Tom Brady acknowledged in a radio interview on Monday what was obvious to those who watched on Sunday: The Patriots’ offense never got into a flow against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The lack of opportunities caused by the Steelers’ time of possession didn’t help, but Brady and the Patriots didn’t do much with the opportunities they did have.

“We were never in a rhythm,” Brady said. “But that takes running good plays. If we don’t convert on third down — we had three plays in the first quarter of the game. You’re not going to do anything running three plays. That’s our fault for not converting a third down. We had an opportunity to complement our defense and match a score by them, and we didn’t do it.”

Part of the problem was the inabilities of the wide receivers to shake off the Steelers’ man-to-man coverage.

“It wasn’t anything that I would say we hadn’t really seen before,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. “We worked on it. Again, we just have to do a better job in those situations — protecting, getting open, having plays that maybe could make everything happen a little bit quicker, a little bit cleaner.”

Said Brady: “That’s part of their scheme. They probably did it a little more yesterday than they’ve done in the past. But there weren’t many looks out there that we didn’t prepare for or that we didn’t think they could do. It just really came down to our execution.”

Replay rules

In past years, the Patriots could have challenged a would-be touchdown by Rob Gronkowski late in the fourth quarter.

Instead, because of the new replay rules, all they could do was hope the replay official would deign to review the play. He did not.

“I’m coaching the game,” Belichick said, dismissing a question about the play. “I’m not running the replay booth.”

Suffice to say, the Patriots thought Gronkowski got in — which would have saved them 90 seconds of time.

“I thought he was in,” Brady said. “When I threw it, he crossed the goal line. There were several of those that I would have thought differently about. But that’s the way they call them.”

Faulk returns

Kevin Faulk made his return to the field on Sunday and played in significantly more snaps than incumbent starter BenJarvus Green-Ellis. Faulk rushed six times, Green-Ellis five. Faulk caught five passes out of the backfield, Green-Ellis none.

“We were in the shotgun a lot,” Belichick said. “We were throwing a lot. That’s something that [Faulk] does well so that put him in the game a little bit more. We didn’t have a lot of snaps in the game and many of the ones we had were situational — trying to score, trying to come back, throwing the ball. We weren’t really able to have as many snaps as we wanted when we were in control of the situation or had more control of the situation.”

Slap was rule-breaker

Pittsburgh safety Troy Polamalu’s slapping of the ball into the end zone at the end of the Steelers’ victory over New England was against an NFL rule.

The rule states that a player may not bat or punch a loose ball in the field of play toward the opponent’s goal line; a loose ball that has touched the ground in any direction, if it is in either end zone; or a backward pass in flight, which can’t be batted forward by an offensive player.

Polamalu slid after Brady’s fumble in the final moments of the game and slapped it into the end zone. The ball slid through the end zone for a safety, making the score 25-17 for the Steelers.

When asked about the play after the game, Polamalu said: “Whatever is going to get me in trouble, I’m saying the opposite.”

The NFL Defensive Player of the Year last season, Polamalu made five tackles as the Steelers held New England to 213 yards, only 170 passing.

The call is not reviewable by video replay.

PITTSBURGH – The Pittsburgh Steelers no longer have a Tom Brady problem. And that might be a problem for the rest of the NFL.

Old, slow and over? Not quite yet.

Ben Roethlisberger picked apart the NFL’s worst defense and the Steelers rattled the nearly unflappable Brady in a 25-17 victory on Sunday, putting an end to the two-time MVP’s decade of dominance over the defending AFC champions.

Brady came in 6-1 all-time against the Steelers, putting up eye-popping numbers in the process. He never got the chance on a chilly day at Heinz Field. Pittsburgh (6-2) controlled the ball for nearly 39 minutes and never let Brady get into a sustained rhythm.

“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 said. “I think they took that a little personal.”

Playing efficiently and working almost exclusively on short, safe, underneath routes, Roethlisberger completed 36 of 50 passes for 365 yards and two touchdowns as the Steelers won their fourth straight after a 2-2 start.

“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.”

Brady passed for two touchdowns but threw for a season-low 198 yards. His attempt to lead the Patriots (5-2) to a comeback ended when Pittsburgh’s Brett Keisel sacked him, forcing a fumble that Troy Polamalu slapped through the end zone with 8 seconds left to provide the final margin.

“We all have to individually look in the mirror and figure out what we need to get better at,” Brady said.

Pittsburgh sacked Brady three times, held wide receiver Wes Welker – on pace for an NFL record for yards receiving in a season – to 39 yards on six receptions while limiting the Patriots to their fewest points since a 34-14 loss to Cleveland last year.

