Losing Polamalu Or Urlacher: Which Loss Will Lead To More Losses?

(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

During week one preparations, every NFL team sits back and assesses the casualties of camp and the assets that remain.

In Pittsburgh, Mike Tomlin and company went down the checklist and had to breath a collective sigh of relief.

Roethlisberger? Check. Ward? Check. Hampton? Check. Harrison? Check. Polamalu? Check!

Life was pretty good on the Southside going into week one. Lawrence Timmons was and still is doubtful with his ankle injury, and Dixon wasn’t much of a concern considering his position on the depth chart. The level of concern injury-wise was code Yellow in the Steelers front office and the faithful sighed their thanks to heaven above.

Then the Titans came to town.

The defense looked stifling, led by the heat-seeking missile that is Troy Polamalu. In his own signature fashion Polamalu was around the ball on every play, disrupting the Titans offensive agenda, and coming up with an incredible one-handed interception.

That all changed with minutes to go in the second quarter however.

During a blocked field goal attempt, Titans Tight End Alge Crumpler fell on Polamalu’s leg sideways. Sending him to the locker room for the extent of the game and for the next three to six weeks with a sprained left MCL.

All of a sudden that checklist is missing one of, if not the most important cog in the defensive engine that drives the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Halfway across the country in Chicago, Lovie Smith was having a similar experience. His defense was looking like it had an opportunity to return to the dominant prominence that got them to the Super Bowl a few years ago. With a refocused Brian Urlacher leading the charge in the best shape of his career Smith was hoping to catch lightning in a bottle again.

Week one is a fickle thing though my friends. It has a way of coming and going with great excitement and utter agony, and there is very little you or I can do but watch and hope that it doesn’t take its vengeance out on a superstar, dashing a promising team’s hopes for the season with it.  

Without warning week one claimed its rights to Tom Brady and Osi Uminyora last season. Both of them were lost for the year with severe leg injuries. This year the monster of week one went after one of the monsters of the Midway, and the result was the same.

Urlacher suffered a dislocated wrist during the Bears’ week one game against Green Bay, and the end result was season ending surgery for the team’s defensive captain.

So what does this mean for the two teams going into Sunday’s game in Chicago?

While both teams are surely not the same without their respective defensive superstar, it stands to reason that the impact of Urlacher’s injury will be far greater on the Bears defense this season than the loss of Polamalu will be for the Steelers in the weeks to come.

As the Middle Linebacker in Chicago’s 4-3 defense, Urlacher is literally the cornerstone of the Chicago defense. When you add to the equation that Urlacher might just be the most laterally mobile Middle Linebacker in the game, the loss is huge.

Urlacher’s rare combination of speed, size, and strength make him a disruptive force in the center of the Chicago defense. His ability to cover the field sideline to sideline inside of a 10-12 yard area from the line of scrimmage is a thing of violent beauty.

Regardless if you put another Pro-Bowler or Urlacher's backup Hunter Hillenmeyer in his place, there is going to be a drop off. 

Hillenmeyer has been somewhat of a career backup, accumulating just 353 tackles in seven seasons with the Bears (never more than 78 in a single season). Numbers Urlacher was able to eclipse in just the past three seasons.

Considering the added injuries the Bears are facing with Defensive Tackle Israel Idonije and Cornerback Charles Tillman among others, and it looks as if the injury bug is making its home in Chicago for yet another season. While the other injuries are not serious enough to be concerned about for the long-term, Chicago’s defense has been extremely susceptible to injuries over the last few years.

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