Actually, the topper for this is probably wrong. There’s no way Pittsburgh safety Troy Polamalu is under anyone’s radar.
All they had to do was watch Sunday’s AFC Championship Game win over Baltimore. Polamalu made one big play after another, from jumping over the top on short yardage for a crucial fourth-down stop to a late interception and touchdown.
Former Redskins safety Matt Bowen, now a contributor on NationalFootballPost.com, said the Steelers’ scheme enables Polamalu to play differently than most safeties.
That said, Bowen knows there’s something different about the guy.
“You could see at times the way he ran that he was hurting,” Bowen said. “But he was out there being physical. And I don’t think there’s a guy that can read a quarterback better than he can. He always seems to be in the right place and he works within the defense.”
Knowing the talent around him enables him to trust his instincts; others will protect him if he fails. He usually doesn’t.
“Everyone thinks he’s a blitzer, which he is,” Bowen said. “But he’s also good at showing blitz and dropping into coverage and getting his feet set and being an athlete. It sounds easy but there’s an art to it. You can’t drop into no man’s land and make plays. He drops to the right spot and then it comes down to him and he makes the play because he’s Troy. He’s obviously a great student of the game. You can’t play that way without knowing what’s going on on the other side of the field.”
