For the current crop of Pittsburgh Steelers linebackers, there can be no higher compliment. As he roamed the lobby of the team hotel in Pittsburgh on Saturday night, former all-pro skull crusher Greg Lloyd was asked to sum up the team's latest band of linebackers. The leader of the Steelers D from 1988-97 and always a man of few (sometimes choice) words, Lloyd said it all in just four syllables:

"Nothing has changed."

Pittsburgh has always been a franchise steeped in linebacker lore. In the last 30 years the Steelers have sent 39 LBs to the Pro Bowl and two (Steel Curtain stalwarts Jack Lambert and Jack Ham) to the Hall of Fame. You might say that linebackers in this town are a lot like Iron City beer -- nothing fancy, but always good enough to knock you on your ass.

"Linebackers and their toughness have always been a part of the fabric of this team and the fabric of this city," Steelers owner Dan Rooney told me after his team had battered and bullied Baltimore. Soft-spoken and wearing a Steelers parka over his nondescript brown suit, Rooney talked about a unit that is a reflection of his character: pure power and pride without an ounce of shtick. "This current group of linebackers is looking pretty good right now. I’d say they look like they should be added to the list."

Led from left to right by two-time Pro Bowler Jason Gildon, the team's leading tackler Earl Holmes, NFL rookie defensive player of the year Kendrell Bell and all-pro Joey Porter, the Steelers finished the season ranked first in the NFL in yards allowed, run-stuffing and sacks. This squad held the Ravens to 22 yards rushing and a 26.1 passer rating. Baltimore tight end Shannon Sharpe said it was the best defense he's ever faced -- and for a guy who always says a lot, that's saying a lot.

"I was having flashbacks to [the Steelers' last Super Bowl in] 1995," said safety Lee Flowers, a seven-year vet. "When Jerome Bettis went down, I saw a sparkle in the defense's eye because we had to step up and dominate and we knew we were up for the task."

Lloyd, Ham and seven-time Pro Bowl 'backer Andy Russell were in town this past weekend as if to symbolically pass the torch from the Steel Curtain to the 60 Minute Men to this group ... the ... the ... Steel Drapes? The Ketchup Killers? The Heinz Land Mines? The One-for-the-Thumb Chums? (Lame. Lame and lamer. Okay, okay, so I need a little help with this one.)

Before kickoff on Sunday Lloyd talked to the 21-year-old Bell, who admitted to being a little awestruck. "He's bigger than I thought," said Bell. "A lot bigger."

Yeah, Kendrell, tell me about it.

Once, after I concluded an interview with the occasionally freakazoid Lloyd, he screamed that he was gonna hunt me down like a "DIRTY, DIRTY DOG!" Then there was the time several years ago while interviewing Kevin Greene in the basement of his home in Alabama, when the former Pittsburgh sackmaster asked me if I had voted for him for the Pro Bowl -- while pointing an assault rifle (albeit unloaded) at my groin.

"I'm not the kind to get too hyped up about meeting people," said Bell as he neatly folded his Terrible Towel after the game. "But Greg Lloyd was the No. 1 guy I wanted to meet. Subconsciously when you play for this team you think about all the great players who came before you at this position and you think, 'Damn, I have a chance to be like them.' You see those guys on the sidelines and you kinda want to show off for them."

Which is exactly what they did.

Porter started (and, in essence ended) Sunday's game with an acrobatic move over a blocker and into Elvis Grbac's face that you could only describe as a somer-assualt. Bell, who has the speed of Greene, the strength of former Steeler Pro Bowl 'buck' 'backer Levon Kirkland and the mean streak of Lloyd, made Baltimore blocker Kipp Vickers look like he was playing in Docksiders. Gildon also added a sack. And before leaving with a knee injury, Holmes forced a fumble.

Certainly, a lot of the credit for the current linebacker corps has to go to Pittsburgh's director of football ops Kevin Colbert, who traded up for Bell and has continued the team's tradition of finding tweeners and defensive ends (like Gildon) in college and developing them as linebackers in the 3-4. "The common denominator in all of this team's linebackers is that they're all playmakers," says Steeler linebacker coach Mike Archer. "That's just what is expected of you as a linebacker when you put on the black and gold."

Now, listen, I'm well aware that Patriots QB Tom Brady is on such a roll the league seems to be re-writing its rulebook to accommodate him, and that containing New England bulldozer Antowain Smith will be the Steelers' biggest test of the year. But certainly while watching the Steelers turn the defending Super Bowl champs into tomato paste at Heinz Field, everyone in Beantown must have been thinking the same thing as me: This is how good the Steelers are without Jerome Bettis? Gulp. How long till the Sox pitchers and catcher report?

"We're moving on," Flowers insisted, "and we aren't gonna stop 'till the ultimate goal is met."

I may be getting a bit ahead of myself here (that's my job, of course) but so far this season physical defenses that can cause chaos for a quarterback (the very definition of the Steelers' 3-4 D) have been the only thing able to slow down the Rams' O. What's more, in order to protect Kurt Warner's tender ribs, the Rams would have to temper their attack in order to keep an extra man in the pocket to account for the Steelers' four heat-seeking LBs. Because, let's face it, as great as he is, you put Kurt Warner on his backside a few times and he tends to go from MVP to MIA.

It would be quite a clash, no? (Although, no matter who makes it I still get a week in New Orleans on an expense account -- so I win either way.)

A few hours after Sunday's game, QB Kordell Stewart was dressed to the nines and making his way out of the team's locker room, moving with the same speed and precision as he does on some of his scrambles. Suddenly, though, he stopped and backpedaled a bit so he could give Porter a hug and a pat on the back.

Stewart's such a smart guy. He's having a great season, yes, but he knows exactly why the Steelers are on the doorstep of yet another Super Bowl. It's just like Lloyd laid it out. This has always been a steel town with the richest tradition of linebackers in football.

And absolutely nothing has changed.

David Fleming is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at flemfile@aol.com.