Troy Polamalu has new appreciation for game

• Troy Polamalu re-energized in return after being hampered by injuries
• Steelers defense still among the elite despite losing numerous players
• Ravens win gives Steelers momentum heading into stretch run

PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu rarely speaks before a practice. But he did so Thursday at his locker, underscoring how much he embraces these last four regular-season games as a chance to make up for so much lost time by returning to help his 7-5 team secure a postseason berth.

Polamalu came back from a seven-game absence in Sunday's 23-20 win at the Baltimore Ravens with renewed appreciation for the game he has missed while rehabilitating a second calf injury this season.

"I wouldn't say a new perspective, but it just re-enforced a perspective that maybe I didn't appreciate as much as I used to," Polamalu said of his seven weeks on the sideline.

Polamalu played 49 of 63 defensive snaps last Sunday. The calf injury suffered in a Week5 win against the Philadelphia Eagles involved a different muscle than the one injured in a season-opening loss against the Denver Broncos.

"You never miss the water until the well runs dry," defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau said. "And when you're playing everyday and you're not playing for a while, you do miss it. Troy's instincts are so great. From the first snap, you could tell it was Troy out there. He's a special player."

The Steelers have been without Polamalu for all but three games, will likely be without linebacker LaMarr Woodley, listed as questionable with an ankle injury Sunday against the San Diego Chargers and lost cornerback Ike Taylor to a broken ankle the first snap of the Ravens game. Those losses make their No.1-ranked defense look more impressive in terms of 259.8 yards allowed a game.

LeBeau's unit ranks 20th in scoring defense, allowing 21.2 points a game.

"We've got a long way to go, and we'll see how we shake out this last month," LeBeau said. "We don't just try to get four DBs ready to go in training camp. We try to get eight to 10. Because we know before the season is over we will absolutely be playing those 10.

"Never did that pay off more than it did in Baltimore when Ike went down the first snap."

The Steelers own the AFC's sixth and final seed.

"We have to have a good four-game stretch here in order to get into the playoffs," safety Ryan Clark said. "Getting Troy back was awesome. And James Harrison is rounding into form."

Harrison's fourth-quarter strip-sack of Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco keyed a comeback win that imbued the Steelers with an important psychological edge.

"The Baltimore win shows we can go on the road and beat a very good team in a hostile environment, which bodes well because it's more than likely we'll be a wild-card team," Clark said. "So it's exciting to get that win knowing we can go on the road and be successful in that type of environment.

"If you look at the teams right now in the AFC, Houston and New England are playing really well. Those are teams I feel we can play with, teams I feel we can beat."

After being instrumental in two Super Bowl championships, Polamalu knows it's all about what the Steelers do from here, not what they've accomplished in the past.

"When you speak of resilience, you're talking the past decade," Polamalu said. "This is a completely different team. Whether we'll show resilience or not will prove itself over the next four games."

But Polamalu, who might lend a different meaning to the term "deep safety," understands there is a life away from the football field as well. The soft-spoken, hard-hitting, deeply spiritual safety wrote a blog posted on his fan Web page this week expressing his sadness over Jovan Belcher's shocking murder-suicide. The Kansas City Chiefs linebacker shot and killed his girlfriend, Kasandra Perkins, then shot and killed himself Saturday outside Arrowhead Stadium.

In his post, Polamalu wrote, "After being out for so long, God has reminded me of why football is so important in my life. Time away has this effect on me anyway, but especially when coupled with the sudden and sad news in Kansas City. This game has aligned many things for me, and despite the recent challenges, tragedies, and growing concern for player health, it has enforced virtues, tempted passions, and it has helped reveal to me my own spiritual deficiencies.

"I can't help but feel fortunate, and I am so thankful for the opportunity to play this game."