Though the best-case scenario was believed to be October 11, Steelers safety Troy Polamalu says he’s not ruling out a possible return from a sprained MCL on Sunday, against the Chargers.
“It would be nice to play this weekend,” Polamalu said Wednesday, per the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “We’ll see.”
Polamalu has run for the first time since the September 10 injury, when Titans tight end Alge Crumpler fell on Polamalu’s leg after a blocked field goal attempt.
Still, the official word for Wednesday was that Polamalu did not practice.
Regardless of when Polamalu can play, the Steelers need him. Badly.
The Pittsburgh formula is based on building a lead and holding it. Without Polamalu, it hasn’t worked.
With the Ravens at 3-0 and the Bengals at 2-1, the Steelers desperately need to avoid plunging to 1-3. Having Polamalu available would go a long way to keeping that from happening.
Polamalu is not the key problem to the defensive breakdowns. The d-line is getting too old, and there is not enough energy in those legs to get a good solid push toward the qb for 60 minutes any more. Carson Palmer had all day to pick apart the secondary in the 4th quarter on Sunday – zero pressure. Troy can do some blitzing and a little coverage, but in his injured state he is no better really than his replacement Tyrone Carter, who is a pretty good player in his own right.
They went into the season thinking they could get by with a bunch of 30-something’s on the D-line: Casey Hampton, Chris Hoke, Aaron Smith, Travis Kirschke, and Brett Kiesel. Those dudes aren’t getting it done at the end of the game, and its going to kill them as the season goes on if they don’t find a way to get some fresh legs in there.
Their age is definitely showing late in games. They will have to keep the O wide open to offset the problem. That means letting Big Ben call the plays. Bruce Arians is useless!
I agree ItalianArmy Guy, they are wearing out at the end and i hate to say that but it is looking true more and more I think Troy needs to be 100% then he can be more effective, I am afraid if he comes back and he isnt 100% then we could be without him the rest of the season
As much as I’d love to see Troy back in the line-up this week against such an explosive SD offense….it’s not happening.
The only thing this article says is that Troy finally ran for the first time since September 10th, and didn’t snap his leg like a twig. Certainly encouraging, but…
How fast was he running? Fast enough to keep pace with Vincent Jackson? How’s his lateral movement? can he stop and change direction on a dime? Cut back? Do all of the above for 30,40,50 snaps, plus endure all the other physical abuse of an NFL game?
Answer is no. He’s not coming back this week. And with games against the Lions and Browns coming up, it would be smart to keep him out for another two weeks – at the very worst, give him a few situational snaps to ease him back into the game.
We’ll need him at full strength for Minnesota in Week 7.
@ItalianArmyGuy
They did draft Ziggy Hood. I don’t know why he hasn’t seen the field at all.
Palmer and Cutler didn’t beat us by having all day to throw – they beat us by throwing quickly. Doesn’t matter who’s on your d-line, blitzers like Silverback and Woodley aren’t going to get to Palmer when he’s throwing the ball 1.5-2 seconds after the snap.
That’s always been a weakness of LeBeau’s defenses. They need to disguise their blitzes better. Or, here’s a novel idea – make the offense do its job and put up more than 13 or 14 points a game. That way the defense won’t have to worry about protecting a one-score lead in the final minutes every weekend.
Lot of blame to go around for the 1-2 start. A lot of blame.
you are right italian army guy right on the nose, they need to do more substituting on the d-line, why don’t they let ziggy hood play, he’s a good defensive end/tackle on either side.
This objective football fan thinks that Troy should not risk injury by playing this week against the Chargers. For that matter, Roethlisberger and Harrison should get some rest, too.
Squealer fans better hope he comes back soon.
Their team’s “D” looks bad without him.
Too bad he can’t play running back, though…
lol!
Where is Ziggy Hood ? Seems now they should have kept Sonny Harris as well . Nick Eason isnt even dressing and they kept him over Harris . DUMB .
Troy is clearly the best at his position in the NFL, and probably the best overall defensive player, period. So there is going to be a drop off. He’ll be back next week, and the Steelers will go on one of their patented runs and will play deep into the post season.
