The Pittsburgh Steelers and Chicago Bears meet without their biggest stars on defense, but don’t tell them the hits will be fewer and lighter at Soldier Field today in round two of the NFL.
Chicago linebacker Brian Urlacher is out for the rest of the year, and Pittsburgh safety Troy Polamalu is out for the rest of this month. The rest of the Bears and Steelers are about to find out just how deep their rosters are.
Urlacher underwent season-ending surgery this week after dislocating his right wrist in the season-opening 21-15 loss at Green Bay. Polamalu sprained his left knee in the 13-10 overtime victory over Tennessee.
While replacing an All-Pro such as Polamalu is problematic, the Steelers have done it before and survived. They have so many playmakers on defense — maybe not as spectacular as Polamalu, but plenty dangerous — that they are better suited to filling holes than most other teams. Even a chasm this deep.
“We’ve lost a good player for a few weeks, but the guy behind him is going to step up and do an excellent job as well,” outside linebacker LaMarr Woodley said. That would be 10-year veteran Tyrone Carter.
While Hunter Hillenmeyer will fill in for Urlacher, the Bears are a little less intimidating without their six-time Pro Bowler.
In 2004, Urlacher missed seven games with a variety of injuries, and the Bears lost them all.
“It’s a big blow,” Pro Bowl linebacker Lance Briggs said. “It’s one of those things where he’s a guy who makes all the adjustments. He’s the signal-caller, the quarterback for our defense.”
Pittsburgh has won only once in 12 visits to Soldier Field, but the last visit was in 1995, when the Steelers emerged as the victors.
The Baltimore Ravens surprised last week when they were among the NFL’s most dominant teams — on offense. Where did that come from? Well, from rapidly maturing quarterback Joe Flacco, the three-headed running back combination, and surprisingly effective receivers, particularly wideout Mark Clayton and tight end Todd Heap.
They travel to the San Diego Chargers, who went to the limit to beat the Oakland Raiders, and it cost them star running back LaDainian Tomlinson with a sprained right ankle. He will miss just the second game of his brilliant career due to injury.
The billion-dollar Cowboys Stadium make its true debut on Sunday, and who better to provide the opposition than one of Dallas’ top rivals, the New York Giants. The focus will be as much on the stadium and all its accouterments as the players on the field.
One player who likely won’t be on the field is Giants cornerback Aaron Ross (hamstring), which could be decisive because Cowboys passer Tony Romo and his receivers seem revved up. Then again, can the Cowboys shut down New York’s powerhouse running game?
Also today, it’s New England at the New York Jets; Arizona at Jacksonville; Seattle at San Francisco; Minnesota at Detroit; Houston at Tennessee; Carolina at Atlanta; Cincinnati at Green Bay; Oakland at Kansas City; Cleveland at Denver; Tampa Bay at Buffalo; and St Louis at Washington.
The Monday game has Indianapolis at Miami.
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