Rebuilding Through Three Super Bowls

The Steelers are going to their third Super Bowl in six seasons. This year's team, however, is hardly the same as the team that went to Super Bowl XL or even XLIII. The Steelers management has been able to rebuild the team on the fly, keeping a core of veteran stars while adding and replacing the parts around them. As a result, the Steelers have a host of players with Super Bowl experience but several younger, hungrier players as well. Let's take a look at how it was done. Here is the starting defense for Super Bowls XL, XLIII, and XLV:

	SB XL	SB XLIII	SB XLV
LE	Aaron Smith	Aaron Smith	Ziggy Hood
NT	Casey Hampton	Casey Hampton	Casey Hampton
RE	Kimo von Oelhoffen	Brett Keisel	Brett Keisel
LOLB	Clark Haggans	LaMarr Woodley	LaMarr Woodley
LILB	James Farrior	James Farrior	James Farrior
RILB	Larry Foote	Larry Foote	Lawrence Timmons
ROLB	Joey Porter	James Harrison	James Harrison
LCB	Ike Taylor	Ike Taylor	Ike Taylor
RCB	Deshea Townsend	Bryant McFadden	Bryant McFadden
SS	Troy Polamalu	Troy Polamalu	Troy Polamalu
FS	Chris Hope	Ryan Clark	Ryan Clark

 

Three-time starters in Bold, two-time starters in Italics. XLV starters projected based on Jets game.

This is a veteran, experienced defense. 9 of 11 starters also started in XLIII, and Timmons played in XLIII but did not start. Only Ziggy Hood lacks Super Bowl experience. Note that the unit has changed considerably from 2005, however, with Kiesel replacing Kimo, Woodley replacing Haggans, Harrison replacing Porter, McFadden replacing Townsend, and Clark replacing Hope. In the first four cases, the players were aging and losing effectiveness; management replaced them with younger and generally better players. (Porter was a Pro Bowler but never DPOY; Kimo and Haggans never went to the Pro Bowl; and Townsend merely serviceable). Hope played four seasons for the Steelers but left after getting a large contract from the Titans; Clark has been a solid replacement without breaking the bank, er, salary cap. The only starters in all three Super Bowls have been Hampton, Farrior, Ike, and of course Troy Polamalu. (Aaron Smith could join this list if he can somehow start in two weeks.)

	SB XL	SB XLIII	SB XLV
QB	Ben Roethlisberger	Ben Roethlisberger	Ben Roethlisberger
RB	Willie Parker	Willie Parker	Rashard Mendenhall
FB	Dan Kreider	TE Matt Spaeth	David Johnson
WR	Hines Ward	Hines Ward	Hines Ward
WR	Antwaan Randle El	Santonio Holmes	Mike Wallace
TE	Heath Miller	Heath Miller	Heath Miller
LT	Marvell Smith	Max Starks	Jonathan Scott
LG	Alan Faneca	Chris Kemoeatu	Chris Kemoeatu
C	Jeff Hartings	Justin Hartwig	Pouncey/Legursky
RG	Kendall Simmons	Darnell Stapleton	Ramon Foster
RT	Max Starks	Willie Colon	Flozell Adams

 Three-time starters in Bold, two-time starters in Italics. XLV starters projected based on Jets game.

The offense has been in much greater flux, but the key players through all three games remain Big Ben, Hines, and Heath Miller. The only other offensive player to start in a previous Super Bowl is Kemo. The offensive line has almost completely turned over from the disappointing group that played in XLIII, although Starks and Colon would still be starting if not for injury. Typing in the names from XLV, however, reminded me of what a strong O-line that team had. Still, Mendenhall appears to be a slower but stronger replacement for Fast Willie Parker, and Wallace is already better than Randle El ever was and is catching up to Santonio. But with Hines slowing down and the weakness and injuries along the offensive line, this year's offense doesn't match up with the 2005 team's.

 

Overall, I would say the defensive personnel have improved from 2005, whereas the offense has fallen off a bit, mainly along the line. In any case, getting to three Super Bowls in six years (and winning at least two of them) is an impressive accomplishment in the salary cap era. The Steelers management has shown the ability to rebuild portions of the team quickly and effectively, without going through a long "rebuilding" phase that other franchises seem to go through. We can all be thankful for that.