Unsung linebackers OK with teammates’ acclaim

January 8, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Call them the other guys.

James Harrison and Troy Polamalu are the name players, the award winners in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ NFL-leading defense. Harrison is the AP Defensive Player of the Year and the team MVP, setting a club record with 16 sacks. Polamalu is going to the Pro Bowl for the fifth time after tying for second in the NFL with seven interceptions.

Their big years somewhat obscured the equally strong seasons by outside linebacker LaMarr Woodley, who has 111‚Ñ2 sacks in his first season as a starter, and inside linebacker James Farrior, the leading tackler on a defense that gave up the NFL’s fewest points, yards and passing yards.

In another locker room, Harrison and Polamalu could be resented for taking away attention from players who might be the singular star on another defense. In Pittsburgh, Farrior said, nothing like is an issue.

“That’s what make us special,” Farrior said. “We all relate to each other well and nobody is looking for that attention like other teams do … We feel like a group, a unit together, and that’s how we play and approach every game.”

The Steelers, largely because of Farrior and Woodley, will go into Sunday’s AFC divisional game against San Diego hoping this adage is true: The offense wins games in September and October, but the defense wins them in January.

No NFL defense came within 23 yards of the Steelers’ 237.2 yards per game allowed or within 22 yards of their 156.9 yards passing allowed. The Steelers also were the only team to allow an average of fewer than two touchdowns per game.

“There’s no question it’s the best defense we faced all year,” Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers said Wednesday.

Rivers found out during an 11-10 loss in Pittsburgh on Nov. 16 what a challenge opposing this defense can be. His 105.5 passer rating led the league and he was fifth with 4,009 yards passing, but Rivers threw for only 164 yards with two interceptions and his 44.4 passer rating was his lowest all season. Farrior (four tackles), Woodley (three tackles) and Harrison (four tackles, one sack, one forced fumble, one interception) had much to do with his rough day.

Farrior, one of only three Steelers chosen for the Pro Bowl, is quietly having another of the all-around seasons he’s had so often since signing with Pittsburgh in 2006. He turned 34 on Tuesday, but the Steelers gave him an $18 million, five-year contract in August, something they almost never do with a player of his age. Second in the Defensive Player of the Year voting in 2004, his statistics this season (146 tackles, 31‚Ñ2 sacks) are equal or better in nearly every category.

A 2007 second-round pick from Michigan, Woodley was among sacks leaders with 91‚Ñ2 through eight games before offenses began paying more attention. He has had two sacks since midseason.

Larry Foote, Pittsburgh’s other starting linebacker, said Woodley — not just Harrison — is making offenses adjust because he got to the quarterback so often so early.

“If I’m not drawing attention now, something’s wrong,” Woodley said. “If you want to sleep on me and think I can’t get to the quarterback, that’s going to be your fault.SDRq