Lunchpail guys at the heart of Pittsburgh’s 3-4 defense

January 20, 2009 at 12:10a.m.

Associated Press

For the key to the Super Bowl, look beyond the hair.

The hair, of course, belongs to Arizona’s Larry Fitzgerald and Pittsburgh’s Troy Polamalu — two of the biggest stars in the game.

Look instead to the folks in the trenches and Arizona’s runners. Super Bowl teams are more than their stars, even those whose personal idiosyncrasies, such as hair flying out below their helmets, make them stand out for more than their accomplishments.

Here are some others who could decide the winner when the Super Bowl is played on Feb. 1:

For Pittsburgh

NT Casey Hampton, DE Aaron Smith and ILB James Farrior.

Harrison is the defensive player of the year and combines with LaMarr Woodley to pile up sacks from the outside linebacker position.

But they are able to do it because opponents are constantly in passing situations. Credit Hampton, Smith, and Farrior, the lunchpail guys at the heart of Pittsburgh’s 3-4 defense.

Hampton is generously listed at 325 pounds. When he reported to training camp last July, he was held out of drills after the Steelers said he was far over the weight he was supposed to report at.

“I ain’t got on the scale. I don’t really get on the scale, that’s not my thing,” Hampton said. “I play ball.”

When he finally got his weight down to something manageable, Hampton played ball, although he failed to make the Pro Bowl, something he had done in four of the five previous seasons.

In any event, he made it almost impossible to run against the Steelers. He and Smith tied up the defensive linemen, allowing Farrior to plug the inside. Farrior led the team with 133 tackles in the regular season and he has 31 more in the playoffs.

Only five of Pittsburgh’s 16 regular-season opponents rushed for more than 100 yards and they allowed only 3.3 yards per rush. In two playoff games, San Diego and Baltimore have run for a TOTAL of 88 yards and an average of 2.4 per carry.

That makes it easier for Farrior — and Polamalu — to clean things up and for Woodley and Harrison to get to Kurt Warner. The best way to shut down Fitzgerald is to hurry Warner the way the Steelers hurried Joe Flacco on Sunday.

For Arizona

Edgerrin James, Tim Hightower and J.J. Arrington, RBs.

The Cardinals’ backs must provide at least a semblance of a running game to set up the most dangerous part of the Arizona offense: Warner throwing to Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin and Steve Breaston.

That won’t be easy against the Pittsburgh defense.

The Cardinals were last in the NFL in rushing last season, which might cut it in the NFC West, where Warner picked apart secondaries. But it won’t against Pittsburgh — not with Harrison and Woodley flying in from the edges against a quarterback whose ball security has always been a bit suspect.

Arizona has managed to do a decent job of running in the playoffs.

Even though the Cardinals’ rushing average in three postseason wins is just 3.3 yards, they’ve been effective enough to allow Warner to hook up with his receiving weapons, notably Fitzgerald, who has 419 yards receiving — already more than the record set in 1988 by Jerry Rice.

James, hasn’t been close to the Pro Bowl form he had in his days in Indianapolis in his three years in Arizona, but set the stage Sunday.

In the first half of the NFC championship game against Philadelphia, he had 56 yards on seven carries, helping the Cardinals to a 24-6 lead. That kind of success resulted in single coverage on a receiver who can’t be covered by one man — like the flea-flicker that Arrington threw back to Warner, who found Fitzgerald for a 62-yard touchdown play.

But stats don’t tell it all.

Arizona’s average per carry in the postseason is actually less than its 3.5 average in the regular season.

But the Cardinals have kept at it, which means opponents must be aware of the run — they have been over 100 yards on the ground twice, with 102 against the Eagles in the title game, when the biggest play was on the ground. That was the 6-yard run around the right side by Hightower on fourth-and-1 from the Philadelphia 49 that kept the Cardinals’ winning drive going.

Hightower, a rookie from Richmond who took James’ job midway through the season before giving it back, had just 33 yards on 11 carries. But he also had the 8-yard TD catch on a screen pass on the winning score, a play on which Philadelphia expected a screen but Hightower managed to weave through the defense.

Yes, double coverage on Fitzgerald opened the way.

But it took a little-known rookie to make the play work.

Would it be any surprise if someone like that is the star of the Super Bowl?