[font=Comic Sans Ms]There are alterations all around them, yet nothing has changed for the old-reliable Steelers’ defensive regulars. They don’t expect to be good, they expect to be the best. And they certainly anticipate being better than last season, when they were No. 1 statistically in the NFL.
“We are striving to be legendary,” safety Ryan Clark said of the defense’s not-immodest expectations.
They still have an age-old problem; with an average age of 30, they could be the NFL’s oldest defense. They might start the season in less than two weeks without injured outside linebacker James Harrison, the disruptive pass rusher whose edginess not just personifies the Steelers but energizes them.
They also are without James Farrior, the longtime captain whose retirement has stripped them of some of their character, continuity and cohesiveness.
Regardless, the Steelers still believe in coach Mike Tomlin’s oft-repeated mantra: The standard is the standard. And for the Steelers’ defense, that is being the NFL’s gold standard, no matter the season or the personnel.
[font=Comic Sans Ms]“We could run the same defense 10 times and change positions and make it 10 different defenses to a quarterback,” Polamalu said.
This defense’s development is being overlooked in part due to all the scrutiny of new coordinator Todd Haley’s offense. But defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau is designing some new gimmicks too, his players say, even as outside linebacker Chris Carter, nose tackle Steve McLendon, cornerback Keenan Lewis and nickel back Cortez Allen all see their roles expand greatly.
“Where we’ve gotten better is the Ziggy Hoods, the Steve McLendons and these guys picking up their play and putting more pressure on the quarterback and making plays,” Clark said. “I think the youth movement has helped us.”
While this unmistakably LeBeau defense might not have as many options strategically due to so many new players possibly being on the field, Polamalu believes it could wind up being an upgrade over last season’s top-ranked unit.
“The only thing that really limits us in how we prepare for a game is definitely not age, or slowness,” Polamalu said. “We’re limited only by what we as a defense can understand. … Guys like Cortez, Steve and Chris Carter don’t understand the defense on the level of the guys who played it before them. The more and more they’re able to develop, the more and more we’re able to expand our defense. And we can be as good as we’ve ever been as long as we can communicate well and play cohesively.”
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