SteelerWatch

And then there was One.

A quick glance at the 2006 statistical line of Troy Polamalu shows nothing too significant. 77 tackles, three interceptions, one forced fumble and a sack in 13 games. It’s pretty much par for the course, where he’s concerned. In his first two full seasons as a starter, he averaged 5.9 tackles per game. Last year, he averaged…5.9 tackles per game.

However, if you’ve ever watched other strong safeties in the league, and then watched Polamalu, you immediately see what it is that he brings to the table. He looks like something out of a video game: stops and turns on a dime, runs all over the place before the snap like a player controlled on the screen by some twelve-year-old with a severe case of ADD, and he blitzes when logic tells you he should be covering the pass. And yet, somehow, his instinct for what to do when the ball is snapped is exactly correct an overwhelming majority of the time.

This Samoan Warrior has a way to get in an opposing quarterback’s head — not just to mess with his mind, but to read it. It’s as if “Taz” is controlling the entire game.

And to a certain extent, he is.

Not since Jack Lambert put a nasty face on a stifling Steeler defense has a single player had so much influence on the identity of an entire unit. Ray Lewis is just Ray Lewis. Brian Dawkins is just Brian Dawkins. Demarcus Ware is just Demarcus Ware. But Troy Polamalu is Steeler. He is the key to the group, the focal point for opposing offensive coordinators from Monday through Saturday. They plan situations based on guys like Lewis and Dawkins and Ware. But when the Steelers are the next opponent, the entire game plan absolutely must revolve around knowing where Polamalu is at all times.

And that’s where his magic comes from.

One second he’s lined up behind the nose tackle. The quarterback averts his eyes for one, maybe two, rapid heartbeats. He turns back to find Polamalu and now he’s showing blitz off the right tackle. One Hut! later and now he’s lined up outside the left tackle.

Much in the way Peyton Manning confuses opposing defenses by constantly changing up plays at the line, Troy Polamalu has the same effect on the quarterback. In fact, it was against Manning that he showed the peak of his prowess, as the Steelers completely shut down the Colts’ high-octane offense in the first three quarters of their 2005 Divisional Round playoff victory in Indianapolis. It was due in large part to Polamalu’s constant movement; his reading and re-reading Manning’s very thoughts.

While some look at 2006 as having been an off year for Troy, the numbers say different. Even with a nagging shoulder injury that, at times, kept him from using his arm at all, he managed to have a season that was par for the course, as far as he’s concerned. If his supporting cast improves to their 2004-2005 level, expect a banner year from the Warrior, the leader of not just his defense, but his team.

E sau le fuata ma lona lou.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 20th, 2007 at 9:00 am and is filed under My Opinion, Defense. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.