Troy Polamalu Injury: Steelers Can't Afford to Rest Polamulu in Week 7

Troy Polamalu injured his head last week against the Jacksonville Jaguars, but he will still be available at the Arizona Cardinals in Week 7. He is “good to go,” according to Mike Tomlin.

The Pittsburgh Steelers will need a healthy Polamalu to defeat the Cardinals. Arizona provides a perfect trap game for the Steelers.

Pittsburgh hasn’t been playing good football in 2011. They looked horrible against the Baltimore Ravens in an embarrassing 35-7 defeat. They struggled against the Indianapolis Colts and Jacksonville Jaguars—two teams with a combined 1-11 record.

Following the Arizona trip, Pittsburgh will host New England and Baltimore in Week 8 and Week 9. Then, Pittsburgh will travel to Cincinnati to play a surprising 4-2 Bengals team before heading to their bye week.

Arizona is coming off their bye week. Teams tend to play better after a week of rest.

It is going to be a tough road ahead for the Steelers. They can't afford to drop this game to Arizona.

Polamalu being healthy will decrease the Cardinals' chances of winning the game.

Pittsburgh’s defense is completely different without Polamalu roaming the field. Even with Polamalu, Pittsburgh’s defense hasn’t been up to par through six games this season. They are giving up 113 yards per game on the ground—a statistic you wouldn’t dream of seeing from a Steelers defense.

If Polamalu isn’t healthy, who knows how poor the defense will be. We don’t truly know how good this defense is in 2011. They carry the No. 1-ranked pass defense, but they faced Kerry Collins, Curtis Painter, Tarvaris Jackson and Blaine Gabbert—not exactly top QBs in the league at this point.

Polamalu is the key to the defense playing well. Now that he will play in Arizona, Pittsburgh needs to make sure they take care of a below-average Cardinals team on the road.

Win this game, then worry about New England.