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Troy never said they don’t need leadership. A shame you only read what you want to read. He said that they have a strong sense of tradition in Pittsburgh, and that sense brings with it an air of mystique that subtly plays on the work ethic of the players the team brings in.

The Steelers don’t need anyone screaming or jumping around hollering and dancing; they know their jobs and what’s expected of them, and the consequences of not doing that job.

Pittsburgh’s leaders lead by doing, they lead from the front. When ya do that nobody needs a loudmouth stirring up short-term emotional highs that wear off fast.

And YOU don’t sound like you’ve seen many Steelers games if you think otherwise.

SB 40 was a bad game, but you seem to be forgetting the 3 playoff games leading up to it where he played absolutely lights out, completing almost 70% of his passes for 7 TDs and 1 INT.

SB45 saw the defense get absolutely shredded once again, yet somehow the Steelers found themselves with a chance to win on the final drive of the game. The fact that they came back that far was a testament to Ben, again.

The guy made the Pro Bowl in 2007, went for over 4000 yards in 2009 and 2011, and was on pace to have done it in 2011 had it not been for the suspension. Sounds like elite stats to me, and this is with a bad offensive line and a coordinator whose system was enormously flawed — both of which are things most of the “elite” QBs are blessed with. Just wait until you see what he does this year with the right pieces in place.

Meanwhile, TP has never made a single memorable SB play, ever. But judging his entire career on that would be silly, considering all of the huge regular season and playoff games he’s had.

Both players are the biggest single reason for the success over the past 8 years, and if you take away EITHER of them, the Steelers would be still waiting for the “one for the thumb”. If you think otherwise, you’re only fooling yourself.

Poor man’s Ed Reed. flat out.
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Oh yeah- except that Reed isn’t good as a tackler in the open field, makes most of his INT’s as a result of wild QB throws caused by front-7 pressure, laterals INT returns so often that he started losing the ball and/or yardage because of it a couple years ago, is useless in stopping the run(shies away from power-runners 1-on-1), can’t beat blocks in the secondary and is hurt more often than not the last few years.

Reed deserves credit as a fantastic cover-safety who has awesome hands and very good speed, but he can’t do as much as often or as well as Troy Polamalu.

Really, they are apples & oranges, but since they’re both Safety’s in name they are compared constantly despite Reed being more on a CB/FS and Polamalu being more of a SS/CB/LB.

As a Steelers fan I like what Troy does in our defense, but i would be too upset if we had Reed. Both are most likely future HOFers.

But calling Polamalu a “poor man’s Ed Reed” is purely blind fanaticism.

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They are two different types of player. Seems like Troy plays closer to the line of scrimmage. I would take Reed in coverage and Troy’s play closer to the line. Both are great players.

The fact that both arrived in back-to-back years akes it hard to tel if one was more instrumental than the other, but without both players we wouldn’t be the nearly perennial contenders we are now.

Don’t let Ben’s poor showing in his first SB trick you into thinking that he’s not the QB version of TP. Both are magnificent players and we’re lucky to have ‘em.

Oh- and though we do virtually always win with Troy it’s closer to a little bit above .600 without him.

That said, last year the Steelers were putrid by AFC North standards, barely eeeking out a lot of games, getting swept by the Ravens when they usually do the sweeping or split, etc etc and eventually getting knocked out by Tebow.

While I always respect the Steelers and expect that they’ll be in the playoffs . . . I think there is concern for their defense with some turnover and Polamalu in some level of decline.

Polamalu is their defensive engine, alone with Harrison. If they 2 of them aren’t having impact and aren’t leading the team, at least by their actions, their defense becomes far more mortal

Yeah because you were contending for Super Bowls with Tommy Maddox playing Quarterback….get your head out of where the sun doesn’t shine. It’s a QB driven league for everyone and although I’m a Bengals fan you need to give Big Ben all the credit he deserves. That guy is the X-factor for this team week in and week out. You really didn’t start contending for SB’s again until Ben came in as a rookie in 2004. You were 6-10 in 2003.