PITTSBURGH (AP) — A violent collision with Jacksonville running back Maurice Jones-Drew‘s churning knees won’t be enough to keep Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu out of the lineup.

Coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday the 2010 NFL Defensive Player of the Year is “good to go” after passing a concussion test. The team removed Polamalu from the game midway through the fourth quarter of Sunday’s 17-13 win over the Jaguars with concussion-like symptoms.

Tomlin believes Polamalu was injured while diving at Jones-Drew’s legs on a third-and-1 play. Polamalu stuffed Jones-Drew no gain, forcing the Jaguars to punt. The All-Pro safety watched Pittsburgh’s final two defensive series from the sidelines as the Steelers (4-2) held on to win their second straight.

“We anticipate him practicing tomorrow and moving on throughout the week like everyone else on our football team,” Tomlin said.

The Steelers initially termed Polamalu’s condition as a “very mild” concussion and took him out of the game as a precaution. Polamalu kept his helmet on save for a brief phone conversation with his wife.

The call is technically in violation of league rules, though Tomlin doesn’t expect Polamalu — who declined to speak to reporters after the game — to be disciplined. Tomlin said it was important for Polamalu, who has a history of concussions, to assure his family he was OK.

“He wasn’t checking his bank account,” Tomlin said.

The Steelers will need Polamalu if they want to keep Arizona wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald in check. Fitzgerald torched the Steelers for 127 yards and two touchdowns in the 2009 Super Bowl, though Pittsburgh rallied for a 27-23 victory.

“He’s the best in the world at what he does,” Tomlin said of Fitzgerald.

So, arguably, is Polamalu. The nine-year veteran is second on the team with 40 tackles for the NFL’s top-ranked defense.

Tomlin is pleased with how the defense is performing, but knows stiffer tests lay ahead. The four teams the Steelers have beaten rank 19th (Tennessee), 30th (Seattle), 31st (Indianapolis) and 32nd (Jacksonville) in the league in yards per game.

Even so, Pittsburgh hasn’t been dominant. The Steelers have collected an NFL-low two turnovers through six games and barely escaped upsets at the hands of the lowly Colts and Jaguars, who are a combined 1-11.

Tomlin would like to see more “signature” plays from the defense but not at the price of being out of position.

“What we’re not going to do is take calculated risks,” Tomlin said.

They don’t see one in clearing Polamalu to play.

“He met with our neurosurgeon,” Tomlin said, “and they’re very comfortable with where he is.”

The Steelers will once again play without linebacker James Harrison (eye), nose tackle Casey Hampton (knee) and defensive end Aaron Smith (foot). Guard Doug Legursky will be out several weeks after suffering a dislocated toe against Jacksonville, though the line should be helped by the return of Chris Kemoeatu and Marcus Gilbert. Kemoeatu has missed two straight games with a knee injury while Gilbert didn’t play against the Jaguars because of an issue with his left shoulder.

Tomlin is hopeful both players can help an offense that has only put together two solid halves once in the season’s first six weeks.

Pittsburgh dominated Jacksonville for two quarters on Sunday, piling up 315 yards. The Steelers managed just 70 in the second half as quarterback Ben Roethlisberger completed just one pass and was sacked three times, allowing the Jaguars to get back in the game.

“We weren’t up to stuff,” Tomlin said.

The Steelers will need to be on Sunday against the desperate Cardinals (1-4). Pittsburgh is just 1-2 on the road and easily could be winless if not for a game-winning drive in the final minutes against the Colts.

“It’s very obvious we’ve performed to a winning level at home, we haven’t done so on the road,” Tomlin said. “We’ve got to perform better on the road than we have.”

The Pittsburgh Steelers defense and Ben Roethlisberger’s late-game mastery did it again. James Harrison’s late sack of Curtis Painter and Troy Polamalu’s 16-yard fumble return for a touchdown finally gave the Steelers a second-half lead. Roethlisberger set up Shaun Suisham for a 38-yard field goal with 4 seconds left to give Pittsburgh a 23-20 victory at Indianapolis on Sunday night.