The Patriots punted four times, missed a field goal in the third quarter that would have drawn them within a touchdown and failed to recover an onside kick with just over 2 minutes left.

Not the kind of brisk execution that’s been the hallmark of Brady and coach Bill Belichick’s highly successful tenure.

“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.”

Roethlisberger has built a career and won two Super Bowls by chucking it deep with abandon.

On Sunday he didn’t complete a pass over 26 yards. He didn’t have to.

Roethlisberger consistently found Antonio Brown (a career-high nine receptions), Heath Miller (a season-high seven grabs) and speedster Mike Wallace (seven catches) on short and intermediate routes.

The West Coast-style approach worked perfectly.

Pittsburgh’s five scoring drives lasted 11, 16, 10, 14 and 11 plays. The Steelers converted 10 of 16 third downs and Shaun Suisham kicked three field goals.

“It’s very frustrating,” New England nose tackle Vince Wilfork 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.”

By WILL GRAVES
PITTSBURGH — Ryan Clark remembers the dancing. And the jawing. And the seemingly countless celebrations.

Did the way the Baltimore Ravens enjoyed their 35-7 mauling of the Steelers in the season opener bother the veteran safety? Of course.

Then again, there’s not much Clark could do about it.

“People can throw parties when you can’t stop them from scoring, and we couldn’t stop them from scoring,” Clark said. “They can dance all they want.”

The Steelers turned the beatdown and the ensuing obituaries written from the critics about who gleefully detailed how the defending champions were “old, slow and … over” into a rallying cry.

“That was y’all writing us off,” Clark said. “We felt like we had a bad one. We lost to a good team.”

Funny, Clark said, the Steelers didn’t look old, slow or over while knocking off Tom Brady and the New England Patriots 25-17 on Sunday to set up a rematch the Ravens next weekend.

And they haven’t lost much since.

The team that looked uninspired at best and ill-prepared at worst during a nightmarish opening month of the season is now the only team in the AFC with a 6-2 record.

It’s the fifth straight year the Steelers have started 6-2. And they acted like they’ve been there before even after beating Brady for the first time since 2004.

There were no bold proclamations even after limiting the NFL’s top offense to a paltry 213 yards. The Steelers don’t do proclamations.

Sure, exacting a bit of revenge on Brady for all the times he’s crushed the franchise’s hopes was nice. It’ll mean nothing if they can’t back it up against the Ravens (5-2).

It’s why wide receiver Mike Wallace opted to spend his Sunday night indoors rather than bask in one of the franchise’s biggest regular season victories in years.

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

Neither do his teammates, though the Steelers could be without a couple of vital parts against the Ravens.

Linebacker LaMarr Woodley was scheduled to undergo an MRI exam on the strained hamstring that cut his two-sack day short. Woodley sat out the fourth quarter but insisted he would be good to go on Sunday night.

“It was one of those sit now so I don’t miss three or four week things,” Woodley said.

The status of wide receiver Hines Ward (ankle) and linebacker James Farrior (back) is also unclear. Both sat out against the Patriots, as did linebacker James Harrison, who missed his fourth straight game while recovering from a fractured right orbital bone.

Harrison hinted he would return in time to play the Ravens, and the Steelers could use him if Farrior and Woodley can’t go.

Then again, considering the way the patchwork defense has held its own so far, maybe the Steelers can get by without them.

At one point in the fourth quarter, Lawrence Timmons was the only normal starting linebacker on the field, and he was playing out of position at outside linebacker as Harrison’s replacement.

Pittsburgh survived anyway. If reserve linebackers Larry Foote and Chris Carter weren’t making plays, then young defensive linemen Ziggy Hood, Cameron Heyward and Steve McClendon were spelling veterans like Brett Keisel and still providing enough pressure to make the normally unflappable Brady antsy.

“Those kids have been playing amazing ball for us,” Keisel said. “I can’t say enough about Ziggy and Steve and Cameron coming in and playing winning football. We have a great tradition on the line and we expect those guys to step in and play ball and they’ve done that.”

The defense that struggled stopping the Ravens on Sept. 11 is now ranked second in the league in yards allowed, right behind the Ravens.

It’s where the Steelers expected to be all along. The biggest makeover in the last seven weeks has come on the other side of the ball.

The offensive line that couldn’t block the Ravens, couldn’t hold onto the ball and mustered little fight while turning it over seven times suddenly looks as potent as quarterback Ben Roethlisberger promised weeks ago.

Roethlisberger lit up the Patriots for 365 yards passing and two touchdowns, completing 36 of 50 passes and helping the Steelers convert 10 of 16 third-downs. He hit nine different receivers and save for a second quarter interception rarely forced the ball into tight spaces.

