Troy Polamalu: Troy was easily the best Steelers defensive player for this mini dynasty and probably the only Hall of Famer. The only debate about him not being a first ballot is going to come from douche bags like Rich Goeslin who out of spite because he's the Cowboys beat writer and has a vote and quite frankly, doesn't want more Steelers than Cowboys in the Hall of Fame.
The Situation:
Troy marked the first time in Steelers history they traded up in the draft. They were coming off the worst pass defense performance in recent memory, at least since the horrific 1986 secondary which led us having the opportunity to draft Rod Woodson. The secondary was in such dire need that the front office had agreed to terms with Super Bowl MVP Dexter Jackson, which would have been a disaster, but instead of signing, he got a call that the Cardinals made the financial offer he wanted and he ducked out of the facility without even facing the team representatives . That is inexcusable and I am thankful he turned us down!
Troy's career snapshot:
Troy was a play-maker -- pure and simple. What he did on the football field were feats that no one has ever done before nor will likely to be seen done again. Who the heck times snap counts via instinct? He would blow up plays from out of nowhere. He struggled as a rookie because as Bill Cowher put it, they attempted to put too much on him instead of letting him master certain concepts first. On a defense that just simply was dominant over a prolonged period of time and it was really a perfect scenario; if Troy played in a traditional cover-2 instead of the free reign that he had (and had earned) and it took a certain type of Free Safety to play with him so that he could play with that free reign. There are some who say that Troy's statistics aren't as good as an Ed Reed or Brian Dawkins and they are right, they aren't as good. But the game isn't played on paper and Troy didn't just make interceptions, he changed the outcomes of games when he made plays. When it comes to all time Steelers greats on Defense, you'll see names ahead of him named Greene and Woodson -- one can make an argument that he's ahead of names like Lambert, Ham, Stautner and Blount. Either way you look at it, it's splitting hairs as he is an all time great.
The FSF Legacy Take on Troy Polamalu
When I think of what Troy and his career as a Steeler, the things that stand out to me
The question of who is better, Ed Reed or Troy Polamalu: It's like comparing a LB to a DE, you can't do it. They played totally different games and impacted in totally different ways. And the way I see it, they revolutionized the Free Safety and Strong Safety positions similar to how Lawrence Taylor influenced the OLB position -- where prior to LT the OLB was not a pass rusher, now it is. Reed played that center field better than anyone else in history and his INTs and ball hawking proved that, but the two were not interchangeable. Troy would roam, he would read the QB and change the defense to (much to the chagrin of Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin at times). Tom Brady took advantage of that in the 2004 AFC Championship game I;m sorry to say. So Troy got burned quite a bit because of his risk taking nature, leading many layman to say he was over rated in coverage. Anyone saying that is just a Steelers hater.
Nonetheless if you were to ask me which player I would rather have, the non biased answer would be predicated on the defensive system we're using. But in a vacuum I would say Troy Polamalu because I think we'll see a ball hawking Fee Safety with a lot of INTs; but I don't think we'll ever see anyone do what Troy did on the football field ever again and remember, as good as the defense was -- that team was 100% different with him in line up vs. not.
- Ed Reed: 9 Pro Bowls and 5 All Pros; 64 INTs, 6 sacks, 9 total defensive TDs -- 2004 DPOY
- Troy Polamalu: 8 Pro Bowls and 4 All Pros; 32 INTs, 12 sacks, 5 total defensive TDs* officials did wrongly take one away in San Diego game 2008 -- 2010 DPOY
Troy Polamalu truly was the difference maker in 5 games in 2010, far more than the stat sheet shows -- they almost certainly would have lost 1 or more of these games without his difference at the margin and getting that 2nd seed.
- Week 1 vs. Atlanta Falcons: Dennis Dixon took back to back sacks late in the 4th and tied at 9-9. The Falcons had a perfect opportunity with good field position to get a game winning FG, and Matt Ryan made one throw -- Troy flew in front and got the INT. Although Reed missed the FG, the momentum the Falcons had after the sacks were gone. The Steelers won in OT when Mendenhall finally broke a long TD after struggling on offense all day
- Week 2 vs. Tennessee Titans: The Steelers struggling offense got an early TD off a brilliant opening kickoff reverse to a kid named Antonio Brown. Chris Johnson was a machine at RB with 12 straight 100 yard games, Troy ruined a Titans Red Zone opportunity with an INT in the end zone (foiling at minimum a FG attempt and delayed the final furious rally with his perfectly timed dive over center to tackle Collins -- although the Titans still scored to come within a TD, the lost time on the clock was crucial when they recovered the onside kick
- Week 11 vs. Buffalo Bills: In a game that had no business being close (Steve Johnson dropped a wide open TD). Troy came up with a critical INT once again in the red zone with 3 minutes left in in the 4th quarter on the Steelers 12, at the minimum it was a FG attempt on an OT game. In the first quarter also, James Harrison forced a fumble on Lee Evans at the Steelers 31 that Troy recovered (give him a break, he couldn't do EVERYTHING).
