Steelers’ secondary vows age, injury won’t affect performance

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By Mark Kaboly

The Steelers' defense, including the secondary, has been described as old and slow.

But that description is untrue when it comes to the back half of the Steelers' defense.

Sure, they might be old: Troy Polamalu, Ryan Clark and Ike Taylor are all at least 32. And yes, they are definitely a step or two slower compared to when they were in their prime.

However, the unit that allowed the fewest passing yards in the NFL for the second consecutive season has one important variable: experience.

The Steelers' starting secondary has a NFL-high 37 years of experience, and is second to Houston's new-look secondary, which now includes Ed Reed, in career starts.

This will be the eighth consecutive season Taylor, Clark and Polamalu have played together — the most consecutive seasons of any trio in the league — and with the potential of Cortez Allen, the Steelers' defensive backfield could rival some of the best of the past decade.

“This is one of the most athletic secondaries that I ever played with,” Taylor said. “It goes (Super Bowl winning years of) 2008, 2005 and to be determined with this one. But let me tell you: This one has the potential, and I don't care how old we are. We were No. 1 last year, but we can be even better this year.”

Steelers secondary coach Carnell Lake is thrilled to have seasoned vets like Polamalu, Taylor, Clark and newly acquired William Gay to mix with Allen and rookie Shamarko Thomas. But he is more impressed with what Taylor thinks of the potential of the unit.

“I like that Ike sees it that way,” Lake said. “I am excited about where we are, and especially with having three very seasoned football players like we do.”

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I don't know if it's because July is almost here and we're getting closer to training camp, but I'm starting to get tingles when I read stories like this.

It will be a health issue. Can Troy and Ryan stay healthy. We might as well throw Ike in there too because he has missed some games due to injury the last couple years.Will Thomas be able to step in. He will only have to play better than Ryan Mundy. That shouldn't be to difficult. With Carnell coaching him Gay is not a bad corner. Having said that I still want to see Allen starting.

The young guys are going to have to fill in the gaps. Injuries are part of the NFL, and more importantly they are part of growing old. While I would like to think that we can maintain some healthy aspect to our defense, it is unrealistic to think that these guys can stay healthy all season due to the way they play the game and the injuries they've sustained over the last few years.