The real Keyser Soze...

I promised recaps on Steeler games, but I seemed to have slipped last week. I was tied up with a couple other things and I wrote a few blogs at that time but I didn’t get to write anything about the Steelers. There was the whole black man as leader of the free world thing that went down.
I’ll say in hindsight that it was crazy to watch that game. I really doubted the Steelers chances until Troy made that play. I called a big defensive play in the second half, I just thought it would happen in the third quarter, like the Woodley fumble last game, or earlier in the fourth. Like they say, defense wins championships.
Joe Unibrow was the difference in the game. I’ve been saying since the Wild Card Round that he’s a rookie quarterback on the road in the playoffs. Everyone has been saying that at this point he’s not a rookie. But where had he played? Miami, where the defense did everything and it was never a game. And Tennessee where the fans will turn on the Titans faster than, well I don’t have an analogy, but it’s damned quick. Tennessee had bad mojo built up from stomping the terrible towel and here’s to Chris Johnson having a slower recovery than Tom Brady, douch bags…
Ben’s TD throw to Santonio was something magical. Avoiding the collapsing pocket then sliding to his left away from a sure sack. Then he chucks a duck, an absolutely horrid pass to the Weed Master, who then scurries for six. There was the drop by Limas Sweed, whose ego was so bruised by the drop that he lay on the field and feigned an injury to the tune of the team losing a time out and costing them a FG at the end of the half. I got shit for it cuz I own a Sweed jersey. (In my defense I bought it out of a truck in October in Hoboken. I think it’s an old Neil O’Donnell jersey with a new name plate.) And I think there was a second left when Ben clocked the ball. We shoulda had a shot at unleashing Jeff Reed’s blow out.
It was an interesting game for the defense. Farrior seemed to be everywhere. Harrison seemed to have been negated, but that just paved the way for my boy Lamarr Woodley. (I asked Pops for the thumbs up on when I can shell out the dough for a Woodley. That was my boy at Michigan and I was hype when the Steelers drafted him.) The interceptions kept Baltimore out of the game and Troy’s play was the game changer.
Which brings me to the debate. Best Safety in the League. Ed Reed vs. Troy Polamalu. I’ll give Ed props for taking the ball to the house most of the time when he gets to touch the ball. Dude is sick like that. The Ravens have a great scheme set up for when they get a turnover, which is basically just set up punt blocking and reverse field on them. And it works more often than not. But Reed can be negated by simply throwing away from him, granted there’s the prospect of a fumble and Ed taking it to the house. But the Steelers have LBs who do that. Troy just happened to be everywhere the other night. The stuff on the QB sneak when he left his feet and still made the stop, was a thing of beauty. There was the open field tackling by Troy, which Reed can do. But Polamalu just seems to have a nose for the ball and he flies around the field sniffing it out.
So to this Steeler fan, there is no debate. Ed Reed is an above average safety and deserving of every accolade he’s ever gotten. But Troy Polamalu is a great safety. He can line up in the box and stuff the run. He can close in the flat and stop a sure third down conversion, forcing a punt. He can line up in the box, then drop into coverage. He’ll read the QB and pick it off…and like that , he was gone…