<P> New Rams head coach Sean McVay hired Wade Phillips as defensive coordinator prior to 2017 . Phillips switched the Rams to the 3 - 4, the first time the team has used it since the early 1990s prior to the franchise's move to St. Louis . </P> <P> The Pittsburgh Steelers have used the 3--4 as their base defense since 1982, the season after Hall of Fame defensive tackle Joe Greene and end L.C. Greenwood retired . In fact, the Steelers were the only NFL team to use the 3--4 defense during the 2001 NFL season, but finished the season as the number one defense in the NFL . It is believed that the Steelers success with the 3--4 defense is the primary reason why many NFL teams have started returning to the formation . </P> <P> The 3--4 defense was originally devised by Bud Wilkinson at the University of Oklahoma in the 1940s . Chuck Fairbanks, who coached the Sooners from 1967--72, learned the defense from Wilkinson and is credited with importing it to the NFL when he became coach of the New England Patriots in 1973 . The 1972 Miami Dolphins were the first team to win a Super Bowl with the 3--4 defense, going undefeated and using number 53, Bob Matheson, as a down lineman or rushing linebacker . When the Oakland Raiders defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XV, it marked the first Super Bowl in which both teams used the 3--4 as their base defense . Also notable, the Big Blue Wrecking Crew, the defensive unit for the 1986 New York Giants who won Super Bowl XXI, was a 3--4 defense and featured all - time great Lawrence Taylor as outside linebacker . By the mid-1990s, only a few teams used a 3--4 defense, most notably the Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Td> "</Td> <Td> The nose tackle and the inside linebackers, those are three guys that are very important . But when you go through it, the nose tackle is probably the single-most important guy . </Td> <Td>" </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="3">--Joe Collier, Denver Broncos assistant (1969--1988), architect of the "Orange Crush Defense". </Td> </Tr> </Table>

What kind of defense do the titans run