PITTSBURGH (AP)—The Pittsburgh Steelers spent two months listening to all
the things they couldn’t do.

They couldn’t run the ball effectively. They couldn’t stop the run. They
couldn’t stop Tom Brady(notes). They couldn’t protect Ben Roethlisberger(notes).

Done. Done. Done and done.

Halfway through the season, the defending AFC champions are back in their
usual spot atop the conference looking down at everyone else following a 25-17
win over New England.

Roethlisberger passed for 365 yards and two scores and led a series of
clock-consuming drives to lift Pittsburgh (6-2) to its fourth straight victory
and beat Brady for the first time since 2004.

Ben Roethlisberger passed for 365 yards and two touchdowns against the Patriots.
(US Presswire)

“We showed that we can throw the ball so people can shut up and go about
their business and stop saying whatever they want to say,” wide receiver Mike
Wallace(notes) said.

Next up for the Steelers is rival Baltimore. The Ravens embarrassed
Pittsburgh 35-7 in the season opener. The Steelers aren’t close to over it yet.
Not even after pushing the Patriots all over Heinz Field.

“I’m not going out,” Wallace said. “I’m going home right now and locking
it down. I’m ready for next week. I don’t care about nothing else.”

His teammates aren’t quite ready to go that far. It’s not every day you find
a way to beat Brady, particularly for a team that’s done it just once in a
decade.

“It’s a huge step,” linebacker Lawrence Timmons(notes) said. “The New England
Patriots have (coach Bill) Belichick and Brady. This is a team that contends in
the AFC every year and goes to the championship or the Super Bowl. So having
this win, in our house, is huge and something to build on.”

And something for the Patriots (5-2) to work on. The NFL’s best offense
mustered just 213 yards—less than half its usual total of 474—mostly because
the NFL’s worst defense couldn’t get off the field.

The Steelers held the ball for more than 39 minutes, converted 10 of 16
third downs and ran 78 plays while the Patriots (5-2) snapped the ball just 50
times.

“It’s very frustrating,” New England nose tackle Vince Wilfork(notes) said. “You
talk about getting a team in second-and-longs and third-and-longs and taking
advantage of those situations. We had them in those situations; we just didn’t
take advantage of them.”

Belichick refused to place most of the blame on the defense. The Patriots
punted the ball four times, missed a field goal and botched an onside kick
attempt.

“It just wasn’t a really good day for us in any phase of the game, in any
area,” Belichick said. “We just didn’t do a good enough job. That’s really all
there is to say.”

Brady has been nearly untouchable this season, but was sacked three times by
the Steelers, the last resulting in fumble that rolled out of the end zone to
provide the final margin with 8 seconds to play.

“There was a poor level of execution,” Brady said. “Too many
three-and-outs. We all have to individually look in the mirror and figure out
what we need to get better at.”

The Steelers insist they weren’t perfect, but they played a nearly flawless
game to end Brady’s mastery over the defending AFC champions. Brady came in with
a 6-1 record against Pittsburgh, including two AFC championship victories at
Heinz Field.

All of that ended on a chilly October day that felt more like January. A
good sign for the Steelers, who have lacked intensity at times this season.

Not anymore.

“It’s been all Tom Brady versus the Pittsburgh Steelers and looking back on
the past, how he’s owned the Pittsburgh Steelers, and I think everybody forgot
about our offense a little bit and the things they’ve been doing out there,”
Pittsburgh linebacker LaMarr Woodley(notes) said. “I think they took that a little
personal.”

Roethlisberger pointed to a line that gave him enough time to complete 36 of
50 passes and receivers who made New England pay dearly for taking away the deep
ball. Working exclusively underneath to Antonio Brown(notes) (nine catches), Heath
Miller(notes) (seven catches) and Wallace (seven receptions), the Steelers played with
the kind of precision normally reserved for the Patriots.

“We can be as good as we want to be,” Roethlisberger said. “When we don’t
kill ourselves and stop ourselves, we can be pretty dangerous.”

It’s all the Steelers could ask for heading into a second half of the season
that looks a lot sunnier than it did a month ago.

“We had to beat them today,” safety Ryan Clark(notes) said. “We’re talking about
this dominance that New England’s had on us. I think we’ve won more Super Bowls,
been to more Super Bowls than they have. It’s not about history. We were excited
to win today.”