These safeties dangerous men

Reed, Polamalu consistently hurt opponents' chances

Ed Reed intercepted two passes against the Dolphins, one of which he returned for a touchdown. (Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images)

One player is more like a center fielder. He patrols the outfield with ease and turns would-be extra-base hits into singles or outs with his combination of instincts, athleticism, and sure hands.

The other adopts a different style - he could be deep on one play, shallow on the next - but his physicality and speed help him cover the necessary ground.

Ed Reed and Troy Polamalu go about their business in different ways, but given their excellence at playing football's all-important safety position, it's no surprise their teams are in action this weekend in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs - Reed's Ravens visiting the top-seeded Titans tomorrow, and Polamalu's Steelers hosting the Chargers Sunday.

As Steelers outside linebacker James Harrison said upon receiving the Defensive Player of the Year honor earlier this week: "I think Troy deserved this award. Guys like Ed Reed did as well."

A big, physical linebacker who sacks quarterbacks and grapples with mammoth blockers at the line of scrimmage ceding the stage to lighter, more athletic players on the field?

It flies in the face of the oft-stated football cliché that the game is decided at the line of scrimmage, and reflects how Reed and Polamalu - coupled with a league-wide emphasis on spread passing attacks - have altered such longtime thinking in their distinctive ways.

"They play two different styles," CBS analyst Phil Simms said. "Ed Reed almost always will stay back, read the quarterback's eyes, and freelance a little bit - he's the best center fielder in football. Troy Polamalu is a great disguiser before the snap of the ball and can play all three elements - blitz, tackle, and cover. He turns a lot of 20-yard runs into 5- and 6-yard gains."

Reed (5 feet 11 inches, 200 pounds) totaled an NFL-high nine interceptions during the regular season, to go with 41 tackles, while Polamalu (5-10, 207) amassed seven interceptions and 73 tackles. Both started all 16 games.

Yet the impressive statistics still don't measure how their presence affects games, and coaches' game plans.

The 30-year-old Reed, now in his seventh season, is coming off a two-interception performance in last Sunday's 27-9 wild-card victory over the Dolphins. One of those picks was returned 64 yards for a zigzagging touchdown, and epitomized what makes him a standout performer.

Reed lined up on the opposite side of the field, so when Dolphins quarterback Chad Pennington made his presnap read, he assumed his deep throw would be in a one-on-one matchup. He was throwing away from Reed.

Yet Reed noticed something in the Dolphins' formation, and changed his positioning at the last moment. From his film study, Reed anticipated what play was coming, took off toward the other side, and made an over-the-shoulder catch before turning into an elusive runner on his return. Pennington couldn't believe it, although such plays have become old hat to the Ravens.

Speed. Smarts. Anticipation. Good hands. That's the Ed Reed package.

"He's an ultimate student of the game. He knows what's going to happen before it happens and that's why you see him making so many plays," said first-year Ravens backup safety Daren Stone, a former Maine Black Bear. "Being a student of the game is one key to making a play, and when he's in position to make a play, he makes it and tries to score, and I love that about him."

"One thing he doesn't get enough credit for is how smart he is," said Jim Leonhard, who is in his first year with the Ravens, a starter alongside Reed. "He prepares like nobody else that I've been around, and you put that with the athletic ability he has, and you have a special player. He does it all, and totally changes a game plan that an offense has to prepare when he's on that field."

The 27-year-old Polamalu, a six-year veteran, qualifies in that category, too.

Whereas Reed is adept at lining up deep and relying on his instincts to pick off passes, Polamalu is more apt to line up closer to the line of scrimmage, be physical, and execute as a sound tackler against the run. Yet because he covers ground so quickly, Polamalu often races back and makes plays against the pass in the middle and deeper parts of the field.

That makes him an explosive chess piece for defensive coaches who are always looking for disguises to throw off the opposition.

"Polamalu is the only safety in the league who will be on the line of scrimmage, faking a blitz, when he actually has deep-middle responsibilities [against the pass]," CBS analyst Dan Dierdorf said.

Polamalu turned in one of the year's highlight-reel plays in the Steelers' 11-10 victory over the Chargers in mid-November. Starting at the line of scrimmage on the left side, he raced back 20 yards at the snap before diving to snare a deflected pass with his right hand cupped on the ground. He then quickly sprang to his feet and returned the ball 21 yards, a stunning play that was upheld after a review.

Just as Reed's eye-opening interceptions have become commonplace in Baltimore, Polamalu's teammates have come to expect the same - against the run or pass - in Pittsburgh.

Steelers safety Ryan Clark, who grew up in Louisiana with Reed and now plays alongside Polamalu, has a unique perspective on the impact both have on the game.

He credits both teams' coaching staffs for giving Reed and Polamalu freedom to make game-altering plays.

"You have to have a coach who understands you and gives you the freedom to do those things," Clark said. "A lot of places you can do the film work and know it's coming, but the coaches won't allow you to be that type of playmaker. They have both gotten in systems where they can do that, and it helps that they have good enough players around them to go make those plays.

"You have to allow players like that to be who they are or you handicap them. They change the game, because they make plays that other people can't."

Mike Reiss can be reached at mreiss@globe.com.