It looked nothing like the Steelers’ trademark pattern until the closing minutes.

Roethlisberger turned over the ball three times during an 11-minute span in the first half, Pittsburgh (2-1) rushed for only 67 yards and the vaunted Steelers defense produced only one sack — the one Polamalu scored on.

But Roethlisberger took the Steelers on a 60-yard scoring march that ended with Suisham’s kick.

Roethlisberger was 25 of 37 for 364 yards with one touchdown. Mike Wallace caught five passes for 144 yards and an 81-yard score, the longest of his career.

But the feisty Colts (0-3) rallied from a 10-point first-half deficit, took a 13-10 halftime lead and didn’t fall behind again until Polamalu scored with 5:13 left in the game.

Joseph Addai ran 17 times for 86 yards and scored on a 6-yard run that tied it at 20 with 2:09 to go.

Indy’s defense just couldn’t hold it.

Pittsburgh took advantage quickly.

It got a 48-yard field goal from Suisham on the opening possession and took advantage of a terrible mismatch — linebacker Pat Angerer on Wallace — for the 81-yard pass to make it 10-0 in the first quarter.

Then Indy’s defense did its best Pittsburgh impersonation.

Robert Mathis stripped Roethlisberger on a sack near midfield and recovered the ball, too, setting up Adam Vinatieri’s 21-yard field goal midway through the second quarter.

On the next series, Dwight Freeney, coming from the opposite side, stripped Roethlisberger on another sack. Jamaal Anderson scooped up the ball, cut to the middle of the field and used a brilliant block from Kavell Conner to free himself for a 47-yard score. That made it 10-10.

FAST FACTS
• Last meeting: Colts 24, Steelers 20, on Nov. 9, 2008, at Heinz Field, Pittsburgh.
• Head-to-head series: Steelers lead 18-6

STEELERS’ TRENDS
• Offense: Ben Roethlisberger can spread his passes around as six guys have at least three catches, each of them with a 16-yard reception or longer. But the Steelers have been careless in handling the football with seven turnovers, including four fumbles. So far, Pittsburgh has attempted 71 passes as opposed to 51 rushes.
• Defense: What jumps out so far is that the Steelers haven’t created a turnover in two games. They were plus-17 in that category last season. S Troy Polamalu had seven INTs last year. OLB Lawrence Timmons has a team-high 20 tackles, including 15 solos. S Troy Polamalu and OLB James Harrison have 14 and 13, respectively.

STEELERS’ LAST GAME
• Steelers 24, Seahawks 0: It would have been more one-sided if Pittsburgh didn’t get stuffed on fourth-and-goal at the 1 on its opening drive. The host Steelers still took a 17-0 lead by halftime and cruised. Seattle managed just 164 total yards, 31 on the ground. The Steelers had five sacks and allowed only one pass of more than 13 yards.

The Cleveland Browns may have their issues, and at least the future is bright because of so many young players.

But there’s even better news because the Pittsburgh Steelers are old and washed up, according to former Pro Bowl defensive tackle turned NFL analyst, Warren Sapp.

The Steelers are so bad that Sapp said on Showtime’s “Inside the NFL” on Wednesday night that the Steelers are “old, slow, and it’s over.”

Sapp said his 13-year-old daughter could cover receiver Hines Ward in “a heartbeat.” At one point during the Steelers’ 35-7 loss on Sunday, strong safety Troy Polamalu tried to grab Ravens tight end Ed Dickson but couldn’t get close enough, Sapp said.

Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu said via Twitter, “I am happy to say I will retire a Pittsburgh Steeler.” (Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press)

The Pittsburgh Steelers and safety Troy Polamalu have agreed to a contract extension through 2014.

Terms were not immediately disclosed. Polamalu was scheduled to make $6.4 million US this season.

