toll on defensive starters, the Steelers morphed from being a team that was winning from dominating defense (1975) to a balanced team (1976) to an offensive juggernaut with a rebuilt D in 1977-80. I saw every snap the team played during that era, and there is no doubt that Bradshaw carried that team from being a great team to being a dynastic championship team. He never would have gotten there without Joe Greene-Mel Blount-Lambert-Ham-Greenwood-Shell, but they win 1 or maybe 2 without Bradshaw elevating the team. Don’t forget that they rivaled for championships with two other juggernauts (Dallas & Oakland) in a division with strong rivals, including a potential champion Houston, that just had the misfortune of playing the Steelers 2 or 3 times per year. Passer rating is never going to show what Bradshaw meant; that era viewed INTs as acceptable setbacks, not much different from how we now view punts today. The TDs were just so damn hard that the risks were worth it, if you could throw it downfield and lead to TDs.

Postseason comparisons, thank you in advance! 😉