“It definitely gives us momentum,” wide receiver Antonio Brown said. “We need to continue to get better, continue to go to work on some plays we left out there. There are some things we could do better.”

Three times the Steelers pushed inside the New England 20 only to settle for a Shaun Suisham field goal instead of a touchdown. Those kinds of opportunities cannot be missed against the Ravens and the Steelers know it.

“We’ve got to keep pressing,” Wallace said.

The Steelers don’t know how to do otherwise. They didn’t panic after getting crushed in the opener. They just went back to work. It’s what they do.

“We just want to keep flying under the radar,” Clark said.

Can a team that beats New England and Baltimore in consecutive weeks do that?

“I hope so,” he said.

CBSSports.com wire reports
Oct. 30, 2011

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers no longer have a Tom Brady problem. And that may be a problem for the rest of the NFL.

Old, slow and over? Not quite yet.

Ben Roethlisberger picked apart the NFL’s worst defense and the Steelers rattled the nearly unflappable Brady in a 25-17 victory on Sunday, putting an end to the two-time MVP’s decade of dominance over the defending AFC champions.

Brady came in 6-1 all-time against the Steelers, putting up eye-popping numbers in the process. He never got the chance on a chilly day at Heinz Field. Pittsburgh (6-2) controlled the ball for nearly 39 minutes and never let Brady get into a sustained rhythm.

“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 said. “I think they took that a little personal.”

Playing efficiently and working almost exclusively on short, safe, underneath routes, Roethlisberger completed 36 of 50 passes for 365 yards and two touchdowns as the Steelers won their fourth straight following a 2-2 start.

“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.”

Brady passed for two touchdowns but threw for a season-low 198 yards. His attempt to lead the Patriots to an unlikely comeback ended when Pittsburgh’s Brett Keisel sacked him, forcing a fumble that Troy Polamalu slapped through the end zone with 8 seconds left to provide the final margin.

“We all have to individually look in the mirror and figure out what we need to get better at,” Brady said.

There was no sense of panic among the Patriots, who fell into a tie with Buffalo atop the AFC East. Yet the Steelers did something no team has been able to do this year: keep Brady under wraps.

Pittsburgh sacked him three times, held wide receiver Wes Welker — on pace for an NFL record for yards receiving in a season — to 39 yards on six receptions while limiting the Patriots to their fewest points since a 34-14 loss to Cleveland last year.

The Patriots punted four times, missed a field goal in the third quarter that would have drawn them within a touchdown and failed to recover an onside kick with just over 2 minutes remaining.

Not the kind of brisk execution that’s been the hallmark of Brady and coach Bill Belichick’s highly successful tenure.

“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 and Belichick remain tied with Don Shula and Dan Marino for most wins by a coach/quarterback tandem. Win No. 117 will have to wait at least a week after the Steelers emphatically awoke from an early-season slumber that included one-sided losses to Baltimore and Houston.

Pittsburgh didn’t panic after the slow start. And while the Steelers weren’t ready to declare they’re back, there was a definite sense of vindication on a day that felt more like January than late October, and not just because of the chilly weather.

“It’s a huge step,” linebacker Lawrence Timmons said. “The New England Patriots have 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.”

On both sides of the ball.

Roethlisberger has built a career and won two Super Bowls by chucking it deep with abandon. On Sunday he didn’t complete a pass over 26 yards. He didn’t have to.

Roethlisberger consistently found Antonio Brown (a career-high nine receptions), Heath Miller (a season-high seven grabs) and speedster Mike Wallace (seven catches) on short and intermediate routes.

The West Coast-style approach worked perfectly.

Pittsburgh’s five scoring drives lasted 11, 16, 10, 14 and 11 plays. The Steelers converted 10 of 16 third downs and Shaun Suisham kicked three field goals.

“It’s very frustrating,” New England nose tackle Vince Wilfork 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.”

Despite being dominated for long stretches in the first half, the Patriots trailed just 17-10 at the break. Yet the magic Brady has been able to muster repeatedly against the Steelers throughout his career never appeared. On the same field where he won two AFC championships, Brady never really got comfortable.

“We had to beat them today,” safety Ryan Clark 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.”

Notes

• Woodley finished with two sacks to become the first Steeler to get multiple sacks in four consecutive games.
• New England RB Kevin Faulk ran for 32 yards on six carries and caught five passes for 20 yards in his first game of the season.
• Patriots lost for just the second time in their last 11 games coming off a bye and lost in October for just the seventh time since 2003.
• New England TE Rob Gronkowski set a career high with seven catches.
• The Steelers played without offensive captain Hines Ward and defensive captain James Farrior , who missed the game with injuries.
• New England defensive lineman Andre Carter had two sacks for the 11th time in his career.