in the wildcard round. He finished the game with six combined tackles, three of them being solo. The Steelers defeated the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship and went on to play the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII. In his first Super Bowl, Timmons recorded five tackle, helping his team win, 27–23. He finished his second season with 65 tackles, five sacks and an interception, while starting three games and playing in all 16 regular-season contests. 2009 season Timmons took over as starter for the 2009 season following the release of Larry Foote, who asked for his release, foreseeing Timmons's future emergence as the starter and increased playing time. Timmons was slated as the Steelers' starting right inside linebacker to begin the season but missed the season opener against the Tennessee Titans. He returned the following week, making three solo tackles and two pass deflections during a 14–17 loss to the Chicago Bears. The next game, he made his first start of the season during a loss to the Bengals and finished the game with three combined tackles and a pass deflection. During Week 5, Timmons made five tackles and forced two fumbles as the Steelers routed the Cleveland Browns, 27–14. He finished the 2009 season with a total of 78 combined tackles, 7 sacks, 4 pass deflections, and 3 forced fumbles in 13 starts and 14 games. 2010 season Timmons started the season opener against the Atlanta Falcons and finished the 15–9 victory with 11 tackles. The next week, he recorded a career-high 15 combined tackles (12 solo) and a forced fumble during a win over the Tennessee Titans. In 2010, he had a career year for the Steelers and finished off the season as the highest-rated inside linebacker by Pro Football Focus. He led the team with 135 tackles, and recorded 3 sacks, 9 pass deflections, 2 forced fumbles and 2 interceptions. The Steelers finished with the No. 1 run defense in the league, allowing only 63.2 yards per game. Timmons started 15 of the 16 regular season game, while playing in all of them. At the end of the 2010 season, Timmons and the Steelers appeared in Super Bowl XLV against the Green Bay Packers. He was a starter and had three total tackles in the 31–25 loss. 2011 season On August 23, 2011, the Steelers gave Timmons a five-year, $47.79 million contract extension that included