The Pittsburgh Steelers have already ruled out safety Troy Polamalu for Monday's game against the Kansas City Chiefs. This isn't a surprise or anything because Polamalu has only played in two games this year. He's been out since Week 4. The earliest he might return is Week 11.

The Steelers are good enough that losing one key player hasn't destroyed the defense (like a certain team I know). They're still an elite unit but they're slightly more vulnerable with Will Allen, and not Polamalu, in there.

Allen remains somewhat vulnerable in pass coverage, but he's been as effective, if not better against the run, than Polamalu, who could return Nov. 18 against the Ravens. The Giants rushed for only 68 yards, in part, because Allen tripped up blockers or funneled runners back to linebackers Lawrence Timmons and Foote.

The unfortunate part is that the Chiefs likely can't exploit where he's vulnerable, and that's in pass coverage. KC's pass offense has been extremely conservative at times this season and I suspect they'll take the same approach against the Steelers.