- Week 12 vs. Baltimore Ravens: It was the biggest game of the season for both teams and it arguably put the Steelers in the Super Bowl just as much as the 2008 pick 6 when the Ravens had a 10-6 lead with 3:22 left. Troy lined came up to the line of scrimmage and Flacco checked him, but when Flacco turned his head Troy relocated and went behind Woodley. Flacco lost sight of #43 and in probably Troy's second greatest play, he tomahawk chopped Flacco, forcing the fumble that Woodley recovered and Ben finished with a TD on a most improbable come from behind win.
- Week 13 vs. Cincinnati Bengals: The offense was struggling again -- recurring theme in 2010 and in the ultimate win/lose play of the year, Troy intercepted Palmer and took it back 45 yards for the TD that began to separate the Steelers from the Bengals -- ultimately the Steelers lost in the long run as Troy injured his Achilles and would not be the same the rest of the year, even though he did get another INT that ended up resulting in a FG.
That Achilles injury cost the Steelers Super Bowl XLV -- Troy was playing the best football of his career, but it was obvious after that injury he was 75%.....at best. Polamalu was simply the difference maker.a 100% Troy in the Super Bowl vs. the Packers and he's capable of making any play at any time, setting up a TD or preventing one. The Steelers were that close from having two dynasties in the Super Bowl era
Troy Polamalu's greatest moments and more:
- 2008 AFC Championship Game: He sealed the Steelers onto the road for Lombardi #6. Simple as it gets.
- 2010 vs. Baltimore Ravens: The tomahawk strip sack won the division and the #2 seed, put the team in position to get to Super Bowl XLV.
- 2005 vs. Indianapolis Colts Divisional Round: We all know of the overturned INT (probably should have been taken in for a score if he didn't knock it out of his own hands. But even after when the Colts got the ball back just before the fumble and the tackle by Ben, we got to Peyton Manning for several sacks. Watch it again if you have the DVD of the game and watch how when Troy approached the line of scrimmage, the Colts OL went into complete disarray and had no idea how to account for blocking him. Next thing you know, Two Colts were blocking Troy and Joey Porter was making a line straight for Manning
- 2005 AFC Championship: Steelers are dominating the game at 24-3 and deep in their own territory on a 3rd and 10 from their own 3 yard line, Plummer completes a screen pass to Mike Anderson to get a little room to punt. The play results in -2 yards, darn near a safety as it is the first (and not the last) that I recall Troy making that play from out of nowhere -- anticipating it and making the tackle at full speed. It's a play that becomes routine for him that is not routine for anyone else.
- 2004: Troy has his first pick 6 of his career, a spectacular interception return where he made half the Bengals miss and one of them isn't Carson Palmer -- he doesn't miss, he's standing at the goal line as Troy runs him right over for a TD. Troy would have 5 interceptions in his 2nd season
Troy's first season as a Starter -- difference from 2003 to 2004 --- no wonder they went 15-1
- Total defense improves from 9th overall to 1st overall
- Scoring defense improves from 15th overall to 1st overall
- Rushing defense improves from 12th overall to 1st overall
- Pass defense improves from 11th overall to 4th overall.
The ultimate legacy and the 1 forgotten game that started it all
It's impossible to put into words the real impact of the greatness of the Steelers Defense starting in 2004 and running through Troy's best years -- a video tribute would be far more effective because the impact and visual of what he did made even the casual fan notice with the hair flowing. Even fans of other teams can find things to say about Troy with any legitimacy -- of course there are trolls and everyone knows who they are, jealous being top of list. Ultimately Polamalu went from hopeful pick to star in 2004, from star to potential Hall of Fame by 2005, to definite Hall of Fame in 2008 and first Ballot by 2010 -- he is among the top 3 Steelers DBs of all time along with Woodson and Blount; meaning so much to the organization that they simply did not want to release him, they wanted him to retire in the Black and Gold so that #43 would one day be retired -- it certainly won't be worn by anyone else.
But digest this regular season morsel.
- 2004 in the game vs. Miami after the hurricane when Ben Roethlisberger got his first start and win throwing his first TD pass as a starter and Troy had his first interception in the same game -- That was the start of the 2004-2011 mini-dynasty with the 2 best players of this generation of Pittsburgh Steelers and the two most likely 1st ballot Hall of Famers
I actually cannot!!!!