Ravens? They’re peaking way too early and they can’t beat Pittsburgh when it matters.
Come on guys, this really isn’t news.
YAAAAAWWWWWWWWNNNNN.
I’m gonna lobby hard for old Toothlessberger to be the Madden 2011 cover boy next year.
Then I’ll sit back and watch that famous curse do its number on good old Toothy…
lol!
LOL@the Defense being old.. hahahah OMG I wish only people who know football would respond ..WOW!
This is the same NUMBER ONE Defense who just won the Superbowl a few months ago..lol damn did they age that quick??? Not to mention one of the oldest on the team has been playing AMAZING…FARRIOR!
There are many reasons why the team is struggling..and im hopin yall have been seeing Harrison being double teamed and HELD..on almost every play..Let him go n see what happens…Woodley will soon find his way,and Timmons is just getting back from an injury..Casey got a sack last week,Aaron has been a little quiet too but its early yet. Without Troy does hurt alittle but I dont believe its the reason for the 2 losses..
lmao@Lebeau having weaknesses…get real ..
Im hopin one day I will find some intelligent knowledgeable football fans on this site.. One can only DREAM!
HERE WE GO STEELERS,HERE WE GO!!!
Glad to see Troy is making progress towards coming back. But, I don’t believe for a second that he will be back this week.
If you don’t think that the pass rush is effected by the absence of Troy, you are a complete moron. Troy’s ability to line up in the box and either blitz, drop back into coverage on tight ends/even wide receivers cannot be replicated, especially by Tyrone Carter.
Also (this year/last year) the Steelers offense goes into a shell when they get a lead. Blame the run game, blame Bruce Arians, whatever. But, continual 3-and-outs puts the defense in a terrible position. Last year they were able to bail the Steelers out just about every time. This year they have proven to not be up to the task.
Ben has been on fire in the first half of each game, but the Steelers offense takes their foot off the gas in the second half. It might be time to keep the pressure up late into the 4th quarter. The quick screen passes/wr bubble screens are consistently better than relying the running game to kill the clock.
We beat ourselves you haters. Chicago, 2 missed field goals and interception. Cinncicrappy, bad defense in the fourth quater.
Keep hoping and hating but it ain’t Feburary yet!!
eam147 says:
October 1, 2009 7:58 AM
We beat ourselves you haters. Chicago, 2 missed field goals and interception. Cinncicrappy, bad defense in the fourth quater.
Keep hoping and hating but it ain’t Feburary yet!!
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And the refs gave the Squealers their only win by blowing several call VS Tennessee.
Zittsburgh SHOULD be 0-3…
Hampton’s sack last week was because of a badly missed blocking assignment by the Cincy O-line
Harrison was double-teamed and held all last year as well. I doubt that Harrison is the problem – Tomlin has stated he is getting consistent pressure, and I’m sure the sacks will come
The problem that I see is that the linemen – Aaron Smith, Kirschke, Keisel – appear to be getting no forward push in the 4th quarter. The other posters are right – it’s time to ramp up the playing time for Ziggy Hood exponentially. He may not know all the schemes yet, but at least he can run with a strong motor toward the qb on obvious passing downs
I agree that Troy’s blitzing would help, but you still have to solve the problem of the base defensive line not getting their job done. Also, it may be time to start relieving Farrior with the younger guys like Keyaron Fox – Farrior was beaten badly on the 4th and 10 pass play last week at the end of the game
I will be at the game Sunday night, and only hope to see Troy play if he is darn near 100%. I would rather he ensure this is not a season-long nagging injury because he is the best at his position in the league.
BTW did you all see the link someone posted to steeler-hater’s facebook page? The guy is a real P U S S Y! I LMFAO at him!
The Dline being old had nothing to do with that 4th quarter collapse. None of the 3 of them are ever expected to get sacks. All of the pressure comes from the 4th or 5th guy, usually one of the OLBs. When you only rush 3 guys, who are built around stopping the run and eating up blockers, against 5 on the Oline you cant expect much. The problem with the D is that now that Troy is out, we have changed the way we play late in the game. Our defense played great for 45 minutes and then they abandoned what worked so well. We went into a prevent style defense. All the prevent does is prevent you from winning.
eam147, BAAAHHAAAAHHAAAAA!!! Already with the excuses huh? get a few more ready buddy, you’re gonna need them this year.