Polamalu took to his Twitter account to announce the day, tweeting “I am happy to say that I will retire a Pittsburgh Steeler!”

The perennial Pro Bowler was the NFL Defensive Player of the Year last season, finishing with seven interceptions, 64 combined tackles and a sack. He was slowed by a strained Achilles in the playoffs and has admitted he was not 100 per cent in the loss to Green Bay in the Super Bowl.

Polamalu is the fourth Steeler defensive starter to get a new contract from the club, joining cornerback Ike Taylor and linebackers LaMarr Woodley and Lawrence Timmons.

By Scott Schroeder

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Sep 10, 2011 – Troy Polamalu’s contract extension needed to come prior to Sunday, according to the Pittsburgh Steelers, or else it would be tabled until after the season. Luckily for the Steelers’ All-Pro, the two sides were able to come to an agreement just in the nick of time as he signed his contract before boarding the team plane for Baltimore on Saturday.

Polamalu had just the upcoming season left on his contract prior to the extension, and while the new salary numbers haven’t been made available quite yet, the safety will be paid $6.4 million for the 2011 season. Regardless of what the extension makes Polamalu’s salary, he seems happy.

“I am happy to say that I will retire a Pittsburgh Steeler!” Polamalu wrote on his Twitter account after the deal was announced.

The new contract will reportedly run through the 2014 season, when the former USC standout will be 34. Polamalu’s first game with a new contract will happen Sunday when the Steelers play their AFC East rival Ravens on the road.

Read More: Troy Polamalu (SS – PIT), Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers at Baltimore Ravens, Sep 11, 2011 1:00 PM EDT

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Roethlisberger threw for 125 yards and a pair of touchdowns and Pittsburgh’s defense put an exclamation point to Philadelphia star Michael Vick’s miserable day, intercepting three of his passes in the first half of a remarkably easy 24-14 victory.

Yes, it’s only the preseason. But after sleepwalking through a loss to Washington a week ago, the defending AFC champions delivered a reminder to their cross-state rivals about which team from Pennsylvania has played in three of the last six Super Bowls.

“That’s the desired response we were looking for,” said Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin.

Particularly from a defense energized by the return of All Pros Troy Polamalu and James Harrison. The veterans sat last week to rest up and watched as the lowly Redskins moved the ball with ease.

Philadelphia found the going significantly more difficult.

Harrison teamed with Donovan Warren for a sack while Polamalu played with his usual reckless abandon, including a 36-yard free wheeling return of an interception that ended with Vick drilling the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year in the knees.

Polamalu brushed off Vick’s hit, saying he’s hit opponents the same way plenty of times.

“I was just playing ball just like he was playing ball,” Polamalu said.

Even if Vick hardly played like his usual self on a night in which he finished with more tackles than touchdowns. He completed just 5 of 12 passes for 47 yards and showed little of the sharpness that’s drawn praise from coach Andy Reid during training camp.

It was a frustrating end to a frustrating day for the 2010 NFL Comeback Player of the Year. He spent the morning clarifying comments he made in a “GQ” article in which he suggested NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell convinced him to sign with the Eagles as a backup two years ago rather than compete for a starting job elsewhere.

Vick stressed it was his decision to sign with Philadelphia and refused to blame the mini-furor surrounding the story for his lackluster performance.

“Once I was in the game, the issue was just pressing to put points on the board,” Vick said. “I just got caught up in getting down 14-0.”

Then again, Vick got little help on either side of the ball.

Philadelphia wide receiver DeSean Jackson, playing for the first time this preseason after ending his contract holdout, had two catches for eight yards as the Eagles struggled to gain any momentum.

“We’re all in this together and we all stunk tonight,” Reid said.

Particularly in the first half as Pittsburgh’s starters — and more than a few reserves — outplayed Philadelphia’s first-stringers.

Pittsburgh outgained Philadelphia 262-71 in the opening 30 minutes, taking some of the sizzle out of one of the league’s most hyped teams.