Off-season: Steelers defensive scheme has become too reliant on Polamalu, Smith

A lot of Steeler fans were upset because they couldn't watch their team play in the playoffs this year. Well, if you watched the Green Bay/Arizona game Sunday night. you actually did watch the Steelers.

On both sides of the ball. In the same game

Two good quarterbacks. Two good receiving corps. Two offenses using the pass. And two awful, awful defenses.

Anyone who wanted to watch the Black and Gold in the playoffs, but saw that game instead., got their wish. That's exactly what a Steeler playoff game would've looked like.

A close game. A blown lead. A comeback. And somewhere between 75-90 total points. Maybe they would've won. Maybe they wouldn't have. But I do know this, watching the defense on a grand stage like the playoffs would've been the equivalent of dental surgery.

The Pittsburgh Steeler defense in 2009 stunk. There is no other way to say it. Quarterbacks such as Bruce Gradkowski, Matt Cassel, and Tyler Thigpen proved that. And the biggest reason the Steeler defense stunk was because Troy Polmalu and Aaron Smith were hurt most of the year.

No, I'm not excusing the guys who did play. Yes, the cornerbacks are awful. Yes, James Farrior is too old. Yes, the likes of James Harrison, Ryan Clark, and Lawrence Timmons regressed in 2009. And no, the back ups for Polamalu and Smith just aren't good enough. But the presence of Polamalu and Smith would've covered up those warts well enough for the Steelers to at least beat the likes of Cleveland, or Oakland, or Kansas City.

And that would've gotten them into the playoffs.

Here is Pittsburgh's biggest problem on defense: They don't have an answer for when #43 &/or #91 are out of the line-up. That stats prove it. They won 3-of-5 with Aaron Smith healthy. They won 4-of-5 in games that Troy Polamalu dressed. Without those two the results were a nightmare. And even some of the games the Steelers won with Polamalu and Smith sidelined were nail biters that didn't have to be because of bad defense (i.e. Miami in week 17).

The bottom line is that the defense has become too reliant on the presence of these two men.