@Steeler-Hater
You sure talk a lot of trash for somebody who doesn’t know anything about the game of football. The more i read your comments, the more i’m starting to think this is just someone around my son’s age (9), who is just bashing a team for no reason.
By the way, who’s your team? I guess i shouldn’t have to ask this many times, but you must just be that ashamed. Must be a Gayvens fan.
What calls do you refer to Steeler-hater in the Titan game?
cfuska says:
October 1, 2009 10:22 AM
@Steeler-Hater
You sure talk a lot of trash for somebody who doesn’t know anything about the game of football. The more i read your comments, the more i’m starting to think this is just someone around my son’s age (9), who is just bashing a team for no reason.
By the way, who’s your team? I guess i shouldn’t have to ask this many times, but you must just be that ashamed. Must be a Gayvens fan.
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lol!
Boy, what a sorehead. Hope your kid don’t get that from you.
I know enough about football to know an overrated team when I see one. I also know enough to where I don’t make excuses when a team or its players do or say something stupid.
You Zittsburgh homers do this and I am here to point out that you blind homers need to stop drinking that piss yellow Steeler koolaid and wake up to the fact that you don’t have 53 Jesus Christs and Supermans on this team. Your QB is an overrated jerk-off, your running game is a joke, your kicking game is now suspect, and your defense (although very good) can’t afford to lose starting players and remain as good.
And do I even need to mention Steely McBeam?
As for the NFL I like, here ya go:
http://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Oorang_Indians
lol!
;^P
.
The Steelers HAVE to hold out Troy! After all, the Chargers DID give up Troy for Sammy fricken Davis!
Stupidest
Trade
Ever
@FavreDollarFL….you’re exactly right. It makes absolutely no sense to bring him back if he’s not 100%. Doing that you risk losing him for a lot longer. Which we sure as hell can’t afford.
I do think that Ziggy Hood should be getting more snaps, especially late in these games when fresh legs are needed and teams aren’t really running the ball b/c they are coming from behind.
As for Steeler-hater….if all the guy has on us is to repeatedly bring up a Mascot that lasted for 1 season (if that), which noone in Pittsburgh wanted…or liked, then let him have that. It’s like taking a lollipop away from a 4-year old, they just cry cry cry.
OK, time to come clean. I can’t take it anymore.
Fact is, I have a thing for Big Ben, always have, and it’s only gotten worse since Michael Jackson died.
My shrink says the best thing for me is to get in touch with my feelings and face my sexuality once and for all, so I’m coming out. He convinced me that was a good place to start as it would make good practice for when I confront my parents about it.
Anyway, there it is, and apologies to anyone I may have offended here with my daily outbursts of sub-moronic stupidity.
Admitting there’s a problem is the first step.
I’ll try to do better in the future.
Vox’s Mommy says:
October 1, 2009 3:11 PM
@FavreDollarFL….you’re exactly right. It makes absolutely no sense to bring him back if he’s not 100%. Doing that you risk losing him for a lot longer. Which we sure as hell can’t afford.
I do think that Ziggy Hood should be getting more snaps, especially late in these games when fresh legs are needed and teams aren’t really running the ball b/c they are coming from behind.
As for Steeler-hater….if all the guy has on us is to repeatedly bring up a Mascot that lasted for 1 season (if that), which noone in Pittsburgh wanted…or liked, then let him have that. It’s like taking a lollipop away from a 4-year old, they just cry cry cry.
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You guys have no problem remembering all the great times but you want everyone to forget the biggest embarrassment in franchise history, as if it never happened?
lol!
Not happening. So they got rid of old Steely, eh?
Still got no cheerleaders, though. Guess the Squealers still figures their male fans have no interest in looking at hot ladies dancing around in skimpy outfits, even when the play on the field has stopped…
Polamalu sounds a bit like Michael Jackson in those shampoo commercials. His voice does not match his intensity.
Maybe the Steelers can sign Jeff Garcia. I’m sure there’s always room for another tenor on the team’s glee club…
:^P
.