How much is expected of Troy Polamalu?

His return was one of grand preportions, he arrived just in time to cut off that 1st down pass from wide reciever Joshua Cribbs midway through the first quarter and not only did he cut off the intended pass, he decided to catch it too. However as special a play as that seemed after looking through some replays it is nothing compared to what Steeler fans as myself have become accustomed to over the last 6 years now. So with Polamalu's return to the lineup the Steelers racked up win number four on the 2009 season, but Polamalu's return outshined the satisfaction of another win by far due to how quickly he has returned and seemingly returned to form with his 2nd interception of the year in just 2 games. So through 6 weeks of the NFL season and with just 2 games under his belt due to a knee injury suffered in week 1, Troy Polamalu has already shown his worth to this years team in different ways. Without him in weeks 2 and 3 the Steelers vaunted defence surrendered consecutive 4th quarter comebacks with less than 2 minutes to play and even in back to back wins over the Chargers and Lions the defence struggled to hold down both oppositions offence's to the point where it took consecutive great performances from the offence to pull out victories. So although he may have just returned and coach Mike Tomlin has preached patience with his rehab of the injury it seems like just having him in the lineup can be a big boost to team performance and that is something that will make Steeler fans very pleased come February. (www.nfl.com)

Back at it again

The Steelers of old have arrived, well sort of. The last three weeks have once again shown that the steelers have what it takes to win, and it just so happened to be that it was against two consecutive basement dwellers and a team that can't find itself. So how does this three game turnaround really look when you delve deeper into the numbers, do the Steelers deserve a pat on the back for getting things together or as Big Ben said after last sunday's win over the Browns, "We just have to keep reachin' for the ceiling." These last three weeks should serve as more of a relief than a look at a finished product, but it is starting to head in the right direction and now the pressure of starting to win has been lifted, the pressure on the defence however does remain.